30 Years after They Graduated…

The law school transparency discussion is animated by the assumption that graduate employment data from nine months out reliably indicate the ROI of a law degree. Readers know I question the “reliability” in the assumption, yet such data are reliable because of the importance of first jobs after graduation and that meaningful employment in the [...]

Update on News in the Law School World

There were a bunch of articles I couldn’t get around to this past week, and they’re worth consolidating into one post. (1)  Law School Lawsuits “New York Law School fights class-action suit over job rates,” Thompson Reuters. NYLS’s attorney states: “The allegations are not only baseless, but also belied by the plaintiffs’ own complaint, which [...]

The Law School Problem Is Vertical, Not Horizontal as Most Law Professors Believe

I take [the LawScam critique] to be that legal education is hoodwinking prospective law students into law school and conspiring to produce an oversupply of lawyers that face diminished job prospects and crippling debt loads. –Usha Rodrigues (Associate Professor of Law, University of Georgia), “ScamLaw: The Master’s Forum,” The Conglomerate So, if I’m right, then [...]

A Reading List for the “Conversation about Employment in the Law and Legal Occupations”

Expressing relief at not being named in Cooley’s lawsuit against four John Doe bloggers, BIDER’s Angel includes the e-mail by Cooley’s president, Don LeDuc, to his students assuaging their possible concerns that their law degrees may not be very marketable. He writes: The entire conversation about employment in the law and legal occupations is almost [...]

No Bubble, Just ROCK!!! Vol. 5

I’m dashing off to Wisconsin later this week, so I’ll miss the first-of-its-kind panel discussion b’ween deans Ackerman (Wayne State) and Closius (Baltimore), professors Henderson (Indiana-Bloomington) and Tamanaha (Wash U), and Third Tier Reality’s Nando. Moderation provided by All Education Matter’s Cryn Johannsen. If you’re interested in legal education all five of the participants have [...]

The Law School Tuition Bubble: Tuition Increases Law School-by-Law School from 2005 to 2011, Part 1

As a member of a learned profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use for clients, employ that knowledge in reform of the law and work to strengthen legal education. – Wisconsin Rules of Professional Conduct “Preamble: A Lawyer’s Responsibilities,” ¶6, (WI SCR Chapter 20) Introduction Last May, I started the [...]

Sweetlinks of the Rodeo—“Dean” Tamanaha Destroys His Law School to Save It

Three quick links: (1) Brian Tamanaha, “My ‘Dean’s Vision’ Acceptance Speech,” in Balkanization Anti-law school tuition bubble superhero Brian Tamanaha writes a speech that would likely cause faculty to flee in rage while his law school’s US News ranking irreparably plummets…until the tuition bubble pops. I deliver unto you Dean Tamanaha’s prophecy, behold! No one [...]

The Decline and Fall of the British Links—ABA to Tighten Its Grip on Law Schools?

Five links in three topics. (1a) Karen Sloan, “ABA May Join Push for Law School Transparency,” in Law.com (1b) Elie Mystal, “The ABA Is Slowly Coming around on Law School Transparency,” in Above the Law (1c) Debra Cassens Weiss, “ABA Weighs Required Disclosure of Law School Job Stats, More Rigorous Reporting,” in The ABA Journal [...]

Reformers, Futile Gesturers, Blamers, and Loss-Cutters: Adventures in Anger, Personal Responsibility, and Positive Thinking

I open with sources; doodles to follow. Heather Diersen, “Dear Law School: It’s All Your Fault. Signed, Recent Grad,” in JDs Rising Mary Beth Marklein, “Grads Taking Law Schools to Task for Poor Job Market,” in USA Today Don Peck, “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America,” in The Atlantic Susan Carter Liebel, “Don’t [...]

Past Links—New Dean at Georgetown Speaks & Experienced Attorney Blogs on the Tuition Bubble

Two meals for you: (1) Earlier this week, Amanda Becker of the Washington Post interviewed Georgetown’s new dean, William Michael Treanor, formerly of Fordham in “Q&A: Georgetown Law Center’s New Dean Discusses School’s Steps to Help Students in a Time of Law Firm Cutbacks.”  Becker begins with the six-figure question: It’s been tough out there [...]