Why Is Shpoonkle Shilling Law Degrees?

“Market for Attorney Employment Has Never Been Better,” PRWeb.com “The economy has been tough on everyone…” opens Shpoonkle’s press release, in direct contradiction to its title. This, folks, is how not to write a press release. The thing about Shpoonkle is that its reverse-auction model should be sophisticated enough to indicate whether the market for [...]

Coming to a State Bar near You ¬– Beggar Thy Neighbor

In my last post on the Massachusetts Bar Association’s underemployment report, I was flying blind because the link to the report was broken, and it wasn’t readily available on the MBA’s Web site. It’s up today, so I can give it a fairer read, and I was surprised to find two endnotes to the LSTB. [...]

Give Credit Where Due

Rachel M. Zahorsky, “Law School Closings and Changes to Student Loan Bankruptcy Laws May Be Ahead, Says Former Dean,” ABA Journal. Former law school dean at Nebraska and Houston, Nancy Rapoport, favors bankruptcy reform for student debtors. This is important because law professors are usually more interested in discussing the need for reforming legal education [...]

The Verdict Is in on the Lottery, Why not Law School?

Jenn Ladd, “Law School Letdown,” the Baltimore Sun. The article isn’t bad, but the tagline is: “With a hefty price tag and a shrinking number of jobs, is law school worth all the effort? The verdict is still out.” The Sun, though, is in sort of a bind. Often local newspapers will only consider their [...]

‘What the Numbers Don’t Say: Law School Applicants Are Getting Older, Not Dumber’ on the Am Law Daily

“What the Numbers Don’t Say: Law School Applicants Are Getting Older, Not Dumber“ So I saw the first Softies show in 12 years. It was a real treat. I was so inspired that I started banging chords on my guitar. Then I realized that Jen Sbragia has something I don’t: talent. But when it comes [...]

Bloomberg Casually Slaps Law Schools, Uses Some Misleading Facts

Josh Block and Janet Lorin, “Law School Debt Exceeds $100,000 Amid Jobs Shortage,” Bloomberg. I have to say this has been a weird week for media coverage on law schools. On the one hand they’re somewhat more critical of law schools and show a willingness to research some facts, but on the other hand, they’re [...]

Slate (Reuters, Really) Sees Law School Deans as Tragic Figures

Reynolds Holding, “Law School Deans Could Use Some Econ 101,” in Slate, Reuters Breakingviews. I’ve found Slate has become increasingly less readable over the last several months, so as punishment I’m going to beat up on it for republishing this piece. “Tuition at the likes of Yale and Stanford keeps rising faster than inflation, despite [...]

Those of You Who Wanted Transparency…

The ABA’s website has updated its “Legal Education Statistics” page with a link to “2011 Law School Placement Data.” Readers can look at each law school’s placement numbers individually or download it all in a spreadsheet. I haven’t been keeping too much track of the changes to the 509 reporting requirements, but I think these [...]

ABA Journal Discovers U.S. News’ Debt Rankings

Debra Cassens Wiess, “Average Debt of Private Law School Grads Is $125K; It’s Highest at These Five Schools” ABA Journal The average education debt for law grads at private schools last year was nearly $125,000, while the average for grads of public law schools was more than $75,700, according to new figures released by the [...]

‘U.S. News Data Show 2011 May Be Beginning of End for Law School Tuition Bubble’ on the Am Law Daily

Didn’t have time to write this one here for the LSTB, so this post is all original. “U.S. News Data Show 2011 May Be Beginning of End for Law School Tuition Bubble“