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Exactly, working at Walmart or being underemployed as a clerk making $40k per year with $200k in loans still means you are "employed" according to most schools. Do many people not see how unethical that is? It is borderline fraud. Now I'm not sure how accrediting works, but I highly suspect that the ABA makes a lot of money off of fees when they accredit new schools to grant JDs. Law schools are also highly profitable, so schools make a killing off of law school tuition. No one high up cares about the students or the fact that their, prfit driven motives behind accrediation are completely oversaturating the labor market for lawyers. They are all busy making obscene amounts of money at the expense of their graduates' futures. It is a business, it's simple as that. Maybe it is time we start taxing these so called not for profit learning institutions.
Thank you for this post. From my experience with law students this is an excellent analysis of law school, a marketing ploy which peddles entry into the upper middle class. In fact that the business model for college as well, and the desperation to get to that level of consumption is staggering. I have taught hs and tutored college students. My hs students came from the IB and these kids workloads were staggering. Not much real education was going on imo because the kids simply didn't have time to think or ponder the material. But woe if they didn't get the highest grades in order for some of them to get into the finest law schools. But the market is saturated with lawyers even if they graduate from the best. Too many of these folks exist already and the market for professional services is shrinking. Those simple facts doesn't stop the education pimps from their propaganda though....
Buyer beware, but law schools are clearly manipulating the employmet data and salaries for their graduates. It highly unethical the way in which many law schools represent themselves, especially when you are asking people to fork over almost $200k in loans which could cripple them for life. Why don't law schools show clean employment stats? What are they afraid of? Don't misrepresent your product from the start and people won't be upset.
I agree that it is a crappy tactic, but as long as they are in compliance with what the law requires, it is what it is. Law schools aren't going to unilaterally step outside the guidelines to paint a more accurate employment picture when it will make them look bad. Before I dropped 150-200K on an education, I would say to the admission person, "In plain talk, explain what this number means."
Maybe "it is what it is", but the crushing amount of debt these students are taking out, many of which will never pay it off because the jobs no longer exist due to greed and oversaturation, affect us ALL. Taxpayers should be steamed at what is going on in our higher institutions of learning that are supposed to be not for profit. After all, tax payers are on the hook for the bill when students start defaulting on loans. It's already on the books. It's not just students that should get more transparency, tax payers should demand it as well if we're all going to be liable for defaulted loans.
For anyone thinking of going to law school to become a lawyer - DON'T.
Get a real job that actually benefits humanity. Seems like most lawyers these days are in the business of trying to figure out elaborate ways to STEAL hard earned money from anyone and everyone.
You won't know what I am talking about until you've operated your own business and you constantly have to think, "hmm, will doing xyz action get me sued?" One wrong move and it could sink your entire business.
One easy way to get sued these days is HIRING a us citizen. Its such a headache to have to research all these laws and get legal counsel to make sure you are following the law. Its too much for me so I just outsource everything. No need to worry about the guy in pakistan or india suing me.
Too many lawyers and laws in this country destroying it. All of this adds COST to doing business in the states. A cost that doesn't have to be paid if you go overseas. Many people think outsourcing is only because of lower wages - its not. There is also liability COST - the risk of getting sued or the risk of loss.
AN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A former local law student is suing her alma mater for $50 million, after she couldn't find a job.
The student, San Diegan Anna Alaburda, graduated with honors from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and passed the bar on her first try. She claims she has been unable to find full-time work as an attorney for the past three years.
For anyone thinking of going to law school to become a lawyer - DON'T.
Get a real job that actually benefits humanity. Seems like most lawyers these days are in the business of trying to figure out elaborate ways to STEAL hard earned money from anyone and everyone.
You won't know what I am talking about until you've operated your own business and you constantly have to think, "hmm, will doing xyz action get me sued?" One wrong move and it could sink your entire business.
One easy way to get sued these days is HIRING a us citizen. Its such a headache to have to research all these laws and get legal counsel to make sure you are following the law. Its too much for me so I just outsource everything. No need to worry about the guy in pakistan or india suing me.
Too many lawyers and laws in this country destroying it. All of this adds COST to doing business in the states. A cost that doesn't have to be paid if you go overseas. Many people think outsourcing is only because of lower wages - its not. There is also liability COST - the risk of getting sued or the risk of loss.
Yup...I always thought this as well. Medical, business and insruance costs of any type are what jack up the prices. Liability costs are MAJOR burdens to businesses that get passed onto the consumer. All of that is a product of lawyers.
Yes, law school saturation is no surprise. I remember I once contemplated law school...then I did my research and found out the oversupply of law schools, the difficult job market, and that the top salaried jobs were invariably corporate law.
But my research has made me less sympathetic to the *graduated* students who THEN realized these employment stats. I figured all this out while working in a completely unrelated field. I had no law school friends, knew no lawyers personally, but I did my research and realized the scam that crappy law schools engage in.
I realized if I wanted to use a law degree as a ticket to entry into the upper middle class, I'd have to attend A T10, then work in corporate law. I realized that if I did not enjoy corporate law, my debt to a top tiered law school could shackle me to that job, preventing me from getting more interesting legal jobs. At that point, I realized law was not for me. It was too risky of a proposition (could I get into a top 10? what if I didn't enjoy corporate law?).
That isn't to say everyone should avoid law school. I found out an old friend went to a relatively good law school, and is now in successful corporate lawyer. There are still well paying legal jobs out there, but my friend was a very hard worker and quite smart. I guess ambition and smarts still gets you somewhere, even in the legal field!
What did she expect going to Thomas Jefferson? What a horrible school.
Well, hopefully she'll win the suit and put them out of business.
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