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I have no desire to work for a large or medium-sized firm. I'm a mid-career professional that has decided to finish my Master's and pursue a Law degree. I work in the sports and nonprofit field where I have garnered significant success over the past 15 years. My plan is to obtain a law degree for social justice purpose, and leverage my resources to one day perform global humanitarian work. The tier and rank of a law school will not take away nor add to my plan. Just curious to those (if any) that have a comment on this school. Thanks in advance.
Isn't that the new law school that opened? In that case it's probably a joke. Is it even accredited yet?
Law is pretty dead in terms of its being a field where you can earn a comfortable, secure living. That is because the field is severely over-saturated (and has been for many years, but this fact only received national publicity recently). Also, fewer than 50% of all graduates found work in the legal profession, and a great many of those jobs were low-paying and/or of low quality with little long-term career-building value.
Do a HUGE amount of research before you saddle yourself with student loan debt (or waste your nestegg) and three years of opportunity cost and render yourself unemplolyable and overqualified for other jobs ("the Scarlet JD"). Read the JDUnderground discussion forum and also read law professor Paul Campos's Inside the Law School Scam blog. You should also visit the other law school scambusting blogs as well.
Thanks for the info. I'm a 15 year sports executive with experience in three NBA and NFL front office. I like the educational aspect. I can continue to work high-wage earning jobs or position myself for the long term, which is to do global nonprofit work. I like the idea of a law degree as a tool to further demonstrate my desire for social justice and the common good. I'm fortunate today that the cost is of little factor. I just want to be a blessing to others that I normally would be able to touch.
Going to a decent law school is not just about getting a job, but about how much and how well you will learn. Many of the bottom tier law schools are just three year bar passing courses. If your only goal is to pass a bar somewhere and join the teeming masses of people with law degrees who cannot even get a volunteer position, then it will be fine. If your goal is to learn to think like a lawyer so you will excel at problem solving and legal analysis, then you need to go somewhere you will be challenged, where you can spend time in discussion and debate with other bright law students. More to the learning at law school goes on outside the classroom than inside. A good law school does not teach you a trade, they teach you to think differently and to approach problems analytically.
You then have to learn how to turn that kind of thinking off in social situations or you will become an a= hole. IN fact that is what one professor told me law school does. It turns bright students into a holes. Why? Because most people do not think that way or talk that way and do not care for people who do. So you have to learn to turn it off.
There are three basic types of law schools. The lowest tier tend to be bar passing courses. The next tier tend to be trade schools (they teach you how to practice law and you pick up the thinking and bar passing skills along the way). THe top tier tent to teach you how to think (and you are left to figure out how to practice law and how to pass the bar based on the thinking skills they give you plus an understanding of the basic tenants and reasoning behind a given law.
I do not know the statistics, but I would guess that half or more of the top tier law school graduates do not end up practicing law. INstead they take the thinking skills they learn and apply them to less mundane and more meaningful pursuits.
Thus it is not just a case of whether or not you need a pedigree to get a high paying job, it is about what you want to learn.
Isn't that the new law school that opened? In that case it's probably a joke. Is it even accredited yet?
No. No.
The Mass school of law is in Andover. Opened in 88. BUT it's not accredited by the ABA (is an accredited school by NEASC, so its not like its crap). Upon graduation you can ONLY sit for the bar exam in MA or CT. Any other state will require reciprocity though MA or CT.
The one that just opened is the UMass school of law. However, IMHO, it's a better option than the Mass school of law. While the UMass school opened in 2010, it's really a public take over of the old Southern New England School of Law, that opened in 81. UMass school is provisionally accredited by the ABA. It's in Dartmouth.
Thanks for the info everyone! That's good stuff. I was wondering because it came across my screen. It's not in my top 20 so I just wanted to have some additional insight outside of their website and material they offer. I've been accepted into an international law school in Australia - which is extremely exciting. Over the course of the next six months (if I don't accept), I will prepare for the schools on my radar and see which one fits my criteria the best.
Thanks for the info. I'm a 15 year sports executive with experience in three NBA and NFL front office. I like the educational aspect. I can continue to work high-wage earning jobs or position myself for the long term, which is to do global nonprofit work. I like the idea of a law degree as a tool to further demonstrate my desire for social justice and the common good. I'm fortunate today that the cost is of little factor. I just want to be a blessing to others that I normally would be able to touch.
If all you want is a law degree, go somewhere part-time for dirt cheap. If you want to stay in the Boston area, Suffolk isn't great, but at least it isn't a complete laughing-stock.
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