Florida Coastal School of Law...should I go? (Jacksonville, University: 2015, top schools)

[904jax]

Originally Posted by JoJoCal19

My wifes uncle is a long time partner at one of the most prominent corporate law firms in the US and if I were to get my JD and license I would be set (before you mention it I've always been interested in becoming a lawyer).

Hi JoJoCal19,

I'd confirm your assumption about your wife's uncle's firm, because many national firms have anti-nepotism policies and rarely hire from the 4th tier.

There are some 1st tier schools with part-time programs. At least one of the schools in Colorado, where I'm from, has a part-time program. You'll be better off moving out-of-state, finding a job and enrolling in a part-time program at a top tier school. After law school, you can return to FL with a top tier JD in a much better position to provide for your family.

Best Regards,

904jax

[JoJoCal19]

Originally Posted by 904jax

Hi JoJoCal19,

I'd confirm your assumption about your wife's uncle's firm, because many national firms have anti-nepotism policies and rarely hire from the 4th tier.

There are some 1st tier schools with part-time programs. At least one of the schools in Colorado, where I'm from, has a part-time program. You'll be better off moving out-of-state, finding a job and enrolling in a part-time program at a top tier school. After law school, you can return to FL with a top tier JD in a much better position to provide for your family.

Best Regards,

904jax

Hi 904jax,

I wouldn't waste my time or money going to anything other than a tier 1 school. Anything less than tier 1 is not an option, hence the issue I'm running into. No tier 1 schools in FL have part time and from what I've read about the ABA rules, I cant work over 20 hours a week regardless. It looks as if it is something I will have to pursue down the road once I'm self employed and can set my own hours to "work less than 20 a week" .

[TylerJAX]

Unless you have connections or you are intrepid enough to go to start your own practice, your options are going to be limited once you graduate from this institution.

[FCSL_08]

I've heard that the entering class for fall 2011 is more than 800 students. I seriously consider this an ethics violation on the part of the administration, as they all absolutely know that they are granting worthless degrees to students handing them over $150,000 in federal loan money. It is an absolute atrocity. Even worse - when these grads default, American taxpayers will have to foot the bill on these federally guaranteed loans. The education bubble is the next real estate bubble, mark my words.

I think the analogy made above likening Florida Coastal to a community college is far too favorable; at least community college is cheap, and so when people laugh at your resume at least it didn't cost a couple hundred grand. Coastal is much more like the for-profit "career colleges" you see advertised on television - expensive and no chance of employment.

People from Coastal literally work as "interns" for personal injury firms in Jacksonville making $10/hour part-time (with a bar license).

[TylerJAX]

Instead of going into debt for $150,000 to graduate from FCSL, you're better of buying a Subway shop or something, and running it.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by HoneyBeeMel

I was recently accepted to Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville.
It seems like a pretty good school that's located in an awesome city.

It's not a pretty good school. Whether Jax is awesome or not is really a subjective opinion. I don't know that much about it.

However, I've been doing some research on law student message boards, and I keep reading that the law school is not well respected in Florida at all...not even in Jacksonville.

Did you apply or get in anywhere else? If you did, don't go to Florida Coastal. What you have heard about its reputation is true - that is the impression lawyers have of the school. Whether it is accurate or deserved or not is another story, but that is the deal.

Some people claim that it's difficult for Florida Coastal grads to find jobs in Jacksonville, because all the jobs go to the University of Florida and Florida State grads instead.

It's pretty hard for ANY law grads to get jobs right now, you would not want to further handicap yourself by graduating from Florida Coastal.

Then again, you could always do your first year there and try to transfer to FSU or UF, but you would have to do very, very well in that first year - which is by far the hardest.

[taxguy1]

Then again, you could always do your first year there and try to transfer to FSU or UF, but you would have to do very, very well in that first year - which is by far the hardest.[/quote]

Response: Don't ever accept a spot in a law school if your main goal is to transfer. Grading in law school is MUCH harder than that of undergraduate school. Transferring out of FCL will be almost impossible unless you are in the top 10% or so. If you want to transfer to a T1 school such as UF, you may have to do even better. Thus the odds against you for being accepted in a school such as UF or FSU are about 9:1

[FCSL_08]

Also, the profs at Coastal seem oblivious to their students' plight; they actively discourage transferring and act like Coastal is "just as good as any other school." (They will actually say those words.) Plus, you have to meet with the Dean before transferring, who strongly advises that you not transfer because, and I quote him, "people often have a hard time adjusting to a new law school and making new friends." The school actually hired a survey company to call transfer students to ask them what would have made them less likely to transfer; draw your own conclusions from that.

Overall, going to Florida Coastal School of Law is one of the worst decision a person can make, because graduates are: 1) overqualified for non-legal jobs, and 2) vastly underqualified for the jobs they actually want that will pay enough to support the Coastal debt load. A J.D. from Florida Coastal provides little more than a presumption of incompetence and an inferiority complex for 99% of grads.

Florida Coastal epitomizes corporate greed, and the faculty and administration should be ASHAMED of themselves for being a part of such an outright scam.

[Robyn55]

I think these are pretty tough times for a lot of newer lawyers these days:

Lawyers Settle... for Temp Jobs - WSJ.com

Robyn

[madcapmagishion]

Imagine if UF Law grads are having to get by doing temp work. What are FCSL going to have to do. Learn the phrase... "u want fries with that?"