1) You decided to research law schools (or not), gathering as much information as you wished; you did that
2) You decided to go to law school; you did that
3) You decided to pay your deposit, whether or not it was by loans; you did that
4) You decided to take out loans, and knew what the tuition was; you did that
5) You decided to take an obligation to pay back those loans, with interest (money ain't free); you did that.
6) You decided to earn a J.D.; you did thatC'mon guys, you, and not short fat professors with maturity problems and teenage-girl-style personal blogs, did all of those things. You need to take responsibility. Now is the time. Besides, even if you were "scammed", it's over, so there is no point in worrying about that now. Even Bill agrees with me. Remember this one?
Look, what is done cannot be now amended:
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes
Which after hours give leisure to repent.
See? I have poetry to support my position, and you don't. Really, it is a man's world, and either act like a man or get p0wned by one. So, either you become dean of your own educational institution, backed by government-subsidized loans but otherwise unconnected with the real job market, or stop the scamblogging. At this point, it is just a big bore. We've heard all your arguments already. They have already lost their power; you have desensitized us to both sewage and bad job opportunities. Avec ton Etre Supreme, said Billaud, tu commences m'embeter.
Remember, you did that. If you disagree, go post some photographs of open-pit sewers and call it day.
GO TO LAW SCHOOL!
Satire? Hard to tell.
ReplyDeleteThe author probably isn't sure himself.
DeleteFair enough.
DeleteReally bad schtick. Not well written enough to be satire, just comes across as douchey.
ReplyDeleteCan we get back to the usual non-confusing posts please? This is one of the worst I've read on this site.
Or I hope it's schtick. It's so badly written that I just don't know. And if I can't tell, perhaps it's also sending the wrong message to other applicants?
this kind of article gives the wrong message. it should be deleted.
ReplyDeleteThe scam is not only about people who went to law school in the last 4 or 5 years.
ReplyDeleteLots of people went to law school before the days of the internet, when law school was much less costly and even when the legal profession was not oversaturated. Lots of law grads have no law school debt.
However, many of these people, even from the best law schools and with years of prime legal experience cannot earn a living practicing law now. The scam of overenrolling law students and producing a huge oversupply of lawyers hit them the same way it hit first years. The only difference is that the lawyers who went to law school earlier were able to work for a few or several years before the lawyer oversupply killed their jobs and their careers.
Bottom line- many experienced lawyers are permanently out of work because of the scam. If it hit you at age 35 or 45 or 55 and you cannot do any type of work, other than retail with your top credentials and top law degree, what are you to do? You think people I am describing should blame themselves?
I agree with one thing: childhood is being lengthened ridiculously these days. 22 year olds really should be seen as adults and encouraged to think of themselves that way. When you hear of guys in their mid twenties doing stupid things nowadays, people say "oh poor kid he didn't know better."
ReplyDeleteDo you really believe people from top law schools can't find decent jobs? Evidence?
ReplyDeleteYes, because most of the jobs first years are placed by top schools in are at big law or clerkships or other non-career positions. Big law is up or out. Clerkships are only for a year or two. People gradually lose these jobs or age out of these jobs and there are not enough replacement jobs.
DeleteI have been in biglaw for years - half the people leaving today leave without jobs in my city and my firms.
My colleagues who either went to top law schools or were at the top of their classes at secondary law schools - many, many are unemployed after big law.
These are all experienced lawyers. Not first years and some have lots of experience and some only a few months, and others in between. Usually big law, but some big in house jobs and some U.S. Attorney's office as well. Many people I know from Harvard and Yale Law on down do not have jobs and want jobs.
A clerkship leads to big law.
DeleteProblem is that big law does not always lead to a career position - at least one that pays anything decent and is not a fly by night eat what you kill position. There are tons of former federal clerks. Fifteen or so years out of law school, federal clerk and big law means nothing if you are out of work. There are tons of super credentialed people just like you and also out of work also applying for a limited number of career lawyer jobs.
DeleteIf this article is serious, the author should be taken off this blog immediately. Mods? Can you check up on this?
ReplyDeleteWhat next? Leiter blogging here?
Of course its not serious. Perhaps it's an example of the "Socratic Method" (I never went to law school so I'm not sure).
DeleteBut the true extent of how dismal job prospects in the legal industry still isn't widely known. Most parents would still be very happy for their kids to attend law school for example. But people are catching on fast.
Here's what needs to be spread:
Delete1.) Only half the grads get any job out of law school
2.) Those jobs have a 3-4 year shelf-life, max, and are miserable. They're a combination of Survivor-like competition and being treated like a rental car in the hands of a college kid for the weekend.
3.) For people who have been in the legal pipeline for some time, career prospects have been awful and atrocious for some time. There's no retirement, benefits or pensions. For today's grads, there is no such thing as a career.
In short, building any type of job, business, career plan or life on the rapidly eroding base of law is simply a bad plan. The fact that you don't know what else you can do... or even that there may be nothing else for you to do... doesn't justify your going into law.
It's time to call this Beyond the Law School scam.
Many lawyers work longer than a few years. Problem is that the jobs are so unstable today, you never know how long your job will last. Once you are older and lose a job, it is many times harder to land on your feet than for a younger person.
DeleteWay to steal my shtick.
ReplyDelete?
DeleteWhen I first read Preston's posts, I thought it was you, LSTC!
Everyone, go visit LSTC's blog, Law School Scam!, listed on the right hand side of this blog.
It's almost identical to Preston's writing. LSTC, I think that Preston has ripped you off!!!!!