Close Encounters of the Third Tier: Cleveland-Marshall Law Prof. Mark J. Sundahl touts career opportunities in Space Law.

(The green alien looks friendly, but it is about to say that the galaxy is glutted with JDs, and that no reputable Space Law firm in the Universe would hire out of a black hole like Cleveland-Marshall).

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law includes among its faculty a smarty-pants named Mark J. Sundahl. As noted on his CV, Sundahl has a Ph.D. in Classics from Brown (2000), and a JD from UC-Hastings (2001). Sundahl became a law professor in 2004, following a couple of years in Big Law, and is now Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. When he is not professoring, Sundahl serves on various important-sounding advisory boards and is "of counsel" for a small local firm that represents aerospace and defense clients.

 

In general, I deplore the routine practice of law schools in offering law professorships to persons with extremely limited practice experience-- to persons who were, in fact, law students only a couple of years earlier. But I have to admit that Sundahl's combo of specialties--space law and ancient Athens--is pretty freaking cool. That is why it is a shame that Sundahl is a scammer.

 

In a promotional video for Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Sundahl states that there is a "great deal of opportunity for employment in the law of out outer space." He also asserts that the study of space law provides practical "skills that are transferable." Here is a link to the video, and a transcription of the most obnoxious of his comments:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om5j8IAA7vc

"The job opportunities [in space law] can be found both in governmental organizations, you could work for governmental organizations, agencies within the US government, you could work for nonprofit organizations that, for example, set best standards, best  practices, for companies that are active in space, and governments that are active in space, you could work for any number of companies that manufacture space assets, for example manufacture satellites or launch vehicles or any of the many components that are integrated into these launch vehicles and satellites. And so there is a great deal of opportunity to find employment in the law of outer space and that is exactly what we’re are trying to prepare our students for. Because suddenly there are far more opportunities than there had been in the past. And we want to make sure that our students are trained in the field of space law so they can take advantage of these opportunities." 

(Video at 2:46-3:42) 

                                               ***                                            

"The study of space law provides students with skills that are transferable. It seems like a very exotic, esoteric area of the law and many students might think it doesn’t have a practical application to their future career as lawyers, but that’s not the case. There are a number of transferable skills. Because in the course of the class students have the opportunity to read treaties and interpret international treaties and also navigate complex domestic regulations... but the ability to read, interpret, and apply those regulations can serve a student well regardless of what field they go into."

(Video at 4:17-4:57) 

Throughout much of the video, Sundahl maintains a weird half-smile. So enigmatic, like a Mona Lisa of law school scam. Is he trying to be ingratiating? Is he just that pleased with himself? Is it an unconscious signal not to take him seriously? 

Sundahl knows perfectly well that very few, if any, Cleveland-Marshall law graduates are going to "find employment in the law of outer space." In fact, Cleveland-Marshall's abysmal placement record establishes that most will not obtain any sort of full-time legal employment. A mere 76 out of 176 total graduates of the class of 2012 (43.2%) obtained bar-required full-time long-term nonsolo jobs within nine months of graduation--only 16 of whom joined firms with more than 25 lawyers, and none of whom obtained an Article III clerkship. [1] And though Sundahl yaps about job opportunities with "agencies within the US government, "it does not appear that Cleveland-Marshall's renown for training space law regulators, or regulators of any sort, has reached our nation's capital. Of the class 2011, only three graduates got jobs in DC, as opposed to 143 who remained in Ohio. [2] In 2012, fewer than three graduates landed jobs in DC. [3]

Would it be so terrible for Sundahl to tout his elective course in Space Law without suggesting that it leads to lucrative jobs or constitutes practical skills training? You know, just say that space law is an interesting thing to study and learn about, and that it involves international and administrative law, areas with which a law student should gain a certain familiarity. 

There are a lot of deep, and perhaps insoluble, structural problems with our system of legal education. But there is one thing law professors could do right now, on their own, that would make an important difference: they could respect their students enough to address them in an honest and straightforward manner about career prospects. Or if that is too tall an order, just keep quiet and don't affirmatively deceive them.

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notes and additional links.

[1]  http://www.lstscorereports.com/?r=other
       http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=clevelandstate&show=ABA
(Cleveland-Marshall's 43.2% is way below the ABA average of 53.9%. However, there are no fewer than three law schools in Ohio with even worse placement numbers (Capital University, University of Akron, and University of Toledo) and one (Case Western) that is about the same.  Even the best of Ohio's nine law schools-- Ohio State-- did not crack 59% in either 2011 or 2012. So the advice that scambloggers provide to most college kids-- Don't go to law school-- should probably include the addendum "especially in Ohio").

[2]  http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=clevelandstate&show=aba&class=2011

[3] http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=clevelandstate&show=ABA