When I attended law school, there was no thought about whether to go to classes or read the hornbooks. It was what we did, like it or not. Indeed, we never considered our enjoyment of classes to be relevant on our path to becoming lawyers. No one asked us if we liked it, and no one cared. We could either do what we were told or find another career path.
Today, law students are able to see into the minds of law professors by virtue of the law prof blawgs. There were no blawgs back then, of course, as the personal computer was barely a twinkle in the eye of some kids punching cards in the underground room at Univac. High tech was an IBM Selectric typewriter. Professors were usually ancient (at least to us) and above reproach. That’s why they were professors and we were students.
At some point, law students turned into consumers of legal educational services. This was, no doubt, intended to be a good thing for them, a way in which they could help to improve the delivery of a legal education. Clearly, it hasn’t worked out as well as planned.
These law students are miserable. They find law school miserable, useless and futile. And the reason why is fascinating: It’s not that law school is inherently flawed, but that they hate their law professors. The say that law professors are horribly boring. But worse, writes one law student:
I felt like I was intruding on something by asking for help. How dare me, I was missing the point. Now I know why, I was cutting into ‘scholarly production’.
So the primary function of law school is no longer to train new lawyers, but to serve as a vessel for the “scholarly production” of law professors? So they can write important law review articles about due process at the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter?
But it gets worse. Now that law students see themselves as consumers of legal educational services, they have considered the relative worth of the price tag to the product, and found it wanting. In a big way. From a lawyer who left school carrying $100 thousand in debt.
I hear that at lower tier school, no recruiters show up for the bad law school coffee. How those deans and professors can sleep at night after essentially fleecing young people to support their comfy UTTERLY UNPRODUCTIVE sincures is beyond me. And their uncomprehending, smug self-satisfaction at their sandal-wearing lifestyle takes me further to the point of sputtering contempt.
This condemnation is repeated by students from the non-Tier 1 law schools. For those unfamiliar, Tier 1 Law Schools are the top 50 named in US News and World Reports. There is now a very clear food chain amongst law schools, and putting aside the validity of the list, it matters enormously if a law students wants to get those monstrous salaries and benefits that David Lat loves to write about at Above the Law. It’s the legal profession’s version of society’s obsession with Paris Hilton or Britney Spears. The Tier 1 grads sneer at their lessers, the drooling wastrels who couldn’t manage to get themselves into a “real” law school.
And apparently the important law grads are correct, as law firms that pay the big bucks see no virtue in graduates from the lower Tiers. They don’t want them; they won’t hire them. These students have paid their tuition under the misguided view that they can get a job after law school, work hard, become solid lawyers and enjoy a reasonably good lifestyle. No one tells them that if they don’t go to a Tier 1 law school, the jobs will be few and the lifestyle with be struggling. And they graduate to find that the promise was a lie, and that they sat through boring professors and took on a hundred thousand dollars in debt for nothing.
This is a very disturbing scenario. It appears that many in the legal profession may not be aware of the changes in law school that have happened since they left their alma maters, and the dissatisfaction that it’s caused. Maybe it’s time we took law schools back from the professors, who haven’t done a very good job of safeguarding our future. Maybe we need to stop the glorification of numbers in a magazine and start remembering that its the job done in front of a jury, or the coherence and effectiveness of words on a page, that make a lawyer. Right now, the future looks bleak indeed.
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Geez, that post made my head spin. That’s not what law school was went I went there (at least not my experience). I learned because I wanted to and enjoyed myself; didn’t care much for the rest.
I think within the law school culture, there’s the law review culture. That’s where this focus on papers and research comes from.
How about this comment:
Um, how about practical experience? You know, actually doing it.
Absolutely agreed. And who’s to blame? How did this happen? Where did law school go so wrong?
Somehow, law schools have forgotten their mission, to produce competent, ethical lawyers. If they’ve lost their way, how do they find it again? And what becomes of those students who put their $140,000 on the table and didn’t get what they paid for?
At this point, shouldn’t there be a bit of caveat emptor?
Are potential law students in a position to understand and appreciate what they’re getting into when they apply to a second or third tier law school? I don’t believe any law schools are currently using the marketing slogan, “We may cost a lot, but there’s no jobs out there for you!”
Since law schools hold a virtual monopoly on entrance to the legal profession, they fall a bit short of equal bargaining position.
I guess, but with so much having been written about the ineffectiveness of law schools, perhaps students should do a bit more research before investing $100K. At least then they won’t be disappointed.
I’m a more recent grad (out over 3 years) so I guess I have a somewhat close perspective to law school. I’ve also had very regular contact for the last 5 years with people about to go to law school.
From my own experience, this whole top-tier business is crap. The whole profession is in a downturn. I’m a decently ranked grad from a top tier school and I’ve had 3 miserable job hunts with hardly a nibble, even in the public sector. I had a great resume and it didn’t matter.
As for law school in general, there are two kinds out there. The kind that is determined to make you work till you’re miserable and the kind that’s more progressive and wants to make you a better lawyer. I was fortunate to go to the latter and did so on purpose. What I don’t understand is why you more established lawyers think law school has changed. I always thought of law school as a miserable place before I went there. Most people I knew planning to go to law school read One L by Scott Turow and watched The Paper Chase and dreaded the upcoming experience. And those are both over 30 years old.
I’m curious to know what has changed and what exactly it is we want. There are enough schools out there that you have some choice in where you go and there’s plenty of information to tell you what kind of school it’s going to be. These days getting into college requires extensive research, and most law school applicants these days are extremely thoughtful about the process and do lots of research. They apply to lots of schools and they generally know what they’re getting into.
What people aren’t informed about isn’t law schools. It’s the fact that we’re in a tough legal job market right now and that only a small percentage of them will get those six-figure 1st year salaries. All the Career Services people spend 3 years assuring you you’ll have no problem, you’ll find a great job, you’ll be okay financially.
Sorry for the incredibly long post.
Well, but that’s just it. Is that what law school should be about? Getting the six-figure first year salaries?
I, too, am a recent grad, but I was lucky enough to find something to do in law school that interested me and kept me occupied for two years.
There has to be more application of the law to practice in law schools. I’m all for academia, but at some point all this pontification just turns into blowing hot air.
Law School is a racket. Check out this guys blog for some horror stories, especially re the temp attorney mill.
http://temporaryattorney.blogspot.com
/2007/09/wall-street-journal-cover-story
-dark.html
What law school actually does was put well in the book The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law – it teaches you to absorb a bunch of irrelevant stuff, spit it all out in a matter of a couple hours, and then forget it and move on to the next batch of irrelevant stuff. This is exactly what practicing law entails much of the time (arguments in front of court, trials, etc).
Law School Problem Solving 101: The Professors
Law School Problem Solving 101: The Professors
I just graduated from school in May 2009. I put myself through law school- attending an evening accredited program while working full time as a paralegal during the day. I have worked in law since 2003, so I knew the profession I was getting into. I spent the majority of my schooling dealing with unforgiving bosses who could not remember how grueling law school was, (none of them ever worked while doing it, but had no problem making my life hellish for it) all while slaving away in various life sucking corporate settings. What a waste.
I go from interview to interview, an overqualified paralegal who can not find work as an attorney. Even with “real world” experience.
Too weird to live, too underqualified to practice…
No one tries cases before the Supreme Court. By this point in your first year, you should be aware of this. As for arguing before the Supreme Court, it’s highly unlikely that “many” of your professors have done so. If you’re interested enough to make note of your lawprofs actual experience, take a hard look rather than listen to stories. Chances are you will find that many are not admitted to practice, most have never stepped foot in court, and of those who have, few went beyond three years of practice before going academic.
But that doesn’t mean you should let anyone tell you that going to a “toilet school” makes you worthless as a lawyer. You will be as good a lawyer as you chose to be. The tier of your law school is meaningless when it comes to who you are and what you choose to do with your life.