First to say ... LOL!

When your own career services office recognizes that your JD qualifies you for paralegal work that otherwise would have gone to a mere college graduate, then you know what your degree is worth...I'd be asking for a tuition refund...

If Suffolk grads would be humiliated by a 2 years paralegal job at Weil, they should instead take the TTT degree to be office managing partner at Latham another V10 firm in New York

Grads are pissed? I'd be more pissed as a 0L who (I'm guessing) recently made that second deposit.

Where's here's news? I bets they gets dozens'a app's.

OH MY GOD!!! The fact the school advertised this is ridiculous.

HORRIBLE

oh

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It is unconscionable that this school tried to find work for students ITE

I'm guessing that they pay above average for suffolk grads, and way above average when you count all the unemployed kids.

they sent this to BU too, just to preempt some of the suffolk hating...

debt call --- 115K and two years out!

This isn't the worst posting from Suffolk Law (yup, admittedly a grad here). They posted a job a few years ago for a general practice firm for $20 K a year.

Suffolk is the poster child for the "TTT Scam". Could have easily gotten the same job without wasting 3 years of your life and $150k of your money.

At least they can now pay off the debt owed on their shiny new building with all that TTT Scam cash.

Dear Weil: Any of the '09 grads you deferred would have done this job - even with a pay cut.

Hey, mang, its better than cuttin freakin lawns for a living.

I like how the job requires a "strong academic record," notwithstanding the fact that it's for a paralegal position.

Do not hire female Bostonian paralegals. All they will do is stink up the entire office with their explosive flatulence.

The posting isn't such a problem. The fact that it was labeled "a great opportunity" is the part that is ridiculous.

roflcopter!

Debt call -> 21k. Grandparents paid for CCN degree but I took out staffords the last year to invest in the down markets. Oh yeah, I start work in September, bitches.

Partner Emeritus, where are you?????

what's the pay? as a grad from a T20 whose offer was rescinded, i would take this while looking for other positions, or at least getting drunk every night and not having to care about work performance.

"Grandparents paid for CCN degree but I took out staffords the last year to invest in the down markets. Oh yeah, I start work in September, bitches."

Having family pay for your degree isn't really brag-worthy.

Do the halls of Suffolk smell like fem fart?

19 - I don't know, at least cutting lawns is outdoors and you can own your own company and work for yourself....

I would say that it would suck to be a paralegal when your friends and fellow JD graduates are attorneys at the same firm. However, considering that Weil's current SA's will not be starting for TWO AND HALF YEARS, I don't think that will be as much of a problem.

24: PE is busy applying to the paralegal opening. He'll be back in a bit, as usual.

When I graduated from a V10 law school I had a tough time finding a job. I called my former paralegal boss from a fancy DC firm (which later merged with a Boston firm) to tell her I was putting her name down as a necessary reference on my bar application. She offered me a paralegal job. How patronizing, I thought. I politely declined. I got a job as a lawyer, worked my butt off, lateraled to a V20 firm and went on to make partner. Screw you, DC firm. You know who you are.

Looks like Partner Emeritus will now have something to do after he comes back from his Fire Island vacation with his male friends.

But of course he will now have to deal with gaping female Massholes. That's enough to drive anyone to furtive encounters in the local sand dunes with a pasty white old guy.

Look at the bright side folks, bonuses are not guaranteed in this dour economy. At least if you work as a paralawyer, ahem, paralegal, you have a shot at earning overtime which is something that associates are not entitled to. Swalllow your pride and apply. One year from now, don't be surprised if you see job postings for "custodial engineer" positions requiring a JD and an excellent academic record, preferably law review.

The prior paralegal was from Boston and she was fired for sharting all over the place all the time.

wouldnt anyone else feel weird making a fellow JD holder from the same class year do their bitch work?

31

a V10 law school? or a T10 law school?

PE; "custodial engineer with excellent academic record and preferrably law review" is good stuff.

I dont like you usually. but that was funny.

23: If you're actually telling the truth (which I highly doubt), good luck getting a 7%+ return in this market. And, just remember, should those purported investments go south, you're still stuck with those Stafford loans as an albatross across your neck -- as in, cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. Lastly, if your family is so wealthy / you're such a good investor of money, would it have been smarter to borrow investment money from them, and just split the profits? You make it sound like the Stafford rates are particularly good -- which they most definitely aren't in a time where they're locked in at 6.8% plus fees (for Grad) and regular interest rates are very low.

29: Weil's 2009 SAs are never starting. Get it?

32

Motorcycle.

Boston to 19.0K!!!

the same job announcement was sent to BC a couple weeks ago. The worst part is that it requires a 2 year commitment, so you can't even treat this as a temporary back-up while looking for real lawyering work-you have to commit to being a paralegal for 2 years and then hope someone will still want you as a lawyer after.

This speaks volumes.

This would never happen at Seton Hall.

Seton Hall Summer at Orrick who ISNT scared about this one

42,

of course, no one will still want you as a lawyer after. you are broken at that point. damaged goods, (or whatever the word is for suffolk grads)

35-No

42 - you are aware employment contracts are not specifically enforceable.

I just sharted on my keyboard.

Female Boston summer

Comment removed by moderator.

employment contracts with attys are not enfoceable. but with paralegals?

maybe it'd just be enforceable wrt other paralegal gigs, so if you jump ship for that big law job you're fine
-50

What is it with this board and Suffolk -- there are 50 other TTT schools to hate-on . . .

Actually 52 there are more than 50 other TTT schools to hate on. In fact, people haven't ripped on NESL in a while. So you suck NESL!

Better?

You hear the giant sucking sound?

That's the sound of your high priced jobs leaving the United States and going to places like India.

What will be left will be paralegal jobs.

Enjoy being shat on by associates who are much younger than you and have uncles as partners of the firm.

21- Sounds like Wilmer Hale

Requires a two year commitment? Fuck them.

Suffolk's bar pass rate can't be more than 75%, right? Some forward-thinking bozo, who knows his station in life and his (un)likelihood of passing the bar on the first go-round, should grab the job and lock in a paycheck this post-bar-failure Fall while Suffolk's LR editors will be drawing unemployment.

There is no place for TTT grads even in the upper echelons, which is where I sit, of document review.

Are there any paralegal openings in Weil's Bratislava office?

Suffolk law is truly the Bunkerhill Community College of law schools.

54, it's actually the TTT (or in Suffolk's case, TTTT) jobs that get outsourced. The higher-skilled jobs remain in America and manage the less-skilled foreigners.
Sucks to be a TTT graduate.

59

You wouldn't know Slovakia if it bit you in the ass.

Best bet is Minsk, because the local American partner went drunk with power and money and got two local paralegals pregnant.

52 - The reason why Suffolk deserves to be put down, is that unlike the other TTTs, Suffolk likes to pretend it’s not a TTT. It is, as been stated, the poster child fro the TTT Law scam. There used to be a time that Suffolk was the de facto state law school in Mass – low tuition, lots of clinical and pride that most of its graduates went into the public sector or worked for themselves for modest income for there fist few years. But after the student loan flood gates were opened in the mid-1990s, Suffolk went from charging 12K a year to 21K in FOUR YEARS. Only after Suffolk raised its tuition through the roof, did other bottom feeders like NESL grow the cahonies to go along.

Wow- Suffolk Law school is the shame of the Boston.
New Boston law school ranks
1)Harvard
2)BU
3)BC
4)Northeastern
5)New England
6)Suffolk

kill self. Seriously, to come this far and have that glorious position WITH A 2 YEAR COMMITMENT,

kill self. No reason to continue.

Im going to suffolk law this fall... what does ttt mean? is that some kidn of award?

Elie can you post a story on the debacle unfolding at Steptoe & Johnson.

Dear paralegals who have just signed a 2 year commitment:

you will be starting work in may 2011.

which means you will be getting coffee for the summer associates who were 1Ls when you graduated

What can you say about Suffolk Law that hasn't already said about Afghanistan?

PE = "PE, where are you when we need you?"
PE = PE comment
PE = "PE, I normally don't like you, but today you are hilarious!"
PE = law student with too much free time.

FWIW, "two year commitment" means tell them you'll stay for two years, look for other jobs and GTFO once you land one. Remember that September start date you used to have? And that "commitment" was worth what exactly?

61

Yes, denial is a river in Egypt.

But just between the two of us, you know that your life sucks, right? It's not because you went to a top school. It is because you (a) have no job, (b) are short, fat, and balding and are growing moobs, and (c) couldn't get a date to save your life.

Sorry about your tiny pink diploma, bro. Getting a degree from a top 3 law school doesn't rescue your life from TTT mediocrity.

Answer this question, even if it they require or ask you to commit two years, what is there to stop you and leave after being there six months or a year? Just give your two-week or month notice and leave. What are they going to do that would not provide negative publicity and make them backtrack on their two year requirement?

Change to "there to stop you from leaving after"*

I just sharted on an elevator at Bingham.

Female Bostonian

paralegals at my firm used to get law degrees all the time...

and then they would be lawyers. no big deal.

what is the starting pay for biglaw paralegals?

If the dress code at your firm is "zoo casual", you may not work for a peer firm.....

What's said is that the school sent out this opportunity in a separate email, essentially highlighting its "prestige." Just wait until the end of November when the Teach for America emails are sent out to all those who passed the bar and are still jobless.

68,

Suffolk grads getting coffee for T-14 1Ls is about right, isnt it?

--not a nice person

63--Thank you for explaining that re. Suffolk. What a scam that place is running.

80:

we need classes. know your role.

Looks like da' ship done be sunk.

Guys who I graduated medical school with used to work as nurses all the time, it was no big deal.

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How is this job opportunity any different than others routinely taken by Suffolk Law grads?

You'd think that Weil would learn not to hire JD's as paralegals. By the way what ever happened to that JD who sued Weil for having a strong pimp hand??

comment eaten by MysTTTal

weil ya'll complain', at least they gotshal a job.

the ipod be sync-ing

Can't find work? Write for Above the Law.

I am a paralegal. If you work in NY, the base pay is low, like forty-ish, because the firms want you to be young and hungry for OT.

In CA, where paralegals have to be certified, you can make well into six figures. I know certain valley firms where some senior paralegals make over $200K. That's a lot for a Suffolk Law grad, but of course, they'd have to want to be career paralegals!

HA!

23 - Have fun getting audited. The tax treatment on borrowing (esp. with student loans) to invest is no fun.

Wait--What's this about lawyers working as paralegals? Did something happen while I was doing meaningful work and rising to GS-15 grade?

DOJ SECURE

To 50- of course a 2 year agreement isn't specifically enforceable, because no court in this country would force someone into involuntary servitude

Wait--What's this about lawyers working as paralegals? Did something happen while I was doing meaningful work and rising to GS-15 grade?

DOJ SECURE

73-If you leave before the contract is up, you will need to give more cow bell!

58 = Roxana

everyone knows suffolk exists for one reason and one reason only- to populate the 11 floors that constitute the Massachusetts Attorney General's office directly across the street.

Fuck all y'all. Somebody's gotta do consumer protection.

I, Dr. Louis Ziccareli Esq, LLM, CPA, feel nothing but disdain and contempt for those of you who have not achieved the success and fame that I have gained at such an early age.
Also, I would like to remind everyone that your jealousy of my smoldering good looks only emboldens me to become better looking.

Thank you for your attention.

everyone knows suffolk exists for one reason and one reason only- to populate the 11 floors that constitute the Massachusetts Attorney General's office directly across the street.

Fuck all y'all. Somebody's gotta do consumer protection.

Funny how people think young associates are somehow "in charge" of paralegals.

Young associates are only in charge of pulling their meat. Any paralegal worth a penny will pretty much ignore an associate less than two years out of law school; the young associate likely won't be around for year three anyway, and it is the opinion of the senior associate/partner that matters.

Good paralegals in some areas are worth something more to real lawyers than all those young associates who think they can do something other than monkey work.

People who get upset at this are ridiculous. It's a job posting. It's not great, but at least it's a job posting. Folks need to get over the fact that just because they went to law school, they're entitled to some sort of high paying, prestigious job. If you don't want the job, you don't have to apply for it, but there's no reason to get upset when a job posting is available. It's this type of thinking that is leading to the "correction" in the legal profession and why entitled folks are going to get replaced with higher quality / harder working folks from around the world.

A Suffolk law grad working as a paralegal at Weil earns more than a laid off Yalie from LaTTTham.

Suffolk law school should be excited that Weil even knows of their existence. The last Suffolk law grad to step foot into Weil's office was a plaintiff being deposed in a slip and fall case.

"strong academic credentials..." Wow...

PE - great comment

This comment is addressed to post no. 103.

Spot on. Someone finally got the point, especially the emphasis on "...harder working folks from around the world."

Wait, what? Weil does slip and fall cases?

How the mighty have fallen.

The sad thing is that I bet they'll get volumes of remuses

Suffolk Law has a 94% bar passage rate in Massachusetts - second only to Harvard. So don't make fun of Suffolk Law- its students are very hardworking and any respectable one wouldn't apply to this job.

This SAME job posting was sent to BU, BC and Northeastern. So hate on them.

As a Suffolk Law grad, I can say that the majority of bright attorneys in the DAs office, AGs office, the politicians and lobbyists on beacon hill and many other top litigators in boston went to Suffolk.

Go hate on another TTT school. This is just a stupid mistake by Suffolk's career services calling a "shit position" an opportunity

So - people complain that career services doesn't do anything, people complain that career services posts sub-par jobs...tough crowd.

Also - I knew a paralegal in boston, with 2 years experience, making 75% of the salary of incoming associates. If you are deferred - whoever lands this job will be making more money and have more legal experience than you in two years.

Not defending the school posting this, but in this economy, seems like any job is a good job.

-Not Suffolk (student, alum, administration, career services), not deferred at V50 firm, T2x law school.

PE = 106. look at the time stamps.

110,

yeah but...they didnt send it to Harvard, did they?

PE,

With all of your free time this summer after 1L at Suffolk, can't you find a better picture than President Bennett (aka Donald Moffat) from Clear and Present Danger? Better yet, just post your 2006 Sigma Chi picture from Rutgers.

103,

its not just a job posting.

It's a paralegal job posting.

It is a job posting that SHOULD be irrelevant to law school grads.

Just like it would be a joke if the employment office sent out job postings "specially" for law grads that advertised a great job logging in Alaska or as a plastic surgeon in Maine.

Those jobs SHOULD be irrelevant to would-be JDs.

All of those postings are a joke because they send the same message: we don't expect you to get hired as a LAWYER.

and that sucks.

110,

I think you meant TTTT school.

81, Do you think that is a worse scam than Northeastern, which devotes ALL of its resources and career services to public interest, even though 85% of the class does NOT go into public interest and the student budget is higher than BC, BU, or Suffolk?

And no, Northeastern didn't get this posting (unlike BC, BU, and Suffolk). We get gems like this:

Job Type: Post-Grad
Employer: Vermont Office of Legislative Council
Title: Legislative Law Clerk
Description: The Vermont Legislative Council is seeking two law clerks to support legislative lawyers with drafting, research and committee staffing on a nonpartisan basis. The positions are temporary, and will run from no later than November 1, 2009 until late-May or early-June 2010. Applicants should have a law degree but do not need to be admitted to the bar. The positions satisfy Vermont’s clerkship requirement. Applicants must have a tolerant disposition and excellent writing skills. Experience in the law and policy relating to any of the following subjects is an asset, but not required: constitutional law, criminal law, court and civil procedure, the judiciary, environmental law; water resources; land use; fish and wildlife; and agriculture. Compensation is $16.00 an hour. Other state benefits not provided.

$16/hour, no benefits. The 19-year old girl you bought a pack of batteries from at Best Buy last week has a better deal than that. Northeastern is the true poster child of the TTT scam (OK, it's ranked #94, but given that it has fallen from #77 in the last four years, it will likely be TTT next year).

I guess PE has rejuvenated himself with all the protein shakes he took in Fire Island.

You haven't lived until you've seen Donald Moffat stark naked between your legs and intimate with your sex.

38 - While that may be true about rates (I don't know), it would still make sense for an economically rational person to take the subsidized Stafford loans (depending on the fees). You could take out Stafford loans and as long as the fees aren't ridiculous, stick them in an FDIC-insured CD and make money on the spread. Once you graduate, you immediately pay them off before interest starts to accrue.

You could stick the money in the market if you liked. It depends whether you like leverage or not. Either way, it's a better interest rate than you'll get anywhere else (courtesy of the American taxpayer of course).

this should really not be a surprise to anyone....

when you have willing buyers and sellers, you have a market....

this is also the reason that people need to stop working for free....you are creating demand for your own demise

119

I believe that it is illegal to use the loans for any other purpose of education. I think you'll find that you've signed documents to that effect.

Have fun in federal pound me in the ass prison.

This is a huge slap in the face to those deferred or laid off at Weil. Or it's a huge slap in the face to whoever Weil hires as a paralegal when they are paying their deferred associates as much to not do anything. Maybe it's just a slap in the face to everyone associated with Weil.

@110

you went to Suffolk Law...Therefore you're dumb and your opinion means nothing

good day

most grads of lower ranked schools would be QUITE lucky to land a job as a paralegal.

124

Hell, anyone graduating from law schools, whether higher or lower ranked, would be QUITE lucky to land a job at all.

I went to Suffolk and I make $140k as a first year. I'm ok with this, personally, but man, I wish my alma mater would make some better decisions.

Comment removed by moderator.

118

Thanks for giving me nightmares that will keep me up at nights.

I much prefer Boston women crapping on me and stealing my wallet.

127 - how did you accomplish that? BC Law is so far out in the boonies of northern Newton that it isn't even on public transit to Boston.

Besides, Northeastern "women" are just the most effeminate of the gay dudes.

Ever think that Weil was offended by a Suffolk Law grad applying for an associate job when they actually thought they had a chance? Maybe if you didn't want to get $hit on by employers after you graduated law school, you shouldn't have gone to Suffolk.

110, you're absolutely right. It's quite the accomplishment to have a 94% bar passage rate froma school that probably "teaches the bar rather than thinking like a lawyer," in a state with a 92% passage rate. Considering the bar is an excellent test of the future potential of a lawyer, Suffolk students look primed to take over Massachusetts.

The world needs ditch diggers, too.

@123 - a former associate at my law firm went to Suffolk and she's an elbow law clerk for a federal court of appeals judge - but I guess under your standards, she’s stupid?

133

She is.

SCOTUS '02

@133

she is - and so are you

134 - well, then I guess you're a stupid SCOTUS clerk, because that makes sense too, right?

64 = epic fail.

I am a paralegal with many years of experience. I am stunned to see all of the negative comments posted here regarding paralegals. In my experience most partners and senior attorneys will rely on paralegals to assist with complex details of their cases rather than relying on new associates, as quite frankly they have a lot to learn about the practice of law. Attending law school for three years, and perhaps a clerkship or two conducting legal research and writing briefs does not qualify someone as an experienced attorney. Just reflect on how competent and in charge you felt the first day you walked in to your firm to start your first job. Also, how many perfect memoranda have you drafted that haven't required one single edit by your supervising attorney. I know may attorneys who have worked as paralegals and been happy to be part of the team. In my opinion those folks have a decided advantage over attorneys who never had that experience, as they know the inner workings of litigation cases, corporate records management, and deals. Believe me, when they do become practicing attorneys it sure makes them better supervisors, as they at least have an idea what they are asking the staff to do. Last but certainly not least, we are all part of the same team so let's respect one another and help each other as much as we can. Accordingly, please quit bad mouthing paralegals. We deserve more professional respect than that.

Happy Paralegal

138: Missing the point. We did not suffer through three years of law school to be paralegals. If my goal were to be a paralegal, I could have saved $100K and not wasted three years of my life by skipping law school entirely.

110 = PE

All of this elitism rings of pimple-pricked napoleons hovering over their laptops while they study for the bar. Newsflash...after you pass the bar with the other several thousand...you'll be just as unemployed as the Suffolk grads and as heavily indebted.

Nice work!

138:

No one should insult a paralegals job. But in the end, you are a paralegal, a legal tech as it were. Sure, partners may rely on you more an jr. associates, but guess what, that is the best you will ever do.

You will never be able to legally practice law. You will never be able to sign an opinion sent to a client. You will never be a partner.

As an engineer in my previous life, I dealt with the same semi-condescending attitude from Techs and other engineers. Yes, you should respect the techs, but in the end, the engineers do the real work, do the real thinking. Sure, the fresh college grad engineers were next to useless, but give them 3 years and they won't be. The techs, however, will always just be techs doing work for other engineers and never doing anything of real significance without another engineer telling them what to do.

Same for you.

this position could actually be a decent opportunity to make some contacts. probably not a job at weil, but if you make some froiends within the attorney ranks, these people will gladly serve as references and refer you to their friends at smaller firms.

This is beneath me. I am an important person who graduated from an important law school.

17 - you've obviously never been paralegal at biglaw.

BU posted this job and emailed it out to some graduating students about a month ago.

Why is everyone talking about Boston chicks farting all the time? Did I miss something?

110 - You must be a TTTT Suffolk grad since you are reporting FALSIFIED FACTS:

BC Bar Passage Rate - 94.0
BU Bar Passage Rate - 93.7
Suffolk Bar Passage Rate - 86.1
MA State Average - 86.1
---Source - US News Graduate School Rankings 2010

Also, don't some classes in Suffolk (CivPro) just use the horn book for their textbook?

Funny, they use that kind of strategy in the high schools with low MCAT pass rates.

110- stfu

Am I missing something here? This is a posting for a paralegal job that includes good benefits. This posting was made to Suffolk law grad who will not be getting jobs in this economy as lawyers any time in the foreseeable future.

I graduated from tier 2 school in May and was in top 20% of the class, on law review, and earned the cali in estates and trusts. I will be happily doing doc review starting next month after I take the bar. All of my classmates that think they are getting jobs now, will almost certainly being doing doc review by the end of the year.

WAKE UP PEOPLE - THE PLANE HAS CRASHED INTO THE MOUNTAIN. A law degree as a means to prosperity is a long gone notion. A law degree as a means to crippling life long debt is where we have been for the majority of law students for a long time now.

110 - You must be a TTTT Suffolk grad since you are reporting FALSIFIED FACTS:

BC Bar Passage Rate - 94.0
BU Bar Passage Rate - 93.7
Suffolk Bar Passage Rate - 86.1
MA State Average - 86.1
---Source - US News Graduate School Rankings 2010

Also, don't some classes in Suffolk (CivPro) just use the horn book for their textbook?

Funny, they use that kind of strategy in the high schools with low MCAS pass rates.

110- stfu

110 - You must be a TTTT Suffolk grad since you are reporting FALSIFIED FACTS:

BC Bar Passage Rate - 94.0
BU Bar Passage Rate - 93.7
Suffolk Bar Passage Rate - 86.1
MA State Average - 86.1
---Source - US News Graduate School Rankings 2010

Also, don't some classes in Suffolk just use the horn book for their textbook? (CivPro?)

Funny, they use that kind of strategy in the high schools with low MCAS pass rates.

151 surely someone in Boston could give you a hug...

148/150/151: You are correct about using the horn book in civpro, but that is because the book was written by a Suffolk professor (Glannon).

- Not 110

Apparently above the law didn't get the memo that Maine Law sent out an "employment opportunity" - a practicing lawyer in the state was looking for some good students to PAINT HIS BARN. No joke. While I guess it is a mindless way to make money while studying for the bar, I think there were a lot of unemployed students insulted.

Maine blasted onto the top 100 schools this year in the rankings, meaning it is neearly ranked higher than Northeastern. Maybe Northeastern OCS can get their massively indebted students jobs painting the crackhouses in Roxbury.

148/150/151 - you forgot Northeastern's rate - 87.1% for the class of 2007 (most recent I could find). Northeastern = Suffolk = Bunker Hill Community College.

This is what good first years do!

I'm surprised nobody has commented towards the notion that BU and BC got this posting a month ago...how about reading into that. Recent Suffolk graduates weren't even included in Weil's first call for resumes for the paralegal spot. LOL They wanted to make sure they couldn't fill the spot with a desperate BU or BC student before "resorting" to Suffolk.

everyone who has a job raise your hand and get back to your doc review and crushing debt. everyone else=STFU. eek.

The Submarine be submerged--
what next dishwasher openings
at country buffet or sizzler.

151 = TTT associate working for a Suffolk law grad.

121

fail.

he means even if you dont need the loan but qualfiy for subsidized loan take it-then put the money into tuition and the money that would have been used for tutition that was instead payed with borrowed funds gains investment returns while your subsidized loan is at 0% while in school.

anyone with any brain whos momy and daddy are paying for school or are independently wealthy is doing this...it isnt illegal

Just for the record:

BC attorneys at Weil: 77

BU attorneys at Weil: 31

Suffolk attorneys at Weil: 4. Two partners, one counsel, and one associate

Northeastern attorneys at Weil: one junior associate.

No wonder Northeastern didn't get this paralegal listing.

157 - Suffolk got the e-mail over a month ago as well. Dope. Someone just sent it in recently.

113 - They didn't send it to Harvard because the only thing Harvard kids are good for is impressing clients on a website. For any other position other than teaching or degree is worthless.

And the bar passage rate this year was 94.8% for the MA bar for first time takers. That wasn't "fake info."

I know a para at a biglaw in Boston who made 100K with some overtime. Not a bad gig. Most lawyers will never make that.

149 -- Thanks for bringing some perspective to this conversation.

How does three years at Suffolk Law qualify someone to work as a paralegal at Weil ? Can any of them lift 20 pounds?

157 -- It's a good thing you put "resorting" in quotes. Geek.

Sounds like a good learning and networking opportunity. Why complain?

I let a Boston chick shit on my chest once, but after about 4 minutes of constant fecal flow, I passed out. I woke up missing a kidney and my wallet. -- You were warned.

∞¥

hahaha. I wonder if Suffolk Law is even worse than the Michigan State University College of Law.

SMU? Why no letter to SMU? Why Weil hate the SMU? Maybe SMU no want you.

SmuSmu

Seriously, I love lawyers. It takes a special type of evil to think of getting someone who has spent three years in law school to do paralegal work. Anyone who went to Suffolk Law ought to choose mowing lawns to make ends meet before agreeing to be a paralegal at a big law firm. There is that little thing called human dignity right? ATL should definitely follow up on this story. Will Weil get a bite? Will they reel that little fish in and make them grateful for the opportunity to associate with a top law firm?

Mystal should be the guy who delivers bagels and muffins to everyone....oh wait.... I guess people would actually want to get bagels and muffins delivered and not just have Mystal walking around with an empty food cart

How are they going to enforce the 2-year commitment? Sue the paralegal if he leaves after 6 months? Unlikely. Could the paralegal sue the firm if the firm tries to lay them off before the two-year mark? I'd love to see that employment contract.

#63 in spot on as to why Sufolk is now a shithole. Suffolk law in the poster child of the TTT scam. It is the NYLS of Boston. They just flushed out 500 grads!! These kids have NOOO hope of ever being employed. In fact they will never own a home, and if they own a car, they will be living in it. 150K for a degree that is fucking worthless!

#63 in spot on as to why Sufolk is now a shithole. Suffolk law in the poster child of the TTT scam. It is the NYLS of Boston. They just flushed out 500 grads!! These kids have NOOO hope of ever being employed. In fact they will never own a home, and if they own a car, they will be living in it. 150K for a degree that is fucking worthless!

#63 in spot on as to why Suffolk is now a shithole. Suffolk law in the poster child of the TTT scam. It is the NYLS of Boston. They just flushed out 500 grads!! These kids have NOOO hope of ever being employed. In fact they will never own a home, and if they own a car, they will be living in it. 150K for a degree that is fucking worthless!

Hey guys.

174 = Suffolk Law rising 3L

(Don't worry son, by the time you get out next year you won't have to worry about "taking" a para job at a prestigous law firm, because even that job will be too hard to get).

What is a SMU?

Any corporate counsel or other non-litigation attorney wasted their money going to law school. The only thing a law degree is good for (from any school) is to convince the bar to allow you to practice before their courts. Anyone else is just a paralegal with a fancy title.

But here's the question: If most firms are deferring start dates and thousands of lawyers have lost their jobs, where are recent law school grads (BC/BU/Suffolk/Northeastern) supposed to work right now?

142-Well Said

Sense of entitlement? Yeah, we should have one. We are part of the learned professions. Partner, how can you act devoid to the idea of entitlement when we are purposely entering into one of the few learned professions. If you do not have a sense of entitilement upon graduating then you are as good as a masochist who enjoys the torture of three years of rigorous training.

I am in now way suggesting that jobs should be handed to us. I graduated middle of the pack and was laughed out of OCI. So, I went on my own, papered the town, and eventually, I landed a job. As such, I do think that a lot of law students expect to be handed a job (even expecting CSO to do such). I certainly do not agree with this expectation, but it is not unreasonable, in my opinion, for a law student to expect a high paying job with a prestigious title!!

First year associate = paralegal with a j/d

150 - LOL - Ranking on Suffolk Civ Pro. classes - a class taught by Prof. Glannon himself!

150 - LOL - Ranking on Suffolk Civ Pro. classes - a class taught by Prof. Glannon himself!

Wow so much hate here! Suffolk is a good school with a good reputation. Unfortunately the career center made a mistake but that's no reason to write such spiteful remarks!

Here's what I want to know. Suppose Weil asks you if you plan on staying for at least two years, and you say yes. And suppose they rely on your promise to their detriment. And then after six months, you get a job somewhere else and quit. I know the usual rule is employment-at-will, and there is no enforceable contract here, but is there anything they could do? Does the Restatement have anything to say about this?

I hate UVA because they are all white and take field trips to the Polo outlets.

What can one say about Suffolk Law that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan?

What can one say about Suffolk Law that hasn't already been said about Afghanistan?

Boston College is the Yale of TTT

To 177-179, SULS grad here at V30 making bank. Have been watching entitled pansies such as yourself get laid off for performance and economic reasons for 4 years now. I could have transferred into your law school an powned you then but chose to take the scholarship and get a great education, moot court and journal experience at Suffolk and pown you now...do you have any idea how easy it is for hungry Suffolk law students to out work self entitled pricks such as yourself? Btw you better have those doc review summaries on my desk by 9am tomorrow.

insulting

This thread got mildly entertaining (which is VERY entertaining for ATL standards). I didn't know Suffolk grads were as insecure as UPenn State grads. Keep up the Suffolk posts.

195 is credited.

UPenn State has a law school? Next you'll tell me Loyola Marymount has a law school.

134,

I can believe that a Suffolk grad is an appellate court clerk, I have trouble with your story though.

First, why would a former SCOTUS clerk be on ATL? If you were there in '02, you should be a of counsel or partner by now -- and way too busy to be on ATL, must less reading/making comments.

Second, the few SCOTUS clerks I have encountered don't document their say as "SCOTUS '02" - they include the entire term of their service, e.g. "SCOTUS, 00-02" when necessary. And responding to an anonymous blog post hardly calls for a date range.

Instead, I think you're a 2L at Northeastern or maybe BC or BU, with a job in the copyroom of a firm.

- Not Suffolk

Ugh. Just, ugh.

I just feel sad about what's happening to this profession.

To 92: California paralegals are not certified. There is no such thing as a certified paralegal in the US. No California paralegal has ever earned 200K - think about it - what would this paralegal's billing rate have to be to justify 200K ?

It would be foolish to think that a paralegal with 2 yrs exp would make as much as an incoming associate.

To 166: A paralegal making 100K is working so much overtime that she would have no private life.

Finally, the great majority of paralegals leave the field in less than 10 years. This would not be true if the salaries were so fabulous.

Will these offers be deferred?

Is that the next step--JD paralegals suffer
stealth layoffs in performance reviews?

Secure Seton Hall paralegal at Orrick

202 isn't quite right re paralegal certification. CA law requires paralegals to have a certificate of completion from an ABA-approved paralegal program, a certificate of completion from a non-ABA paralegal program that meets certain requirements, or a four-year degree + a year of legal experience + a written declaration from an attorney that the person is qualified to act as a paralegal. Most new paralegals qualify one of the first two ways, and are generally referred to as certified paralegals. CA also requires MCLE for paralegals. The junior associate v. paralegal flame war in this thread is pointless; they're very different jobs, with different skill sets. There's not much overlap between the work I give our paralegals and the work I give junior associates.

I would rather die.
-Unemployed T25 Grad, Class of 2009

Just another reason why Weil is awful.

To 204: You have proved my point. There is no such thing as a certified paralegal in California.

Having a "certificate of completion from a non-ABA paralegal program" is certainly, in no meaning of the word, the same as being "certified" which implies that a certain official standard has been met - as in Certified Public Accountant.

"Generally referring" to a paralegal as being "certified" means absolutely nothing but appears to be a feeble attempt to confer some sort of unearned status.

A paralegal without a certificate of completion can do the exact same job as any other paralegal.

As mentioned above, paralegal work is a dead-end job which is why so few paralegal stay on the job for any length of time.

Well lawyers have the highest suicide rates
among occupations. Paralegals are said
to have one of the highest income/job satisfaction
careers.

So who cares anyway

200 - I think you meant "much less," not "must less."

195 is correct. I'm a Suffolk grad, too (v20). I may have attended a not so great school because I was a poor test-taker when I was 21 years old (except for the bar-first time passer-good luck posters 1-151) and had few options. That made me hungry and on the hustle during law school and after graduation. I WORKED during law school at a firm and gained experience drafting briefs and attending depos, etc. After a small firm job, I lateraled.

In the new legal climate, which is shredded and evolving from what it used to be, nothing is handed to you. Good like to everyone w/ t-14 entitlement. You'll need it (unless you're Yale/Yale- you "superstars" are still worshiped right out of law school).

195 "making bank"

enjoy your 1L summer - toolbag

First-year associates have always been glorified, overpaid paralegals. It's nice that Weil is finally calling them what they really are and paying them accordingly.

Wouldn't the grads rather work at Mr. Smiley's?

195 ftw

Biglaw paralegals make more than many mid-law associates, especially associates working in areas like insurance defense. A paralegal with 5+ years experience can easily make more than 100k in major markets. But, they work big-law hours for that pay. Because those hours are not really sustainable over the long run, most leave to do something else. It isn't any easier for a paralegalto bill 2500 hours than it is for an attorney.

Biglaw paralegals do completely mind-numbing work. The majority of their work consists of making copies and proofreading. This work is vital, and requires someone smart and very very detail oriented - they are given tasks that secretaries and the duplicating center cannot be trusted with. My paralegals are MUCH more detail oriented than I am, and I depend on them to catch detail-level mistakes that I make. I'd be lost without them. But, the job is nonetheless mind-numbing. Most people that go to law school have at least some intellectual curiosity, and would not want to spend their lives doing that kind of work, and would rather make 50k doing substantive work at a small firm.

If I had only those options, I would rather make 50k/yr running my own cases, with a moderate hope of better long-term earning potential, than 100k/yr making copies with no hope for intellectual advancement.

On the other hand, if I were a 25 year old 2009 grad with huge loans, no prospect for a biglaw associate gig, and had decided I didn't really want to practice law after all, a biglaw paralegal job would be an attractive way to pay off loans before transitioning into another career that will likely pay less.

Business is business. I'm at a small firm that blew apart during my frist month there (most of the partners bolted). I'm making less than the median middle class income level for New York City, but I'm just glad to have a jbo in this market. Do I hate my life? Sometimes. It's a bummer having so much mounting debt that I can't even afford to eat out with friends or go to bars (when I do, I find non-alcoholic beverages much more affordable at $5-$10 each for water and some added carbon dioxide).

It's possible the paralegal will get paid more than me. Whoever gets it should be thankful. I have friends that graduated from Tier 1 (as in, "Top 50," not "Top 100") with honors in May 2008 who still have no paying job (all of them volunteer 3-5 days a week).

ATL needs to write an article about what 1st years, or those who just got admitted to LS, are planning to do now that the bottom has clearly dropped out of the market.

ATL, thanks for deleting my corrected post and leaving up the original (with errors).

-216

super article thanks

@117 - I can't believe you are complaining about a posting for a legislative clerk gig - helping to draft legislation and making great contacts in Vermont. For someone who wants to live in Vt that would be a great gig to start at. You did a great service by posting that ad here - I'm sure someone will take that position out of consideration.

All this whining about the two year commitment is why people should have to work in real jobs (yes, even as paralegals before going to law school). They ask for the commitment, you make it, then you leave when you want. However, you will probably not get a party on the way out.

Wanted: JD graduate to mow my yard. Will pay $15 per mowing, 1 glass of water provided. Law review, top 15%, and bar admission required.

Grow up boys and girls - I am my own paralegal between court appearances and meeting with clients. Swallow your pride and get paid more handsomely than many of your classmates will be, walking the street with resumes and sheepskin.

211- I see your T1 education hasn't improved your reading comprehension skills. I enjoyed my summer over five years ago, you dolt and have enjoyed making bank ever since.

I'm a 2008 law school graduate from a Tier 1 school. After several months of looking for a job, I responded to an ad in a local paper for a legal assistant position at a major law firm. It should be noted that in my experience, legal assistant positions are below that of paralegals. I applied, was interviewed, and got the job. The boss was initially reluctant to hire me because he didn't think a JD could be fulfilled doing that kind of work. I responded that anything that put food on the table met the definition of fulfilling in this economy. I was initially put under the supervision of a legal assitant who didn't even have a college degree. However, I kept a good attitude, did my work, and did everything I could to prove myself.

A year later, I'm a full-fledged associate at the same firm. Like 223 I am my own paralegal between court appearances and meetings with clients. However, I'm raking in the money and the firm continues to expand its opportunities for me.

If I'd been as snooty as some of you are being about legal assitant work, I'd probably be waiting tables at Applebee's...a job I know that quite a few of my higher ranked classmates have. Bottom line, in this economy, if you want to eat, don't be a snob when it comes to job opportunities.

Suffolk is the Afghanistan of Law Schools.

Suffolk is the Afghanistan of Law Schools.

Suffolk is the Northeastern of law skools.

Suffolk is the Octomoms of Angelina Jolies

Suffolk is the Aileen Wuornos of Charlize Therons

Two year commitment? Or else what? Does that mean that the law firm is guaranteeing employment for two years?

You know para jobs overlap with first and second years and they do a much better job at lower cost.

I love the arrogant paralegal hate. I have several friends who have their JD that make much less than I do. I have no loans, work less hours and I have a life outside of work. The difference is that I work at a large international firm and I have a specialty and they work at smaller firms.

57 - to serve your ignorance, please note that the Suffolk bar passage rate for first time test takers was 94.3% this past year (summer 08). This was 2% higher than the overall MA passage rate and tied with BC Law for 3rd in the state. So, when you want to diss that school on the hill, make sure you have you have your stats right.

Oh and get a life and stop trolling these stupid sites to bash Suffolk 24/7.

Lots of paralegals in LA make over six figures without ridiculous amounts of overtime. A few of them have JDs. Lots of JDs in LA are unemployed or are contract attorneys in a cubicle doing doc review.

Swallow your pride, remain optimistic, and accept that sometimes you have to be creative to achieve your goals. I graduated from a T20 law school and accepted a position as a legal assistant to earn some money while looking for an attorney position. Within two months, my boss promoted me to attorney when another attorney left. A temporary position became a full time position that I loved. Have a little faith.

Question the validity of this article - Suffolk Law uses Symplicity and there is no other "job board."

There is also no e-mailed postings to candidates or recent graduates from potential employers. How on earth would these employers (i.e. Weil) get the addresses/email addresses of recent graduates? This information is confidential, protected by privacy laws, etc.

Above The Law should really verify their leads and their info before posting such scandalous accusations on their blog.

237 -

You are a retard. Career Services probably sends out Symplicity posting updates via email.