How Many Jaded Attorneys Does It Take to Discourage One Law Student?

It has been a while since we’ve had one of these cut-rate animation movies discouraging people from going to law school. There have been some great ones in the past: A Law School Carol springs to mind, as well as Don’t Go To Law School.

There was a time when I thought little video clips like the two above would actually help someone. I thought that if people won’t listen to the shrill voices of people like me, they might take advice from Lego-lookalikes speaking in a dull monotone.

But those were the heady days of 2009, when the craptastic state of the legal economy finally started to seep into the consciousness of prospective law students and lawyers. Now, thanks to the Great Recession, there’s less of a need to educate prospective law students about what they’re getting themselves into. Now, these little videos aren’t important teachable moments, they’re simply fun opportunities to make fun of people who fail to look out for themselves. They are opportunities for those who have been through the law school wringer to sit back and enjoy themselves — and exchange knowing glances among fellow colleagues.

The one we just came across today hits exactly the right note…

This little clip nicely summarizes everything you’ve ever heard from a prospective law student or current law student applying for a job:

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Remember when you were seven and you lied to your parents? And you thought you were so sneaky and clever? But then you hit 17 or 27 (or had a seven-year-old of your own), and it dawned on you that the lies you told were pathetically transparent to any adult with half a brain?

That’s the same process you go through from being a person taking the LSAT to a person saddled with six figures of debt and 300 more hours to bill to make your bonus. If you could go back and talk to the prospective law student version of yourself, wouldn’t you just wring yourself by the neck and say, “You know, even if you are going to act this stupid, there’s no need to sound this stupid.”

This clip made me think of all of that. Pretty good for Lego legal types speaking in monotone.

And if you happen to know a prospective law student with his or her head still firmly in the sand, forward this clip along. The message is so obvious now it’s getting very hard to ignore.

UPDATE: The video was created by Virginia lawyer David Kazzie. Read more about him here.

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So You Want to Go to Law School [YouTube]