Law School Gives Up On Actually Trying To Get Grads A Real Job

There is going to be a doc review shop at a law school. And apparently the law school is okay with that, even excited.

Bert and Ernie. Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Some things just go together; these natural partnerships add up to more than the sum of their parts. So when I came across a press release announcing a partnership between an ediscovery vendor and a law school, it made perfect…

Wait.

What?

There is going to be a doc review shop at a law school. And apparently the law school is okay with that, even excited.

What exactly is going on here?

I like to know what’s going on in the ediscovery industry, and I was just tooling around on the internets when I stumbled upon a press release that stopped me in my tracks.

Sponsored

In perfect step with cicayda’s premium delivery of software and services in eDiscovery, cicayda announces the opening of the eDiscovery Institute & Review Center at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.

Uh-huh. Sure, it’s obviously a benefit for the vendor to have ready access to recent graduates with few prospects, but how is this a good thing for Samford?

Henry C. Strickland, Dean of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, states: “I am excited about this innovative partnership between cicayda and Cumberland School of Law.  It provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring cutting edge legal technology into our law school.  It will provide our graduates employment and experience with fast-changing 21st century legal systems, and it will provide our students and faculty unmatched opportunities to engage with and understand the role of technology in our legal system.”

What. The. S**t. Has Dean Strickland just given up on trying to find his graduates jobs besides document review? It isn’t even clear whether reviewing documents is actually the practice of law.

Sure, document review might be an increasingly important part of the litigation lifecycle. But very few people lay out (or take loans for) over $100k in the “hope” of securing a series of temporary jobs after graduation.

Sponsored

Co-Founder and CEO of cicayda, Roe Frazer is really excited, too. “As a Cumberland graduate, it is thrilling to see my Law School take such a leap into the here and now of the practice of law. Like a number of law schools looking to the future of a challenging profession, Cumberland is pushing its students to understand business and technology. Cicayda wants to empower recent graduates to operate fluidly in a legal environment that is being transformed by technology, giving them DIY opportunities heretofore absent. With the marketplace shifting, schools have increasingly come under fire for being out of touch, but Cumberland is challenging this notion by partnering with cicayda to give their graduates a huge advantage and opportunity.”

I guess the lesson here is be careful when you ask a law school for more practical training. And there is a realistic, if depressing, point here. With an employment after graduation rate of 37 percent, seems likely a lot of Cumberland grads are destined for the contract attorney life. At least Cumberland is up front with their students; you can’t argue you were unaware of your job prospects when there is a document review center on campus. Seriously. On campus.

cicayda announces the opening of the eDiscovery Institute & Review Center at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law [PR Newswire]


Alex Rich is a T14 grad and Biglaw refugee who has worked as a contract attorney for the last 7 years… and counting.  If you have a story about the underbelly of the legal world known as contract work, email Alex at alexrichesq@gmail.com and be sure to follow Alex on Twitter @AlexRichEsq