Job Searches, Law Schools

The Closing Of A Law School Does Not Devalue The Degree

How should employers interpret the closure, and how can the law school minimize the damage?

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Chalkboard closed blackboardThe announcement of the closure of Whitter Law School a few weeks ago made national news and was the office water-cooler topic of the week at every law firm. The school’s current students did not take the news lying down. Some of them protested at the main College. Others, with the help of alumni, are taking or contemplating legal action to stop the closure.

There are a number of reasons for students and alumni to be upset. But their biggest and most immediate fear is that the closure would have a negative effect on the value of their law degrees.

So let’s look at whether this fear is justified, how employers should interpret the closure, and how Whittier Law School can help its remaining students.

Is their fear justified?

Current Whitter law students are understandably worried that the news
of the closure will make it harder for them to find jobs during and after graduation. When it comes to hiring new lawyers, employers have little to rely on other than the reputation of the law school. While mid-career lawyers can rely more on their professional experience, certain firms will not consider anyone who does not meet their academic requirements.

So to help answer this question, we should look at Whittier’s historic employment statistics. Whittier consistently has had one of the worst post-graduate employment outcomes of all ABA-accredited schools. One reason for this is the consistently poor bar passage rates in recent years. But another reason is that most Whittier graduates plan to practice law in Southern California, a region saturated with lawyers. The area has nine ABA-accredited law schools and a number of state-accredited schools, making the job market highly competitive. Even graduates of the better-ranked schools have trouble finding jobs.

So to put it bluntly, the news of Whittier’s closure may make their graduates’ job search more difficult. But it has always been that way.

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How should employers interpret the closure?

Employers should evaluate and hire people based on their individual merits and potential. For employers wondering whether they should take a chance on a graduate from a soon-to-be-defunct law school, they should consider a few things.

First, if they hired people from Whittier in the past and it worked out well for them, it doesn’t make sense to change their ways just because the school is closing.

Also, look at why the school is closing. In Whittier’s case, the decision to close was all about money. Enrollment has declined for several years, and the law school stands to operate at a loss. Whitter College does not believe enrollment will rebound to the numbers fifteen years ago. It seems like Whittier College looked at several options to keep the school open but none seemed financially feasible.

So how can the law school minimize the damage?

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Now that Whittier is like the supervisor who has a set retirement date with nothing to lose, I hope the law school will take huge liberties with the remainder of its curriculum in order to help their remaining students.

The first thing the school can do is to modify its curved grading system. We all know that low-ranked law schools have cruel grading systems that are mainly designed for their own interests. I am not saying that a bad test taker should get an A. What I am saying is that a B+ student should get a B+, not a C in service of some nonsensical normalized distribution curve.

I suspect that most Whittier students finishing their 1L year will “transfer up” if given the opportunity. So the second thing the school can do is make it easier for them to do so. Professors should be more passionate than usual when writing their letters of recommendation. And be generous when it comes to distributing class rank. While I won’t get into details here, let’s just say that I don’t see the need to distinguish two or more students who have a mere .0001 difference in their GPA.

Finally, for those who stay the third year, the entire year should be devoted exclusively to bar exam preparation classes and job searching. Vanity classes (like Spanish and the Law) should be cut altogether. I’d give an exception for externships at a law firm or a judge’s office, but only if the student can prove that he can pass the bar exam on the first try.

On a very basic level, a JD degree from Whittier Law School has value. It allows a graduate to practice law anywhere in the U.S. so long as they pass the state’s bar examination and a background check. And one’s ultimate career success depends on a unique, unknown combination of talent, persistence, and luck.

But the news of Whittier Law School’s closure is worrying their students. Even though this should be irrelevant to employers, it will stay in their minds for some time. During its final days, the law school should do its best to help its remaining students transfer or ensure they are prepared to pass the bar and practice law.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

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