Boston College Law School Has A Plan For Its Jobless 1Ls and 2Ls

Career service offices can be scary places these days, given the tough job-searching environment for law school students. The summer plans of many 1Ls and 2Ls are still up in the air this year, as firm offers are sparse.
Many law school students have given up hope of finding a job. One law school may be giving up hope too. Boston College Law School is considering an alternative to a summer gig: summer classes.
From an email sent out by BC Law Associate Dean Mike Cassidy:

We have heard from many students that the summer legal job market is very difficult, and that if there were an option to earn credit for summer study (while perhaps working in a non legal setting to pay the bills) some students might find this option very attractive, especially if it would help them accelerate their degrees.

So BC students may be able to spend the summer working as Starbucks baristas while taking classes. Are they really raring to finish up their degrees and get into the job market for real?


If you have no job offer this summer, you could spend the summer getting a headstart researching LLM program options. Or you could increase your student debt by using some of that loan money to travel. Or you could just watch Real World marathons on MTV every day…
Given the options, maybe summer school’s not so bad. What do you think?

Here’s the full email from Dean Cassidy:
EMAIL FROM BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL ASSOCIATE DEAN MICHAEL CASSIDY
Dear 1L and 2L students:
The Law School is considering offering law courses this summer. We have not, within several decades, offered summer law courses here at the law school. Nor do our present Academic Policies and Procedures allow us to accept summer credits from other law school programs.
We have heard from many students that the summer legal job market is very difficult, and that if there were an option to earn credit for summer study (while perhaps working in a non legal setting to pay the bills) some students might find this option very attractive, especially if it would help them accelerate their degrees.
Before we go down this road in deciding whether to offer law courses in the summer of 2010, the administration would like to gauge the level of student interest. We have developed a summer study survey (linked below) to assess the demand. I would
appreciate it if you would take a few moments to complete this survey. It shouldn’t take you any more than fifteen minutes. The password on Survey Monkey is REDACTED.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s_pass.aspx?sm=98WbJbvEcs5g9GzCUac8gQ%3d%3d
If you have any problems accessing or completing the survey on line, please see my Assistant…
Best,
Dean Cassidy
R. Michael Cassidy
Professor of Law and
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Boston College Law School

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