Catherine Rampell

If College Is The New High School, Is Law School The New Liberal Arts College?

Does degree inflation lead people to get too much education?

Morning Docket: 11.22.12

* We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: administrations of the LSAT plunge further, reaching their lowest level since 1999. [Economix / New York Times] * We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: judges are still offering unpaid clerkships (even though the days of law firm deferrals are behind us). [Salon] * We’ve discussed this trend before, and it continues: law schools sometimes discriminate against conservatives, as jurors from the Teresa Wagner trial told Iowa’s leading newspaper. [Des Moines Register] * Are you mooching off of someone else’s wireless internet? If so, consider yourself warned. [WSJ Law Blog] * Are you a lover of Twinkies? If so, consider yourself warned (although it’s possible that a buyer might snap up the Twinkies brand). [DealBook / New York Times] * Seven Am Law 200 firms are saying YES to work on a billion-dollar deal. [Am Law Daily]

Non-Sequiturs: 07.16.12

* I thought Def Leppard got a cut every time a stripper takes off her clothes. [Legal Blog Watch] * Catherine Rampell tackles the sputtering lawyer salaries numbers. Yes, to the New York Times, you listen. [Economix / New York Times] * Oh nepotism, the thing that proves that it’s better to be lucky than good. [Wise Law NY] * It’s kind of funny if your entire document production can be flummoxed by a squirrel. [Wired] * The New York City Bar association is putting together a task force of people to look at the terrible legal job market. You know who isn’t trying to come up with the a response to the terrible market? It rhymes with American Bulls**ttar Association. [WSJ Law Blog]

Dewey Have Career Advice for Incoming and Summer Associates?

What should law students who were scheduled to be working at Dewey & LeBoeuf do now?

Is A Law Degree Still The Best Way To Get Into Politics?

And now we come to the real reason I, and so many others, went to law school: I wanted to go into politics. Before I was married, before my father’s name recognition spiked, before I was in debt, before I realized I had no talent asking people for money, I thought elected office was in […]

The Price of Prestige: Clerkship Application Chaos

Over the weekend, we mentioned a very interesting New York Times article on the chaotic state of the clerkship application process, and said we'd have more to say about it later. Well, now is later, quite a bit later -- so let's discuss....

Quote of the Day: The Early Bird Gets the Worm

At birth. — Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, explaining when he begins recruiting law clerks. (Chief Judge Kozinski is quoted in a very interesting New York Times article on the chaotic state of the clerkship application process, which we’ll have more to say about later.) UPDATE […]

Not on the Partner Track — and Maybe That’s Okay

Today’s New York Times has a front-page story by Catherine Rampell entitled At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner. The article focuses on the phenomenon of “career associates” or “permanent associates” at large law firms. These lawyers are not eligible for partnership consideration and earn less than traditional associates, but they do enjoy a better […]