Slate

In Defense of Going to Law School: A Prudential Perspective (Part 2)

By

On the Quote of the Day posted over the weekend, a commenter wrote: “In my head I’ve changed the name of this blog from ‘Above the Law’ to ‘The law is f**king stupid and dumb and anyone who goes into it is an idiot forever and did I mention it’s dumb.’ There are still reasons to pursue law.”

This is a fair point. Here at ATL, we do want to encourage debate about the value of a legal education, and we do want people who are thinking of going to law school — many of whom read this site — to go to law school for good reasons, after engaging in sufficient reflection and research. But we don’t want readers to mistake this site for one of the “law school scam” blogs, or to think that we’re opposed to law school for all people under all circumstances. (Of course we aren’t, if for no reason other than self-interest: the more law students and lawyers out there, the more potential readers for Above the Law.)

We’ve previously written in defense of going to law school. See, e.g., my post with that very title.

And last month we solicited from you, our readers, some pro-law-school thoughts. Let’s explore some of them, shall we?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “In Defense of Going to Law School: A Prudential Perspective (Part 2)”

54 Comments

Non-Sequiturs: 11.08.10

By

* Everyone’s favorite anti-gay crusader, Andrew Shirvell (pictured), has been suspended. [TPM Muckraker]

UPDATE: Shirvell just got fired, according to the Detroit Free Press, “for conduct unbecoming a state employee” (including misuse of state resources).

* Our colleague Bess Levin wants to know: Does Wall Street have a problem with felony charges? [Dealbreaker]

* Professor Ann Althouse wonders why people are talking about marrying tables and clocks. Personally we prefer shoe marriage. [Althouse]

* Professor Tim Wu, something of a cult figure at Columbia Law, is writing a week-long series of posts over at Slate based on his new book, The Master Switch. [Slate]

* Is NYU Law gearing up for Above the Law’s next Law Revue Video Contest? Here’s a musical tribute to the Erie Doctrine. [bl1y]

* What do military leaders think of a possible “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal? [Metro Weekly]

* Congrats to Seattle attorney Anne Bremner, who appears on this list of 10 famous defense lawyers (despite her own recent brush with the law). [Criminal Justice Degrees]

15 Comments

Yes, We’ve Seen the Slate Article on Law Schools

By

So you want to go to law school....

It’s a very thorough compilation, for a general-interest audience, of developments that we’ve already covered in these pages. The subtitle sums up the piece quite well: “Law schools are manufacturing more lawyers than America needs, and law students aren’t happy about it.”

We’re not sure what else to say about it, since we’ve opined at length on many of these depressing realities: the cratering legal job market, the oversupply of lawyers, the rise in law school tuition, the crushing educational debt (generally not dischargeable in bankruptcy), the misleading data used by law schools to lure in students, and the American Bar Association’s inability (or refusal) to stop new law schools from sprouting like weeds….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Yes, We’ve Seen the Slate Article on Law Schools”

42 Comments

In Defense of Going to Law School: A Prudential Perspective

By

A prudential perspective, because it appeared in Slate’s advice column, Dear Prudence (alongside an inquiry from a woman dating a wonderful man who unfortunately has a “micropenis”):

Dear Prudence,

I am just a little over a year away from becoming a lawyer, and I’m miserable because I hate it. I wasn’t forced into the profession. I just mistakenly believed that since I loved to read and debate, law was the natural progression. But I don’t like law, and I’m not applying myself to it wholeheartedly. I can’t imagine being in this field for the rest of my life or even a few years. My parents have sacrificed and spent so much on my education, and I have no idea how to tell them that I made a mistake. Worse, my mom thinks this is my dream, and I don’t have the heart to tell her that it isn’t. The only thing that really brings me joy is escaping into books that have nothing to do with law. Please help me.

—Inadmissible

So what did Prudence say to “Inadmissible”?

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “In Defense of Going to Law School: A Prudential Perspective”

54 Comments
Page 2 of 212