Student Debts
-
Job Searches, Law Professors, Law Schools, Student Loans, Vanderbilt
Quote of the Day: Is Law School Worth It?
[L]aw school is a very risky (and expensive) investment; it should not be entered into lightly…. [E]ach potential student’s calculus will be based on a host of factors unique to him or her. For some, like an English major (relatively low opportunity costs) who gets some scholarship assistance (somewhat lower out-of-pocket costs) to attend Harvard […] -
Education / Schools, Law Schools, New York Times, Practical Law Company (PLC), Student Loans
Pay to Go to Law School or Get Paid to Quit: You Won't Be Learning Anything Either Way
How screwed up is legal education these days? One mainstream publication recently published an article suggesting law students should be paid to not go to law school, while the paper of record noted that nobody learns how to be a lawyer in law school anyway. Welcome to law school, the red-headed stepchild of American professional schools.... - Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls. -
Bar Exams, Job Searches, Law Schools, Money, Rankings, Student Loans
The 'Best Value' Law Schools of 2011, Now With Numerical Rankings and Grades
In August, we reported on National Jurist's list of the 60 Best Value law schools. The list was unranked, but the final tallies for the honor roll have now arrived. In addition to the rankings, National Jurist has given letter grades to the rest of the schools on the list, ranging from A- to F. Wouldn't you hate to be a student or an alumnus of a law school with a failing grade?
-
Job Searches, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans
The 99 Percent's Take On Law School Employment Statistics
Whenever we ask law school deans to explain their BS employment statistics, they just shovel more BS our way. But maybe if students themselves asked where these figures come from, they'd get some straight answers. One student, at a law school that at this point is undisclosed, asked her dean why the school's employment statistics were clearly misleading. And it looks like the dean broke things down for her. She used the information to tell another story of the 99%.... -
Barack Obama, Election 2012, Environment / Environmental Law, Money, Politics, Student Loans
If This Is the Kind of Law Student Who Supports Obama's Debt Relief Plans, the President Is in Trouble
Last week, President Obama announced a "new" plan to help ease the burden of student debts, except it wasn't really new, and it didn't really help. The mainstream media parroted the administration's spin on proposal, but it makes sense that the White House would want to find some students who were also excited about the plan to reduce the Income Based Repayment percentage to 10% in 2012. Well, they found one. And he's a law student.... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Contests, Facebook, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans
Law Students: The ABA Wants to Help You 'Put a Dent in Your Debt'
Here at Above the Law, it seems like we complain about the American Bar Association on an almost daily basis. But you know what? It’s Friday, so we’re going to cut the ABA some slack. We’re a little tardy to the party on this one, but today we have some news for law students that […] -
Law Schools, Money, Quote of the Day, Student Loans
Quote of the Day: The Island of Misfit Lawyers?
Make a law that for every student graduating from law school, he replaces an existing lawyer. That existing lawyer is then sent to an island to make dog bonnets and leg warmers. In a way, it’s a lottery designed to dissuade people from wanting to be lawyers, and increase the quality of our nation’s dog […] -
Bankruptcy, Non-Sequiturs, Student Loans, Wal-Mart
Non-Sequiturs: 10.27.11
* A tipster says: “The worst thing about the Blackberry outage was having to admit to your clients that you still use a Blackberry.” [Venture Beat] * Two words: donkey hooker. [The Legal Satyricon] * Glenn Reynolds has, like, the answer to how we should handle student debts in bankruptcy. [Instapundit via The Volokh Conspiracy] […] - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
Bankruptcy, Barack Obama, Education / Schools, Law Schools, Politics, Student Loans
Obama's 'New' Plans For Student Debt Are Not New In Any Way
Yesterday, President Obama announced "new" programs to help students in debt. At least, he wants the media to report these programs as "new." Those who have been paying attention, such as debt-saddled law students, will recognize that there is very little "new" about these programs.... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Election 2012, Law Schools, Politics, Student Loans
Another Senator Wants to Hop on the Occupy the ABA Bandwagon
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), come on down! Okay, I’m sure Senator Coburn wouldn’t put it this way, but you can count him as the latest Senate member who has joined the fight for something that the Occupy Wall Street people should really care about. He wants there to be more transparency when it comes to […] -
Law Schools, Legal Ethics, State Judges, Student Loans
New York Post Tells Law Grads to Go Away
A lovely editorial in the New York Post showed a total lack of understanding about the problems lawyers and recent law grads are facing. You should see it, because sometimes it's easy for lawyers to forget just how much the outside world hates them. Maybe if more prospective law students knew how much everybody else dislikes them, there would actually be fewer unemployed lawyers walking around in need of help.... -
Free Speech, Money, Student Loans, Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street Needs To Occupy A Library
No mob has ever changed the course of history. For the last two weeks, the Occupy Wall Street people have been a mob. A leaderless, unfocused, and harmless mob. They're not even violent. And so they are (for some) easy to dismiss, ignore, and deride. The Occupy Wall Street people have no frame of reference; they're just out of their element.... -
Family Law, Kids, Law Schools, Money, Pregnancy / Paternity, Student Loans
Paying For Law School, One Kid At A Time
When enterprising Ben Seisler ran short on cash in law school, he didn’t get some boring old job at the library. The UVA graduate put his education to use, realizing that -- like Dorothy and her ruby slippers -- he had been sitting on top of a gold mine all along. Literally. The gold mine, it turns out, was located in Ben’s pants....
Sponsored
Sponsored
Generative AI In Legal Work — What’s Fact And What’s Fiction?
Zach Warren from the Thomson Reuters Institute discusses the potential and the pitfalls.
Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms.
Sponsored
Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve
The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…
Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so…
-
American Bar Association / ABA, Federal Government, Law Schools, Money, Politics, Student Loans
Two Petitions of Possible Interest
Two petitions of possible interest showed up in our inbox today: 1. In favor of student loan forgiveness: This petition, reminiscent of Elie Mystal’s call for a student loan bailout, “strongly encourage[s] Congress and the President to support H. Res. 365, introduced by Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-MI), seeking student loan forgiveness as a means of […] -
Education / Schools, Interview Stories, Job Searches, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans, Summer Associates
An Update on the 1L Who Considered Dropping Out (But Didn't)
Not all of our coverage of law schools is depressing; we bring you happy stories as well. Let's continue the good cheer. Back in the spring, we wrote about a law student who was thinking of dropping out of school. He sought our advice -- and, surprisingly enough, Elie Mystal advised this fellow to stay in school (even though Elie is generally not a fan of legal education). Some commenters disagreed with Elie (shocker), and urged the kid to drop out. But now we bring you an update suggesting that perhaps Elie's advice was sound.... -
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Job Searches, Law Schools, Paralegals, Reader Polls, Student Loans
Should This Young Woman Go to Law School?
A bright, 23-year-old woman is thinking of going to law school. Should she do it? Let's learn about the particulars of her case.... -
American Constitution Society (ACS), Ann Althouse, Fast Food, Law Schools, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Securities and Exchange Commission, Student Loans, Technology
Non-Sequiturs: 08.26.11
* What can law firms learn from Folgers crystals? Maybe how to provide legal services rich enough to be served to America’s finest corporations. [What About Clients?] * A look at what $100,000 in law school loans could have purchased instead — e.g., 505,050 chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. [Constitutional Daily] * What kind of “reasonable […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans, Unemployment
In This Economy, What's the New Meaning of JD?
Gone are the days when earning a JD meant having automatic employment prospects. Gone are the days when having student loans wasn't completely debilitating. These days, the JD has taken on a new meaning. It doesn't just mean Juris Doctor anymore. These two are a little more fitting: Job Dilemma and Jumbo Dumbass. The Connecticut Law Tribune has come out with an informative piece just in time for new 1Ls to realize that they may have embarked upon a six-figure mistake.... -
Bar Exams, Job Searches, Law Schools, Rankings, Student Loans
The 'Best Value' Law Schools of 2011
The National Jurist has released the fifth annual list of the 60 Best Value law schools. But this year, the National Jurist made some adjustments to its rankings methodology to account for "fairness." Everyone gets a trophy in this year's Best Value rankings. You may be surprised at some of the law schools that made this year's Best Value honor roll. Check and see if your school made the list.... -
Health Care / Medicine, Money, Student Loans, United Kingdom / Great Britain
The New Way To Pay Back Educational Debt: Sell A Kidney!
My wife and I have made this proposal to our Harvard creditors: they forgive our debt, we give the school a baby. A “pure-bred” Harvard baby that Harvard can dress up or perform experiments on or whatever. It will have to be a black baby, which might underwhelm some Harvard officials, but that’s got to […]