Law Schools

Mental Health Issues Put Another Elite Law School Under The Magnifying Glass

Hopefully students will get the support they need.

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Earlier this week, we told you about the mental health issues law students at Columbia Law School were experiencing, and how the law school’s administration was making it worse. That story had a positive result, with the powers-that-be at the law school changing course and making structural adaptations to help relieve the stressors on students. But, as we said at the time, Above the Law was certain CLS wasn’t the only school with this issue brewing. Turns out University of Michigan Law School students are pissed at their administration over the lack of support for mental health issues during the pandemic.

Let’s start with the background information: in a student-produced survey, 89 percent of the student-respondents agreed with the statement, “I am worried about my mental health.” Plus an overwhelming 90 percent pointed the finger at the law school agreeing that “the law school has not done enough to support students this semester.” Yikes.

In an opinion piece for student newspaper The Michigan Daily, Jessie Mitchell calls the Fall 2020 semester “downright hellish” for many law students, saying that structural decisions by the administration exacerbated the challenges law students.

In addition to eliminating Fall Break, the Law School also added weekend classes for the fall semester. Unlike the rest of the University, which held classes online after Thanksgiving break, the law school condensed its schedule by holding its last class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

The reason the law school made the compressed schedule was, in a roundabout way, thanks to Biglaw. Since COVID-19 pushed most law schools’ early interview week from the fall to January 2021, the shorter schedule was designed to allow students to have their fall grades in hand before the interview process. Imagine interviewing for the most important job of your life with three whole semesters’ worth of grades in hand! The mind boggles. In any event, Dean Gil Seinfeld notes that the condensed schedule wasn’t ideal but, “All things considered however, this seems the best way to balance the competing needs of our student body.”

Except, was this really the best or only way to get the desired result?

Third-year Law School student Julia Adams disagreed. She argued that the school year could have started a week earlier — an approach adopted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State. Or professors could have been asked to grade a little bit faster this year. The school should have “put the onus on the people being paid,” Adams said, instead of putting students on the “chopping block.”

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And, you know, though Biglaw will figure into many students’ post-graduation plans, it’s far from everyone’s A-plan. But still, everyone had to submit to the immovable force of Biglaw.

The changes to the schedule were far from popular, and the administration did rejigger some things:

After much student advocacy in October 2020, the Law School did make some small changes. Students were given the option to change one grade of a C or higher in both the fall 2020 and winter 2021 term to a “P.” The exam period was also extended, pushed from ending on Dec. 11 to Dec. 14, with professors encouraged to allow students to take their exams at any time within that period.

But a current 3L told Mitchell that the process of changing the administration felt, at times like “trauma porn,” where law students were functionally forced to disclose personal information to see results. Additionally, the law students Mitchell spoke with say the mental health initiatives the law school’s pushing aren’t cutting it:

[R]epeated suggestions from the school about yoga and CAPS [Counseling And Psychological Services] felt insulting in the face of more structural issues facing students.

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Above the Law has heard from many tipsters who echo the concerns detailed in the Michigan Daily article. Let’s hope that things get better in the spring semester.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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