From J.D. to Food Stamps: The Personal Cost of Going to Law School
A recent grad qualifies for food stamps, and the other costs of going to law school...
Morning Docket: 04.10.12
* With help from Fenwick & West, Facebook snatched up Instagram in a $1B deal that closed in just 54 hours. That’s a big accomplishment, but the bigger one was valuing a company that helps f**k up your photos at such a high price. [Am Law Daily] * Senator Dick Durbin is trying to collect stories about soul-crushing law school debt in an effort to reform lending laws, but law students and new lawyers aren’t speaking up about the problem. Hey, Dick, it’s time to start reading Above the Law. [National Law Journal] * Apparently sarcasm is lost upon mention of George Zimmerman, so let’s play this one straight. The man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin has set up a website to solicit money for his defense fund. Actually, that’s a pretty great punchline on it’s own. [MSNBC] * A judge has refused to reduce accused “Millionaire Madam” Anna Gristina’s $2M bail. With her alleged clientele, you’d think she’d be able to afford it. Come on, John Edwards gets $400 haircuts. He’s probably willing to pay top dollar for his call girls. [Bloomberg] * Amanda Bynes wasn’t drunk on alcohol, she was drunk on emotions, claims her daddy. That’s a defense that will totally stand up in court on a DUI charge. [New York Daily News]
Filevine’s New Legal AI Platform LOIS Turns AI Into A True Legal Coworker
Legal work isn’t slowing down, and the firms that win won’t be the ones working harder — they’ll be the ones working smarter.
Student Debt: It’s Not Just For Young People Anymore
There’s a great story in the Washington Post this morning about how senior citizens are still struggling to pay off their educational debt. Senior. Citizens. The story says that collectively Americans over 60 owe $36 billion in student debt. That figure includes seniors who have co-signed on loans for their children or grand-children. And yes, […]
The ‘It Gets Worse’ Project
Do you regret going to law school? Here's an idea for you.
An Oracular Utterance from Sullivan & Cromwell on Spring Bonuses
David Lat asked H. Rodgin Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell about spring bonuses. What did Cohen have to say on the subject?
Morning Docket: 03.23.12
* Joe Amendola has filed a motion to dismiss the child sex abuse charges against his client, Jerry Sandusky. And if he actually thinks that’s going to happen, then he definitely needs to call 1-800-REALITY. [Associated Press] * @AllenStanford’s motion for a #newtrial has been denied. The Ponzi schemer’s “conviction by journo tweet” argument has failed. Major props to Judge David Hittner for issuing a ruling in less than 140 characters. [Bloomberg] * Everyone’s obsessed with the U.S. News law school rankings, but here’s a ranking that people should actually be paying attention to: the law schools that lead to the most debt. [The Short List / U.S. News and World Report] * This defunct firm’s homeless Halloween party just won’t be as fun this year. Steven J. Baum P.C. has to fork over $4M to settle a probe over its alleged foreclosure abuses. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * St. John’s Law is planning to launch two new LL.M. programs, neither of which is in tax. This is newsworthy because people will apply anyway, and then bitch about the “value” of their degree. [National Law Journal] * John Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, RIP. [NAACP LDF]
Schenck Price Competes Smarter With Lexis+ With Protégé
LexisNexis sat down with John Ursin, Managing Partner at Schenck Price, to learn how the firm is using legal AI to strengthen client service and daily legal work.
Declining LSAT Test Takers Could Spell ‘Death Spiral’ for Bottom Law Schools
On March 19, news came out that the number of people taking the LSAT declined for the second year in a row. Sharply declined. So what’s going to happen to the law schools that exist by the grace of the stupidity of prospective law students?
The Latest News in the Law School Lawsuits
The litigation against law schools made the front page of Metro, New York's big commuter paper, this morning. What's the latest news?
ATL Survey Update: Great Unmet Expectations
Do law students have unreasonable expectations about their employment prospects? Survey says....
Lawyers & Economics: Student Debt
Welcome to the latest installment of Lawyers & Economics, our occasional video series on financial topics by Professor William Birdthistle of Chicago-Kent College of Law. Today's topic isn't going away anytime soon. If you have -- or are thinking of taking on -- student loans, keep reading....
AI Is Killing Legal’s Billable Hour. It’s Also Repeating Its Worst Mistake
Law firms and legal departments are writing the future of the profession in separate rooms. What happens when they actually work together?
Best Law Schools for Getting a Biglaw Job (2012)
Which law schools excel at sending their graduates into jobs at large law firms, i.e., Biglaw? Check out the National Law Journal's annual ranking of the top 50 law schools by the percentage of 2011 juris doctor graduates who took jobs at NLJ 250 firms.
Yale Law School Makes It Slightly Harder to Get Loan Forgiveness
Yale is making a slight change to its low-income loan forgiveness program, and it’s going to make it a little harder for people who leave Yale Law School and take low-paying jobs. Now, this isn’t anything to yell and scream about. Yale is still committed to making loan repayment feasible for people who don’t take […]
Non-Sequiturs: 02.08.12
* When the student debt bubble bursts and causes general economic ruin, I don’t want to be called a “prophet.” You may call me “messenger,” as in the sentence, “We’d like welcome the messenger, Elie Mystal, to the program. Tell us, seer, what it was like being so far ahead of the curve.” [Democrat and […]
Not Even Bankruptcy Will Make Your Student Loans Go Away
More and more law school graduates are trying to seek bankruptcy protection from their mountains of student loan debt. Now, we know that reading comprehension is tested on the LSAT, but apparently, once students complete the law school entrance exam, that skill goes right out the window. How do we know? Because law school graduates, who freely signed up for student loans as law students, are now trying to shirk their repayment responsibilities....
Letter from London: Can Jobless U.S. Law Grads Find Work in Britain?
What happens when you put thirty American lawyers in a London pub where the drinks are free for the evening? Well, let’s just say it’s rather different to what happens when thirty British lawyers are assembled in equivalent conditions. The attendees at last week’s inaugural Benedict Arnold Society meeting for young and young-ish American lawyers […]