A Bunch of Young Lawyers are Suing Their Law Schools Because They Don't Have Jobs

[vienna]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bunch-...195616601.html

Talk about poetic justice...

Sometimes the things you do really come back to bite you: several years ago an attorney who was called the best pro-environmental attorney in the U.S. died in a skiing accident; he skied into a tree. I always wondered if his last thought as he saw the tree getting closer was "I shouldn't have saved this tree"...

[GoldenRivet]

On the one hand i think they are being winy sissy boys. Its not the school's fault that they are unemployed. The only way they have a case is if they were guaranteed positions with firms in writing and now have none. or perhaps if the school WAS inflating employment data

Its like filing suit against McDonalds because i ordered and ate one of their value meals and I'm still hungry afterwards... its ridiculous.

On the other hand i know of a lot of flight schools that gladly take student money and fill their young little heads with propaganda of imminent airline hiring booms and stories from 23 year old first officers working for FedEx making $100K a year who "Made it to the top" and "so can you".

Perhaps these young lawyers find themselves in the same position that they attended a school which lead them to believe at every turn that being a lawyer was a BMW driving, Super model screwing, rainbow wishes and gumdrop smiles type of life and now they realize it's the complete opposite of that.

[GoldenRivet]

Of course the story broke in Brooklyn.

My repeated advice to those who live there has always been, LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!

[August]

To maintain accreditation here at my school we need to maintain at least a 76% related job placement rate after graduation. We have to report these rates by course annually. No accreditation, no student loans.

Colleges are different in that placement is rarely a standard for accreditation.

[frau kaleun]

[GoldenRivet]

@ FK

LMAO

@ AUGUST

76% sounds a lot more realistic

[AVGWarhawk]

No one promised you a rose garden.....

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by August

To maintain accreditation here at my school we need to maintain at least a 76% related job placement rate after graduation. We have to report these rates by course annually. No accreditation, no student loans.

You're a teacher if I recall corectly
What kind a school is it? If it's technology oriented I guess you don't have much trouble keeping above the 76% line

[August]

Originally Posted by Betonov

You're a teacher if I recall corectly
What kind a school is it? If it's technology oriented I guess you don't have much trouble keeping above the 76% line

Yeah we cover a lot of common trades. Mechanics, technicians, medical assistants, etc. So far we have not lost accreditation on any course although a couple of us, mine included, scraped bottom a couple times in '08-'09.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

On the other hand i know of a lot of flight schools that gladly take student money and fill their young little heads with propaganda of imminent airline hiring booms and stories from 23 year old first officers working for FedEx making $100K a year who "Made it to the top" and "so can you".

Very similar thing happening in ATC, lots of private outfits offering radar endorsements etc, then dumping gullible students out in a job market they're not prepared for.

[Betonov]

same here, a lot of private schools oopened up in the last years, offering students a ''guaranted employement in economic and administrative fields'' after graduation. The traditional universities, which carry more weight at employers than theese private schools ''produce'' 50 graduates in social fields per 10 workplaces.
But hey, that's how a modern company is supposed to work: 5 directors, 20 managers, 30 acountants, 50 assistants, 70 secretaries, one engineer and 5 foreign workers

[GoldenRivet]

AOPA: Flight Training Magazine printed an article a couple of years ago about airline pilot pay scales.

I assume the story was meant to provide inspiration to young students to continue their training, however... the problem is that the article provided no facts other than the pay scales.

Yes... the article did state that American Airlines senior pilots can make over $100,000 a year.

No... the article does not mention that the airline has not hired a single new pilot in a decade. (nor had 90% of the other airlines mentioned in the article)

Yes... it did mention that there were a number of employment opportunities for young pilots out there citing these massive airlines as examples.

No... it did not mention that these airlines are not and have not been hiring for some time and that the "employment opportunities" were sub-poverty line entry level positions with fly by night cargo companies based in the booming metropolis of Statan's Anus, Alabama.

information that would be good to know for people who wander blindly into a career field.

I cannot count the number of e mails i received from prospective students who thought they would get a license and head straight to Delta or United who had no understanding of the process.

The school i attended in the late 90's was even guilty of providing tons of propaganda to encourage people to attend the school - of course they are going to do this - but where is the accountability?

If my school had told students that 98% of our pilots were employed within a year of graduation - but failed to mention that those pilots were employed by WalMart, Taco Bell, and McDonalds in entry level positions... should my flight school be accountable for that misleading statement?

i say YES, of course it should be.

[Herr-Berbunch]

There are plenty of jobs out there for them - teaching gullible people law.

[JSLTIGER]

You know, you guys should really withhold judgment until you're in that position. I am a newly minted attorney in a similar position to these folks in that I am currently unemployed and looking for a position (although I have the "advantage" over them of still being in school for my Masters of Law in Tax).

Although it is arguable, there is a valid case that the school committed fraud by knowingly inflating their employment numbers and implying that the positions which their statistics reflected were in the legal field. I don't think that they're all that crazy for filing this lawsuit based on the info in that article, but I'd need to see everything before actually passing judgement.

The reality of the situation is that the ABA has allowed too many law schools to open because they are cash cows for the institutions that have them, and more and more institutions want them.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I don't think it's just that school, or just that trade - I know of lots of people who've trained to be one thing after being promised, falsely, lots of job availability.

@JLSTIGER - hope you get the job you want