Whoa! Bomb Drops...

Cadwalader axed 96 lawyers today.  Above the Law has two posts (1, 2) detailing the layoffs.  Obviously, if you're planning an interview with Cadwalader, rethink that.  There was much discussion about how a firm could just lay off so many attorneys like this.  

Is it smart to do?  Maybe, depending on how dire the situation is.  It will kill recruiting and really hurt their reputation.  On the other hand, it clears  out some dead weight. 

As a business, do they have a responsibility to avoid this sort of layoff?  Here is what I wrote on ATL: 

As someone heading into OCI, I really hope this isn't me in a few years, but why do people expect a firm to take a financial hit by holding onto attorneys it doesn't need? Or, why shouldn't a firm expand quickly to meet needs even if it is just a bubble?

This is pretty similar to the auto industry and the Big 3. They expanded and were happy to pay line workers $30/hr when work was great, but now they're hurting and need to shed some weight. Of course, the difference is one group is unionized.

There are a lot of opinions out there and I'd like to hear yours.  Best of luck to those affected by this news.  

2007 Was A Very Good Year

Cheney was president for a couple hours while GWB had a colonoscopy.  Iraq won the Asian Cup.  Elections were held in Sierra Leone.  And, graduating law students had a pretty good job market.  From Law.com:     

Nearly 92 percent of 2007 law school graduates have jobs now, the highest reported figure in 20 years. And those who work at law firms are earning a median salary of $108,500 -- about $13,000 more than 2006 graduates were making when they started out.

Thanks a lot Mom and Dad!  You couldn't have humped a little more in the early 80s?  Now I'm stuck actually being concerned about on-campus interviews.  

Of course, what is important is that the salaries were highly polarized.  For everyone making 160k, there were many students making around 50k.  It is very possible to make a nice living on 50k / year, but it is difficult to pay back huge loans and live the life of a lawyer like you had always imagined.  Ya know, the luxury cars, the babes, poppin' bottles...or something.  

So, like always, don't go to law school unless you get into a T14 school.  

The T14 Sucks: Michigan

T14 Sucks: A place to detail why each school that makes up the Top 14 is a horrible place to attend law school.  

I planned on going in order obviously starting with GULC, which is actually more of a TTT than T14.  But plans change!  After today's post at Above the Law (read it) about the girl that really let someone have it over email, I decided to make Michigan the first post in this series.  But don't worry GULC student; you're coming soon.  I will also feature Michigan again when it comes time.  This is just a short one.  I'm sure there is enough material about Michigan to post twice (Detroit shootings...YES!).  

The girl sent some wild emails.  It made me think that my favorite Michigan Law School lady must have sent some hilarious emails to the entire law school.  That lady is Ann Coulter.  When one of your most prominent alumni (also: Bob Woodruff, Sam Zell) is a crazy political personality, your school is in the news for the wrong reasons.  It also makes weird kids create youtube videos.  

Michigan Students: tell us why your school does or doesn't suck.  You may want to mention how you consistently lose to that community college in Columbus.  Yea, I take sides in that rivalry.  Come on! Make the T14 proud... 

**I emailed the Michigan girl for an interview.  

Giuliani's Kid Sucks

I don't know what I wish would have happened more - Edwards getting the nomination so we could laugh at him banging that tttramp or Giuliani getting the nod so we could make even more fun of his family situation.  Granted, his son probably would not have sued Duke* if his dad even mattered anymore.  

From the Post: 

Andrew Giuliani, a senior, claims in a lawsuit that he was wrongfully kicked off the team in February.

The lawsuit says that Giuliani, the former New York mayor's son with Donna Hanover, was kicked off the team without any warning, and it interfered with the student's chances of being a professional golfer

There is nothing to even say about this.  The kid wasn't good at golf.  He has boobs, and he's Giuliani's son.  The only thing good thing that came out of him being born was a good skit on SNL.  (young idiot)  

*Duke is a shit hole.  

  

Another Dean Doesn't Like USNWR

WSJ Law BLog had a post this morning featuring Case Western's Dean Simson and his views on the USNWR rankings.  He's not very complementary...

Why, precisely, are the rankings so pernicious? Dean Simson explains:

Deans feel obliged to become experts in the ways of winning in the rankings, and in seeking higher rankings; the faculty and administration all too often make structural decisions about the law school with the rankings foremost in mind. In an effort to boost entering students’ credentials they cut, often quite dramatically, the number of students in the first-year class. Then, to make up for the lost income to their heavily tuition-dependent school, they increase, often quite dramatically, the number of transfer students or LL.M. students and they develop a part-time program or expand an existing one. They economize by not filling faculty lines vacated by retirements and departures and by downsizing the staff. They diminish or even eliminate need-based financial aid in favor of using scholarship money to target incoming students who will boost the median LSAT and GPA.

Is anyone really surprised that the dean of a TTT school is unhappy with the rankings (system)?  I'm not. He does make sense; I just don't think it is really the issue.  Deans want to make their school seem great so students attend?  Ok.  The real issue, in my opinion, is that once those students get there, they realize the "law" is not all it is cracked up to be.  Outside of the T14 (and maybe within the T14 with this economy), a student needs to perform very well in order to land one of those high-paying BigLaw jobs.  By the time the students realize they won't land a BigLaw job (70-90% at TTT), they're facing deep debt and cannot afford to leave.  

Students are being straddled with overwhelming debt and few job prospects.  Maybe there should be fewer law schools.  (ABA approved Phoenix recently.)  I don't claim to have the answer.  At this point, I just hope I don't end up SOL.  

John Edwards: Pimpin' Ain't Easy

National Enquirer figured out John Edwards' antics: 

The NATIONAL ENQUIRER broke the story of Edwards' love child scandal last year, when Rielle was still pregnant and Edwards was still considered a strong candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

Both parties denied the NATIONAL ENQUIRER report and a close friend of Edwards' came forward and said he was the father of Rielle's baby. But sources told the NATIONAL ENQUIRER a far different story - they revealed that Edwards was engineering a massive cover up of his shocking infidelity.

Ok, so John Edwards is fooling around and probably has a kid.  It's obviously not the first time a politician has done something like this.  (Read about Mayor Kwame here.)  Of course, most haven't done this while supporting a wife that is battling cancer.  That truly is despicable.  

But I would like to point out Edwards' friend.  From the story: 

Edwards denied the affair and that he was the father, and in a bizarre twist, a close friend of his, Andrew Young, said he was the father. Young, 41, was married at the time with three children. The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned he still is married.

How does Mr. Young pose this situation to his wife?  

"Hey hun, I have a favor to ask.  I know things are great with us and I know this will likely destroy both our marriage and our children's childhoods, but I need to tell the press that I am having an affair.  It's for the future of the country, babe."  Maybe Andrew Young is just a patriot.  

Also, I think someone paying $400 for a haircut should pull some better tail than Rielle. 

Facebook It!

I joined facebook (Rex Law).  I found some of the people that I have met in the last few years and added them, but it would be much easier for you to friend me. 

I am also a frequent commenter on Above the Law (depending on whether or not I have a real work assignment).  My ATL page is here.  It features nothing other than my comments, which are useless without (probably with) the context.  

Hiring Partner: Not Really Helpful

WSJ Law Blog points us to a new blog.  Hiring Partner's Office details what to not do when you're a summer associate.  His brilliant advice includes (1) Don't cry, (2) Don't let your parents call the hiring partner, and (3) Don't get drunk at events.  

Thanks Hiring Partner's Office!  Now I know not to be a complete idiot this summer! It's all so clear now.  

On-Campus Interviews! Blaah

The process of on-campus interviews is on its way.  I used to be pretty excited about this, thinking that it would be fun to research possible future employers.  I'm already bored of the process. 

What is there to really look at?  All the firms few the same old bullshit.  "We're family friendly."  "Our associates get a lot of early responsibility."  "All our secretaries are STD free."  Blah Blah Blah.  Reading the same lines over and over, I've resorted to looking at only a few things: average GPAs offered from my school, starting salary, whether anyone is getting no-offered, and total number of attorneys.  

I also have to be concerned with the financial state of the firm.  Is it going to take a shit and lay attorneys off?  Is it going to merge with some dump?  I had a conversation with a woman in the career service department, and she actually told me to keep an eye on Above the Law.  So, Skadden is off the list because that rumor about 1/3 of the summer class being no-offered is just toooooo frightening, even if it isn't true.  

My GPA isn't the best (read: in the shitter) so there aren't many firms that have average GPAs around mine.  It looks like I'll be reaching for quite a few.  That doesn't sound too great though with the current state of the economy.  The feeling I've gotten from people that I've talked is somewhere between 'I should have grabbed an engineering degree' and 'Life will be fine at your TTT firm...making lower than market."  Blaaahh.  

So what are you concerned with?  Starting salary?  Whether the firm is V10? V200?  Let me know because I could use all the direction I can get.  

Legal Work? Outsource That Shit!

From India New England (ehh, what?):

At law firms in the United States, the billing rate for basic legal services like document review starts around $200 an hour and can appreciate significantly if the firm handling the work is located in a big city like New York or Washington, D.C.

The cost to have the same work done by a licensed attorney in India? As little as $25. This price disparity is a major reason why many U.S.-based corporations — and even law firms — are increasingly turning to attorneys in India to handle legal work.

First they outsource my Dodge Stratus, now they outsource my doc review!? Ahh!

Don't worry TTT student... No one will ever be able to outsource the love you put into that skinny caramel macchiato.

Google AdSense knows!

I just added Google AdSense to the site.  You know...bring in all that ad revenue.  Dollar beer night doesn't pay for itself. 

First ad on the site!?  Yep, Cooley Law School.  Ah, gotta love that.  

* Photo: Cooley Graduate 

Update: 88 Cents!  Thanks for clicking. 

Update: When To Give Up...

I met the ex for dinner last night (scroll down).  She cleared up a couple things for me.  

(1)  She is not going to law school for the money. 

 "I'm not like you; I want to help people with my law degree.  It's not all about making money, you know."  

(2)  She's not afraid of debt.  

"So what if I graduate with some debt?  I know I might not make as much money as you to start out, but I'm sure I'll be making around 100k/yr.  I think I'll be able to pay any debt off in a few years."

Huh?  Not many people with a JD are saving the world while making 100k/yr.  They're just not.  A lot of people with JDs that are solely focused on money aren't making 100k/yr.   It's a tough legal market.  A lot of people coming out of law school are making $20-30/hour.   That's not 100k/ yr. 

Public service? Seriously? Give that two semesters.  She'll be begging for a paycheck.  

Paying off loans in a few years?  What?  It's clear that she just doesn't understand money.  I plan on making 160k/yr out of school. (Work for me OCI...work for me!)  I'm planning on paying these loans down for quite some time, and I don't care.  

Last night I thought her ideas were ludicrous But when I really thought about it, her ideas weren't much different than my own when I was applying to law school.  I didn't care about the loans.  Every school has "average starting salary" statistics.  I saw these TTT schools with 125k starting salaries and I was content.  But you have to actually think a little more.  What's the market like in that area?  Who's getting these jobs?  Do I have to graduate top 10% to sniff a BigLaw job?  

* I have no idea what that picture is from.  I googled "dumb hot girl" and nothing appropriate (for this blog) came up.  There were some good photos though.  

When To Give Up The Law School Dream?

I got an email today from an ex girlfriend.  It read: 

Hi Rex,

It's been a long time but I thought you would be a good person to talk to about this.  I didn't do as well as I had hoped on my LSAT; I still plan on taking it again.  As of right now, these are the schools that I am interested in.  What do you think?  Should I think of any others?  Be honest with me...I want to know your true thoughts on these schools and my current situation.  [Ed: As far as I know, she will have in-state tuition in both Massachusetts and California] 

The schools: 

• Depaul in Chicago
• Loyola Chicago
• Pepperdine 
• University of San Diego
• Southwestern (apparently in Los Angeles) 
• Some directional school in Boston
• UCLA 
• blah blah more TTT schools

So, what do I tell her?  UCLA is a quality school.  They're T16, and that surely means something in the Cooley rankings.  But other than that, her schools are pretty TTT.  Hopefully she will really kill her next LSAT so our eventual conversation (read: drunken text message) will be much easier to handle.  

I have given her one piece of advice so far (same as one of those La Verne questions).  Make sure that you'll have career prospects that can pay off your debt.  

Overall, if you're in a situation where you have to go to a TTT law school, don't go.  Save yourself the debt, and save the rest of us the hassle of listening to people complain about incompetent attorneys.  If you still want to go to that TTT school, try to get a scholarship so when you get that job for $20/hr, you're only paying off the credit cards.  

Sorry babe.  You should've gone for the threesome with the waitress at TGI Fridays.  Maybe you would have had a chance to continue to date me.  

Full Disclosure From Law School Tours

Market Watch discusses how to get full disclosure when visiting campus.  Actually, they don't discuss it, but instead list questions to ask.  Those questions are taken from samples provided by University of La Verne.  La Verne?  Who are they trying to kid?  I've never heard of the dump.  

They do list some good questions though.  

• Is this place safe? 
• What kind of contact will I have with the professor? 
• Will I graduate with over 100k in debt and very few career prospects? (Oh, that's mine) 

Update:  La Verne is about as selective as me on $2 long island iced tea night at the local undergrad bar.  

Good Bye Anheuser-Busch...

It finally happened.  InBev made the right offer and Anheuser-Busch took it.  Since I normally just cruise horrible websites during the day, I found many opinions on the takeover.  A lot of them were upset at those who approved the deal - saying it was terrible that this American company would sell to a foreign company.  I don't really have many thoughts on that.  If the BOD thought it was the best price, then they acted for the shareholders.  No one can fault that.  

I just hope it doesn't affect the price of Natty Ice! I can't pay over $13 for a 30-rack. 

Update:

Obama's nuts still attached.  

What the Hell!?

Somehow I stumbled upon this.  It looks like the author was trying to write something serious about affirmative action.  I don't really know.  I didn't read it.  But he uses Cooley's rankings...and is serious!  There goes your serious article, pal. 

Note: Cooley is number 16 on Cooley's rankings.  Every other ranking...well

Columbia Has Bugs!

From Above the Law...(if you don't read it, you should)

The rumor is that Columbia's law school housing has bedbugs.  Hey, at least you didn't have to use craigslist to get something in bed with you. 

Apparently you can purchase that stuffed animal...

Slow Posting...

Posts are going to start out slow.  You know, that whole thing about being a summer associate at a mediocre firm in a less-than mediocre city.  That's right!  1L Summer Associate!  

Northwestern is going to launch a two-year JD program.  Would I do it?  No, I like wasting three years of my life not really learning anything.  I'm serious.  Bring on the booze and women. But I can understand it.  If I were 28 with a wife and kid, I'd want to get in and out.  

From Northwestern's website: 

As a major initiative in our Working Group’s “Plan 2008: Preparing Great Leaders for the Changing World,” Northwestern Law has become the first top tier law school to offer an accelerated JD program. Beginning in May 2009, the school will enroll a limited number of highly-motivated students to this two-year program. Accelerated JD students benefit financially by re-entering the workforce a year sooner and save on living expenses by foregoing a sixth semester.

Just Whoring Around

Kwame Kilpatrick (JD Michigan State University) has to be everyone's favorite mayor.  I heard about him maybe a year ago, and was amazed.  He allegedly had a party at his mayor's mansion.  No big deal, right?  Well, it was a big deal when his wife came home and found a whole slew of strippers.  Ok, we've all been there.  

But...one of the strippers wound up dead.  Whoops.  Needless to say, I've advised all my stripper friends to turn down trips to the Mayor's mansion.  

Just for comedy relief, I occasionally google Kwame.  It never fails.  He is in the middle of a text message scandal.  Did he cheat on his wife?  Did he lie under oath about it?  Did he stick a cigar in someone's yoohoo?  Oh wait, sorry, I got mixed up for a second.  

Well, apparently Mr. Kilpatrick's case rests on what "whore around" means.  He said he does not whore around on his wife.  The Detroit Free Press has the story...

Well, what do you think?  What is whoring around?  My ex-girlfriend smacked me one time for merely bumping and grinding with someone she deemed a whore.  

What Rankings!?

I will be trying to catch up for a little while here so you will likely see issues that are months old.  Well, relax!  I'm just trying to get us all up-to-date.  

So what rankings are the rankings?  USNWR is the typical answer.  

What about Vault?  They recently entered into the mix with a pretty bold list.  Michigan and Virginia were both big movers.  Yale and Harvard dropped.  GULC is still basically TTT.  

Princeton Review has its rankings (but you'll need to log in. uhh?)  Then there are Brian Leiter's Rankings. 

Oh yeah, my favorite rankings are from Cooley Law.  I don't know.  There may be a bias there.  

Do you even look at any rankings other than USNWR?  What are your thoughts on Vault?  Do you rely solely on Cooley?  What else do you look at?  

US News Rankings Changing Methodology...Again

The rankings that really matter (Sorry, Cooley!) are being changed again.  This time in order to develop a better picture of whether students are actually employed.  Or wait, they're going back to how they have done things for the last 18 years.  Whatever.  

Well...have fun sweating it out.  

From the US News website: 

On last year's ABA questionnaire this distinction did not exist, so they were all counted as unemployed by U.S. News in the current (2009) law rankings. For the 2010 law rankings (to be published in the spring of '09), U.S. News will not count those graduates who are unemployed and not seeking work as part of our employment calculations. This is a return to how we did the employment rate calculations in the rankings from 1990 through 2008. This is also the same way the Department of Labor computes the national unemployment rate.

Welcome to T14

Welcome to the T14 Law Blog.  My name is Rex, and I will be your blogger.  You can read a little about me to the right.  

This blog will consist of the following: 

• Law School News
• Legal Issues
• Law Firms
• News Items
• Anything Else I Want

Obviously, I will focus on the schools that really matter (T14), but hang around here all you Vanderbilt students.  You might learn something.  

*If you do not know the significance of T14, then you are definitely TTT.