Graduate sues law school for fraud
The Thomas Jefferson School of Law, in California, is going to trial today (March 7) for allegedly defrauding its students by manipulating data, inflating numbers, and counting some graduates as employed when they werent.A former law student, who graduated at the top of her class, is suing her former school, as she has yet to find a full-time salaried job as a lawyer.
A report via the washingtonpost notes Anna Alaburda at the time of choosing to enroll at Thomas Jefferson having applied to a number of law schools with the San Diego school the only college accepting the woman who at the time had received a degree from New York University the year before.
She now has student debt of $170,000, with loan interest around 8 percent.
Graduates of law schools filed more than a dozen proposed class-action lawsuits in 2011 and 2012 alone, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The law school claims in court documents that Alaburda did very little research before enrolling at Thomas Jefferson, and is therefore responsible for her own false assumptions. This is because, she said, the job was less favourable than other non-law roles that were available at the time.
remainder: http://nanonews.org/graduate-sues-law-school-for-fraud/
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)of lawyers, especially new ones. I would never suggest anybody go to law school right now.
Person 2713
(3,263 posts)Nitram
(22,951 posts)Or has it already burst?
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)Same way, I don't recommend law to anyone who wants to actually be a lawyer. Fine if it is instead of an MBA or something. But quite honestly, if you don't "know what you want to do", I'd suggest looking around the medical field. Everything from lab tech to physical therapy. There's a lot of 4 year programs in that field, and you can move on to various higher level positions through post graduate work.
Daemonaquila
(1,712 posts)I'm a lawyer. I graduated with a ton of debt. Even before the crunch, full time firm jobs were not readily available. A few points...
1) 8 years, 150 job applications. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? That's all? When I was getting started, that would be about 3-4 months MAX of applications. That's barely trying, sorry.
2) There is no shortage of work in law. There is a shortage of jobs in LARGE CORPORATE FIRMS that pay top dollar and work their associates like sweatshop labor. There are a ton of underserved needs out there, but those jobs merely pay decently. It's like doctors whining about the lack of jobs in medicine because they only want to work at a Beverly Hills clinic doing nose jobs to the stars 30 hrs per week, but would never consider doing primary care in a community clinic in their home town.
3) If a person goes into law because they want to make a lot of money (which is apparently what she's saying she did), they're a dirtbag and have no business in the profession. Law is a helping profession. If they aren't interested in the people they're helping, just the bucks, GTFO.
Do some law schools skew employment data? Yep. That needs to stop. However, anyone who believes that getting a law degree means getting a higher entry level salary than in other professions, or that they're going to have job security, or that they're going to get that glitzy big-firm job, needs to have a serious reality check. The one and only sympathy I have for anyone coming out of law school are grads who really should be able to get debt relief when taking public interest jobs. Those jobs require the professional chops, but by nature they can't pay well enough to let young lawyers pay off their debts and keep food on the table. Otherwise, it's time to stop watching lawyer shows on TV and figure out who they want to serve and why, and treat getting into law like getting into any other industry which requires newbies to scramble, pay their dues on the way up, and be wise to how the industry functions.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)To go to any Private College these days means that you have enormous debt. Even the Public Colleges are going to put you into debt that starting out you won't be able to handle without extreme difficulty. We have a desperate need for Lawyers who can devote time to Public Service....and yet, they can't afford it. We lose good people who could serve the People instead of the Corporations because of the overwhelming expense. And, yes it applies to Medical School these days, also. It's always been bad for Doctors but it has spread to every profession these days as to what it costs and what one has to give up, in hopes and dreams, because of that overwhelming debt.
Although I understand what you say and thanks for posting your view. Its a problem that needs to be addressed. Bernie is trying to deal with some of it.
FBaggins
(26,783 posts)If she wins... then she must be a pretty good lawyer... so they shouldn't pay her.
If she loses... it proves they didn't educate her well... so they should pay up.
Lucky Luciano
(11,267 posts)He had no trouble getting gainful employment as a lawyer!
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)I will post any updates, but you'll know before the rest of us. Small world and all that.