Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law announced that despite 97% of its May 2009 graduates being employed nine months after graduation, it will pay employers who hire its December 2009 and May 2010 graduates as much as $7,000 if the employer hires an SMU law grad. Elie Mystal of Above the Law says, “SMU is willing to pay for its U.S. News gaming.”
Adam Smith, Esq.: This article exams the state of brand new lawyer employment and the need for law schools to change with the times. It also makes a point that I have made many times, i.e., law schools have a duty to tell prospective and actual students the truth about the employment of their recent graduates. The author proposes that law school adopt the equivalent of the the securities law’s 10b-5 rule with respect to employment statistics. Rule 10b-5 states:
It shall be unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails or of any facility of any national securities exchange,
(a) To employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud,
(b) To make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or
(c) To engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person,in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.
The author proposes that all law schools be required to disclose:
Congrats to the University of Arizona School of Law for earning the number one ranking on a new list of the top party law schools. ASU’s law school came in a respectful 4th.
Wall St. Journal: “Employment Prospects Dim as Firms Retrench, Derailing Career Paths for Many“
“Those considering law school might want to reconsider, said Allan Tanenbaum, chairman of an American Bar Association commission studying the impact of the economic crisis on the profession. Students take on average law-school debt of about $100,000 and, given the job market, many ‘have no foreseeable way to pay that back,’ he said.”
National Law Journal: “The market may be warming to the idea of hiring associates, but it’s still not easy for young lawyers to land a job these days. The National Law Journal talked to a variety of legal types who gave us their take on the associate job market right now.”