KEYTLaw's Blog

The Debt Crisis For Law School Graduates

Tax Prof Blog: “Approximately half of the 45,000 people who will graduate this year from ABA-accredited law schools will never find jobs as lawyers. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that over the next decade 21,000 new jobs for lawyers will become available each year, via growth and outflow from the profession.)

Most of those who do find jobs will be making between $30,000 and $60,000 per year.

People currently in law school are going to graduate with an average of $150,000 of educational debt. This debt will have an average interest rate of 7.5%, meaning the typical graduate will be accruing nearly $1,000 per month in interest upon graduation. Unlike almost every other form of debt, these loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.”

E-Book Suit Goes Ahead Against Apple And Publishers

Thomson Reuters: “Apple Inc and five major book publishers have failed to persuade a U.S. judge to throw out a lawsuit by consumers accusing them of conspiring to raise electronic book pricestwo years ago.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York is related to government charges in April accusing Apple and publishers of colluding to break up Amazon.com’s low-cost dominance of the digital book market. HarperCollins Publishers Inc, Simon & Schuster Inc and Hachette Book Group reached settlements with the Department of Justice’s anti-trust division.

Apple and two of the publishers, Macmillan and Penguin, said in court last month that they want to go to trial to defend themselves against the government charges. The judge has scheduled the next pre-trial hearing for June 22.

The consumers’ main allegation is that the publishers worked together to raise prices and decrease retail competition with Apple coordinating the agreement among them.”

Do Filibusters Violate The Constitution?

ABA Journal: “A suit filed on Monday by Common Cause claims the Senate filibuster is anti-democratic and unconstitutional.

“The principle of majority rule was so basic to the concept of a democratically elected legislative body that it did not need to be expressly stated in the Constitution,” the suit (PDF) says. Other plaintiffs include several Democratic lawmakers and three immigrants who would be aided by passage of the Dream Act, according to Politico, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a press release.”

2 Roger Clemens Jurors Dismissed For Sleeping On The Job

ABA Journal: “Last week, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton warned lawyers in Roger Clemens’ perjury trial that they were dragging out the case and boring the jurors.

The trial is now in its fifth week, and two jurors are gone. They were dismissed after they were caught sleeping during the testimony, the New York Times reports.”

Facebook Poised To Be Largest Internet IPO Ever

Facebook may see its value touch the $100 billion mark if its impending IPO is offered at the top of its new pricing range.