April 2010 - Noto Law School

No LSAT Required At This TTTT

April 9, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

It’s as though the ABA sits up at night and ponders how to make law degrees worthless. Their latest grand idea? To do allow a few law schools to accept a limited number of students without LSAT scores. Why not just hand out degrees at Walmart along with an application to work there?

In an effort to admit more minorities, the University of St. Thomas School of Law will begin to accept some students without LSATs. They claim that several other schools are considering doing the same. The program will only look at college grades and college entrance exams.

Come on, ABA, don’t stop with the LSAT. Why bother to even look at GPA? Why not make the only requirement for entrance to law school that you can qualify for a loan that will compound in interest and penalty charges and destroy your life?

Facebook Family Feud

April 8, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

I don’t think he’ll be buying a mother’s day gift this year. Lane New,16, filed a harassment complaint against his mother for reading and posting on his Facebook account. The teenager claims his mother’s actions damaged his reputation. The mother didn’t deny it, saying only, “If I’m found guilty on this it is going to be open season on parents.”

The snoopy mother said that when her son didn’t log off his Facebook account she went ahead and changed his password so he couldn’t use it and posted items on the account. Lane has asked that the mother have no contact with him. He lives with his grandparents.

Mommy Dearest is going with the I’m not a crook defense: “He left it logged in on my computer; It’s not like I stole his laptop.” She just hacked and snooped, she didn’t steal. So if a safe is left open, it’s alright to take stuff out?

Michigan College Offers A Money Back Guarantee!

April 8, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Confession: I have been so depressed this week that it has been difficult for me to even get out of bed and write. My first smile of the week just came when I saw this article. A Michigan community college is offering a refund on tuition if the graduates aren’t employed within one year. YES!!

True, it’s a community college and it’s only for training courses that cost around $2400, but it’s a start. The program is expected to be highly competitive, and employers who heard about the program have already started calling.

Although there are some who still believe all that is needed is information from the schools. The article quotes Russ Whitehurst from the Brookings Institution who says that: I would rather see community colleges and technical institutions providing more information about program-completion rates among students and their employment outcomes. This kind of transparency would allow prospective applicants to make more informed decisions instead of gambling their futures away.

How To Deal With Evil Debt Collectors

April 7, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

I know that there is a lot of pain out there (because you write and tell me) and many of you are having a difficult time dealing with debt collectors, not to mention Aunt Sallie and Uncle Access. I’ve linked an article below that is full of helpful tips for dealing with all kinds of debt collectors and how you can fight back.

This video was actually shot in a debt collection agency and shows how a debt collector’s evil mind operates. They hunt their prey with gusto and are proud of it! Don’t watch on a full stomach.

Consultants For Solos

April 7, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Good news for all of you who are forced want to practice on your own. There is a whole new industry cropping up: consultants for lawyers. Teerie Wheeler is teaching lawyers in Minnesota how to market themselves as many are forced to go solo.

Wheeler coaches lawyers in marketing techniques, because she says, “law schools don’t train lawyers to be business people.” No shit. That’s because if the law schools did, everyone would realize school was a bad business decision and drop out.

Julie Schaefer, a human resources consultant has a great term for solo practitioners: “involuntary small firms.” Yes, Julie, from taking the bar to paying off those loans, quite a bit of the legal experience is “involuntary.”

Judy Norberg, another new solo law firm consultant noted: “A lot of lawyers don’t understand the financial part of things.” Yes, Ms. Norberg, none of us do until the diploma hits our hand and Aunt Sallie starts calling every night.

It is comforting to know that if we do decide to go solo, there are vultures consultants just waiting to help, for a hefty fee, of course. However, our friends at Solo Practice U may have already beaten them to the carcass.