Noto Law School

No Refund For You!

A reader wrote in: Dear JJD: I am an alum of NYLS and wrote in

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Matasar Deserves Prison

I broke the story in ’09 that NYLS had admitted an additional 250 students to

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The Money Man Talks. Again.

He just won’t shut up. What a shame there isn’t an over the counter medication

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Careful When You Interview

I have not had many interviews since I received my JD, and not one for

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Matasar Speaks. Please Shut Up.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it today: Dean Tricky Dicky Matasar needs to

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New Direction

As you all know, I had wanted to stop writing this blog in part because

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Protests Paid Off

Earlier this month University of Virginia 3Ls wore tee shirts around school protesting their lack

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Here They Go Again

I have posted several times about this New York TTT, and once again, they have

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Crap And Pigs

Goldman Sachs is not an equal opportunity employer (white men only) but they believe in

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The Scam Starts Early

The school scam starts young; even 3 month year old babies are being scammed. Well,

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What An OL Needs To Succeed

June 11, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Readers write in constantly and ask me if they should go to law school. While I always appreciate mail from readers, this question drives me insane. My blog is called The Jobless Juris Doctor; I rarely say anything positive about the legal profession. Do you really have to ask?

However, there are two questions you should be asking yourself. I believe the answers to these two questions are what determine whether or not you have what it takes to succeed as a lawyer.

The first is: Was your LSAT score above 165? If not, you’re not getting into a decent law school. No, it’s not fair, but that’s how it is. Without a high LSAT, you go to a toilet. Employers do not hire from toilets in this economy. You will not get to practice the law you are dreaming of. It’s like a person who is 5’2” trying to get into the NBA. Maybe Shorty has a lot of heart, maybe he wants it more than the 6’5” guy, but it’s not going to happen.

You need a certain personality to be a lawyer, and it’s not nice people who make the best lawyers. So the second question is: Are you both street smart and snarky? It’s not enough to be snarky; you have to be smart about it. A Smart Snark is someone who can defend a murderer, mislead a jury without them realizing they’ve been manipulated, know that they guy he just got off will probably go out and kill again, and still get a good night’s sleep.

Someone who is snarky, but not street smart, won’t make it. Take my ex-friend SS (Stupid Snark). SS hadn’t talked to me in years, and she’d let me down the last time I had contact with her, so she had to know I was still pissed. She recently moved back to NY and heard that I had graduated from law school. Figuring I would have some contacts for her, she sent me an email about her recently deceased dog.

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a major animal lover, and she was trying to suck me back in. She immediately began trying to “work” me on the first call. I let her know that I had no contacts for her, and the disappointment in her voice came across loud and clear. Never heard from her again. Stupid Snark, no one likes being manipulated and if they catch you doing it, game over.

If you have a high LSAT score, no conscience, and the ability to manipulate others without them realizing they are being used (Smart Snark), then by all means, go to law school.

Clients Balk At Paying Summer Associates

June 11, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

It’s bad enough that no one in or out of law school is getting work, but now many clients are telling firms that they won’t let summer associates work on their cases. Citigroup announced that as of July 1, it will no longer pay for summer associates time.

There is a growing reluctance by clients to pay for the training of associates. I have to agree with this; if I were paying a law firm, I’d really like to be paying someone who had taken the bar and had already graduated from law school. A client not wanting to pay to train students isn’t new:

J. William Dantzler Jr., a tax partner at White & Case who oversees hiring in New York, said with regard to billing clients for summer associates, it has been “a slide for 10 years. More and more clients don’t want summer associates to bill to them. When I started almost all clients would accept it. And it’s evolved to where a lot of clients don’t.”

The article notes that some firms don’t even bother to bill for the rising 3Ls time:

Law firm partners generally say they tend to write off much of the billable hours summer associates submit in recognition that, as lawyers in training, they are not as efficient as mid-level or senior associates. But when top-tier New York firms do bill for their work, the rate can go as high as $225 an hour.

There is good news for the few associates that got work; because the class sizes are so small they might actually learn something instead of just going to lunch with the partners:

This year’s summer associates “have the ability to get a greater proportion of substantive work than if they were competing with a larger class, and they get more individualized attention from partners and associates,” said Jonathan Schaffzin, co-administrative partner at Cahill Gordon.

Geezer Loan Repayment Plan

May 16, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

I know several recent JDs who are thinking of finding an “older man” to help dig them out of school debt. I believe that marrying for money is the hardest way to earn it. IBR or leaving the country should look pretty good after watching this video. Here’s a taste of life with a geezer:

No Bar Exam For These Lucky Students

May 15, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

On Friday fourteen lucky law students were sworn in to practice law in New Hampshire one day before graduating from law school. Franklin Pierce Law Center students complete a two year program that permits them to practice without sitting for a bar.

They are required to take extra courses for two years and have extensive training in the courtroom during that time as well. According to the director of the special program, John Garvey: “They’ve received the equivalent of being a second-year associate in a law firm when they graduate. It makes them more valuable to the employer. In a tough economy, having a law school graduate who is client-ready is a real advantage.”

Since most employers believe that law school graduates lack the skills to practice law, this might be the solution to the law school problem. With programs like this, the students are ready to practice, and don’t have to waste an additional $3500 on a bar review course and lose two months after graduation to study. For those of us who have to go solo, having had two years of training in courtrooms couldn’t hurt. Here’s hoping this idea will catch on.

Kagan’s Grades Released

May 14, 2010 Alejandro Calderon General

Most law students have more in common with Elena Kagan than they thought: she had crappy grades first semester too. The Wall Street Journal reported that Elena Kagan received a few B’s as a 1L. She went on to be a straight A student and make law review, but her grades weren’t at all impressive that first semester.

She received a B- in Torts, a B in Criminal and a B+ in Administrative law. Her letters of recommendation from her professors more than made up for her less than stellar performance:

“She is soft-spoken and delightful to be with, but razor-sharp and iron-hard in intellectual give and take,” wrote the late Prof. Abram Chayes, who had clerked for Justice Felix Frankfurterand served as the top State Department lawyer under President John F. Kennedy. “Her limpid writing ability and keen editorial skills have made her a mainstay at the [Harvard Law] Review,” he added.