<p>Beware of Law School. </p>
<p>I am, by the way, a licensed attorney. Visit jdscam.blogspot.com. That’s not my site, it just has lots more on this sordid subject.</p>
<p>Here’s the rule, stated plainly: If you are not going to an elite law school (generally, a top-14 school) DO NOT, DO NOT go to any lesser-ranked law school unless you meet one or more of the three following caveats, seriously: 1) you are a very attractive young lady; 2) you are a well-connected young man or woman, this includes those of you who will be joining the “family firm” or who have political or business contacts; 3) you are independently wealthy.</p>
<p>That’s it. That’s the rule. The legal job market is abysmal now and likely to be so for the foreseeable future. Third tier diploma-mill schools abound and are PUMPING out law grads at an ever-accelerating rate, exacerbated by the fact the ABA’s 2008 outsourcing opinion has shifted much of the “document review” grunt work traditionally done by the kids to places like India. The market is flooded by former, mostly, liberal arts undergrads trying to ride out the recession in law school, with horrid results. If you do not end up in the upper percentiles of your non-elite law school class, AND you fit none of the above caveats, your chances in the job market, legal and non-legal, are terrible.</p>
<p>BEWARE of non-elite law schools, kids. The JD degree is unique among degrees for its crippling potential. That is, if you do not obtain legal employment, it must be kept in mind that non-law employers loathe the JD. You will be highly suspect in your attempt post-law school to gain non-legal employment, as you will be deemed overqualified. </p>
<p>Be very, very careful about law school right now.</p>