William Robinson, the president of the American Bar Association, did an interview recently that has come under major criticism from the legal world. The reason for the criticism relates to what Robinson said in the interview. Robinson suggested that unemployed law school graduates “should have known what they were getting into.” Robinson put an emphasis on ‘personal responsibility’ that did not sit comfortably with the legal world.
There are some people in the national spotlight who actually do agree with Robinson and his points of view regarding the legal world. One such person in agreement with Robinson is Star Jones, the former lawyer who turned herself into a television host. The controversy that has broiled into lawsuits regarding the value of a law school education has finally hit the mainstream media. This topic has been discussed in major newspapers across the country and now a segment was filmed on the ‘Today Show.’
The segment was short but it involved the discussion of recent lawsuits filed by students and former students against law schools. The lawsuits claim that law schools provide prospective students with misleading statistics regarding postgraduate employment in the legal industry. The panelists for the segment included Star Jones, Dr. Nancy Synderman and Donny Deutsch; all of whom showed no sympathy to the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuits.
Jones is currently a lawyer and previously worked as a prosecutor. She said there is no possible way that the lawsuits will be successful. She said that the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuits should focus on searching for a job instead of filing lawsuits. “No one’s going to hand you a job,” she said. “I hate whiners!”
Deutsch does not work as an attorney but decided to take on a cultural view regarding the lawsuits instead of a legal view. “This isn’t a legal issue,” he said. “This is what I call the Whiny Generation…. Talk about Brokaw’s ‘Greatest Generation’ — this is the opposite.”
After you watch the video embedded in this post, be sure to leave a comment or two detailing your thoughts about the class action lawsuits and whether or not the plaintiffs are whining about the jobs in the legal field.
Lawyers still make more than just about everyone other than doctors, and their unemployment rates are still much lower than most other professions.
There’s been a lot of griping and complaining by young lawyers–it’s what they’re trained to do, and it’s in their interest to thin out the competition by spreading tales of misery.
But the truth is, lawyers remain exceptionally well compensated and exceptionally secure compared to the rest of us.
Unless you can get into medical school or dental school, if you want to make good money, go to law school.
Anon is an idiot. Starting lawyers get paid on average less than paralegals, and have over a grand due in student loan payment due every month.
The big law firms highly publicize their starting salaries, so big picture, it’s like winning the lottery to get a big law job. These are the salaries the public (and me prior to getting that stupid J.D.) believe.
And who wants a big law job anyway? You have to live in a basement 24/7 writing motions and billing out 10 times the amount of your salary. So the choices are unemployment, self-employment (which practically equals unemployment–because no one pays), small time law firm with paralegal pay and no benefits, or that golden big law firm job and never have the opportunity for a shower for three-five years.
I actually know the truth, Anon, I was a paralegal, and could kick myself for days for getting the J.D.
I think the lawsuits are valid. I was sold a rainbow before I was trained to see if it was an illusion. I’d never invest in law school now. What a joke!