So, You Want to Go to Law School ...

Apparently there is a book making the rounds among people considering going to law school titled Don't Go to Law School Unless, which gives some tough-love advice about what law school and practicing law are really like. For the too long: didn't read crowd, another lawyer boiled the whole book down to a flowchart.

Here's a little tough love of my own: if you are a TL:DR sort of person, law school is not for you.

No, I did not read the book. Before this morning, I didn't even know it existed. But I already have my degree, and it's paid for, so the book isn't talking to me, anyway.

The flowchart looks pretty accurate, albeit a little on the harsh side. I think the main takeaway is (or should be) that a lot of people have no earthly idea what lawyers do or what working in a law firm is like, and taking out scads of student loans based on the fact that you like lawyer TV shows is a really bad idea. At the very least, take some inexpensive law classes and spend some time actually working in a law firm.

Wait! That's exactly what our paralegal program is designed to have you do! Whoa!

If you'd like to look at the flowchart, here it is.

And Changes at Purdue

Last week, Purdue announced that it had purchased Kaplan University, an online college. It is unclear what that means on many fronts, and the Purdue administration and faculty are still hammering that out. You (probably) already know how I feel about online classes, and Purdue's faculty shares many of my misgivings, so this should be interesting.

Lost in all the local news of the wrangling (and if you haven't been following the local news of the wrangling, you should be!) is the fact that Kaplan has a law school. Yep. A law school. Kaplan's law school is called Concord Law School. Why isn't it called Kaplan Law School? I have no idea. Okay, I have an idea, but I don't know.

So now Purdue owns a law school. Yet another first for Purdue.

Concord Law School, being entirely online, is not accredited. The American Bar Association will not accredit online degrees. I am obviously not the only lawyer suspicious of such things. Nonetheless, one can get a law degree from Concord. However, only one state will allow someone with an unaccredited degree to sit for the bar exam, and it's not Indiana. It's California.

But I'll bet they pass the California bar exam in droves, since they can obviously just focus on that, right? Don't make that bet. Concord's overall bar pass rate is 16 percent. Yes, after you spend an estimated $50,000 for a Concord bar degree, you only stand a 16 percent chance of actually becoming a lawyer. In California. Concord points out that $50,000 is pretty darned inexpensive for a law degree.

Um, it should be.

So Purdue, an Indiana public university, owns a law school which is not accredited and whose graduates are not eligible to sit for the Indiana bar or to, in any way, obtain an Indiana law license. Because, why not?

While you're catching up on the wrangling, be sure to take in how the Indiana legislature passed a special law exempting Purdue/Kaplan/Concord from open records laws.

Does this smell funny to anyone else?

http://abovethelaw.com/2017/05/big-ten-university-purchases-online-law-school-with-abysmal-bar-passage-rates/

Changes at Harvard Law School

Okay, this article is really about how HLS has changed its deferral program. In the past, a certain number of people who had been admitted by Harvard Law could, with HLS's permission, defer their enrollment for a year to pursue other opportunities. HLS is now making the deferral option more widely available, and has expanded it to a 2-year deferment.

Yes, if I put it like that, it sounds kind of dry and boring.

BUT--in the middle of this article is a paragraph about a student-to-be who is using her deferment, and her martial arts skills, to be a Hollywood stunt double, all while supporting herself as a paralegal.

You know I cannot resist an article that contains the words Harvard, paralegal, martial arts, and stunt double, all in the same paragraph.

Talk about living the dream!

Read all about it here.

Law School Panel at Purdue

Thinking about law school? If so, it's never too early to find out what law schools are looking for and to get some good advice for how to prepare. The Purdue Pre-Law Society is sponsoring a Law School Panel, featuring admissions representatives from IU Maurer, IU McKinney, Notre Dame, and Valparaiso law schools. The panel will take place on Wednesday, February 1 (1 week from today), at 6:00 p.m. in Rawls Hall, room 1057.

IU Law Mock Trial Competition

It's fairly short notice, but if you've been looking for something to do this weekend, the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Bloomington is hosting a Mock Trial Competition this Saturday and Sunday, January 24-25. For more details, contact tournament co-directors Mason Fisher and Rachel Laurel at hoosiermock@gmail.com.