Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

"Law School Transparency" Online Clearinghouse Provides Better Consumer Information

Established in 2009, Law School Transparency ( LST ) is a non-profit organization seeking to  to improve consumer information concerning the value of legal education and to usher in consumer-oriented reforms to the current law school model. They were formed in the context of the general economic decline that has impacted and changed the market for legal services. This has led to a growing number of law graduates with huge loans and under-employment or unemployment.

However beyond the economic conditions, many of these grads are questioning the accuracy and completeness of the information they received  as prospective law students, which affected their willingness to attend law school, in the first place. LST  indicates that the reporting standards themselves were inadequate for informed decision-making by prospective students. Also, they report that most law schools were initially not willing to provide the data they had, that could better inform student choices.

Most recently, LST has developed an online clearinghouse of school and employment data that attempts to provide relevant information for each ABA accredited law school. They collected and reconciled data from four sources: the ABA, U.S. News, school websites, and school NALP ( National Association for Law Placement ) reports. Only about 1 in 4 schools has chosen to make their NALP reports public, so far. The job of reconciling the data from theses multiple sources, to provide meaningful comparisons, was  challenging. They say they tried to "reconciled incompatible data as fairly as possible."

"For each ABA-accredited law school, the database includes key employment statistics; charts that break down the percentage of graduates in lawyer and non-lawyer jobs; graphs that detail whether jobs were long-term or short-term; maps showing the states in which the largest percentage of graduates
found jobs; salary breakdowns; and the jobs reports that schools submitted to the ABA and NALP." For law school where it is available the Raw Data used for creating the graphs, is also presented.

In addition to this basic information, the web page for each law school, provides an "under-employment score"; the percentage of students who report their salaries ( important for validity of stats) ; and  tuition figures including a total debt projection for the classes of 2015 and 2016.

 The continued development of this first-of-a-kind database and the inclusion of  even more previously non-public data, should advance   "... the simple notion that schools need to be disclose employment data to fulfill their obligations to fairly and adequately inform prospective students about the nature of the legal profession and opportunities within it."

 

 

 

Legal Mentoring A La Carte – Vimeo 7th Circuit Bar's Channels

For new lawyers embarking on their careers and also law students  contemplating future directions, mentoring by experienced practitioners can be very valuable. However, not all new lawyers, much less law students can be involved in a formal mentoring relationship.

While not being able to replace that kind of relationship, the Young Lawyers Committee of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, has developed a more "bite-size" approach to mentoring, geared to busy new practitioners and law students.

What they have created are five video channels on the online video service called Vimeo. Most of the  videos are short and feature judges of the Seventh Circuit and attorneys who practice in the circuit.

They provide how-to guidance and tips, but also address such issues as  the relative merits of clerkships, pro bono work, areas of practice. They look at what values to cultivate and the challenges of the justice system itself.

They also speak to the relevance of the law school curriculum, hiring preferences, mistakes to avoid, personal career planning and even how to find a real-life mentor for your career.

The committee describes the aims of their project as, “It’s a way to gather and communicate wisdom and experience from one generation of lawyers to the next, by building a library of video clips of various judges and practitioners. We also seek to have younger lawyers gather these videos in order to make connections with judges and experienced practitioners.”

The videos are publicly accessible and can prove useful and convenient both for new attorneys and law students. Just pick a few from the extensive “menu”, to get started. You’ll probably want more.

 

Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Bill Introduced in House

U.S. Representative Hansen Clarke of Michigan has just recently introduced H.R. 4170, the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, which would extend a helping hand to those struggling under massive amounts of student loan debt. The bill was introduced, 3/8/2012, with twelve co-sponsors including Rep. Janice Schakowsky,  from the Ninth Congressional District of Illinois. The bill's introduction identifies both the needs of students and of the national economy, as reasons for this bill.

As tuition continues to rise, and total higher-education debt  has surpassed credit-card debt  for the first time, rising to $830 billion in mid-2010. The bills findings state, "Because of soaring tuition costs, students often have no choice but to amass significant debt to obtain an education that is widely considered a prerequisite for earning a living wage." 

For many families the unpredictability of tuition increases makes it difficult or impossible to know how to plan for saving for school expenses. If they want a college education, most students don't have a choice but to go into debt both through government and  private lenders loans.

Unlike other areas of borrowing, it is almost impossible to have student loans forgiven through bankruptcy. Also unlike consumer debtors, student borrowers can have their Social Security  and other federal benefits garnished for repayment. Private loans usually have higher interest rates than government loans. They also do not have provisions for easier repayment options for lower-income student nor options for participating in public-service loan forgiveness programs.  ( "Student Debt  Is the college-loan system fair?"  By Marcia Clemmitt ,  CQ Researcher,  Volume 21, Issue 37 )

Representative Hansen Clarke's bill attempts to provide some relief to student borrowers and their families  who find themselves entangled in these circumstances.

The bill also cites broader economic considerations beyond the individual students. "Excessive student loan debt is impeding economic growth in the United States. Faced with excessive repayment burdens, many individuals are unable to start businesses, invest, or buy homes. Relieving student loan debt would give these individuals greater control over their earnings and would increase entrepreneurship and demand for goods and services." ( See : "Student loan debt a growing threat to the economy" )

 

Author's summary of bill's provisions ( Double check legislative language )  :

1 )  "10/10 Loan Repayment Plan"  -  Limitation on monthly payments based on family income with  automatic deductions from bank account.

2 )  "10/10 Loan Forgiveness" - Eligibility if have made 120 monthly payments on a loan. Government will assume the loan or cancel the loan depending on factors involved, up to $45,520.  Forgiven loans will not to be included for income tax purposes.

3 )  Capping  interest rates for all Federal Direct Loans at 3.4% .

4 )  Extending public-service loan forgiveness to a full-time job as a primary care physician in an under-served area or population.

5 )  Creating a one year eligibility period for a  Federal Direct Consolidation Loan for private loans held by borrower. The consolidated loan interest will not exceed 3.4% .

 

Judge Odas Nicholson ( 1924-2012 ) Was First African-American Woman to Graduate From DePaul Law School

A March 16, 2012 Chicago Tribune story reported the on the death of Judge Odas Nicholson. She was born in Mississippi in 1924 and came to Chicago when she was 13. She was  both a DePaul undergraduate and a graduate of the DePaul Law School.

In 2005 she received The Outstanding Service to the Profession Award from the law school which honors alumni with outstanding achievements in their chosen field or specialty. She was truly a pioneer, achieving many firsts for African-American women. (p.20)

"After graduating Marshall High School, she attended Wilson Junior College for two years before earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy from DePaul University. She was the only woman in her class and the first African-American woman to graduate from DePaul University's law school, according to the Women's Bar Association of Illinois. She was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1948."

According to the Chicago Defender, "Nicholson was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Supreme Court of Illinois in November 1980 and was elected to a full term in November 1982. She served as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County for 14 years prior to her retirement in December 1994. She was the first African-American woman assigned to the Law Division of the Court and the first woman assigned to the Motions Section where she served for eight years. She was also the first woman assigned an individual calendar."

In the Tribune story, William Maddux, a presiding judge in Cook County, and a former collegue of judge Nicholson, is quoted saying  that  "Odas was a trailblazer, no doubt about it," "She had a formidable mind combined with a good dose of common sense."

( Hat Tip to Glennis Jones-Marshall )

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Student Law School Suits Affecting Moody's Ratings

Recent  law suits filed by graduates from several law schools, have not only garnered much publicity but are having an impact on the credit ratings of the schools involved.  This may not have been on the minds of the student plaintiffs. But one suspects that administrators at the schools have probably considered the possible impact.

Moody's maintains credit ratings for eight of the fifteen schools sued, including: Southwestern Law School; California Western School of Law; Brooklyn Law School; New York Law School; Golden Gate University; DePaul University; Hofstra University; and the University of San Francisco.

A Thomson Reuter news posting states, "Class-action lawsuits recently filed against fifteen law schools for fraud are "credit negative" because they could cause reputational damage and a decline in tuition revenue, according to a report released this week by the ratings agency Moody's Investors Service."

Local graduate court cases, allege violations of Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act  claiming fraud and negligent misrepresentation. They are seeking restitution, damages and independent audits of employment and salary data. 

In the cases involving the first three law schools that were sued, Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan, New York Law School and Thomas Jefferson School of Law, the schools have moved to dismiss the lawsuits, arguing that they were strictly following the  American Bar Association rules on job-placement data.

In January, Moody's revised its outlook on New York Law School from "stable" to "negative,". A summary of the Moody's report found online, provides a look at what factors the rating service is considering in evaluating the law schools.

The summary indicates that the downgrade for New York Law School, is due to conditions   "...reflecting recent enrollment volatility and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of a recent lawsuit and its potential impact on the school's market position and longer-term student demand..." The progress of the suits  will  continue to be monitored for  the potential impact on the School's market position. Addressing what could make the ratings go down, the report states  that, " An adverse outcome of the lawsuit which could lead to financial distress or reputational risk,"

While some of the emerging difficulties for law schools stem from structural changes in the legal marketplace , (See "Practicing Theory: Legal Education for  the Twenty-First Century").  The law school graduate law suits, focus on the internal practices at the schools. Practices that may have forestalled the impact of these structural changes on law schools, but that must now be re-examined.

 

Family Law Center Lecture : Rape Allegations in the 21st Century

State's Attorney's Office & Local Colleges Team Up to Fight Sex Crimes

An article in the  DePaulia Student paper, reports on the establishment of the Chicagoland Consortium for Safety on College Campuses which involves Cook County State's Attorney's Office, DePaul and other universities, including UIC and Northwestern.

 The article states that  "...studies estimate that 60 percent of rape and sexual assault cases are never reported to police or campus authorities. Even more alarming is the fact that of those sex crimes that are reported, RAINN has shown that there is only a 50.8 percent chance that an arrest will be made." The Consortium will make  a collectice effort to change this situation.

"The goal of the State's Attorney's Office is to assist in the education of the entire campus body on the prevention of sex offenses," said Jennifer Gonzalez, chief of the State's Attorney's Sex Crimes Division. "And where that is not possible, to increase the reporting of such cases to allow us the opportunity to prosecute those individuals who have violated the law and hold them accountable for their actions."

See also June 2011 Chicago Tribune article :

Few arrests, convictions in campus sex assault cases Tribune survey of 6 Midwestern universities found 171 reported sex crimes, 12 arrests, 4 convictions

 

"Practical Law Company" From U.K. May Lessen Theory/Practice Gap in U.S.

A recent article in our own local CALL Bulletin ( Chicago Association of Law libraries) about new legal research instruction, mentioned a resource that was unfamiliar to me. Its rather prosaic name was "The Practical Law Company" (PLC).  Apparently, this  company has been doing business in the legal community of the United Kingdom for nearly 20 years. But only launched its operations in the U.S. this past December.

The "practical" in its name implies that it would be directed at the actual practice of law rather than theoretical or academic explorations of legal topics. Given the growing critique of much of US law school education as being too disconnected from the knowledge and skills needed to be a practicing attorney. One could assume that introducing access to  this resource in law schools, might be one attempt to remedy this perceived imbalance.

The online resources produced by the PLC's own expert staff are designed specifically for transactional attorneys. One author describes the Practical Law Company this way, "PLC is the UK's pre-eminent provider of legal know-how, transactional analysis and market intelligence for business lawyers." The material is developed and kept current by  by their own attorney editors who have practiced at top law firms and law departments.  A majority of AmJur 200 law firms subscribe to PLC.

With an excellent reputation and large market share in the UK, PLC has decided to expand their particular services to the U.S. market. To meet the level and qualitiy of services expected by clients, PLC  invested over a year and a half preparing content for its U.S. Launch. The main areas that PLC is concentrating on are Corporate & Securities , Finance, Labor and Employment and Intellectual Property.

They believe that there is a market here too, for their brand of  'outsourced knowledge management'  for  completing a variety of transactions and "getting the deal done".  As their web site states, "We go beyond primary law and research. We take the expertise of our team and distill it in a way that actually helps you get your work done. Nobody in the US does what we do. Period. "

That is not to concede that the major US-based online legal services, LexisNexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law have not provided resources geared specifically to transactional attorneys' work :

"Lexis Transactional Advisor, designed for lawyers who work on transactional law. Transactional Advisor helps you analyze strategies, prepare for and perform due diligence, stay on top of compliance issues, draft documents and more—all from a single online location for various practice areas."

"With Westlaw, you can review authoritative documents drafted by top law firms, find and complete official forms electronically," via Westlaw Form Builder, Model Documents. Many treatises and practice guides are available. Financial and investment analyst reports and extensive Company Profiles are also provided.

Bloomberg's  "DealMaker contains deal news, editorial commentary, practice notes, legal treatises, deal timelines, checklists and a fully searchable EDGAR database. It also contains browseable and searchable model agreements, forms and publicly available documents."  With its recent acquisition, Bloomberg also provides  "access to BNA's Corporate Practice Series Portfolios, which include in-depth analysis of areas of interest to corporate law practitioners, texts of relevant laws, worksheets that contain forms and checklists, and subject bibliographies."

However, the exclusive focus on transactional work  and high level of expertise they devote to their products may over time, eclipse the  transactional offerings from the traditional U.S. providers.

 Most of what The Practical Law Company does, seems directed at actual practitioners and at new associates who need to quickly get up to speed in a practice area. However, as with the big three use providers, marketing begins in the law schools. Exposure there can "imprint" a particular service on students who then continue using the service in their jobs after school. PLC is  approaching law schools to acquaint law students with their products and possibly also provide missing career information for students considering practicing transactional law.

The terms are very attractive, as in "Free".  "The free account includes: Unlimited access to our online legal know-how services while matriculated and until graduation (law students) or while affiliated with a law school (faculty and staff), plus full training and support.

Potential benefits for law student are described  this way : "The law school home page for PLC has a link to a “Survival Guide” which includes over “50 step-by-step corporate, securities and finance resources to give you the tool to ace summer assignments.” The home page also links to “Interview Survival Guide” designed to quickly bring students up to speed “in the basics of corporate, securities and finance practice” to “[g]et the edge in interviews with your knowledge of deal trends and market practice.”

From a quick Google search, it appears that these law schools are at least exploring access to PLC for their students : University of Chicago, Loyola University Chicago  School Of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Cornell Law School, Roger Williams University School of Law.

While these benefits may seem a bit thin compared to what practitioners get out of PLC's resources, exposure to and knowledge of such resources can probably help correct that  practice imbalance identified in the opening of the post.