In its article today about the unemployed and underemployed returning to their alma maters for career help, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL noted that law schools were among those not assisting much at all. Yet, law is currently one of the most volatile fields. After being a secure profession for about 15 years now there are non-performance-related layoffs as well as performance firings.
The article by Joann Lublin quotes David Mezzapelle, founder of GoliathJobs.com, as listing law schools, along with journalism, medicine, and nursing ones, as "very, very weak in the area of alumni career services." This was no newsflash for me.
Frequently I get calls from newbie JDs and those all the way up to their third year as associates asking me about my career coaching services. It all comes pouring out: This is not what I expected. There are no jobs. I can't imagine working here for much longer. And then when I ask about their law school's career services the answer is also the same: They don't want you to show up unless you're a star and therefore easily marketable. If you keep coming back they won't welcome you with open arms. What do they know? I can do better job-hunting via the Internet.
Could professionals schools in journalism and law, both fields with a glut of supply and shrinking demand, be the equivalant of those mortgage companies that sold people houses they couldn't really afford? At least there's a market for alumni in medicine and nursing.
Most of those entering journalism and law schools will be taking out loans, frequently big ones. In journalism all entry level jobs pay peanuts. How grads ever pay their loans on a regular basis is a puzzle. For newbie JDs, unless they attend a top school and graduate at the top of their classes they will be indeed fortunate to land a $40,000 job. From that they are to pay off six-digit loans.
Should New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and CA AG Jerry Brown, both populist crusaders, be investigating why journalism and law schools allow students to purchase an education they will likely not be able to afford? This is one state AG probe I champion and look forward to LEGAL NEWSLINE covering it in breathless detail. "Dean of CattleProd Law School Led Away in Cuffs for Consumer Fraud."
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