Search This Blog

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A must-read article from the New York Times about the cost-benefit analysis you need to do before going to law school.

David Segal's article, "Is Law School a Losing Game?", is a must-read for those of you considering law school.  See here.

Part of the reason that you should read this article is to help you realize that you can't rely on many of those nifty numbers in the U.S. News rankings -- particularly the employment statistics.

Here's our favorite part of the article, and not just because it quotes Bill Henderson (although that's a big plus). 

How do law schools depict a feast amid so much famine?

Enron-type accounting standards have become the norm,” says William Henderson of Indiana University, one of many exasperated law professors who are asking the American Bar Association to overhaul the way law schools assess themselves. “Every time I look at this data, I feel dirty.”

I[t] is an open secret, Professor Henderson and others say, that schools finesse survey information in dozens of ways. 

The article also quotes the University of Alabama's Andy Morriss, who points out how easily students can rack up astonishingly awful debt.

We're not saying that you should scratch law school off your list.  We are saying that you should go into law school with your eyes open.