U of I Law Dean Pless:"I can trap 20 of the little bastards" Forum

[MTal]

"U. of I. probe of law school reveals intense culture, falsified data"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/educ ... 4118.story

Know this: Law schools do not exist to educate you, enlighten you, or provide you with a job. They exist for 1 purpose and 1 purpose only: to TAKE YOUR MONEY. And this is not just the way U of Illinois law operates...this is the way ALL law schools operate. You all are the commodities which provide the professors and administrators with their livelihood. Where there's a dollar to be made, there's a dollar to be made, and you TLS posters are the gullible suckers who are freely handing over your financial futures so that people like Pless can collect their 250k yearly salaries while leaving the vast majority of their graduates out in the cold.

[Kabuo]

"U. of I. probe of law school reveals intense culture, falsified data"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/educ ... 4118.story

Know this: Law schools do not exist to educate you, enlighten you, or provide you with a job. They exist for 1 purpose and 1 purpose only: to TAKE YOUR MONEY. And this is not just the way U of Illinois law operates...this is the way ALL law schools operate. You all are the commodities which provide the professors and administrators with their livelihood. Where there's a dollar to be made, there's a dollar to be made, and you TLS posters are the gullible suckers who are freely handing over your financial futures so that people like Pless can collect their 250k yearly salaries while leaving the vast majority of their graduates out in the cold.

O hai, Mtal. He didn't make 250k a year, and it's a little broad to say that all law schools are operating like this (yeah, to make money, probably not with outright fraud). Also, you're pretty much a TLS poster. Oh, also: this is news to no one and there is a 56 page thread about it. Other than what I've already said though, no concerns.

[Kimberly]

"U. of I. probe of law school reveals intense culture, falsified data"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/educ ... 4118.story

Know this: Law schools do not exist to educate you, enlighten you, or provide you with a job. They exist for 1 purpose and 1 purpose only: to TAKE YOUR MONEY. And this is not just the way U of Illinois law operates...this is the way ALL law schools operate. You all are the commodities which provide the professors and administrators with their livelihood. Where there's a dollar to be made, there's a dollar to be made, and you TLS posters are the gullible suckers who are freely handing over your financial futures so that people like Pless can collect their 250k yearly salaries while leaving the vast majority of their graduates out in the cold.

Certainly, making money is on EVERYONE's mind because that is the basis of our culture. But law school, for at least some, does indeed lead to a satisfying career and does indeed serve a purpose higher than paying the salaries of its deans. So, while I appreciate your passion on the topic, your skepticism and disgust are as misplaced as the naivete of an applicant who thinks the money has nothing to do with it.

Furthermore, the iLEAP program is not a novel concept. They do this in medical schools as well. While it certainly can help boost GPA averages, the sensational reporting of this article is unbalanced in its suggestion that the iLEAP program does not serve any purpose other than to boost GPA medians. The university made a serious mistake in first creating perverse financial incentives for this dean's salary to ride on increasing GPA and LSAT medians and then second not to monitor his reports/strategies to achieve this end. It is both a system failure as well as the failure of an individual's moral boundaries.

[MrAnon]

Who did he email that comment to? Was it a member of the school?

[anewaphorist]

The simple solution to the burgeoning problem of inaccurate data reporting is to be smart enough to go to a school that WILL get you a good job--the "top law schools." The autocracy of the T-14, although perhaps arbitrary and unmerited, will reign supreme in the wake of false data reports from schools outside the T20. The real shame is that the U of I used to be a school that would put one in a position for a great job (provided they finish in the top half of their class). Now, it and other schools on the slide (like Emory) have no recourse but to falsify their data so that their enrollment (and, yes, their funds) do not dry up.

[Jack Smirks]

Don't hate the Maverick hate the game.

[MrAnon]

Certainly, making money is on EVERYONE's mind because that is the basis of our culture

Agreed, however law schools love to tout their "non-profit" status. It keeps them exempt from taxes that the rest of us and that other "for profit" business have to pay.

Its one thing to be about making money and its another to parade like a charity and reap in dough, fail to pay taxes on it, and pay out astronomical salaries all on the basis of fraudulently collected federal student loans. Its great that many people find the profession fulfilling, but an usually large number never find any lawyer job and these schools don't give a damn.

[5ky]

While I don't necessarily disagree that schools are mostly profit-motivated, that's not really the context from which the quote was taken. It was more along the lines of him trapping 20 high GPA students to help the GPA median without having to sacrifice the LSAT median, because for those 20 students, the LSAT was not required.

[bjsesq]

I really feel like you aren't trying with these trolls anymore, man. You just do the same thing all the time. X event has happened. Law school sucks, don't go or drop out. Then you just use the same old rhetoric to piss people off. You need to start coming at this in a different way.

[Kimberly]

Certainly, making money is on EVERYONE's mind because that is the basis of our culture

Agreed, however law schools love to tout their "non-profit" status. It keeps them exempt from taxes that the rest of us and that other "for profit" business have to pay.

Its one thing to be about making money and its another to parade like a charity and reap in dough, fail to pay taxes on it, and pay out astronomical salaries all on the basis of fraudulently collected federal student loans. Its great that many people find the profession fulfilling, but an usually large number never find any lawyer job and these schools don't give a damn.

This isn't just true to law schools. Most HOSPITALS- yes, those dear, true, honest, loving, caring, altruistic hospitals who care for your grandmother- are "not for profit" as well. They too recieve MAJOR tax breaks because of this status. And, they charge the uninsured prices 10 fold higher than the contracted prices they charge insured patients. Then, when the uninsured can't pay their bills, they boast to the government the artificially inflated dollar amount of the "free care" they provide the uninsured. Meanwhile, collections officers are calling these uninsured patients who can't pay their bills, houses are being forclosed upon, and FICA scores are plumeting into oblivion.... The world is a scary place, my friend.

[JusticeHarlan]

that's not really the context from which the quote was taken