FYI Forum

[Paul Campos]

I've been told by someone in a position to know that total registrations for today's LSAT are down 13% from last year's October administration.

[dr123]

Campos, you should start posting in the lounge.

[Mavraides87]

Thank you Prof Campos, was wondering if the trend would continue.

Think fewer than 100,000 LSATs administered this cycle maybe?

[Tiago Splitter]

Thank you Prof Campos, was wondering if the trend would continue.

Think fewer than 100,000 LSATs administered this cycle maybe?

Doubtful since the June numbers weren't as positive. Still great news though. Could be the fewest number of October test takers since they started collecting this data in 1987.

[Mavraides87]

Columbia and Chicago can still retain 171, but I'm guessing many schools will lose 1/2 points again on LSAT median if this holds

[052220151]

Thanks for the info, Campos.

[bizzybone1313]

I ordered your book on Amazon. Hopefully it comes in this week, so I can read it.

[linkx13]

Columbia and Chicago can still retain 171, but I'm guessing many schools will lose 1/2 points again on LSAT median if this holds

chicago has a 170

[justonemoregame]

Professor Campos, next e-book: And if You Must Go to Law School, Refuse to Pay Sticker

[banjo]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

[dowu]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

[BruinRegents]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

And fewer jobs.

[Tiago Splitter]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

There actually are a lot fewer enrolling as well.

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

[dowu]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

And fewer jobs.

One positive implication is that you should no longer be paying that nice little sticker price they're advertising.

[dowu]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

There actually are a lot fewer enrolling as well.

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

You're right. Just remembered seeing the stats. Theyre accepting a little less at some schools.

Still over powering the job market though.

[Tiago Splitter]

I hope the drop in applicants translates into better employment outcomes.

It won't. Drop in apllicants doesn't mean drop in enrolled. They're just accepting shittier applicants than ever before.

There actually are a lot fewer enrolling as well.

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

You're right. Just remembered seeing the stats. Theyre accepting a little less at some schools.

Still over powering the job market though.

It went from 52,500 in the fall of 2010 to 44,500 last fall. Should be quite a bit lower this year, perhaps under 40k. But yeah still work to do. Hopefully the dropout rate, which is usually about ten percent, goes up.

[BruinRegents]

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

By fewer I meant that I do not believe we will return to the amount of JD-required jobs pre-Great Recession.

[Tiago Splitter]

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

By fewer I meant that I do not believe we will return to the amount of JD-required jobs pre-Great Recession.

Maybe not, but as I said in another thread the differences between the employment prospects pre and post-recession are greatly overstated. The number of bar passage required jobs declined about 8% from 2007-2012, coming in at about 28,500 for class of 2012. Get the number of people starting law school down around 35k and we'll be pretty close to full employment for law grads. Not the kind of employment that pays back debt, sure, but getting most people into actual lawyer jobs is a big upgrade.

[BruinRegents]

Also, why fewer jobs BR?

By fewer I meant that I do not believe we will return to the amount of JD-required jobs pre-Great Recession.

Maybe not, but as I said in another thread the differences between the employment prospects pre and post-recession are greatly overstated. The number of bar passage required jobs declined about 8% from 2007-2012, coming in at about 28,500 for class of 2012. Get the number of people starting law school down around 35k and we'll be pretty close to full employment for law grads. Not the kind of employment that pays back debt, sure, but getting most people into actual lawyer jobs is a big upgrade.

And that's fine. But there are two factors that those statistics couldn't have accounted for. I've been saying that this time it is different. That the changes we've seen and will continue to see are structural unemployment and not cyclical or frictional. First, technology, especially with the advances being made in legal informatics will eventually place downward pressure in legal hiring. Secondly, the longer the hiring trough lasts, firms and companies are learning they can do more with less.

So while the statistics you've cited as accurate, my contention is that we should throw them out because there's been a paradigm shift and this new world needs new metrics to account for that shift.

Finally, even if we get down to 35k, that's still 15k jobs we lost and we never get back post-Great Recession.

[Tiago Splitter]

Finally, even if we get down to 35k, that's still 15k jobs we lost and we never get back post-Great Recession.

I have no idea what this means. The rest of your post is just speculation. Fair points to be sure, but speculation that isn't backed up by any of the data we can get our hands on regarding hiring over the last couple of decades. There's no reason to throw out all the data because of some hunch.

EDIT: The number of bar passage required jobs for class of 2012 was actually higher than the number in 2005. The total number of those jobs has held fairly steady between 26,000 and 31,000 from 2001 through 2012. Technology has been rapidly improving during that time. We're five years out from the beginning of ITE. It's pretty clear that where we've been is where we're going to continue to be. These "changes" people keep talking about don't really need to be described as structural or cyclical because not a whole lot has changed.