Top Law Schools

This post (warning) is mostly for 2 L's and 3 L's who are starting to stick their toes in the job search. The market is gruesome, but that said there are some gigs you should stay far, far away from. Here are a couple examples:

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and

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These shady "per diem" 1099 ind. contractor jobs have gotten a lot of newbie lawyers in deep shit. Often these boiler rooms are owned by 'silent" partners who are non-lawyers, and when enough clients complain, guess who takes the heat? Illegal fee-splitting, anyone?

For laughs I actually applied to the "Legal Helpers" gig and was told they pay $300 flat a file for a Ch. 7. For this paltry fee you have to entertain ALL client questions and phone calls, prep for the 341 hearing, attend the 341 hearing (which could involve up to a 2 hour drive), and perform all follow-up work. A quick Google search reveals scores of consumer complaints about this joint, with clients charged 2 K or more by this "firm" who then farm out the entire matter to desperate solos and noobs who then screw up the case royally, or simply never do any work whatsoever.

All these "boiler rooms" do is spend the big $$$ on advertisements to lure in stupid/uneducated clients, then milk them dry with fees while some recent TTT grad churns the work for peanuts and calls him/herself a "solo." There are tons of places also offering per diem foreclosure defense files and other "1099 work" under the same business model.

A good friend of mine nearly got disbarred for taking on per-diem foreclosure work that was "robo-notarized." You see, the shysters who operate these scams make YOU sign all the pleadings, so they have someone else to blame when it blows up. He had to spend almost 10 K on a malpractice defense lawyer and barely dodged disbarrment in NY (he was suspended from practice for 12 months however).

Sad thing is he was an honest kid, but the pressure of student loans got the best of him. It's funny how no one ever makes the connection between unethical practice and the student loan debt noose. Desperate people are willing to take desperate measures, esp. now that doc review has mostly been outsourced to India. Yet the law schools just keep jacking up tuition with no end in sight.

As worthless as a non-Biglaw JD is, there's no point losing it quickly for the pennies these mills will pay you. Better to wait tables or work construction than get mixed up w/ these shysters.

"Do NOT apply if you have your own law office, plan to open your own office, or have a defined salary requirement."

haha

"Do NOT apply if you have your own law office, plan to open your own office, or have a defined salary requirement."

haha

Yet people on here still plan to attend non-Top 14 programs, blissfully unaware that the craigslist bottom feeders will likely be their only chance to "practice law", such as it is. Outside the rapidly shrinking number of Biglaw spots, market demand for non-elite JD grads is essentially zero. The salaries of 0 dollars proffered by these dumps (along with the lack of health benefits) tells you everything you need to know.

Hell, even the US Attorney has joined the NJ AG's office in offering a salary of 0 dollars:

http://blogs.findlaw.com/strategist/200 ... teers.html

and

http://www.law.com/jsp/nj/PubArticleNJ. ... hbxlogin=1

Yet curiously, many people feel they'll be somehow "exempt" from the law of supply & demand. You gotta admit it's pretty gruesome to "work" for free after 7 years of higher education. Even worse when you must "compete" with others to give your labor away gratis! Imagine graduates of a truck driving school taking to the Interstate for free, or Lincoln Tech'ers firing up the arc welder pro-bono. Only law grads are so deeply "invested" in the system that they think any "experience" is worth donating 40 hours or more a week to the f-ing government!