Can redemption be found within the hallowed halls of law school? Is there solace in learning the great laws that have been passed down from generation to generation? Does the title, esquire, bestow upon thee some magical power? Some higher purpose? Are lawyers truly called to lift the world from chaos and create order?
If a lawyer is truly a crusader of society, and if the ABA wants to continue to further this vision, then one must ask: does law school go along with this ideal?
In order to be a member of the almighty bar association-earning the coveted (and ultra-expensive) title of esquire-one must pass not only a so-called grueling bar exam, but also pass a character and fitness evaluation. The bar association demands that its members be fit in morals and personal character in order to represent clients in the courtrooms of this country.
However, according to the magazine “The National Jurist”, two new law schools are planning on opening soon. The University of North Texas will be opening in 2014, adding another school to the lone star (not lone law school) state. Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, Indiana will be opening a new “three-story law school building” around August 2013 if things go according to plan. Does the United States need two more law schools within the next two years?
If a baby faced graduate of law school must pass a character and fitness evaluation, shouldn’t the same exacting standards be expected of the law school system? Should there be so many law schools? And if so, should not the incoming class sizes be regulated? Should thousands of people be able to flood the market, making it so that few can find actual legal jobs? I believe that people should have the chance to do what they want with their lives. At the same time, student loan money is easy to get. In fact, it is effortless (almost-I knew someone who did not go to college because he/she did not know how to fill out a FAFSA and refused to learn). Otherwise, one can have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars for school and living expenses. While I think that school should be available to everyone, student loans should be capped and schools should follow suit if they want students. Schools raising tuition every year and loan caps being raised takes advantage of those who are seeking a better life for themselves-the student.
The student is often a young individual who is freshly out in the world. In fact, the first real scam that the student will face in their life may be the tuition scam. The result is a lifetime of huge debt and very few ways to get out of it. Visions of stability and wealth, something that universally almost human being craves, is held out in front of the student. The student pushes forth, towards that vision, in hopes of attaining it, being told, just a couple more years of school, and you'll be done. Just another year at $40,000 and you shall be a self-sufficient and productive member of society. A crusader of justice, who will make your families and communities immensely proud.
Coming up with a solution to the problem is not easy. The ABA could state that law schools should cap their class sizes each year, especially when the economy is in a huge downturn. The ABA could state that the current law school model of learning three years of theory is a broken model that does not do much good for teaching law. If a person is not ready to represent a client on their own after law school, then the system has failed them. Imagine a doctor graduating medical school and did not knowing how to operate on a patient. Imagine a dentist getting out of dental school and not knowing how to do a root canal or a filling after joining a dental office for half a decade? However, that is where law schools are placing their graduates.
Some schools have mentioned creating in house law firms in which their students can learn how to represent a client. Why has that not been implemented from the start? If dental school charged $30-50,000 a year to teach students ‘dental theory’ and said ‘you will learn the real medical stuff through a future job’, people would revolt. Yet us law students as a whole go through the motions, not questioning anything. We are taught to question everything; yet we do not. Why is this? Perhaps it is time for the students to start writing the ABA and telling them that the system needs to be changed. It may not do anything; but the people need to know that we, as a class, need to make our views known. Many are not going to speak out against the system, but some of us should start taking our thoughts directly to them. Perhaps it is time to be a real Crusader of Justice.
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| Mort de Roland |
In order to be a member of the almighty bar association-earning the coveted (and ultra-expensive) title of esquire-one must pass not only a so-called grueling bar exam, but also pass a character and fitness evaluation. The bar association demands that its members be fit in morals and personal character in order to represent clients in the courtrooms of this country.
However, according to the magazine “The National Jurist”, two new law schools are planning on opening soon. The University of North Texas will be opening in 2014, adding another school to the lone star (not lone law school) state. Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, Indiana will be opening a new “three-story law school building” around August 2013 if things go according to plan. Does the United States need two more law schools within the next two years?
If a baby faced graduate of law school must pass a character and fitness evaluation, shouldn’t the same exacting standards be expected of the law school system? Should there be so many law schools? And if so, should not the incoming class sizes be regulated? Should thousands of people be able to flood the market, making it so that few can find actual legal jobs? I believe that people should have the chance to do what they want with their lives. At the same time, student loan money is easy to get. In fact, it is effortless (almost-I knew someone who did not go to college because he/she did not know how to fill out a FAFSA and refused to learn). Otherwise, one can have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars for school and living expenses. While I think that school should be available to everyone, student loans should be capped and schools should follow suit if they want students. Schools raising tuition every year and loan caps being raised takes advantage of those who are seeking a better life for themselves-the student.
The student is often a young individual who is freshly out in the world. In fact, the first real scam that the student will face in their life may be the tuition scam. The result is a lifetime of huge debt and very few ways to get out of it. Visions of stability and wealth, something that universally almost human being craves, is held out in front of the student. The student pushes forth, towards that vision, in hopes of attaining it, being told, just a couple more years of school, and you'll be done. Just another year at $40,000 and you shall be a self-sufficient and productive member of society. A crusader of justice, who will make your families and communities immensely proud.
Coming up with a solution to the problem is not easy. The ABA could state that law schools should cap their class sizes each year, especially when the economy is in a huge downturn. The ABA could state that the current law school model of learning three years of theory is a broken model that does not do much good for teaching law. If a person is not ready to represent a client on their own after law school, then the system has failed them. Imagine a doctor graduating medical school and did not knowing how to operate on a patient. Imagine a dentist getting out of dental school and not knowing how to do a root canal or a filling after joining a dental office for half a decade? However, that is where law schools are placing their graduates. Some schools have mentioned creating in house law firms in which their students can learn how to represent a client. Why has that not been implemented from the start? If dental school charged $30-50,000 a year to teach students ‘dental theory’ and said ‘you will learn the real medical stuff through a future job’, people would revolt. Yet us law students as a whole go through the motions, not questioning anything. We are taught to question everything; yet we do not. Why is this? Perhaps it is time for the students to start writing the ABA and telling them that the system needs to be changed. It may not do anything; but the people need to know that we, as a class, need to make our views known. Many are not going to speak out against the system, but some of us should start taking our thoughts directly to them. Perhaps it is time to be a real Crusader of Justice.
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