Talk is Cheap

One might say that the scamblogs have said all there is to say about the law school scam. The core issues are clear. Twice as many graduates as there are jobs. Tuition through the roof, and salaries nowhere near sufficient to cover the debt. An utter lack of practical training, and professors and administrators who are living in cloud cuckoo land. Law firms taking advantage of the mess and exploiting the workforce. The facts are crystal clear. You get it.

And reading some of the comments from earlier, I get it too. The last thing we need is more talk, yet another scamblog that says the same old thing that we’ve all heard before. While there are issues that still need to be covered, such as upcoming rankings, employment stats, progress with the law school lawsuits, and keeping a firm set of eyes on the 2013 enrolment season, I propose that we take a different track.  Something more active.

Let me be clear from the outset – I do not advocate civil disobedience.  But I do advocate getting the message out as widely as we can by whatever means we have at our disposal.  Actually physically getting the message out.  Getting off our backsides and doing more than posting disapproving and concerned comments online.

So, what are our options?  What are some things that we could easily accomplish?  Here’s something to start with, something so simple that it wouldn’t be a burden for any supporter of law school reform.

We have a vast resource available, a valuable, focused resource – you. Many of you are current students, either law or undergraduate. And you are in the best position to stop this scam before it even starts. You are in daily contact with those who have yet to make the terrible decision of attending law school, and you are in daily contact with those who are just starting law school and who still have time to leave. So why not leverage this resource?

I’m not expecting you to do much. I don’t expect you to picket LSAT tests or admitted student days at law schools (although that would be nice, and would generate some publicity and coverage – maybe later.)  I’m proposing that we start off slow. A flyer. Something that anyone (everyone) here can download and print, carry a few copies around in their bookbags, backpacks and briefcases, and pin up on college noticeboards next to the LSAT prep flyers and law school posters. Something that can be pinned up on law school noticeboards, again and again and again and again, until the administration gets sick of throwing them out. Something that once a week could be tucked into the pre-law guides that every college has in its library, or in the new pre-law books and LSAT study guides in Barnes and Noble. Something that will reach the eyes of those who try to ignore us or don't know where to find us.

It’s a small start, but it’s a start.  It’s the first step to getting us comfortable with the idea that sitting down behind a computer screen is no longer sufficient. Tapping away at a keyboard cannot fight the law school machine.

I’d be interested in hearing some ideas for what the flyer should look like and what information it should contain. Single sheet of paper, something people can see as they walk past, something to sow the seed of doubt or encourage a little research. Let’s say we have room for a large title, plus five bullet points. What should they be? Want to design it and send me a pdf to post here? And if you've got better ideas, share!

Again, this is just a start. I’d like to see this blog develop into a coherent group of activists who are ultimately willing to form a national group that looks out for law applicant, law student and recent JD graduate rights and interests. Perhaps that’s thinking too big for now. Perhaps it’s not thinking big enough.

And as an aside, I appreciate all of the visitors and the commenters this blog has received so far. It’s a rough time for all of us, but we can regroup and we can take this to the next level. I hope you’ll join us for the long haul.