The Shark

multiple choice exams aren't necessarily the preference of multiple kinds of law students.

[brian lauter]

Choose the best answer:

1. Which do you prefer, multiple choice tests or written tests?

a. Multiple choice, because you always have at least a 20% chance.

b. Multiple choice, because they’re way easier for professors to grade.

c. Written, because they give you the opportunity to regurgitate an entire semester’s worth of information (or one outline) in three hours.

d. Written, because if you don’t know the answer you can write something tangential and hope for a few pity points.

e. A and B only.

f. All of the above.

g. All of the above, but not C.

h. None of the above.

Sorry if that question was worded poorly; I’m sure you did just fine.

Yesterday, an item on PrawfsBlawg asked about the pros on cons of multiple choice law school exams. It ended up being a pretty polarizing question.

Some of the commenters focused on the nature of the material. Those who favored multiple choice questions said that many questions of law are more discrete and are better suited for multiple choice exams, while others argued that the law is inherently gray and reasoned answers should be required.

Other commenters focused on the practice of law. Those who favored written tests argued that writing well under pressure is an important skill for practicing law; others argued that being able to make quick decisions on points of law is also important.

The multiple choice/written test debate is about as polarizing in real life as it was on Prawfsblawg. I know people who say they always do horribly on multiple choice tests (here are some tips) and don’t think they’re fair, and others who love them.

Personally, I prefer multiple choice tests. For me, having the correct answers on the page makes having a good foundational understanding of the subject matter more important and deemphasizes memorization, which isn’t really my thing.

I’m glad to see that professors do think about this stuff. And if you’re wondering how a multiple choice question should be worded, don’t use mine as an example, check this out.

more start date deferral news.

[cynthia foster]

Our recession fallout chart has been updated today to include news of 3L start date reorganization at Dewey and Debevoise. 

We've moved the chart out of the feature position on the site to make room for other upcoming features and for our regular daily news, but we will be maintaining the chart on a daily basis.  Please check back regularly for updates, and continue sending us tips via comment or email.

linx: what's a body to do?

[cynthia foster]

Happy spring.  Happy recession.  You know the drill.

• Open Thread: Student Debt and Tax Credits (The Blackbook Legal Blog)
• 23 Law Students Spend Spring Break Assisting Disaster Victims in New Orleans (Citizen Lawyer Program)
• Law Student on the People's Court (The Volokh Conspiracy)
• The WSJ on Law School and the Recession - A Deeper Look (Veritas Prep)

And last, but not least, a cartoon from last week's Recorder:

'Got a fresh delivery of deferred Big Law first-years — where do you want them?' 

Read more about the "flooded" public interest market in a National Law Journal article here.

don't drink that koolaid: law school is not a recession-proof bunker.

[brian lauter]

Last week I read an article by Nathan Koppel entitled “Best Defense? Seeking a Haven in Law School” on the Wall Street Journal’s website. The article suggests that law school is a good place for college graduates to “hide out” during the recession and it was also mentioned in the WSJ Law Blog and over at Law and More.

Going to law school to “hide out” from the recession is a really bad idea and it's irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in law school, it’s that you should really only go to law school if you absolutely want to do law-related work, or if somebody else is going to pay for it. People that go because they can’t think of anything else to do or are trying to “hide out” from something often end up dissatisfied with the law school experience and/or trapped in jobs they don’t enjoy.

Of course, that’s not what law school administrators will tell you. Here are a few quotes from Mr. Koppel’s article:

Mr. Rodney Smolla, dean of the Washington and Lee University School of Law: “In up and down times, economies as complex as ours need a lot of legal services”

Really? Because all I’ve seen is a whole lot of attorneys being laid off and a whole lot of law students who don’t have jobs. It makes sense that complex economies need a lot of legal services in “up times,” but then Mr. Smolla went and threw “down times” in there, which, despite being the operative phrase, doesn’t seem to have any foundation in reality.

Mr. Paul Berman, dean of Arizona State’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law: “As compared to other graduate programs, [law school] is more analytically rigorous and touches more areas of society.”

Yeah? Because it seems like law school really just touches the law. You know what graduate programs seem to touch just as many “areas of society” as law? Sociology; Political Science; Medicine; and Business. I admit these don’t seem like particularly good bets right now either, but I also don’t see polisci professors out there encouraging people to “hide out” in Political Science PhD programs.

Ms. Claire Arnett, a senior at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill: “Whether I end up practicing, I feel like it's a good degree to have.”

I don’t know Ms. Arnett’s personal situation, but it sounds like she’s falling into the age-old “versatile J.D.” fairy tale. The National Law Journal busted this myth way back in November and I commented. A J.D. is not a post-graduate liberal arts degree.

Law school is a worthy and valuable experience, but the time, money, and psychological commitments are too large to do it just to “hide out.”

In times like these, law school administrators should be selling law school as law school and not as snake oil.

BIG NEWS: summer programs shrink in size.

[cynthia foster]

Those characters over at Above the Law have apparently capitalized on a NALP glitch that's allowed them to bring you an early sneak peak on that status of summer programs.  ATL focuses on New York, and states that "overall 2Ls offers were down a whopping 20% at the top firms."

Check out the rest of their analysis, including news on Davis Polk, Skadden, Cravath, and Latham here.

I'll give replicating this glitch a shot, even though ATL was pretty shiesty with the (lack of) instructions.  More later if I can figure it out.

UPDATE: Not sure what exactly the "glitch" was, but here's the numbers:

Firm          Class Size/Year

Cravath NY: 160 (2008); 122 (2009)

Simpson Thacher NY: 110 (2008); 59 (2009)

DPW NY: 113 (2008); 110 (2009)

S&C NY: 137 (2008); 107 (2009)

Skadden NY: 103 (2008); 103 (2009)

Cleary NY: 94 (2008); 96 (2009)

Debevoise: 67 (2008); 109 (2009)

Paul Weiss: 89 (2008); 107 (2009)

Latham: 80 (2008); 26 (2009)

usf career panel addresses changing outlook of legal industry.

[pam smith]

There’s a career panel going on in downtown S.F. tonight at 6, and a couple of big-firm people are supposed to be taking part: Perkins Coie’s Michael Gotham (director of attorney recruiting and retention) and Nixon Peabody’s Ann Miller (a San Francisco partner who’s served as hiring partner before). Lobbyist Meg Catzen-Brown is also supposed to be there, giving her point of view on legislative trends in D.C. and Sacramento that may hint at what areas of legal work might actually be growing.

The event, sponsored by one of the USF School of Law’s alumni groups, is open to the public. You don’t have to be USF-affiliated, but it carries a price: $15 for current USF law students, $25 for new-ish attorneys (2003-2008 law grads from anywhere) and $35 for more experienced attorneys. It’s taking place at the Academy of Art University building at 79 New Montgomery St. Registration starts at 5:30 and discussion at 6, with a reception to follow at 7.

We chatted up Jeff Brand, the dean at USF’s law school, who will be moderating, for a preview. He expects the audience to be a real mix of students, recent grads and more seasoned attorneys. “I can tell you we’re going to focus on what the outlook is, changes in the work environment in light of the crisis, and practical advice they [the panelists] would give, sitting where they sit.” 

got hope? no, actually. i'm headed for a "regular" job and my parents' couch.

[brian lauter]

Here comes the next installment of The Shark’s “got hope?” series. First, however, let’s take a minute to reflect on what we’ve heard so far.

We’ve talked to a wanna-be prosecutor, a wanna-be Biglaw attorney, and a wanna-be plaintiffs’ attorney. It’s been a fairly diverse group, but many of their answers have been similar.

They all say that over 50% of their friends are unemployed. None of them seem to have any ideas about how to get jobs or of what “alternative careers” they might pursue. All three have blamed the economy to some extent, and two out of three said that they would not recommend going to law school.

Next up in the series is “Bartleby,” an unemployed 3L who was considering work in both the public and private sectors, and really isn’t a fan of law school.

Ed. Note: If you are interested in participating in an email survey on your job search experiences, please contact us. 

Disclaimer:  To encourage candid responses we’ve used pseudonyms to disguise the interviewees’ identities.

Brian:  Why did you come to law school?

Bartleby:  I always enjoyed arguing and writing and I worked in an office with a bunch of attorneys who I admired and seemed to enjoy being lawyers.  People said I’d make a good lawyer and it seemed like a good fit for me.

Brian:  Can you give me a brief rundown of the jobs you’ve had in law school or the route(s) you’ve pursued?

Bartleby:  My first summer I worked for a judge.  My second summer I worked at a smaller class action plaintiffs’ firm.  I’ve also interned at the California DOJ.  I want to do consumer advocacy or environmental/land use work.

Brian:  Why haven’t these worked out?  (i.e. Why don’t you have a job now?) 

Bartleby:  Well, I took a job at a small, but well-respected, litigation firm where I knew I would get good experience.  I knew they might not have room to hire me, and they didn’t, but I still figured I could parlay my experience into a job at a similar firm that did have room or go into the public sector.  Nobody is really hiring anymore, though, so that hasn’t really worked out.

Brian:  Are you depressed/discouraged yet?  Do you feel like it’s the economy’s fault and not yours?

Bartleby:  I’m pretty depressed and discouraged about employment stuff at least.  I feel like it’s mostly the economy’s fault.  I guess I should have tried to just get a job at a big firm last summer instead of going for the experience.  I didn’t cover my ass very well there, but the reason I can’t get anything at all now is because of the economy I think.

Brian:  How has your search for a job impacted your personal life? 

Bartleby:  Earlier this year I spent a lot of time working on getting a job.  Recently, I’ve pretty much given up, so my personal life has been pretty much normal, just a little less carefree.

Brian:   What does your family think about you not having a job?  Are they freaked out?  Supportive? 

Bartleby:  My parents don’t seem too freaked out.  I mean, I think they’re worried that I will have problems paying back my loans and that I’m unhappy, but they’re supportive.  They even offered to let me stay on the couch if I don’t have a job after the bar.

Brian:  What are your plans if you get to the point, say you’ve taken the bar, and you still don’t have a job lined up?

Bartleby:  I guess I’ll keep applying, maybe try to substitute teach or get a regular job to pay the bills.

Read the rest of Bartleby's interview after the jump.

ninth circuit sides with law school in debate over student group funding.

[cynthia foster]

A victory for Hastings: the school can deny recognition and funding to the Christian Legal Society.

3Ls take advantage of that useless year by parodying the uselessness of law school.

[brian lauter]

We’ve been posting a lot of gloomy employment content lately, most of it about 3Ls getting offers rescinded and having trouble finding jobs. It’s important to remember, however, that being a 3L isn’t all bad.

3Ls have their pick of classes; they’ve already “streamlined” their study techniques; they’ve attained leadership positions in extracurricular activities that allow them to pass grunt work down the ladder; and they often have money from their 2L summer to throw around.

And let’s not forget the biggest perk of 3L year: a whole lot of free time.

The primary product of this extra free time, at least during the spring semester, seems to be law school video parodies, many of which are made available on YouTube.

Today’s YouTube Video of the Day is actually on Vimeo and comes from the kids at NYU Law Revue (lyrics transcribed here).

Please Repeat the Question from Amanda Bakale on Vimeo.

Just can’t wait for more? A week or so ago Bitter Lawyer compiled a list of five law school related YouTube videos.  A few of them are pretty good.

got hope? maybe we all just need to think outside of the biglaw box.

[brian lauter]

So far this week we’ve heard from two unemployed 3Ls: Jaggers, who is pursuing a career as a prosecutor, and Dawes, who is pursuing a career in corporate law.

My next interview subject is “Pearlman,” a jobless 3L with government and private sector experience who is now pinning her hopes on the public sector.

Ed. Note: If you are interested in participating in an email survey on your job search experiences, please contact us. 

Disclaimer:  To encourage candid responses we’ve used pseudonyms to disguise the interviewees’ identities.

Brian: Why did you come to law school?

Pearlman: Med school didn't work out, so I tried being a paralegal after I graduated college and it seemed like it might be a good fit.

Brian: Can you give me a brief rundown of the jobs you've had in law school or the route(s) you've pursued?

Pearlman: During my first summer I worked at the California Chamber of Commerce, my second summer I worked at a private firm that took on plaintiffs' securities class action suits. This year, I've externed at the AG's office and am now at a local state courthouse.

Brian: Why haven't these worked out? (i.e. Why don't you have a job now?)

Pearlman: Well, I'm still hoping the AG might work out, but I can't apply until after I graduate. I didn't get an offer from my job this past summer, but I wasn't that surprised. Going in they told us that they would only offer jobs to one or two people, and they did just that. Would have been nice to get an offer, though, of course.

Brian: Are you depressed/discouraged yet? Do you feel like it's the economy's fault and not yours?

Pearlman: I'm sometimes depressed, always discouraged. I totally blame the economy because that's easier, but sometimes I wish I had made different decisions that would have given me better job prospects now.

Read the rest of Dawes' interview, in which she talks about while she'll likely "go government" or "get creative," after the jump.