You might be thinking, "Hey, LSTC - I know that law school is a good idea backed by sound financial models and is 98% guaranteed to lead to the back seat of a Mercedes in short order, but... isn't this one a joke? a scam? a satire? I mean, Jesus, LSTC, the website says they're going to have a Michaelmas term and possibly conduct classes aboard ships."
To you, I say: "Ahoy!"
Daun DeVore is listed online as the founder and dean of the Alaska Law School, which also features photographs of a brown-haired woman, identified in captions as DeVore, posing with dignitaries including former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and members of India’s parliament. DeVore is also named as the person who registered the website through the domain name registrar GoDaddy.
...
The Alaska Law School website also posted an announcement naming Richard Field the editor-in-chief of its Alaska Law Journal. It said he was “previous Chair of the Science and Technology Section" at the American Bar Association and the current editor-in-chief of The International Lawyer, an ABA legal journal.
...
“It isn’t a scam,” Field said about the school.
Emphasis added. See? Not a scam! Granted, no law schools are running anything remotely resembling a scam, but when was the last time you heard a law school representative flatly come out and say the operation is not a scam? Isn't that reassuring?
I mean, if you ignore the tons of red flags identified by those "journalists," and stick to the selective quoting above, the school seems 98% good to generate $1.6 million in profits in 9 months.
Another selective quote:
A spokesman with ABA confirmed DeVore had informally met with a man named Barry Currier, managing director of legal education and accreditation at ABA, and the two had a short conversation.
Let me speculate how that conversation may have gone:
DeVore: Hi, I'm thinking of starting a law school in Alaska.
Currier: Sounds accreditable!
Of course, the antitrusting protectionist state bar (...acting through its cronies at the state government, perhaps...) doesn't like what it sees:
The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) is aware of the online advertisement of an entity operating its website as The Alaska Law School. This notice is to advise interested parties that as of August 6, 2014, this entity is not authorized to operate as a postsecondary institution in the state of Alaska, nor is it legally permitted to advertise, deliver, or enroll students into any education programs. Moreover, according to a notice posted by the Alaska Bar Association, the organization has not taken any steps to be recognized by the American Bar Association.
Spoilsports. Screw the land lubbers; the Good Ship Socratic will be sailing into an Alaskan port near you. Be ready, sailors of fortune.
Or, if you're looking for something more conventional, Seattle U. is bringing a satellite campus of its kick-ass law school to Alaska.
The good news is that ever since the Love Boat docked, I believe that Charro will be free to perform her Cuchi Cuchi for some zombified, narcissistic 1Ls on board the Debt Boat. Before settling in to enjoy her routine though, I would recommend that the 1Ls find out where the life preservers are stored and reserve their seats on the lifeboats.
ReplyDeleteWhat's comical is I have seen several proposals for a law school in Alaska over the last few years. Apparently, the legi$laTTTor$ are not aware that the state meets its needs for attorneys simply by waiting for lawyers to come to Alaska. Hell, they benefit by not having to shell out serious cash for a brick and mortar sewage pit, where the taxpayers will have to pay tenured "professors" six-figure annual salaries.
ReplyDeletehttp://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/the-lawyer-surplus-state-by-state/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
According to this chart, even Alaska has a lawyer surplus. There are only an estimated 41 openings each year from 2010-2015, but in 2009 a total of 66 people passed the state bar.
I like that Seattle U-Alaska idea. It could keep them in business while UWash alone produces far more law grads than the Seattle area can profitably employ.
ReplyDeleteDaun Devote is the former Chair of the International Law Committee of the American Bar Association. She is a graduate of University of California and Harvard University and is working tirelessly to begin a non profit 501 c 3 Alaska Law School. She is a humble Christian woman who is doing her best to make the law school happen and build something worthy of its title for the people of Alaska and the USA.
ReplyDeletethank you daun for your response you have a typo in your last name
DeleteFight on Daun Devote!!
ReplyDeleteFight on Daun Devore!!
ReplyDeleteFight on Daun Devore
ReplyDelete