Arizona Golden Scammers and Turncoats

Here is an interesting little article on the Arizona law school market by something called "KJZZ" (do I get to pick my own vowel?!).

Here's some good spin about Phoenix School of Law:

“Our school is actually building quite a reputation for itself, and that actually encouraged me to stay here, when some attorneys told me that they were no longer hiring ASU students, because they weren’t as practice-ready as people that went to Phoenix School of Law,” [one student] said.

The school’s Assistant Dean of Professional Development Joe Perez said they are honest with students about the tough market they are heading into after graduation.

“The biggest thing is preparing them, if there’s two people interested for one position, to be the better of the two," Perez said. "I mean, really, in its most simplistic form. From day one, we’re very up front with our students.”

Gold Stars for ScamLogic! Because a 2-for-1 oversupply nationwide obviously means your graduates face a 2-to-1 oversupply for each individual position. Bonus points for saying this right after saying you're honest about the tough market.

In reality, Phoenix School of Law graduates are fucked. A whopping 10 graduates in 2012 found confirmed full-time employment in firms of 11 attorneys in more. Meanwhile, the school audaciously claims that 21 graduates found full-time jobs in "business and industry" and that every single one of these jobs was bar required, JD preferred, or professional. Only one graduate found a state or local clerkship, but 29 found their way into public interest or government at the bar required, JD preferred, or professional level.

If you believe these numbers in their entirety, I've got a law degree to sell you.

Of course, not everyone in the legal education industry understands the awesomeness of Mr. Perez and the fine, honest institution he represents.

“You change motivations if your goal is to prove to your shareholders and to your investors that you are a good business model," [ASU Dean Doug] Sylvester said. "I think that just gives you motivations and decision-making authority that is just different than what’s best for students and what’s best for your graduates.”

Boo hiss boo hiss!

I know you want Arizona all to yourselves, but we're all in this together.

“Applications to law schools have declined just shy of 40 percent cumulatively in the last three years. That’s not a decline, that’s a crash,” said Marc Miller, interim dean of the University of Arizona’s Rogers College of Law. He said in past recessions, people have invested in themselves by going back to school.

“That’s not what we or other law schools have seen in the most recent downturn," Miller said. "I think the changes we’ve seen in legal practice are not cyclical, they’re not a reflection just of the economic downturn. They’re actually structural.”

BOO HISS BOO HISS! Scorn. Death rays. Evil eyes.