New student enrollment at the nation’s law schools increased 3 percent this fall, according to figures released by the American Bar Association Friday.LLM programs grew eight percent? It's like these kids haven't read a damn thing that's been typed by the petulant "realists" over the last decade. Eight percent! Hot damn, Mary Sue, there is a Santa Claus, and he's got a nice list full of law deans, apparently.
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More than half of schools—122—reported an increase in the size of their first-year class, while 81 schools told the ABA that their 1L class is smaller than in 2017.
It’s not just J.D. programs that gained in popularity this year. Enrollment in non-J.D. programs, which includes LL.M. and masters programs, grew more than eight percent from 2017.
The three percent JD boost is like having something good happen in your morning: a good night's sleep, a great cup of coffee, a notably good commute. An EIGHT PERCENT LLM boost is like getting that while high on free cocaine.
I mean...
With all that's out there, how are law schools still winning? Isn't this enough to cause a "truther" to spiral into serious crisis and depression? What would law schools have to do to lose? Could Robert Mueller bring them down? Were the few schools that closed basically making the herd faster through their sluggish departure, suggesting that their crapness was actually a stealth benefit?
All I know is, I'm going to enjoy the hell out of going to work tomorrow.
Seriously, eight percent LLM increase?! Am I off-base? That's nuttier than turtle pie. And if it's all importing foreign kids while the JD enrollment is boosted by sudden concerns over Donald Trump, that's even better. As Clarence Darrow once said, paraphrased, the law is a never-ending pleasant surprise.
Thanks for this one, Santa and/or Jesus.
LLMs are mainly for the following:
ReplyDelete1) Some people who wish to specialize in taxation.
2) People trained outside the US who need the LLM in order to be admitted to practice in certain US jurisdictions.
3) Rich kids.
The last two categories overlap significantly.
For anyone else, the LLM almost certainly does not make sense. Unfortunately, the law-school scam has greatly expanded its offering of bullshit LLMs in such non-fields as space law, fashion law, and gambling law. Even more outrageous is the proliferation of "juris master" (should be "juris magister"—either learn Latin or don't pretend to know it) degrees for people who don't know any law.
I suspect that much of the growth in enrollment in LLM programs comes not from the Saudi royal family but from Yanks who imagine that that useless JD from Bumblefuck U will turn into gold when coupled with an LLM costing $80k.
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DeleteSadly, two factors are at play here. 1) TV shows/movies/John Grisham novels entice dolts who have no business studying law to apply to law school. After all, practicing law looks cool and sexy on the TV Show "Suits" so it must be like that in real life, right? 2) Government-backed student loans. . .and loans. . .and loans. As long as those two factors exist, people will keep "borrowing" money they have no intention or ability of ever paying back to pursue the dream of being a highly-paid sexy lawyer as seen on TV.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably true. Of the various professions that are glorified (almost wholly because of money), law happens to come with widespread access to government-backed student loans. Old Guy could never borrow $300k in order to study football, because it is perfectly obvious that Old Guy has no potential whatsoever as a football player. Yet tens of thousands of "dolts who have no business studying law" do get access to arbitrarily large student loans every year. Cherchez l'erreur!
DeleteNothing so easy as to let Hollywood do the lying for you.
DeleteHollywood does all the lying for the law schools, so they don't need to!
ReplyDelete(or something like that)
I tried to move my earlier comment to the correct place, but flunked Internet 101 again. Brain old and rusty, like the car.