Being Tall Does Not Lead To Airline Comfort

A short little bit about a 6′-7″ passenger on an airline flight being uncomfortable.  The author does not feel bad for the passenger; being 6′-2″ tall, I do.

E-mail Salutations

The Wall Street Journal’s preemptive obituary.  I agree with the article, business e-mail can be terribly impersonal.

The Other Air Travel List

The government has a list of people it will not allow to board airplanes.  It’s a “no board” list separate from the “no fly” list.  USA Today reports there are thirty two people on it, and all have tuberculosis.  Reading this, I couldn’t help but think these people are being singled out for their membership in a class of people (those with tuberculosis), and I wondered if there was any sort of due process notice and hearing for the people.  That’s law school for you!

The Ostrich

Prospective law student sees six figure salary data.  Prospective law student wants in on that.  Law school tuition has been steadily rising.  Law student incurs great debt to pay the steadily rising tuition. The law job market is lousy.  Newly graduated law student encounters this job market and is unable to find the six figure salary job hoped for.  Newly graduated law student faces challenge of then paying great debt incurred to pay steadily rising tuition.  Law school already has tuition and is welcoming in the next crop of 1L’s.  This is what has come to be known as the law school scam.

This is the first that I’ve mentioned the law school scam on my blog.  I’ve purposely been silent on it to avoid fueling the fear.  But, now, The Economist has written on it, I thought the time had come to mention it.

So read the article.  I don’t know if “scam” is the best word, but law school tuition has been rising, law students do incur vast sums of educational debt, and I am sure far more law students dream about six figure salaries than successfuly land those job.  Best go into these things with eyes wide open and a good grounding in reality, an approach I try to practice myself.

Too Many Lawyers

Slate looks at the numbers: 9% more ABA law schools in the last decade, 11.5% more new graduates over the same period of time, 7.8% shrinking of the legal job market in just the last three years.  A select excerpt:

Students simply “cannot earn enough income after graduation to support the debt they incur,” wrote Richard Matasar, the dean of New York Law School, in 2005.

The article concludes by saying that inevitably, the oversupply of lawyers will result in the reduction of law school applications, and that will result in some of the marginal law schools shutting down.

I don’t spend much time thinking about this, but it’s certainly in the back of my mind.  Law school is an investment, and like any investment, there’s a certain element of risk.  My fingers are crossed that it pays off for me.