The Backlash

The Chicago Tribune recently ran an article discussing the "growing skepticism about the value of a law degree."

According to the article:

"Much of the ire is aimed at less prestigious law schools that charge nearly as much of some of the top-ranked schools - where a three-year program costs nearly $150,000, not including room, board or even books. Top schools say they can justify their expensive tuitions because they place a majority of graduates at the nation's elite firms."

However, the article goes on to mention:

"...With law firms cutting salaries and hiring fewer graduates last year because of the economy, Northwestern sent just 55.9 percent of its 2009 graduates to the largest firms, according to the National Law Journal. Yet the school still was No. 1 in the publication's annual ranking of graduates who found jobs at big firms."

Ouch. The very prestigious Northwestern Law -- which typically sends 70% of their graduates to top 250 law firms -- placed only slightly more than 50% of last year's class into Big Law.

And that tally was enough to earn them the top ranking.

But wait, it gets worse. Northwestern Law School Dean David Van Zandt added that "he believes big law firms will never go back to hiring graduates in droves. That means they will recruit from fewer schools."

Mounting reports like these -- both statistical and anecdotal -- seem to be fueling a backlash of embittered law school grads.

Take, for instance:

• The Jobless Juris Doctor, a blog dedicated to venting "about the evils of the legal profession, the law school scam, and being jobless with a JD."
  
  
• Confessions of a Laid Off Lawyer, which documents the adventure of paying off law school debt.

• Exposing The Law School Scam, a site whose mission is to expose "the dramatic oversupply of lawyers."

• Third Tier Reality, a blog to "inform potential law school students and applicants of the ugly realities of attending law school."

Based on the level of frustration emanating from these sites, we may be seeing the early stages of a thinning of the law school herd.