New "Useful Links" for pre-law students

Laurie Baulig, a former attorney and professor in the Business, Organizations & Society and Women's & Gender Studies departments at F&M, has shared two links that should be of interest to anyone pursuing a law degree. The sites provide some unique information about law schools and interesting opportunities in the legal community. Descriptions and links are below, and the sites have been added to our "Useful Links" section on the right.

AboveTheLaw.com

http://www.abovethelaw.com
"AboveTheLaw.com takes a behind-the-scenes look at the world of law. The site provides news and gossip about the profession’s most colorful personalities and powerful institutions, as well as original commentary on breaking legal developments."

Law School Transparency

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/
"Law School Transparency is a Tennessee non-profit dedicated to encouraging and facilitating the transparent flow of consumer information. It was founded by two Vanderbilt University Law School students in 2009 on the belief that other law schools could be as transparent as Vanderbilt. LST operates independently of any legal institutions, legal employers, or academic reports related to the legal market...This website aims to provide a clearer, more meaningful window into the employment opportunities at ABA-approved law schools by explaining (and repackaging) the currently available data and information. This website also contains updates about LST's policy initiatives, including our efforts to reform the ABA Section of Legal Education's consumer information standard, our efforts withU.S. News, and our efforts to prompt schools to voluntarily share better information outside of the accreditation framework."

Immigration cases and the inadequacies of legal representation; F&M doing its part

A recent New York Times article highlights the glaring inadequacies that exist in the United States immigration system with respect to legal representation for immigrants facing deportation. It discusses the frustration that immigration judges, in particular, express due to what they describe as "inadequate" services provided by attorneys representing immigrant clients.

Here's the link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/nyregion/judges-give-low-marks-to-lawyers-in-immigration-cases.html?_r=1&ref=legalprofession

The article reads "immigrants received 'inadequate' legal assistance in 33 percent of the cases between mid-2010 and mid-2011 and 'grossly inadequate' assistance in 14 percent of the cases, the judges said. They gave private lawyers the lowest grades, while generally awarding higher marks to pro bono counsel and those from nonprofit organizations and law school clinics." The information cited comes from a report published in the Cardozo Law Review of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in Manhattan, the full text of which can be found here: http://www.cardozolawreview.com/content/denovo/NYIRS_Report.pdf

While this article emphasizes an important problem with the legal aspects of this nation's immigration system, it also makes note of the interesting fact that pro bono attorneys - mostly those from non-profit organizations and even law schools - do a much better job, according to both immigration judges and success rate statistics, than do lawyers hired by immigrants. One judge who participated in the study, "blames predatory lawyers who are not familiar with immigration law for much of the poor representation. The immigrants who hire them often do not speak English and are unfamiliar with the court system, making them particularly vulnerable. 'They are easy prey for ambulance-chasing-style lawyers who do not adhere to the highest standards of responsibility,' said the judge."

F&M students are doing their part to remedy the inadequacies of the American immigration system through a course called "Human Rights-Human Wrongs," co-taught by Dr. Susan Dicklitch, the director of F&M's Ware Institute for Civic Engagement, and an immigration attorney who works out of Baltimore for a non-profit immigrant assistance organization. This course was highlighted in a recent U.S. News and World Report article (which can be found here: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/04/18/10-college-classes-that-impact-the-outside-world?PageNr=1).

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in this course this past semester, and was one of several students who worked with attorneys to prepare cases on behalf of immigrants facing deportation. HR/HW is a one-of-a-kind undergraduate experience that is challenging, eye-opening, and rewarding. It also inspired me to begin a research project this semester on the topic of immigrant legal representation. Any F&M  student interested in pursuing a career related to any aspect of the legal system should consider it, as it also provides students with a very useful legal background and a plethora of legal research skills.

As the NYTimes article and the Yeshiva University report indicate, immigration courts are in desperate need of quality legal representation for indigent immigrant clients. What better way to contribute to the legal system as an undergraduate than to check out the unique opportunities to learn and to help offered at F&M?

"Don't Believe the Hype. Law School is Still Worth It"

“Lawyers can’t find jobs nowadays.” “You sure you wanna be a lawyer?” “Law schools cost too much and yield negative results.” Sound familiar?

There has been a lot of talk recently about law schools not being ‘worth it.’ Here’s a great article that says otherwise: http://www.nationaljurist.com/content/why-law-school-still-worth-it

According to Aaron Taylor, “the legal profession has low unemployment rates, lawyers earn high salaries and loans are manageable.” He adds, “criticisms of the wisdom of attending law school are often based on flawed premises and faulty logic.”

The article has great information about why a law degree is helpful in a tough economy. A law degree is versatile and allows you to work almost anywhere. The following paragraph is what excited me the most. I hope it excites all of you ‘legal profession’ seeking students as well:

“The last few years have been a boon for critics of legal education and the profession. Some of the criticism has been legitimate, but much of it has been uninformed. Law school is not a path to instant wealth — it never has been. But in terms of providing career and financial stability, few educational pursuits compare. And in an economy where workers are increasingly required to think, adapt and thrive in changing work environments, the flexible nature of legal training arguably makes it a better investment than it was 20 years ago. Don’t believe the hype. Law school is still worth it.”

"Liberal arts to law school?"

In this post (http://www.wellheeledblog.com/2006/12/14/law-school/) from another blog, the writer reflects on his decision to go to law school after receiving an undergraduate degree from a liberal arts college. He criticizes the belief that he held, and that was also encouraged by others, that law school is a natural next step - a "default option" - after a liberal arts education, and encourages others who don't have the necessary background, interest, and skills to re-think the law school route.

This is good advice, especially for those of us at a liberal arts college like Franklin & Marshall. We are often told, when we indicate that we have an interest in going to law school, that a liberal arts undergraduate education is a fantastic, if not ideal, preparation for a law degree. While this may true, many of us often extrapolate from this understanding that we are therefore guaranteed to succeed, or that law school is, more or less, an ideal choice for us.

It is important to understand that law school is not for everyone. Just because you enjoy and are good at reading complicated texts and thinking critically (valuable, liberal arts-instilled skills in their own right) doesn't mean that you will like or do well in law school. Law school requires certain interests, skills, and knowledge from its students that not everyone possesses. Whether or not you think you have the necessary background and the desire to go to law school, this is important to consider.

Writing a Personal Statement

Writing personal statements can be really frustrating. I am realizing that only now, as I am preparing for junior year scholarships and fellowships. As many already know, and most of us will find out, writing a personal statement is completely different from the regular writing that we do on a daily basis. It requires us to sell ourselves in a concise and clear way. Personal statements allow us to brag about our achievements and tell our story. Almost always, there will be a word limit, which greatly decreases our chances to write about EVERYTHING we have accomplished, so it’s good to know exactly what to highlight, something I have a lot of trouble with. While everyone has that special story, it’s hard to convince someone your story is the most unique. The following website has helped me immensely on my journey to explore my life story and put it into paper. Perhaps it will provide some guidance for you as well:

https://www.e-education.psu.edu/writingpersonalstatementsonline/

The website provides a handbook for students applying to graduate schools, fellowships, and other scholarships. It also contains examples of many different sorts of essays including Rhodes, Truman, Beinecke, Marshall, and Fulbright.

As always, these websites only provide the foundation for your unique stories. Once you have something down on paper, feel free to reach out to your peers and professors who are more than willing to look over drafts. Good luck and email me if you need any assistance!

Helpful site for writing your Personal Statement

Top-Law-Schools.com has some great resources for those applying to law school, but their Personal Statement page (http://www.top-law-schools.com/statement.html) is especially useful. It identifies some ideas to think about before you begin, suggests some ways to do your revisions, and - perhaps most helpful of all - it provides some examples of successful and unsuccessful statements. Not only does it provide the examples, but it offers critiques and praise of the elements that worked and didn't work with each. This is a great place to start for anyone who who is even thinking about writing Personal Statements - for any application, not just law school. For law school, in particular, the Personal Statement is one of the most important aspects of the application, because it is the only place where you get to demonstrate your voice, how you think, and what you have done/want to do. It's worth spending a long time writing, revising, and re-writing (sometimes from scratch), and resources like this sight are especially helpful.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to "F&M Pre-Law"!

This blog will serve as a forum where students interested in going to law school, pursuing a career related to law, or who are just interested in law can reflect, comment, and offer advice about all things law-related. "F&M Pre-Law" is managed by the members of the John Marshall Pre-Law Honor Society (JMPLHS) at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. All contributions come from JMPLHS members and the content is completely theirs. Comments, dissenting opinions, and arguments are strongly encouraged.

Enjoy!