Don’t Drink and Practice Law

by JD Oasis on Dec 29th 2011

By: JDOasis - bLAWger

While one would think this concept is common sense, these are a few links to a video of a hearing to determine whether an attorney showed up drunk to court! The videos are pretty funny (all about 5-10 min each), the attorney just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper. I assume his next court appearance will be in a malpractice suit.

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5 of the Best Courtroom Scenes Ever

by JD Oasis on Dec 27th 2011

Kaplan is proud to announce a new partnership with JD Oasis!  All this month, we’re pleased to feature blog posts created by the JD Oasis team.  Check out all their great content at www.jdoasis.com.

By: JDOasis – Papa34

There are courtroom dramas and there are courtroom dramas. Some will make you want to scratch your eyes out while some will make you proud to (or want to) be a lawyer.

Here are five scenes from the latter.

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The 1L Experience!

by JD Oasis on Dec 22nd 2011

Kaplan is proud to announce a new partnership with JD Oasis!  All this month, we’re pleased to feature blog posts created by the JD Oasis team.  Check out all their great content at www.jdoasis.com.

By: JDOasis - Frieds

Man… after a few weeks off from blogging (as sporadic as it was for the last few weeks, it will be similar in the coming months), I was ready to jump right into the saddle and manage both blogging and school. Two weeks ago at orientation, I realized I’d be screwed on that one. Let me back track… about 3 weeks before school started, my Law School suggested that we spend the rest of our summer enjoying life with the implication that we would be going through hell during our 1L year.  Yup, best advice is to wish your loved ones well right now ‘cause you sure as hell aint gonna be seeing ‘em… that’s what the letter should have said. So, I roll into orientation and from the moment I sat down to the moment we were finally dismissed on Friday, the undertone from the faculty and the outright admission from our guest speakers was that of prepare to have no balance your first semester and slowly regain it your second. Clearly I’m starting to understand what they mean.

In my week under the gun, I’ve read more than I think possible, survived an earthquake, survived a hurricane and then helped clear out waterlogged basements and driveways, and have yet had found the opportunity to go out and enjoy a beer with friends. Yes, the Virginia Aftershock made its way to where I am and we got hit by some rain and wind from a storm that they called Irene. I’m also not sure if I’m ahead or behind in my reading, but that’s the Hurricane’s fault.

In my first week of class, I’ve learned that Civil Procedure is not civil at all and that it’s all about the rules. In fact, the rules that I thought I knew made no sense at all too! In fact, the best part about it is that my professor looks like Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I finally came to appreciate the finer points of pastries and how enjoyable torts can be, even if it means I’m learning about the fine art of ambulance chasing through negligence, both the intentional and unintentional kinds. Contracts, I’ve learned, is all about the facts and how sensitively you decide to pay attention to them. It’s a bit of an emo approach, but I don’t really give one hot who ha ha about how you slice it.

Enough of the amusement though. I have to be honest; the thing I realize most is that this is all about time management. It’s not a 40 hour job, but more of a condensation of 2 years of working as an Investment Banking Analyst. The hours improve as you get further down the road, but they still suck and are rather lengthy. Getting staffed on multiple deals and wearing multiple hats is something I know, but this is a much harder challenge than expected. The time management involved for Law School is the biggest thing I can stress trying to learn and understand. There are only 24 hours in a day, of which I’m out of commission for at least 5 of them, not counting the commute and time spent in class. To all you 2Ls, 3Ls and JDs, how do you/did you manage your time? To all you current 1Ls, care to share your secrets on time management?

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Google’s Law School Rankings

by JD Oasis on Dec 20th 2011

Kaplan is proud to announce a new partnership with JD Oasis!  All this month, we’re pleased to feature blog posts created by the JD Oasis team.  Check out all their great content at www.jdoasis.com.

By: JDOasis – Papa34

Found this funny ranking of Law Schools based on Google searches. Apparently North Dakota is way ahead of Yale lol. Thoughts on the top 20? Posted the top 50 below along with their US News ranking.

1.            Harvard (#2 in U.S. News)

2.            NYU (6)

3.            Columbia (4)

4.            North Dakota (Tier 2)

5.            UCLA (16)

6.            Illinois (23)

7.            Texas (14)

8.            Georgetown (14)

9.            Stanford (3)

10.          Yale (1)

11.          Boston University (22)

12.          University of Washington (30)

13.          Duke (11)

14.          Kansas (79)

15.          Chicago (5)

16.          Penn (7)

17.          Emory (30)

18.          Minnesota (20)

19.          Fordham (30)

20.          Northwestern (12)

21.          Michigan (7)

22.          UC-Berkeley (9)

23.          Cornell (13)

24.          Regent (n/a)

25.          Wake Forest (39)

26.          Arizona State (40)

27.          UC-Davis (23)

28.          Georgia State (61)

29.          Rutgers-Newark (84)

30.          North Carolina (30)

31.          George Washington (20)

32.          Vanderbilt (16)

33.          Wisconsin (35)

34.          Syracuse (100)

35.          Indiana-Bloomington (23)

36.          Virginia (9)

37.          Oregon (79)

38.          Quinnipiac (107)

39.          Pace (117)

40.          Tulane (47)

41.          USC (18)

42.          UConn (56)

43.          St. John’s (95)

44.          Northeastern (71)

45.          Florida (47)

46.          Stetson (110)

47.          Suffolk (Tier 2)

48.          Seattle (84)

49.          University of Mississippi (107)

50.          Iowa (27

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Is Law School Still Worth It?

by JD Oasis on Dec 15th 2011

Kaplan is proud to announce a new partnership with JD Oasis!  All this month, we’re pleased to feature blog posts created by the JD Oasis team.  Check out all their great content at www.jdoasis.com.

By: JDOasis – jd12

I don’t necessarily agree with his whole thesis (in fact I probably disagree with him on most of his points) but, University of Arkansas School of Law prof Aaron N. Taylor does make a case as to why law school should still be worth it.  What do you think?  Any of you guys agree?

“Legal training helps in tough economy

Let’s start with the legal job market. Lawyers have not been immune to the effects of the recent recession. However, they have fared much better than most workers. According to U.S. Department of Labor data, the unemployment rate for lawyers was 1.5 percent in 2010 — more than six times lower than the overall rate of 9.6 percent. Since 2009, while the overall unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent, the rate for lawyers has exceeded 2 percent only once. It is true that unemployment among lawyers has increased significantly over the last few years (it was barely 1 percent in 2007), but the increase pales when compared to other occupations….

Student loans aren’t all bad

Discussions about law school costs are often accompanied by lamentations about the extent to which students are relying on loans to pay these costs. Student loan indebtedness has skyrocketed recently — more than 400 percent since 2000. Law student borrowing has jumped 50 percent since 2001. But much of the discussion surrounding this increase is premised on an assumption that all debt is bad. Critics also seem to have a questionable understanding of the favorable repayment terms associated with federal student loans.

Before I continue, let me make clear that I’m not defending the pricing structure of legal education. Too many law school pricing structures are premised on exploiting demand for seats in entering classes, and I agree with the view that the rate of tuition increase is unsustainable. But with that said, legal education isn’t going to get cheaper, and the associated costs of attending are going to increase as well. Moreover, because most law school graduates will have careers spanning 35 years or more, judging the wisdom of attending law school based principally on the immediate costs seems shortsighted.

The fundamental purpose of debt is to allow the immediate costs of consumption to be deferred to a later date. Used wisely, debt can confer much benefit upon the debtor, particularly when the debt takes the form of an investment. Student loans make higher education possible for many students by allowing them to defer the costs of their education “consumption.” And given wage premiums associated with higher education, student loans represent one of the best investments an individual can make.

Of course, not all student loans are created equal. Federal loans are vastly superior to private loans, and fortunately, most law students are able to finance their entire cost of attendance with federal loans only. Interest rates are fixed on most federal loans, and they are much lower than rates offered in the private market. Federal student loans also come with payment grace periods, deferral and forbearance options and an array of repayment plans — the most generous of which being the Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR).

Through IBR, debtors with low income, relative to federal student loan debt, are allowed to make reduced payments of no more than 15 percent of their disposable income (defined as the difference between Adjusted Gross Income and 150 percent of the poverty guideline). After 25 years, any remaining loan balance is forgiven. If the debtor is working in a public service job, as a prosecutor, for example, balances are forgiven after just 10 years. IBR and other repayment options help ensure that debtors don’t have to choose between basic necessities and paying their federal student loans. Moreover, the loan forgiveness aspects of these plans are essentially back-end scholarships.

Given the political obsession with the federal deficit, you should probably take advantage of these favorable options while you can. One of the cost-saving “deals” made during the debt-ceiling-debacle ended interest subsidies on graduate and professional school student loans. These subsidies went to financially needy students and were typically worth thousands of dollars. So, along with increased tuition, politics could make law school more expensive in the future….

Applicant environment is favorable

The bad publicity about legal education contributed to a historic decrease in applications for admission during the 2010-2011 cycle. Applications fell 11 percent — the largest one-year decrease on record. When applications fall, law schools tend to admit a higher percentage of their applicants. And if applications fall again during the 2011-2012 cycle, as predicted, applicants will find themselves in a very favorable environment for gaining admission. At some schools, applicants who would have been considered “borderline” just two years ago might be shoo-ins for admission this year. So the strategic benefit of applying during a string of down years is worth ample consideration.

Another benefit of the bad publicity is that law schools will likely provide more detailed employment data. The anxiety over jobs prompted a grassroots movement for more transparency from law schools. The result was a mandate by the American Bar Association that law schools provide employment data that goes beyond traditional employment rates and provides better information about the types of jobs graduates are getting. The ABA will make this information available to the public, allowing applicants to better compare schools and make better informed decisions about where to attend — or whether to attend….”

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