One Crushing Tale and My Letter to a 0L

File this one under “there but for the grace of God go I.”  Here’s a profile of Andrew Carmichael, a “whiz kid” who racked up law school debt totaling $215,000.  Yep, that’s not a typo.  Two hundred fifteen large.  Just to put that in perspective – most people in this country could own a house outright for two hundred fifteen thousand dollars.  Meaning, Andrew took on law school debt that could have financed a home.  Meaning, he’s now looking at a student loan payment the size of a mortgage (to the tune of $2,756 per month).  Thank goodness mortgages are totally easy to pay off and have never gotten anyone into trouble.  

Spoiler alert: Andrew did get a great job after taking on all that law school debt, so it wasn’t a total waste.  He is now employed…as a computer programmer.  Yep, that’s also not a typo.  He is now a computer programmer.  I'm no expert, but last time I checked, a lot of computer programmers were scraping by without JD's.

Podcast Episode 3: WWJD?

This week, I discuss the impact that declining law school enrollment has had on Catholic University's budget.  (Spoiler alert: they're going to continue feeding at the law school loan trough, but some art courses and such are on the chopping block).  Also, part 2 of my interview with Howard, a former law school classmate who is now working in a non-legal position.  Howard and I discuss his first lawyer gig, and why he got out.  And finally, a segment on

New Beginnings, a Podcast, and a Giveaway...

You may have noticed that I changed my blog name from Attorney to Temp to Legally Obligated.  I did this because I am no longer a temp, and I'm no longer just transitioning out of practicing law, but I still feel compelled to tell my story and to support other people who are deep in student loan debt.  So I thought Legally Obligated would be a more appropriate name.  Anyway, here is my first podcast!  (Scroll to the bottom to listen.)  Hopefully it will help me reach more people who are going through the same things I did.  I experienced some technical difficulties, but I think the next one will be smooth sailing.  So apologies for any volume level variations and such.

My first podcast includes my take on the U.S. News Law School rankings that were released last week, plus a story about an encounter I had with a woman who is considering going to law school, and some other

"Don't Pee On My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining"

Can anyone say it better than Judge Judy?  More shenanigans by law schools desperate to inflate job statistics.  The George Washington School of Law is hiring graduates to work in temporary positions for up to 48 weeks.  Well, at least that'll help indebted law grads ride out the legal job market "slump" (which has been occurring for years).  Except that these lucky lawyers will be earning just $15 per hour (up to 35 hours per week).  A little quick math for you - that's $25,200, pre-tax, for the maximum 48-week period.  A graduate with $100K in student loans with a repayment period of 25 years and a 5% interest rate will be required to pay $584.59 per month. On a $25,000 salary, that's 28% of gross pay.  Which is totally doable.  Most people can swing student loan payments that are the equivalent of their housing costs, right? And I'm sure that by the end of the 48 weeks, most of these grads will be gainfully employed.

In other legal news, Northwestern has decided to cut its incoming class by 10% (while still raising tuition).  This is due in part to the declining number of law school applications (slow clap for the early scam bloggers).

Old School: The Outdated Law School Model

Photo courtesy of stockfreeimages.com

I came across this recent post in Outside the Law School Scam, a blog you should definitely check out.  The post was a call to action on the part of scambloggers - what are they/we looking for exactly?  I then remembered that I wrote a post about the flaws I see in the current law school model, as well as some changes I'd like to see (scroll to the bottom of my post if you want to cut to the chase) about a year and a half ago.  I think it's worth re-posting, since it could benefit anyone considering going to law school.  My ideas for change are simple, although probably difficult to implement.  So just to keep the message going about the potential financial and career pitfalls that await newly minted JD's, here you go: The Flawed Law School Model (October 2011).

What changes would you like to see implemented?  Shutting down all law schools?  Shutting down all for-profit law schools?  Caps on tuition?  Student loan reform?  I'd love to hear them!

How Many Doors Did Your JD Open?

For anyone who's bitter about high student loan debt and/or the dearth of (paying) legal jobs out there, check out this piece from Nando of Third Tier Reality, which sheds some unflattering light on the higher education scam.  It includes some sobering statistics regarding the glut of student loan debt in the U.S., the lack of available jobs that require advanced degrees, as well as the frighteningly inflated tuition prices some law schools are charging their "customers" these days.  

Also, if you feel like getting involved in protesting or sharing your views on the higher education scam, check out the upcoming protest scheduled to take place October 8th in San Diego, California. 

Jose Aponte: 0. TTT: 100,000

This just in from the Wall Street Journal: some lawyers make as little as $15 per hour.  Where were you guys back in 2004?  Maybe you were there all along, but I ignored articles like these, convinced I would never be one of "them." 

The truth is, I did not have a very tough time finding a job after law school.  But I never received an offer even close to the median salary of $75k my school advertised in their marketing materials.  And I went to a top-20 school.  Has anyone else heard of American University's Washington College of Law? 

(Oh, and if you don't know what "TTT" means, check out "Third Tier Reality."  You won't be sorry.) 

Poor Jose Aponte...

Another Grad Who Would Like a Refund

The New York Times reported today on a woman named Cortney Munna, who incurred over $100,000 in student loan debt for a 4-year degree from NYU. She is now attending night school in order to defer her loans, but the interest is still accruing. Once her loans come out of deferment, the payments should be about $700 per month. She currently earns $22 per hour working for a photographer.

The article does not specify what type of degree Munna earned, but I am going to take a wild guess that it was of the Liberal Arts variety. As I've said before, most liberal arts degrees are basically useless. The only use mine ever had was that I could put it at the top of my resume when applying for jobs after college. None of the positions for which I applied actually required knowledge of political science or philosophy, but the companies still required a B.A. or B.S.

This is the sad reality of higher education. Students spend thousands of dollars and go into debt in order to earn degrees that will help them achieve middle-class jobs, but the loan payments will end up putting these suckers back to the position they were in prior to taking out the loans. For example, Munna works for $22 per hour. Without her college degree, she might have been able to find office work for $10-$15 per hour. She takes home $2300 per month with her current position, but $700 of that will eventually go toward her loans. So, that leaves her with $1600 per month, which is about $12-$13 per hour prior to withholding, and $10 per hour after withholding. So what did she gain by attending NYU?

How much are your student loan payments and what percentage of your current income does that comprise? Was taking on student loans worth it in the end?

The Myth of "Good Debt"

I have often read that student loans can be categorized as "good debt," since they are an investment and generally come with low interest. Given that many degrees are no longer an investment, but rather a gamble (I'm looking at you, Mr. Juris Doctor), I have a hard time swallowing the notion that carrying $80,000 in student loans is actually a good thing.

Fortunately, the student loan crisis is being covered more in the media lately, undoubtedly due to the high unemployment rate and a push by congressional democrats to make private student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy. Tess Stovall wrote a great piece for the Huffington Post about student loan reform. She points out that borrowers may only deduct $2500 in interest, which is not that much considering the enormous debt many graduates carry, particularly law school graduates. (Stovall claims the average law school graduate carries $93k in student loan debt.) She suggests that the student loan deduction should be raised to $3500 and unemployment deferments should stay all interest from accruing, regardless of loan type.

I agree, but I don't think these reforms go far enough in addressing the student loan crisis. My husband and I pay $600 per month toward student loan debt, which is $7200 per year. Only a fraction of that goes toward the principal, since I am on a graduated repayment plan. In fact, for the first year and a half of repayment, none of my payments went toward the principal. Yet, I was only allowed to deduct $2500 in interest. So, according to the government, my wealth increased the first year of repayment by $4700 (since the assumption is that $4700 went toward a reduction in the principal balance, while the remaining $2500 went toward interest). This is simply not true, nor is it good policy. Given the state of the economy and the "jobless recovery," the government should give more consideration to the thousands (if not millions) of graduates who are struggling to repay loans for degrees that are failing to pay off as promised.

Do you agree that student loans are good debt? How do you think the government should address the student loan crisis?

Georgetown Law Students on the Legal Job Market

NPR invited five Georgetown law students to discuss where they will be working after they graduate. They all applied to hundreds of law jobs, but only two have found bona fide positions. One will be working for a small government agency and another will be working for a firm. The one working for a firm will not be able to start work for about a year after graduation, though; in the meantime, she will be working with a volunteer legal services program.

The other three? Two will be hanging out their own shingles (one of them claims he will be joining a friend who already has her own small practice, but in reality, that's hanging out your own shingle). One will run for state legislature in his home state of Maine.

What struck me about this panel is that these are all Georgetown graduates. Georgetown is consistently ranked in the top 10-15 law schools. If these people are having trouble finding work, imagine all the poor suckers who took out six-figure loans to go to tier 2, 3, and 4 schools.

I wonder what would happen if all of the law graduates who failed to find what their school promised stopped paying their loans? I guess they'd probably all get judgments and garnishments against them, but what if they all lobbied Congress? There might not be a whole lot of sympathy, considering there was a lot of criticism toward the sub prime mortgage bunch. But at least Congress got behind the sub prime mortgage crisis and developed programs to help them out. Maybe student loans could get restructured as well. Perhaps interest rates could be cut to 1% or the balance could be spread out over a longer term.

There is a loan forgiveness program for those who find work in the public sector, but this only benefits people who have actually found work. What about the unemployed or underemployed J.D.'s out there?

For all you lawyers and law graduates out there, how did your job search go? And do you think there is anything to be done about the law student loan crisis?