{"id":3764,"date":"2005-04-18T15:09:11","date_gmt":"2005-04-18T19:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/homework-for-law-school-applicants\/"},"modified":"2011-01-10T09:53:05","modified_gmt":"2011-01-10T14:53:05","slug":"homework-for-law-school-applicants","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/homework-for-law-school-applicants\/","title":{"rendered":"homework for law school applicants"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>follow-up<\/strong><\/em> (Jan. 10, 2011): See the New York Times<\/em> article “Is Law School a Losing Game?<\/a>” by David Segal (Jan. 8, 2011).\u00a0 According to Prof. William Henderson of Indiana University, \u201cEnron-type accounting standards have become the norm,\u201d as law schools lure students with questionable post-degree employment data, and many graduates have no way to earn enough to pay off their enormous and non-dischargeable debt.\u00a0 [See our prior discussion of law-school debt, such as here<\/a>, and there<\/a>.]\u00a0 The NYT<\/em> article points to several so-called “law school scam” weblogs: Shilling Me Softly<\/a>, Subprime JD<\/a>, Rose Colored Glasses<\/a>, and Third Tier Reality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
Suffolk Law School Professor Andrew Perlman<\/span><\/a> sent me off on quite<\/div>\n
a tangent\u00a0last week, with\u00a0his guest posting at Legal Ethics Forum<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
on “Misleading Law School Promotional Materials” (April 13, 2005)<\/div>\n
So, I thought I better at least get a posting out of it.<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n
It seems Andy is worried that shady law school promotional tactics are<\/div>\n
misleading and unfairly\u00a0enticing the nation’s law school applicants.\u00a0To avoid<\/div>\n
hypocrisy and unpleasantly surprised students or graduates, Andy wants to apply<\/div>\n
the same “strict” advertising criteria to schools that are applied to lawyers (although<\/div>\n
he thinks the restrictions should be lifted from lawyers).\u00a0\u00a0I wasn’t sure that the<\/div>\n
crisis was as big as Andy suggested, or that we should worry too much about<\/div>\n
law school applicants (since they can and should protect themselves);\u00a0check out<\/div>\n
our conversation<\/a> at LEF.<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n
\"black After doing a bit of research and reflection, I\u00a0came to the following conclusions:<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n
\"tiny Naturally, it’s absolutely improper for law schools to be using deceptive<\/div>\n
tactics\u00a0in\u00a0the admissions process\u00a0\u00a0[unless<\/em> used to weed out particularly credulous<\/div>\n
or lazy applicants!]<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\"tiny Standards for ABA-approved law schools<\/a> already exist that can<\/div>\n
adequately deal with the issue of misleading promotional practices.<\/div>\n
Chapter 5 Admissions<\/a> is most relevant — generally with Standard<\/div>\n
501 and more specifically through Standard 509:<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Standard 501. Admissions<\/strong>.<\/div>\n
\n
(a) A law school\u2019s admission policies shall be consistent with<\/div>\n
the objectives of its educational program and the resources<\/div>\n
available for implementing those objectives.<\/div>\n
(b) A law school shall not admit applicants who do not appear<\/div>\n
capable of satisfactorily completing its educational program<\/div>\n
and being admitted to the bar.<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Standard 509. Basic Consumer Information <\/strong><\/div>\n
A law school shall publish basic consumer information. The<\/div>\n
information shall be published in a fair and accurate manner<\/div>\n
reflective of actual practice.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Moreover, under Interpretation 509-1<\/em>: “The following categories of consumer<\/div>\n
information are considered basic: (1) admission data; (2) tuition, fees, living costs,<\/div>\n
financial aid, and refunds; (3) enrollment data and graduation rates; (4) composition and number of faculty and administrators; (5) curricular offerings; (6) library resources; (7) physical facilities; and (8) placement rates and bar passage data.<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Interpretations <\/span>509-2 and 509-3<\/span><\/em><\/a> <\/em>help ensure compliance\u00a0through\u00a0publication<\/div>\n
requirements (and, if the school\u00a0uses its own publication,\u00a0distribution to each applicant), and\u00a0by making clear that the fair and accurate<\/em> standard applies “whenever and wherever that information is reported or published . . . in other places or for other purposes.”<\/div>\n
.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a> As a result, a wide array of information, in uniform and easily-understood formats (with avdanced search accessibility) is available for free to law school applicants and other interested persons.\u00a0 For example:<\/div>\n