Saturday, March 17, 2018

Ranking the law schools

The 2018 U.S. News & Report rankings of U.S. law schools were leaked online yesterday.  Ole Miss came in at #101.  Mississippi College did not appear on the list.  Read 'em and weep.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

The top 15 are worth taking out a student loan for. You might actually be able to pay it back after 10 years of working 80 hours a week. You shouldn't think about the rest unless you've got a big pile of cash you've been wanting to set on fire.

Portia said...

Why are law schools, from top-tier right on down to Ole Miss and below, continually inundated with applicants? The days are long gone when it was a gentleman's honorable profession, and a good way to make nice, nice money. Look at all the graduates these days, who either find no jobs, or have to settle for some crummy one, while that huge student loan looms. I think that, for many liberal arts majors, law school is a default plan, because they don't know what the Hell else to do with that worthless BA in philosophy or political science. And unlike med school (which you can't get into without some knowledge of science), just about anyone with a knack for guessing well on standardized tests can do passably on the LSAT, and be admitted somewhere. I think it has become a huge racket. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be law students.

Anonymous said...

No, surprise's here.... NEXT !!!!

Anonymous said...

Ole Miss was not last in the SEC at least.....mainly because the few cow colleges in the league don't have law schools.

Anonymous said...

This....like almost every academic ranking of colleges.....makes the UM-MSU bitter rivalry seem a little silly.

But just wait til one of those US News rankings come out showing which school is the biggest bargain basement deal! UM, MC, MSU...they will shine!

Anonymous said...

i've always heard there is not much difference between any of the top 125 law schools. They use the same books.

Anonymous said...

Ole Miss University has themselves a nice, little tier 4 law school. Good job, goobers.

Anonymous said...

I'm a lawyer, been one for 16 years, hence lucky enough to get a job before the bottom fell out.

I'll post here the same advice I gave my college senior this week: don't pay to go to law school. If you can get a free ride, maybe. But it's not worth the crushing debt.

Anonymous said...


What are six lawyers at the bottom of the Mississippi River????????

A good start!!!

Anonymous said...

Which one did Matlock attend? He did alright he got a show don’t he

Anonymous said...

Once again, ole miss is bested by LSU.

Anonymous said...

But which school produced the world's richest (and disbarred felon) lawyer, huh? Gittin' all high and mighty you city folk. Ya see?

Barry Kripke said...

But, but, but....Harvard of the South...or something

Anonymous said...

If they produced competent lawyers, Tom Mars wouldn't be continually making the entire university and athletic department his bitch.

Anonymous said...

Oxford turns out lawyers who are nothing but corrupt to the bone. The dang law school itself is named after the guy who filed the articles of secession for Mississippi and was a Confederate colonel during the Civil War. It's nothing but a club for privileged rednecks that couldn't possibly make it anywhere but within Mississippi. If you go to class at their law school, study a little, you pass. Then so many of them work within and among MS government, they usually know someone or are related to them, and they get a job. Mississippi - where you're born and inbred to get a job with government.

Anonymous said...

The McLaw degree is much like McDouble on the value menu....except you are paying $20 instead of $2. I occasionally eat at McDonald's if I really need something and it is fast and convenient. I do not seem it out though.

But when there is no other restaurant around and you can't get a table at a decent place, the McDiubke has appeal. A heartbeat and willingness to pay the tuition gets you a shot at a McLaw degree.

As an in-state student, my tuition at Ole Miss was roughly $6000/year. That is not overwhelmingly expensive. Not sure what it is now as that was damn near 20 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Of course MS College didn't make the list. Ever see that fool named Matt Steffy?

Anonymous said...

There are folks who graduate from UM that pass the bar in Louisiana, where the Napoleon codes make law different from most States.

Anonymous said...

12:24 is dead-on. Law School, for many people is nothing more than a fall-back for not having another plan. The bastardization of the profession is, largely, the profession's fault. Think about it: if you want to go to medical school, you have to make that determination early in life (much earlier now than in past times), work HARD with that career goal in mind, be smart enough to be competitive on the MCAT, and hopefully get in to a medical school (of which, there aren't a tremendous number.) On the other hand, to go to law school, all you have to do is get ANY degree, do well enough on the LSAT, and have enough money to pay for a law school (of which, there are MANY.) It seems to me that the legal profession (of which I am a part) would do well to start realizing there are too DAMN many lawyers! The biggest problem with that is, when you graduate that many people out of law schools, they ALL have to eat......so what do they do nowadays? They foment litigation to try and make a living. Of course, it's not called that, but that's exactly what it is.

What was once a profession is now nothing more than a business. Ask anyone who has been practicing for more than 40 years, and they'll tell you what a miserable profession it now is. While you're at it, ask an attorney if he/she enjoys practicing law. Guarantee you won't find more than 10% who will give you a positive answer. Again, I, unfortunately, know first-hand...............

Anonymous said...

"i've always heard there is not much difference between any of the top 125 law schools. They use the same books."

When your professor picks up the phone to recommend you for a clerkship there is a HUGE difference among schools as to who is willing to take their call.

Anonymous said...

No one likes lawyers until they need one.

Alpha Storm said...

Mississippi College didn't make it to the top that is classic. Oh Steve Stanford needs to be fire from MC.

Anonymous said...

I only practiced for 5 years. I have been home with the kids for 16 years. My husband didn’t finish college, but he was making 5 times my salary, by the time we were both 30. If he hadn’t paid my loans off, I’d still be making payments. My eldest child is dead set on law school. I told him that unless he gets a scholarship to a top tier school, it isn’t worth it. He plans to get a useful undergraduate degree, at least.

Anonymous said...

Who the hell is Tom Mars and why should I care?

Anonymous said...

Well, my law school remains solidly in the Top 20. But I agree with most remarks here about the changes in the profession over the past four decades. Successful lawyers have always worked hard, but today’s grind is unbearable to many, if not most. Very little is genteel or gentlemanly (or ladylike) anymore. I’ve had a good career. I have practiced in a large firm, a small firm, and solo. I’ve earned a good living. But, I swear if I had to do it over again starting in the 1970’s, and if I could see into the future, I’d be doing something else.

Anonymous said...

I’m a 22 year career lawyer (regional firm partner) and would not change a thing.

Life is what you make it and a law degree and a modicum of respect for others with some tenacity can make for a very productive career.

Is being a lawyer a guarantee like a doctor who has an instant client in Medicare and insurance? Absolutely not.

Does it afford you a chance to make a decent living? Yep.

People hate lawyers until they need one.....then they want the meanest one in town.

For those yearning for less lawyers, the profession today is a product of societal needs and continues to meet those needs.

Anonymous said...

I am old enough to remember when being an attorney was an honorable profession.

The first thing that went wrong was advertising.

Then too many State Bars , ours being among the worst, did not focus on their ethical and professional obligations.

But, the worst is the politicizing of the judicial system. There was no recognition that buzz words in campaign literature worked. Nor was there recognition that judges could have financial ambitions, emotional problems, and become senile. And, as a part of that, instead of having our best legal minds appointed to the Courts, it's based on their politics, not their legal scholarship or aiming for the ideal of justice being blind.

That's how we end up with Citizens United and lawyers knowingly lying in court to juries in " defense" of their clients among other things which I'm sure has Thomas Jefferson rolling in his grave.

There are honorable lawyers left but they are hard to find. Even some of the professional organizations have lowered their standards for political reason or by seeing money as a measure of the man.

Offices In Jackson.. said...

"Call Morgan and Morgan at #whatever to see what your case is worth."

Anonymous said...

Steve Stanford has nothing to do with the law school's academic ranking. He's over the administration of the college (physical plant, bookstore, police, etc...), not academics. Blame the VP for Academics or the Dean of the Law School if blaming someone makes you feel better.

Anonymous said...

"Is being a lawyer a guarantee like a doctor who has an instant client in Medicare and insurance? Absolutely not."


Doctors do not have clients. They treat patients. Learn the language.

Are lawyers obligated to take the case of anyone and everyone, including people who have absolutely zero chance of paying their bill? Look up EMTALA if you don't understand the playing field.

This mess was brought to us by legislators and judges, almost 100% of whom are lawyers.

English 101 said...

Should be "FEWER" lawyers, not "LESS," 9:30. And 12:11 is right about clients/patients. Let's all take more time with our comments, and polish them before eagerly posting. Boosts credibility, for one thing.

Anonymous said...

The return on investment on the so-called "grind" just isn't there. Lazy millenials need to learn a trade.

Anonymous said...

EMTALA applies to emergency rooms at hospitals accepting Medicare. Most doctors are free to choose their patients. Over half the doctors in Mississippi choose not to treat Medicaid patients.


Anonymous said...

"Let's all take more time with our comments, and polish them before eagerly posting. Boosts credibility, for one thing."

You go right on jerking off to that thought, 'polishing it', as it were. The rest of us will continue in your absence.

Zelda Sayre said...

Oh, 6:38, your crude retort marks you as one of those who post the idiotic comments. And "in [my] absence"? In your dreams! I am not going away. And neither are you, I fear. The wonder is, that Kingfish even allows dolts like you, who use terms like "jerking off, " to pass the robot test. If I were him, I'd zap your sorry slobberings right into oblivion. "As it were..."??

Anonymous said...

Doctors have clients.

Medicine quit being a “practice” and became a “business” decades ago.

If you labor under the notion that you are “seen” for a sufficient amount of time for a doctor to truly advise you as to health risks you are sorely mistaken. Study after study demonstrates lack of time between doctor and person is inadequate.

You are but a number to your doctor.

And figure out when the word “hospitalist” showed up in our vernacular. Doctors stopped “rounding” because....yes the money isn’t there to pay them and they don’t have.....time. Higher volumes with less reimbursement with increased overhead.....

It’s a business....you are a client.

And sick at the house? Good luck.

Anonymous said...

More than a few people go to law school for the same reason they get an MBA...these are flexible degrees that enhance undergraduate degrees.

Professional organizations hire those with business and legal skills as do corporations.

I know more than a few highly successful business owners who went to law school but never expected to practice law ..some never bothered to take the Bar exam. Knowing the rules is always helpful.

The problems in all professions these days stem from profit has becoming more important than ethics and legislation reflects that cultural change. Success is not determined by honor and a life well led that contributes to more than self. Patriotism that includes service to strengthening the principals of a free Nation is no longer fashionable.

Once upon a time lawyers were respected as those in a community who worked towards a goal of justice just as doctors were all about healing. Doctors , since they are making the same mistakes lawyers did, shouldn't be surprised that their profession is beginning to be seen as greedy bastards as well.

Anonymous said...

You can go on line and find out why Medical Doctors have lost their licenses. You can do the same for insurance agents. There is no avenue (or at least I can't find it) telling WHY and WHO have been disbarred in Mississippi. If there is a site telling why, please show the site.

Anonymous said...

Based on the current tuition rates it would cost you $101,610 at MC and $47,646 at Ole Miss for law school. The latest survey from the Bar on lawyer salaries has it consistently trending downward in Mississippi. I think it is around 140K a year right now. To the average Mississippian that is a lot of money, but it is also a lot of debt with a very tight employment market.



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