Law School Rankings Unkind to Michigan Law Schools

Once again, the highly controversial national law school rankings have been published by the US News & World Report. Although you have to pay to see them in full, University of Cincinnati Law Professor Paul Caron has published a segment of the rankings; peer reputation vs "overall" rankings.

Some movement was observed at the top of the rankings.  The University of Michigan Law School, for example, fell three spots from 7th to 10th.  Harvard also fell a spot.  To the USN&WR editor: really; what changed at UM and Harvard to merit the drop?  Go figure.

Proving that it never hurts to associate with a huge public university, Michigan State University's "College of Law" [formerly the unaffiliated Detroit College of Law] is now ranked #82 overall; that would not have occurred in the law school's "stand alone" days.  Not yet "first tier", but improving.

MSU bested Wayne State, which now sits at #112 overall; that never would have happened in the 1980s.

While my law school alma mater, University of Detroit Mercy, did well in the NCAA men's basketball tournament seeding, in the law school rankings, er...not so much; stuck at #178 in the peer reputation category with an "overall" ranking simply noted as "tier 2" and trending downward from its whopping 169 rank back in 2009.  Guess that means, "second rate".  What's going on over there?

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not at least mention Michigan's other perennial basement dweller in these confounded rankings: the mighty, albeit somewhat narcissistic, Thomas M. Cooley Law School; ranked at #184. 

If you care enough to drill into Cooley's own website, however, you will see that they persist in publishing their own law school ranking which places them second [to Harvard] based on a variety of class-size factors.  And perhaps that is as it should be, with a whopping 3727 Juris Doctor candidates currently enrolled [yes folks, that's Three Thousand Seven Hundred Twenty Seven students; can you say, "you are just a number...].  The next highest enrollment is Georgetown University, with 1982 students.

Again, we have to ask, do we really need that many lawyers out there on the street?  Really?

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Anonymous Internet Critics

This blog has covered the defamation lawsuit filed by the Cooley Law School against one if it's more vocal critics; one of the legion of graduates that has trashed the law school in a blog titled "The Thomas M. Cooley Law School Scam".  This post brings our readers up to date with some important recent developments in the case.

Cooley's defamation suit, pending in the Ingham County Circuit Court, was assigned to Circuit Judge Clinton Canady III. Cooley is represented by the Miller Canfield law firm and the anonymous blogger, using the pseudonym "Rockstar05", is represented by Berkeley, MI attorney John Hermann.

For their part, Miller Canfield has been vigorously prosecuting their cause of action, issuing subpoenas in two states [Michigan and California] to the Rockstar05's Internet service provider, seeking to rip the lid off the blogger's identity.

In September and October, hearings were conducted on Rockstar05's motion to quash Cooley's subpoenas.  Somewhere along the way, the internet service provider in California apparently made an inadvertent disclosure of the blogger's identity to the Miller Canfield firm, who immediately moved the court to amend the complaint, seeking to add the now-disclosed individual to the suit.

Judge Canady initially sequestered the pleadings and documents that referenced Rockstar05's identity while it considered supplemental briefings on this First Amendment issue.  In October, however, the lower court denied Rockstar05's motion to quash the subpoena, providing time for defendant to lodge an interlocatory appeal, and allowing an amicus [various media organizations] to intervene in the case.

Rocktar05 has appealed Judge Canady's decision relative to the subpoena.  The media has filed a hard-hitting amicus brief.  Miller Canfield's response on behalf of Cooley Law School is expected to be filed any day now.

This blog predicts that the Michigan Court of Appeals will grant leave for this issue to be decided; apparently one of first impression here in Michigan.

At stake is the ability of vocal critics of a "public figure" to express their opinion anonymously, without the fear of having their mask pulled off, and their identity disclosed.

You'll have to stay tuned for the results on this important case.  It could likely take a few years to wind its way through the court system.

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Cooley Law Alumni Sues Alma Mater in Class Action Suit

A class action law suit was filed against the Cooley Law School this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.  In addition to legal counsel from Gotham, attorney Steve Hyder from Monroe, MI, himself a Cooley graduate, is local counsel on the suit.

The 45-page complaint reads like an indictment on the issue of student loans versus available law jobs in this protracted economic downturn.  The complaint alleges that Cooley intentionally uses false statistics (i.e. graduate employment rates and graduates' salaries) to lure and retain prospective law students .

The New York law firm handling the heavy lifting in the suit, Kurzon Strauss, is also suing the New York Law School on nearly identical grounds, but in state court.  Each suit seeks hundreds of millions in tuition refunds from the respective law schools.

Last month, Kurzon Strauss was on the receiving end of a law suit filed by Cooley, alleging defamation.  The firm had been trolling around Craigslist and Facebook soliciting candidates for its class action suit.  Understandably, Cooley wanted to get the drop on the firm and steal the negative publicity thunder such a suit would generate.  Always the publicity gurus over there at Cooley.

Cooley will probably use the same law firm on defense as they do on offense; Miller Canfield.  One way or another, this litigation will siphon-off some of Cooley's rich profits as they continue to tap deeply into the American Dream, lawyer-style.

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Cooley Law School Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Internet Foes

What is it about Cooley Law School's reputation that makes the folks over there so hyper-sensitive about how that veritable lawyer factory is portrayed?  Cooley just cannot seem to avoid repeatedly shooting itself in the foot on the Internet.

Yesterday, Cooley Law School President Don Leduc announced defamation lawsuits against a New York City law firm and several John Doe bloggers.  The lawsuits are splashed all over the law school's website.

The complaint against the bloggers (apparently a disparate group of highly dissatisfied former students) alleges the unknown defendants published false statements that Cooley law school representatives were committing fraud and other criminal acts in order to induce prospective students to attend the law school; that the business purpose of the school is to create, then transfer "securities" out of the robust stream of student loans coming into the school; and that the law school is under investigation by an undercover government task force for Title IV violations.

The complaint against the law firm alleges that Kurzon Strauss, a small New York City law firm, published false information relative to the law school's post-graduation employment rate and the school's student loan default rate in an apparent effort to attract litigants for a planned class action law suit against Cooley and other law schools.  This complaint sets out a series of business torts including defamation, interference with the law school's business relations, breach of contract, and "false light".

There is no doubt Cooley is taking this litigation seriously, hiring Michigan's premire "biglaw" firm: Miller Canfield.  The complaints were filed in the Ingham County Circuit Court on the basis Cooley's business injuries occurred in Lansing, MI, where the school is located.

Cooley apparently operates under the ancient Hollywood adage, "there is no such thing as bad publicity."  This blog wryly noted when Cooley purchased the rights to name a minor league baseball park (the former Oldsmobile Stadium; now known as Cooley Law School Stadium) and when the school's website shamelessly touted itself as the #2 law school in the country; second only to Harvard Law School.

These marketing gaffs come straight from the top of the law school's administration.  They do not advance the legitimate goals of Michigan's fifth law school, nor do they serve the interests of the legions of Cooley law graduates that have passed bar exams across the nation at historically higher than average rates.

Stay tuned for interesting developments on this one.  After Miller Canfield has earned about a half million in fees to conduct plenty of discovery, one of the sides will be filing dispositive motions sometime in 2013.

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Biological Father Cannot Parent His Law School Love Child

They were students at Cooley Law School in the late 1990s.  She was married; he was from Buffalo, New York. 

Their long-term adulterous affair eventually led to the birth of a child in 2002.  Although Mother's husband was on the birth certificates of both her children born during her marriage, she informed her law school lover that he was the biological father of the child born in 2002; subsequent DNA testing confirmed this fact.

When his love child was three years old, and armed with the confirming DNA results, bio-dad sought an order of filiation in a paternity action he filed in New York state.  For her part, Mother challenged the New York family court's jurisdiction, as the paternity suit did not name her husband as a necessary party, and the paternity of her second child was already established by operation of Michigan law.

Not so fast.  The New York family court found that some of the couples' adulterous liaisons took place within the state of New York thus, the child could have been conceived in that state.  Conceding that it did not have personal jurisdiction over Mother or her husband, and acknowledging that paternity of the child had been established in accord with Michigan law, the New York family court nevertheless refused to dismiss bio-dad's paternity action, ultimately granting bio-dad's order of filiation.

Meanwhile, paternity actions were cranked-up back here in the Wayne County family court by Mother's Husband and bio-dad.  All three parties sought summary disposition of the paternity issue.  Bio-dad's petition sought to enforce the order of filiation issued by the New York family court; the family court judge in Wayne County agreed, citing the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution.

Mother appealed and the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the Wayne County family court, holding that bio-dad lacked standing to sue here in Michigan.  The case hinged on the definition of a child born "out of wedlock".  The Court of Appeals reasoned that because the married couple did not seek a determination that their child was born out of wedlock, bio-dad cannot seek that determination, regardless of his New York order of filiation.

Bio-dad also asserted that the Wayne County family court was required to give his order from New York full force and effect under the United States Constitution.  In the most interesting portion of the published opinion, the Court of Appeals rejected bio-dad's assertion, holding that the comity clause of the constitution does not apply when the issuing court lacks jurisdiction.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the New York court conceded it lacked personal jurisdiction over the Husband, and that the New York family court left enforcement of the order it issued to the courts in Michigan.

Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave for further appeal in an evenly divided 3-3 ruling; Justice Brian Zahra did not participate as he was on the Court of Appeals panel at the intermediate appellate court.

Justice Marilyn Kelly wrote a thoughtful dissent, noting the case presented issues of jurisprudential significance.  She is not conviced that the Court of Appeals properly concluded that the New York order was not entitled to the full faith and credit of the Wayne County family court.  Justice Kelly noted that bio-dad did have proper standing in the New York family court that issued the order of filiation.  Also, she noted that this order was issued and affirmed on appeal in New York prior to any paternity action being filed in Wayne County.

For these reasons, she would have granted leave to appeal so that the issues presented in the case could be resolved.  For now, this question will continue to percolate throughout the family courts of our state.

DNA has long been available to determine paternity.  The Michigan legislature, however, in both the child custody act and the paternity act, has been reluctant to allow such conclusive test results to disrupt an established family.

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Cooley Law School Ranks (Itself) 2nd in Nation, Behind Harvard

Good News!  Cooley Law School's latest law school ranking has just been published on its web site.  In a single year, they have improved from 12th to second best in the nation; only Harvard Law School remains ranked higher than Cooley according to the their own rankings.

Now, you've just got to stand back and take note of such bold and relentless devotion to self-promotion.  Simply refusing to allow reality to get in the way of its vision of excellence, Cooley actually announced its ever-higher ranking in a press-release on its web site.

Despite a firm national consensus that the law school dwels in the basement of the "4th Tier", Cooley believes it deserves top-flight status largely based on their collossal law library; one of the largest in the nation.  Nevermind that in our increasingly digitized world, actual bricks, mortar, and book volumes are rendered less-significant by the minute; think Borders.

This blog took note when Cooley drew serious national criticism by installing its good name on a minor league baseball park in Lansing; the former Oldsmobile Stadium.  That post received more comments than any other in this blog's two-year history.

A steady theme in the law-blogoshpere concerns the lack of employment prospects in the legal field after a six-figure student loan debt is incurred.  Along these lines, this blog questions the propriety of an educational institution that rakes-in premium tuition dollars on the promise of future employment, despite the absolute saturation and professional grid-lock among the already-minted lawyers in our service-based economy.

With its satelite campus system, and a jaw-dropping legion of graduates, Cooley is part of the "lawyers-gone-wild" problem in our nation.  This latest self-adulatory ranking is simply designed to entice ever-more eager but unsuspecting students into parting with a lot of dough for their shot at the American Dream; lawyer-style. 

In the opinion of this blogger, however, Cooley's self-rank is so disingenuous, it boarders on fraud.  Perhaps its time for the ABA to review this business model.  On the other hand, maybe Harvard Business School should do one of its famous case-studies on Cooley's undisputed financial success.

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ABA Proposes to Drop LSAT Requirement for Law School Applicants

The dreaded LSAT scantron.

From time-to-time this law blog has addressed the effects that the down economy has had on the legal profession. In doing so, we’ve alerted our readers to the collateral effects now becoming manifest for recent graduates of the nation’s 250+ law schools. We’ve often asked the question: do we really need more lawyers?

The latest development in this rough chapter of the profession is the current proposal of the American Bar Association to drop the requirement that students entering law school take the LSAT.

Doesn’t this sound like a good thing? Many critics have long-asserted that the only thing this test measures is one’s aptitude for taking a standardized test. Well, not so fast.

The consensus among the industry professionals is that all the top-tier law schools will continue requiring that applicants sit for the exam. It should be noted that as many as 10 law schools already have been granted waivers to admit students without LSAT scores.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the chairman of the ABA’s committee on the entrance exam has told the National Law Journal that a significant faction within the committee has concluded that the rule that law school applicants, “submit to a valid and reliable admission test” should be repealed. The committee’s concern, in part, relates to the ABA’s proper role in the law school admission process and its indirect endorsement of the Law School Admission Counsel; the well-funded organization that administers the LSAT.

The proposal to drop the LSAT requirement will be the subject of public debate at the ABA committee’s next meeting on April 2 in Chicago.

Last weekend, we posted on the problems associated with the glut of lawyers, taking our lead from a front-page story in the NYT Business Section that has since received much exposure. The ABA proposal has attracted more unwanted attention to the professional formation of attorneys.

One of the knocks against lawyer-making is that the process is designed to enrich the law school and impoverish the law student. Students willingly submit to the impoverishment process in exchange for a coveted professional credential: the Juris Doctor.

Local connection: No law school exemplifies this process more than our own Cooley Law School, receiving yet more spectacular negative publicity on this subject in the tongue-in-cheeky blog Above the Law whose recent post on this subject asks, “does the ABA really want every lower-ranked law school to turn into Thomas Cooley?”

While acknowledging that most of the top-schools will continue using the admission test, ATL suggests that Cooley will drop the LSAT like a bad habit, opening the door even further for those, er, less-qualified legal aspirants that can afford to pay heavy-duty tuition bills for their shot at the American Dream; lawyer style.

While our service-economy is flexible and somewhat forgiving, your law school student loan obligation is not. Where the rubber meets the road on this problem is that attorney positions have become occasional in a crowded profession.

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Is Law School Worth the Tuition Investment?

Graphic by Peter & Maria Hoey

Does Michigan’s economy really need six law schools pumping over a thousand newly minted graduates into the service sector every year?  

Unlike many job seekers, most new lawyers are heavily debt-burdened; some carrying well over $100,000 in student loans.  This can lead to desperation.

  

The economy is still smarting in several key sectors here in Michigan.  Both the auto and real estate sectors appear to be clawing their way back, but the jobless rate remains stubbornly high.  Most experts are saying we are in for another half-decade of “recovery”.

In down-times, higher education, as an industry, does remarkably well.  People take a hard look at their employment prospects and many decide to improve their skills by obtaining additional credentials.

Law school is something that nearly half the population considers at one time or another.  In this tough economy, however, have law schools turned this recurring American Dream into a debt-nightmare?


The question is on Congress' collective mind; they ordered up a report on this very topic from the GAO.

An entire generation of newly minted lawyers, facing student loans the size of a modest first home, are in the same tight spot as those who over-purchased real estate during the boom years.  Only for these new lawyers, there is no foreclosure option.  

And the prospects are, well, scary.  Established small and medium sized firms will lease office space, but they are not going to pay salaries.  The larger firms are downsizing their attorney-rosters.  A Northwestern Law study estimates that the large firm sector has lost more than 15,000 attorney and staff positions since 2008.

Corporate legal departments are slashing legal expenses; anything that can be outsourced goes to India where there is a glut of cheap lawyers, eager to review documents for about $20 per hour.

Despite this grim outlook, law schools are reporting up to 93% of their graduates are, “known to be employed nine-months after graduation.”  This statistic is fostered by the annual law school rankings published by the U.S. News & World Report. 

  

Employment as a barista at Starbucks, however, is different than working in the legal profession.  To improve their stats, some law schools have been known to temporarily hire a battalion of their recent grads for $20 an hour to work in the placement office.  The U.S. News statistic does not take these distortions into account.

This grim theme was the focus of recent “over-the-top” marketing techniques employed by Lansing’s Cooley Law School.  The correlation between a paucity of jobs and a downright glut of attorneys is well documented in the blogosphere.

It’s not all bad though.  Students with a high motivation and grade point can persist with good jobs in their chosen field, even after they take off their rose-colored glasses.

In our free society, with its commerce, temptations and throw-away marriages, there will always be a strong demand for legal services.



Update:  Shortly after this post, inspired by the front page article in the Sunday NYT's Business Section, this offering appeared in the WSJ's Law Blog.


Another Update:  As another sick indicator for law students and lawyers alike, here is a report from the ABA Journal about the editor-in-chief of the Chicago-Kent Law Review describing how he cannot find a job despite his best efforts.  Presumably, this dude is at the top of his class.  Like Michigan, however, Illinois has half a dozen law schools, all churning-out juris doctors each year, all with little hope of landing a paying lawyer-gig.  Go figure.

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100th Post - Thank You Readers!

We here at the Law Blogger would like to thank the Oakland Press, and our readers for the opportunity to disseminate our posts on the developing legal issues of our day, as they occur.

On average, this blogs receives 75 daily page views.  Sometimes, readers are motivated to comment.  The comments tendered often provide a fresh look at the subject from a completely different point of view.  They also provide insight into how we've treated a subject.

We value your comments.  Please keep them coming.

Interestingly, in our two-year history of 100-posts, the one about Cooley Law School's sponsorship of the former Oldsmobile Stadium received the most comment from readers.  Although posted back in February, we still receive the occasional comment on that post.

This blog first posted on March 30, 2009.  The topic was a Michigan Court of Appeals decision to address a parenting dispute between a lesbian couple.  Since then, the blog has featured many posts on the same-sex marriage issue.  Other recurring themes have included the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, decisions of import (in our opinion) from the Michigan Supreme Court and SCOTUS, the Second Amendment, the Fourth Amendment's search and seizure case law over the past two years, family law issues, and many other topics we hope that you find useful, or at least interesting.

In the posts, which we try to keep relatively brief but of a varying length, we link to original documentation whenever possible.  Also, we make every effort to get out at least two posts each week; three posts if possible.  Some of your comments have expressed approval of this model.

There are a sea of blogs out there on every topic imaginable; particularly legal topics.  We hope that the fleeting time you have to spend checking your various news feeds throughout the day is worthwhile when you alight upon our blog.

With the lighting-fast pace of developments on the Internet, -newsfeeds, social media, aggregated search tools, mirco-blogs- some of the pundits now wonder if blogs have been relegated to the "old school".  Not so, says one of the premire law bloggers, Kevin O'Keefe.  His recent post emphasizes the importance and value of a good law blog.

Most law students and legal professionals now keep current with developments via subscriptions to various law blogs.

As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, we welcome you to post your ideas to this blog, or by contacting us electronically.

Above all, thanks again for taking a moment to read our posts.  Without you, the reader, this blog is nothing.

For our part, we aim to keep the fresh, relevant legal content posted to this blog.

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