Legal Education
U of Miami Urges 1st-Years to Defer; Legal Job Market Is Uncertain, Dean Says
Posted Jul 1, 2009 10:26 AM CST
By Martha Neil
Due to an unexpected deluge of deposit checks from accepted applicants this year, the University of Miami School of Law is urging incoming students to consider deferring their first year of law school until the fall of 2010.
Especially if they weren't all that convinced that the legal profession is the best career choice and simply saw law school as a safe harbor in which to weather out the current economic storm, deferring enrollment may be the best option, suggests Dean Patricia White in an e-mail reprinted in Above the Law.
The law is a difficult and demanding career, and the nature of legal profession seemingly may be undergoing significant change, writes White. "It is very difficult to predict what the employment landscape for young lawyers will be in May 2012 and thereafter."
Details about deferral incentives are discussed on the law school's website.
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Comments
atty
Jul 1, 2009 1:38 PM CST
This is your chance to turn back now. At the least, defer a year.
Litigious
Jul 1, 2009 4:46 PM CST
The practice of law is not what it used to be. I’d advise prospective law students to choose another career—-medicine / healthcare seems to be the best and most secure, especially with the new bailout program in store. Law sucks!
ASU LAW GRAD
Jul 1, 2009 9:42 PM CST
Dean White is an excellent Dean. I would trust any advice she gives regarding deferring admission.
B. McLeod
Jul 2, 2009 1:03 AM CST
Maybe the school can get hold of that “Abandon all Hope” sign that used to be over the door at Heller.
tim
Jul 2, 2009 8:13 AM CST
I would agree medical school is a lot more attractive than law school these days.
lee
Jul 2, 2009 10:18 AM CST
I was sent a similar warning from former Dean David Swank of the University of Oklahoma prior to the 1992-93 academic year, when another recession was in full bloom. I, of course, was a “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” kind of person at the time. There have been MANY days since then that I have pondered why, oh why, did I not heed Dean Swank’s warning? By the way, I asked Dean Swank in my first year whether any one had heeded his warning. He said that NOT ONE person admitted had withdrawn his or her admission. We lawyers almost always assume that the loser will be the other person.
B. McLeod
Jul 4, 2009 7:33 PM CST
Sure, lee. That’s how BigLaw works too. Many of the “associates” know the attrition rate when they leap into the grinder, but they all “assume that the loser(s) will be the (numerous) other person(s).”
hal
Jul 6, 2009 11:38 AM CST
But will they pay you 80 grand to stay away for the year?
Lee
Jul 6, 2009 12:01 PM CST
Anyone want to bet that U of Miami law school will admit everyone on the waiting list for every admittee who defers admission for a year? Until the truth gets out about the realities of law practice in the 21st Century, law schools will continue to reap the harvest of impossible expectations of wannabe lawyers.
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