Frank Snyder
I'm a law professor who has taught at law schools in each quartile of the USNews rankings, been a partner at an AmLaw 20 firm, and owned a couple of independent minor league baseball teams.
You can find my current school on a Google search, but I'm not putting it here because I want to emphasize that this blog reflects my personal observations on legal education, the profession of law, and the vast changes (the "Apocalypse") that are looming on the horizon for each. I claim no special expertise in these topics, except for having practiced law for nearly 15 years and taught in law schools nearly as long.
Unlike some other critics, I believe that the law is the greatest of the secular professions It has played a critical role in American life. Law school is not a scam. Law has offered, and continues to offer, incredibly rewarding careers to thousands of new lawyers. My view of the American law school is like that of reforming 15th-century Catholics to abuses in the Church -- a deep love for an institution but a strong concern that it has fallen under some very bad influences.
Unless attributed and linked to specific others, all of the thoughts here are mine, unless I unconsciously stole them, in which case I apologize. None of them should be taken as the opinions of my employer, my publishers, my students, or any other person or institution.
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Category Archives: Legal profession
“If you want to help lawyers serve the poor, don’t charge $45,000 a year for law school.”
That’s the comment from “James” in response to an ABA Journal Weekly story about New York’s new “pro bono” requirement for would-be attorneys. I couldn’t agree more. There are lots of people who could use lawyers if those lawyers could … Continue reading
ABA considers making LSAT voluntary
The American Bar Association is apparently the only accrediting body in the U.S. that requires prospective students to take a standardized exam for admission. That may change, as the Standards Review Committee of the Section on Legal Education and Admission … Continue reading
Lawyers and mandatory “pro bono”
A colleage whom I like and respect takes a very different view of New York’s new mandatory pro bono requirement for bar appicants than I did yesterday. In the course of our email exchange, he made this point: I have … Continue reading
New York adds “pro bono” requirement for bar admission
New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippmann used a Law Day lunch yesterday to announce that the Empire State would now require 50 hours of pro bono legal practice from applicants before they are admitted to the New York … Continue reading
Judges want more money, less criticism from ignorant citizens
That’s the upshot of a new report from DRI The Voice of the Defense Bar, released yesterday as part of the May 1 “Law Day” testifivites. The recession is really hurting American courts, so taxpayers (who presumably aren’t hurting as much as … Continue reading
The are NOT too many lawyers
A piece in the ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter, relying on a BloombergBusiness.com news story, makes a fairly common claim in these recessionary days: there are too many lawyers in America. Boomberg writer Paul Barrett relies heavily on the fact that in 1950 there … Continue reading
More on “practice-ready” students
Over at Pryor Thoughts, Regent’s Scott Pryor responds to my earlier post that in turn responded to a thoughtful piece by Suffolk’s Jeff Lipshaw. I agree with much that he says, but I want to clarify my point, which I’m … Continue reading
Advice from good mentors
Michael Maslanka, a veteran employment lawyer with a great reputation in Texas, posted an odd column the other day, sharing mentoring advice he got when he was a whippersnapper. It’s called Five Lessons From Mentors Who Cared. Some of the advice … Continue reading
Signs of change at the ABA
Barry Currier (left) has been named the interim Consultant on Legal Education to the American Bar Association, replacing Bucky Askew, who has held the job for the last six years. Mr. Askew has presided over some substantial changes in the ABA’s … Continue reading
Shining optimism to alcoholic depression
American law schools are sometimes charged with turning out people who are so driven, competitive, and insecure that they end up hating their lives and their careers, and too often sink into depression or alcoholism. Turns out, this is one thing … Continue reading