December 2015

8,000. That's a pretty good number … for a North Korean nuclear test. Speaking of an entity that publishes a hagiography to each new leader, depends on an outside government's support to sustain its moribund economy, and focuses solely on self-preservation and keeping the peasants in line while espousing otherworldly, yet high-minded ideals, read about the AALS meeting here. Next step is to set up re-education camps and charge $50K tuition.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm

Not seasonally adjusted	December	2014	1,124,200
	October	2015	1,127,900
	November	2015	1,128,800
	December	2015	1,133,100	8,900
Seasonally adjusted	December	2014	1,120,000
	October	2015	1,126,600
	November	2015	1,126,800
	December	2015	1,128,000	8,000
Change from Nov-15 to Dec-15				1,200

November 2015

Wishing everyone a happy New Year.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm

Not seasonally adjusted	November	2014	1,121,200
	September	2015	1,119,700
	October	2015	1,128,700
	November	2015	1,130,200	9,000
Seasonally adjusted	November	2014	1,119,200
	September	2015	1,125,700
	October	2015	1,127,000
	November	2015	1,127,600	8,400
Change from Oct-15 to Nov-15				600

Valvoline Dean becomes RuTTTgers Athletic Director

Rutgers just shitcanned both its athletic director and its head football coach. Read all about it here.

The AD position vacant and the university's program in shambles, only one man could step in to save the day. That man: Patrick Hobbs, Dean Emeritus of Seton Haul Law Skool. Though Dean Hobbs needs no introduction, I've reproduced Scott Bullock's.

For those new to Big Debt, an explanation: Hobbs was long ago nicknamed the "Valvoline Dean" by none other than yours truly. Of course, all law school deans are shysters and born liars (see Rothenberg, Karen), but Hobbs has elevated pseudo-sincere "slicksterism" to a form of high art, an oleaginous tour de force of toilet law puffery. His persona is a cross between a used-car salesman and a Tammany Hall politician, with a touch of creepy Catholic-priest piety thrown in for good measure.

If Hobbs does for Rutgers what he did for Seton Haul, his legacy will live on forever.

NY bar resulTTTs

Cornell was so happy with the 2015 results that it reproduced the New York Law Journal's chart, below.

Congratulations to both Crooklyn and Carbozo for falling below your new peer, CUNY. Truly the sound of one hand clapping. May Fordham join you in a few years.

Finally, honorable mention to TTTTouro for plumbing the depths of bar passage rates and continuing to dig.

OcTTTober 2015

Followers of the legal "profession" will be delighted to learn that hiring grew in October, as hundreds of newly-barred Florida Coastal graduates launched their career in sports and entertainment law. The United States's "rule of law" threatened by lawyer underproduction, law schools rushed into the fray and saved the day! Again! Hooray!

I cribbed the first sentence from my October 2011 post when I looked back at prior years. The legal industry has grown about 10K jobs since then; I guarantee real wages have decreased.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm

Not seasonally adjusted	October	2014	1,118,800
	August	2015	1,124,300
	September	2015	1,119,100
	October	2015	1,127,400	8,600
Seasonally adjusted	October	2014	1,117,300
	August	2015	1,121,300
	September	2015	1,125,100
	October	2015	1,125,800	8,500
Change from Sep-15 to Oct-15				700

Your JD may pay off after all

We recently received the attached from ADP. Click on the image to read it (requires a PDF viewer). Short story is the Labor Department has proposed increasing the minimum salary level for exempt employees to $50,440 in 2016. Sad to think this will encompass some lawyers. Some; most would likely be fired straight away and blackballed if they claimed OT.

Still no cure for this. Suite dreams.

Florida Coa$TTTTal comes out swinging

Following the NY Times editorial pillorying his school, the dean issued a retort invoking everything except his dog, Checkers. I'm not linking to it but have included an excerpTTT.

I knew these damn jerks would play the diversity card, keeping the apocryphal "unmet legal need" card up their sleeve for another day. Let me go out on a limb and predict this dean will ultimately testify before Congress with several of his agreeable, highly-motivated charges in tow.

To be honest, I agree with him that for-profit isn't inherently worse than non-profit, seeing how the latter can scam with the best of them.

The Times was right when it said that Florida Coastal is a for-profit law school. But it is wrong when it implies that for-profit is inherently bad. Sometimes it takes a for-profit entity to right a wrong-in this case the lack of diversity in law schools. The student body in not-for-profit law schools is about 29.7% diverse. According to the U.S. Census bureau, the United States is currently about 37.9% diverse. The student body at Florida Coastal is approximately 44.4% diverse.