Bush League

I was on a panel today that spoke to law students in Siouxland. There were seven attorneys on the panel. And about 20 law students showed up, out of 150-200. That is absolutely unacceptable. The dean apologized, saying they had "program fatigue." Yeah, well, I have life fatigue, but I hauled my ass 250 miles out there to give them young lawyer advice. He further explained they just had a program last week, as if to say that two one-hour programs two weeks in a row was a lot to ask of them. Yeah, you know what, I was at that one, too. And only about 40 students showed up to that one.

I also spoke to the lawyer liason for the mentor/mentee program between the state bar association and the Siouxland law school today. He asked if I'd had much contact with my mentee. I explained that I emailed, she emailed back, I emailed again, and that was it. He told me that seemed to be everyone's experience. HLC's mentee didn't even return her email. I, too, have heard that at least two other lawyers received no response at all.

I don't know what's wrong with these law students, but they have a serious problem if they think they can blow of members of the bar and still land great jobs. We have the smallest bar in the country. And they're at a tier 4 law school. The arrogance of the students at that place is astounding. It might be the only game in town, but that's not enough. They fail to understand that they are competing for a very limited number of jobs, all within a very connected network of firms, with people like me, HLC, and my co-worker, Haley, who all came back to the state after getting edumucated elsewhere. Haley went to Yale. HLC and I did not, but we went to better schools than the one in Siouxland.

To hear it from their side, we swooped in and took "their" jobs. This they bitch about, complaining that it's patently unfair because they've paid their dues by attending school in state. Um, I'm sorry. I spent 18 years in this shithole before I came back to get a job. So did HLC. So did Haley. And, Haley, HLC and I did not have the opportunity to network with, or clerk for, attorneys at the state's flagship firms during law school. We all came in cold, with nothing more than the strength of our resumes and a local hometown, long since abandoned, behind us. Yet, we took three of the most coveted jobs in the state. Actually, four, if you count two of my three jobs here. Not surprisingly, the Magic City job I just left behind is monumentally uncoveted.

They can't beat us on the education. But they should be able to beat us, hands down, on the networking side of things. And, let's be honest, the second is more important, in most cases. Yet, they still blow it off. I don't know what's going on up there, but it just doesn't seem good. They can't write, they don't know the law, and they have a grossly inflated image of their abilities and strengths. They can't even submit resumes that are free of typos.

It's entirely possible the brain drain has virtually stripped the state of an entire generation of legal talent. I don't notice it so much with the attorneys that have been practicing for 15+ years. Whether that's a product of experience or an indication of a decline in the quality of Siouxland's program, I can't say. I do know this, though. If we had a better law school, we'd have better lawyers. Once the talent is lured out by better educational opportunities, it's extremely difficult to draw them back in. I'm here due to an series of accidental missteps. It wasn't ever my plan to come back. Ever. But that's a different topic altogether.

I need to issue a disclaimer. I know I sound arrogant by writing this post. Admittedly, I am not F. Lee Bailey, for two reasons: (1) I am not nearly as talented as him, and (2) I have not been disbarred. However, I have gone head to head with many a Siouxland grad, and worked beside them, and I am confident that my law school education was of higher quality. Am I smarter? Maybe. But you can be the smartest person in the room and still be handicapped by your education. I have also worked with HLC and Haley, and it's also clear that their skills and abilities are much greater than those of Siouxland grads of similar vintage.

Dear Dean of Siouxland Law: For the love of god, please put some effort into creating a better law school. I get tired of practicing against ill-prepared, arrogant lawyers. I can't take another thirty years of this, especially when you consider the good lawyers will only be around for another 10-15 years. I'd rather enjoy having a worthy opponent almost every time instead of every once in awhile. And, as is obvious by reading this post, I could use some humility by being beaten by one every now and again, too.