Recently a U.S based grassroots organization traveled to Uganda to give two women a chance of a lifetime; the opportunity to attend law school in the U.S.
Karen Sloan
The National Law Journal
October 21, 2010
Ms. JD, a grassroots organization committed to advancing women in the legal profession, is looking beyond the borders of the United States.
The group has launched a Global Education Fund that is intended to help women in developing countries become lawyers. The inaugural recipients of the grant are two Ugandan women who will study law at Makerere University in Kampala -- a pursuit that would be out of reach without financial backing.
"We've had this idea kicking around for a long time," said Ms. JD Executive Director Jessie Kornberg. "A lot of what makes Ms. JD work at home is a real sense of solidarity: We're all in this together. That extends beyond borders. We derive our strength and energy from a sense of collaboration and mutual support. This is in keeping in the same vein of women helping women."
Ms. JD will spend about $5,000 a year for five years of undergraduate and law training for recipients Joaninne Nanyange and Monica Athieno. The women were selected for the grant by the Gender Mainstreaming Division at Makerere University based on their financial need and academic credentials. A mere 3 percent of the adult women in Uganda have access to higher education and 45 percent have never received any schooling, according to Ms. JD.
Nanyange intends to use her law degree to assist women and children as a human rights lawyer. She paid her own way through elementary and secondary schools despite the death of her mother and abandonment of her and four younger siblings by her father.
Athieno aspires to become a judge and help develop the rule of law in Uganda. She sold vegetables at a local market to pay for her secondary school education. "In Uganda today, girls and [widows] are faced with challenges from the relatives of a deceased father or husband, they threaten to take the few assets left," Athieno told Ms. JD. "If widows had knowledge about where to seek refuge, they would not be abused in this way."
Ms. JD initially considered supporting women's education in Ghana, but settled on Uganda for this round of funding because the Gender Mainstreaming Division at Makerere University could administer the grant, Kornberg said. The logistics of the program proved far more complicated that initially expected due to tax issues and State Department restrictions on sending money overseas.
Ms. JD is in the process of raising the $25,000 needed to pay for Nanyange and Athieno's education. The organization plans events in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. Ms. JD hopes to name more Global Fund recipients, possibly as early as next academic semester.
Ms. JD was founded in 2006 by law students from 12 different schools, and conducts research, offers scholarships and hosts a number of online resources for women in the profession.
"We are open to all suggestions from anyone who wants to help or get involved," Kornberg said. "We think this is just the beginning for the Global Education Fund."
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One can only imagine the hardships these women have endured in order to make their dreams of going to law school come true. However, the ordeal of preparing for law school can be difficult, no matter your upbringing. Being prepared for the law school experience is the only way to ensure that your transition into law will be a smooth one. There are many law school prep courses, but the eCasebriefs.com “Law School Prep Course” Video Lecture Series is the only free online prep course available to student preparing for law school.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Best Value Law Schools
In their October issue, National Jurist magazine has listed the top Law Schools based on their value.
•Bar passage higher than the state's average
•Average indebtedness after graduation < $100,000 •Employment rate 9 months after graduation > 85%
These 59 schools were ranked in four tiers, based on this methodology:
•45%: tuition
•45%: average indebtedness
•7%: employment nine months after graduation
•3%: bar passage rate
Here are the Top 20 Best Value Law Schools:
1.Georgia State
2.BYU
3.Louisville
4.Nebraska
5.Kansas
6.New Mexico
7.Mississippi
8.Florida State
9.Memphis
10.Florida International
11.Tennessee
12.South Carolina
13.Northern Illinois
14.Kentucky
15.Georgia
16.Alabama
17.Texas Tech
18.LSU
19.North Dakota
20.Florida
Doing your due diligence on getting the best value for Law School is obviously a neccesary part of preparing for law school, however the only sure fire way to get the best bang for your buck out of law school is to be fully prepared. Try the FREE online Pre Law Prep course at eCasebriefs.com
•Bar passage higher than the state's average
•Average indebtedness after graduation < $100,000 •Employment rate 9 months after graduation > 85%
These 59 schools were ranked in four tiers, based on this methodology:
•45%: tuition
•45%: average indebtedness
•7%: employment nine months after graduation
•3%: bar passage rate
Here are the Top 20 Best Value Law Schools:
1.Georgia State
2.BYU
3.Louisville
4.Nebraska
5.Kansas
6.New Mexico
7.Mississippi
8.Florida State
9.Memphis
10.Florida International
11.Tennessee
12.South Carolina
13.Northern Illinois
14.Kentucky
15.Georgia
16.Alabama
17.Texas Tech
18.LSU
19.North Dakota
20.Florida
Doing your due diligence on getting the best value for Law School is obviously a neccesary part of preparing for law school, however the only sure fire way to get the best bang for your buck out of law school is to be fully prepared. Try the FREE online Pre Law Prep course at eCasebriefs.com
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Angry Law Grads
A troubling story from the National Jurists most recent edition. It is clear that law school alone is not enough, pre-law students must excel academically if they wish to find gainful employment.
Law grads are angry
They say that law schools and banks are running a scam. “Dishonest” law schools report misleading employment data, which lures prospective students into the profession like “hapless lemmings” to their death. The “greedy” banks happily give the students oppressive loans to pay for the exorbitant tuition fees. And then the students graduate to discover that the high-paying salaries and jobs are just not there.
“It’s really just a ponzi scheme,” Scott Bullock told the New Jersey Star-Ledger in August. “They’re just cranking kids out for $45,000 a year.”
Bullock was, until recently, one of a dozen or more law school scam bloggers. The 2005 graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law stopped his blog soon after the Star-Ledger story revealed his identity, but not before thousands of readers visited his site.
And his was not the most popular. Shilling Me Softly, a blog by Kimber Russell, a 2008 graduate from DePaul University College of Law, has attracted almost 30,000 visitors in just over three months. Third Tier Reality is the most visited site to date, with more than 100,000 visitors since it launched more than a year ago.
“There are elements of fraud and misrepresentation,” said Fernando Rodriguez, who authors the blog. “The cost is the biggest thing that upsets us. If tuition was more reasonable, it would not be such a scam.”
Rodriguez, who graduated from Drake University Law School in 2008, said his goal, and the goal of most scam bloggers, is to warn prospective students of the dangers of an overpriced legal education. He says it is one of the only things disgruntled recent graduates can do to fight the problem.
While some have referred to these critics as a “deeply unhappy” minority, William Henderson, a law professor at Indiana University Mauer School of Law, said the anger and frustration is real.
“The new math of legal education is grim reading for the large number of today’s law students and new lawyers earning less than they need to meet their loan payments,” Henderson wrote in a recent article. “Prospective law students need better information about the legal marketplace. Law school brochures are filled with glossy pictures of alumni at large law firms. Many law schools fail to provide the complete picture of what their graduates do and how much they earn.”
Last year two Vanderbilt law students started an effort — Law School Transparency — to collect more accurate employment data from law schools. The students, Patrick Lynch and Kyle McEntee, unveiled their plans to schools this summer. In August, another recent graduate, Zenovia Evans, waged a nearly month-long hunger strike to support their cause. While her strike was ridiculed even by some of the scam bloggers, her action shows just how deep the anger and frustration has grown.
The jury is out on whether Law School Transparency’s efforts will succeed. But most agree that it has added to an overall conversation among professors and deans on the matter.
In August, Brian Tamanaha, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis wrote a wake-up call to his peers (read it on page 6).
“Law professors know there is a problem,” Tamanaha said. “We see students. We know about the heavy debt burdens. I am just the guy who wrote about this one afternoon to prompt some collective conversation.”
The conversation may be making some progress. The American Bar Association accreditation committee has announced that as part of an overall review of its standards, it will look closely at employment data.
But the scam bloggers say the ABA is unlikely to make substantial change.
“If they really feel the pressure they may institute some change,” Rodriguez said. “But I don’t think it would be long term. More of a band-aid approach to make it look like there is real change when there is not."
Read the full story in the 2010 October issue of The National Jurist.
The best way to prepare for the task of excelling academically is to start early. eCasebriefs.com is now offering a FREE pre-law school lecture series that will prepare you for the type of learning you can expect!
Law grads are angry
They say that law schools and banks are running a scam. “Dishonest” law schools report misleading employment data, which lures prospective students into the profession like “hapless lemmings” to their death. The “greedy” banks happily give the students oppressive loans to pay for the exorbitant tuition fees. And then the students graduate to discover that the high-paying salaries and jobs are just not there.
“It’s really just a ponzi scheme,” Scott Bullock told the New Jersey Star-Ledger in August. “They’re just cranking kids out for $45,000 a year.”
Bullock was, until recently, one of a dozen or more law school scam bloggers. The 2005 graduate of Seton Hall University School of Law stopped his blog soon after the Star-Ledger story revealed his identity, but not before thousands of readers visited his site.
And his was not the most popular. Shilling Me Softly, a blog by Kimber Russell, a 2008 graduate from DePaul University College of Law, has attracted almost 30,000 visitors in just over three months. Third Tier Reality is the most visited site to date, with more than 100,000 visitors since it launched more than a year ago.
“There are elements of fraud and misrepresentation,” said Fernando Rodriguez, who authors the blog. “The cost is the biggest thing that upsets us. If tuition was more reasonable, it would not be such a scam.”
Rodriguez, who graduated from Drake University Law School in 2008, said his goal, and the goal of most scam bloggers, is to warn prospective students of the dangers of an overpriced legal education. He says it is one of the only things disgruntled recent graduates can do to fight the problem.
While some have referred to these critics as a “deeply unhappy” minority, William Henderson, a law professor at Indiana University Mauer School of Law, said the anger and frustration is real.
“The new math of legal education is grim reading for the large number of today’s law students and new lawyers earning less than they need to meet their loan payments,” Henderson wrote in a recent article. “Prospective law students need better information about the legal marketplace. Law school brochures are filled with glossy pictures of alumni at large law firms. Many law schools fail to provide the complete picture of what their graduates do and how much they earn.”
Last year two Vanderbilt law students started an effort — Law School Transparency — to collect more accurate employment data from law schools. The students, Patrick Lynch and Kyle McEntee, unveiled their plans to schools this summer. In August, another recent graduate, Zenovia Evans, waged a nearly month-long hunger strike to support their cause. While her strike was ridiculed even by some of the scam bloggers, her action shows just how deep the anger and frustration has grown.
The jury is out on whether Law School Transparency’s efforts will succeed. But most agree that it has added to an overall conversation among professors and deans on the matter.
In August, Brian Tamanaha, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis wrote a wake-up call to his peers (read it on page 6).
“Law professors know there is a problem,” Tamanaha said. “We see students. We know about the heavy debt burdens. I am just the guy who wrote about this one afternoon to prompt some collective conversation.”
The conversation may be making some progress. The American Bar Association accreditation committee has announced that as part of an overall review of its standards, it will look closely at employment data.
But the scam bloggers say the ABA is unlikely to make substantial change.
“If they really feel the pressure they may institute some change,” Rodriguez said. “But I don’t think it would be long term. More of a band-aid approach to make it look like there is real change when there is not."
Read the full story in the 2010 October issue of The National Jurist.
The best way to prepare for the task of excelling academically is to start early. eCasebriefs.com is now offering a FREE pre-law school lecture series that will prepare you for the type of learning you can expect!
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