When we first reported about a new organization started by two Vanderbilt law students, Law School Transparency, we were intrigued yet skeptical regarding the schools’ compliance in providing their data. It looks like this has been the biggest hitch so far, as the nonprofit asked 199 ABA-accredited law schools in July to share more detailed job stats, and only 11 have responded by the deadline, New York Lawyer reports. Most of them declined, while three schools, University of Michigan Law School, Vanderbilt University Law School, and American University Washington College of Law, are waiting to make a final decision. At this point, only Ave Maria School of Law, has signed up with Law School Transparency.
At least it’s better than nothing. According to Elie Mystal from Above the Law, “Arguably, it’s these fourth tier law schools who are most guilty of ‘scamming’ students out of tuition dollars without giving them enough information about their true employment prospects.”
It is still a bit shocking that 188 schools couldn’t even be bothered to respond. Mystal posits that “law schools don’t want to produce this information because law deans know that being honest about employment numbers would decrease the number of kids who want to go to law school.” Providing individual job statistics would elucidate the harsh career prospects for recent law grads, and law schools would prefer to keep potential students in the dark.
In the meantime, LST will follow up with the 188 non-responsive schools. As Mystal concludes, “it’s all got to start somewhere. Obviously, the best law schools in the nations don’t want to be a leader when it comes to doing good things for law students. Maybe if all the fourth tier law schools comply, third tier law schools will be embarrassed, and the pressure on the top law schools can come from the ground up.”
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