The $elf-Intere$ted Parasite’s “Case” for Another Year:
On November 4, 2013, a dung beetle calling itself Edward Zelinsky posted an Oxford University Press blog entry labeled “Add a fourth year to law school.” Take a look at his excrementitiously ripe “argument”:
http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/add-a-fourth-year-to-law-school/
“Three considerations counsel the need for an additional year of law school:
First, there is today much more law to learn than there was in the past. There are today whole new fields of law which did not exist a generation ago, e.g., health care law. Moreover, within pre-existing areas of the law, the amount of law has expanded enormously over the last two decades…
Second, through expanded LLM programs, we are de facto creeping towards four years of legal education. In many areas of the law, such as tax, LLM degrees have grown in prominence. Several factors are fueling the expansion of LLM programs. Chief among these is that there is now more law to cover in a fourth year of law school.
Rather than the currently haphazard growth of LLM programs, it would be more sensible to require universally a fourth year of education for all law students.
Third, many of the same critics who favor a two year law school curriculum also support expanded clinical education for law students. Such expanded clinical education should not come at the expense of substantive legal education but in addition to it.” [Emphasis mine]
Keep in mind that Cockroach Edward A. Zelinsky is something called the “Morris and Annie Trachman Professor of Law” at the 58th "greatest" law school in the country, i.e, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University. Now to the rodent’s conclusion:
“An ancillary benefit of a fourth year of legal education would, in the short run, be a reduction in the supply of law school graduates. A fourth year would also abate the job-related pressures students currently feel after the second year of law school by giving students another bite of the employment-related apple after their third year.
The world is more complicated than it used to be. For better or worse, the law’s complexity has grown apace. Well-trained lawyers in the 21st century will need to know more law than did their predecessors. A mandatory, universal fourth year of law school is the right response to the shortcomings of legal education in a complex world.” [Emphasis mine]
Yes, the rat is clearly concerned with the attorney GLUT in this country, right?!?! By the way, law school doesn’t teach people how to practice law, Bitch. At this point, the students are bored to death by the third year.
Other Coverage:
Elie Mystal posted a November 5, 2013 ATL entry entitled “Law Professor Suggests Adding An Extra Year To Law School — Seriously?” He rips Zelinsky’s garbage argument to shreds, and then delivers this epic conclusion:
http://abovethelaw.com/2013/11/law-professor-suggests-adding-an-extra-year-to-law-school-hes-doesnt-have-to-pay-for-it-so-what-does-he-care/
“If technology is supposed to decrease the cost of legal education, then why hasn’t it already? Wh[y] hasn’t tuition at Cardozo gone down over the past ten years? Why are law schools terrified about the decreasing number of law school applicants? Is Professor Zelinsky honestly suggesting that somehow four years of law school will be cheaper than three? Why don’t we focus on retarding the current administrative outlays before we try to increase the cost of school by 33 percent?
Zelinsky’s idea is a joke, and not a funny one. It’s a callous thought experiment by a professor who seems more interested in helping law schools take advantage of their students, instead of seriously looking at what law students need in this challenging market.” [Emphasis mine]
“Law professors” love to joke that lawyers suck at math, but Pig Zelinsky’s piece takes that to a whole new level of stupid.
On November 7, 2013, MA of Outside the Law School Scam authored a post labeled “Edward Zelinsky: The Most Deluded Law Professor I Have Seen Yet.” Check out this brilliant portion below:
http://outsidethelawschoolscam.blogspot.com/2013/11/edward-zelinsky-most-deluded-law.html
“I see. So adding a fourth year of law school is going to cause administrators to say, "Hold on guys! These students are paying us way too much in tuition now. We need to cut costs pronto!" And this will be aided in some mysterious way by "technology". Ed, I see that you care more about buying a new Mercedes than the fact that the majority of your students will be unable to afford the lifestyle your school's glossy law porn promised them. What have law school administrators done to date that would lead anyone to the conclusion that adding another year of potential revenue will lead them to start thinking more about students? Most law students are already carrying educational debt from undergrad when schools like Cardozo add another $276,000 to the tally. A fourth year will only allow law school admins to hire more useless faculty and for people like Ed Zelinsky to keep writing more academic books about IRAs and how Baby Boomers can save more for retirement.” [Emphasis mine]
My only disagreement with this entire article is the headline. I doubt that the academic thief is delusional. He is merely trying to make potential law school applicants believe that he has their best interests at heart. This is akin to the man who slowly approaches little kids with his old van, and tells them that their father asked him to pick them up from school today.
Conclusion: Edward Zelinsky is a shameless turd. The jackal even compares “legal education” to medical school. Apparently, he does not understand that medical students will enter a true profession, i.e. one that looks out for and protects its students and practitioners. In the final analysis, this sewer rat does not give one damn about YOU, the law student or potential applicant. He wants to burden you with an additional year of law school. Remember that the bastard is aware of continuously falling applications and enrollment at ABA-accredited diploma mills. His suggestion would merely ensure that the commodes and trash pits would rake in more money with fewer students.