Attacking the Law School Institution

Every lawyer you meet has studied law the same way: read a case, go to class, have the professor use the Socratic Method on you, then get an internship and learn to be a lawyer. However, the system has been under a lot of scrutiny this summer, and I wonder if reform is really on the horizon.


I start my second year of law school in a few weeks. This past month, I received a great 'welcome back!' in the form of a scathing article in the New York Times targeting the institution of law school while using my school dean as an example (see article HERE). David Segal, the NYTimes reporter, wrote about how many law school hopefuls apply without really knowing what they are getting into, and law school doesn't care to disillusion their visions of graduating school with a starting salary for six figures. Ranked as a third tier school, NYLS can be criticized for numerous things: an increasing amount of students, high tuition, and the brand-new glass-front building; however accepting students that don't care to analyze the job market and make an educated decision about their future is not the school's fault.


While what Mr. Segal says is true, I think many people miss the point of the article. He makes it seem that NYLS (and law schools, in general) are at fault for this educated and debt-ridden mass of graduates entering a less-than-hopeful job market. Parents participating in the comments section of the article express fear for their children currently bogged down with studying for the LSAT, as well as complain about how bad NYLS or their respective law school really is. However, as a law student myself, I am trying to analyze it and take it for what it's really worth - an awakening to the fact that the law school institution might be a little archaic, and that many (but certainly not all) students are applying to law school in hords in order to make unrealistic instant income.


Check out NYLS's response HERE.

70 Years Later, Art Still Being Claimed (But Not Always Given Back)

Nowadays, we can put everything online. I can store everything from my medical records to my birthday pictures on one service or another. The Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against German and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has taken this one step further by creating the first online database to help people reclaim artwork that was stolen from them during the Holocaust. Though European countries have created post-war agencies where families can document their losses, there has never been such a centralized system. (Read the Time Magazine Article HERE).

However, other reports have been popping up in the New York Times (HERE and HERE) which illustrate that reclaiming art may not be any easier. While Nazi records help trace the provenance of many works of art, countries like Hungary don't have those kinds of records. This makes reclaiming art very difficult, especially when works are put into national museums or bought by someone else. While America and many European countries have laws about stolen property, there are no established laws for rightful ownership in regards to displaced works from World War II. In cases like Deweerth v.Baldinger 38 F. 3d (2nd Cir. N.Y. 1994) a German woman sued a New Yorker over the possession of a Monet painting. The American courts found for  the defendant because the German could not show how the painting escaped her possession. If this case sets a standard for subsequent cases filed in the United States, Europeans who stolen art will have a troublesome time making out a case. Not only are the records of artworks' whereabouts scant during the mid-nineteenth century, but it is inevitable that governments like Hungary will fight to keep works of art in their museums.

Law Books or Groceries?

Have you ever had a legal question which you needed answered but didn't want to pay a lawyer to answer it? Do you need new artwork for your home? Well, you're in luck. Since I'm an artist-turned-law-student, you can donate to my project, and get artwork or legal advice in return.

In New York, rent alone can send someone fleeing to the Midwest. Imagine combining rent with law school tuition! Please click on my site below and help fund my law school education!