Student sues law school over employment stats

A graduate of a law school in San Diego, Calif. has filed a class action law suit because she says her university, The Thomas Jefferson School of Law, knowingly misrepresented the likelihood that graduates would find work as lawyers. “For more than 15 years, TJSL has churned out graduates, many of whom have little or no hope of working as attorneys at any point in their careers,” Anna Alaburda wrote in her complaint, according to The National Law Journal. Alaburda, who has $150,000 in student loans, says she chose TJSL because statistics reported in U.S. News & World Report said that 80 per cent of its graduates were employed after nine months. She writes that she “reasonably assumed” that meant full-time work as attorneys — until she learned that the school includes part-time and non-legal jobs in the figures. TJSL’s website continues to use similar statistics. They say 85 per cent of students from the 2009 class were employed, but they don’t say where. In Canada, there is little likelihood of similar law suits, as self-regulation has created a shortage of attorneys, rather than a surplus.