Comments on: The incredible case of the law grad $400K in debt http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2009/07/02/the-incredible-case-of-the-law-grad-400k-in-debt/ If it’s legal, you can discuss it here Wed, 23 May 2012 17:38:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Anonymous http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2009/07/02/the-incredible-case-of-the-law-grad-400k-in-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-755 Anonymous Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:31:35 +0000 http://minnlawyerblog.com/?p=3018#comment-755 Did he do anything demonstrating that he was unfit to practice law? On the one hand, he made a series of extremely poor choices by borrowing $270,000 simply to go to school. There are many ways to earn advanced degrees, few of which carry a $270,000 price tag. If exercising poor judgment makes a person "unfit" to practice law, then yes, perhaps he did. On the other hand, there is a double-standard. As the NYT article explains, it is much more difficult to be admitted to the bar than to follow the rules once admitted. One commentator (Judge Schiltz) wrote, "the formal rules represent nothing more than 'the lowest common denominator of conduct that a highly self-interested group will tolerate.' Many of the sleaziest lawyers you will encounter will be absolutely scrupulous in their compliance with the formal rules." In a way, it offends one's sense of logic and justice that this person could not be admitted to practice law while those discussed in the NYT article were only temporarily suspended. Did he do anything demonstrating that he was unfit to practice law? On the one hand, he made a series of extremely poor choices by borrowing $270,000 simply to go to school. There are many ways to earn advanced degrees, few of which carry a $270,000 price tag. If exercising poor judgment makes a person “unfit” to practice law, then yes, perhaps he did. On the other hand, there is a double-standard. As the NYT article explains, it is much more difficult to be admitted to the bar than to follow the rules once admitted. One commentator (Judge Schiltz) wrote, “the formal rules represent nothing more than ‘the lowest common denominator of conduct that a highly self-interested group will tolerate.’ Many of the sleaziest lawyers you will encounter will be absolutely scrupulous in their compliance with the formal rules.”

In a way, it offends one’s sense of logic and justice that this person could not be admitted to practice law while those discussed in the NYT article were only temporarily suspended.

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