Practice Management

Let us face facts.  Lawyers are not always the most popular people in the world.  Hence, law students are not that popular or, some would think, not worth supporting.  After all, we do not need a nation or state of laws?  Do we?



OF COURSE WE DO!

It is no secret that California is in really tough shape financially.  Not only was it in trouble before, but it is ground zero for the economic crises in  some ways.  Undoubtedly, something has to give.  And more undoubtedly, it does not matter where you cut the budget somebody is going to yell loudly.  But, there are also those that think you should try to kill the babies in their cribs, and in that regard California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is thinking its one of its state law schools is such a place to start killing baby lawyers.

Now that is just wrong.

According to the Christian Law Journal, under Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan The University of California Hastings College of the Law is looking at a nuclear size financial hit as its entire state funding will be eliminated.

State funding makes up about 25% of Hastings' $10.3 annual budget.  This amount is both tragic because of the size of the loss and because it could happen on such short notice before the fall semester begins.  This could and will likely cause huge financial problems for its law students.  The school has already put out their financial packages for the fall, students have already lined up the rest based on those commitments, which might not now be coming their way.

This would mean not just tuition increases, but emergency tuition increases, that will affect the incoming class, and the tuition increases would be huge.

Tuition at Hastings currently is $29,000.00 a year.

Still, California has a huge budget deficit that it must close, and close quickly.  So, where is the fault?

I guess there is no intentional fault if something must be done about the state budget, but the problem is that California proposes to hit law students (those generally without resources) with a disproportionate amount of the cuts -- 100%.  It is not fair and it is not equitable.

Let us not forget that California is already an expensive place to live, and that the surviving debt of law students after graduations is already at nose bleed levels, and that getting education loans above the standard government approved loans are difficult to find.

What would be said if instead of a proportional share of the pain California decided to cut all funding to its medical schools, or elementary schools.  So, it is not alright that the pain fall disproportionately on quality law students who are trying to better their lives and place themselves at a level to help California and society in the future.