The decision to attend law school is not one that should be taken lightly. In this post-recession legal market, it’s well-known that there are more struggling graduates searching for legal jobs than there are positions to be filled. So deciding to spend $100,000 or more on a law studies education is often risky, and should be made with sufficient clarity.
Factors to consider include the likelihood of getting a job as a lawyer after graduation, tuition, costs and scholarships and the quality of the education itself.
So how does one weigh the costs and benefits of attending a certain institution over another? A common method is to check the rankings on websites like U.S. News and World Report, or to view a school’s ABA-required disclosures. These outlets give potential applicants the necessary information needed to make such life-changing decisions.
Marquette’s law school needs to attract potential applicants to survive. As a lower-tiered law school – U.S. News ranks it 105th best law school in the country – Marquette can’t compete with certain higher ranked schools that advertise median private starting salaries in the six figures, and offer sterling employment opportunities after graduation.
What it can offer is the Diploma Privilege, which is unique to Wisconsin law schools and allows graduates of the state’s only two law schools – University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette – to practice law in Wisconsin without sitting for the Wisconsin Bar Exam.
This strategy makes sense from a business perspective: Students with lower LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs might be more willing to apply to Marquette if the university can guarantee students will “pass the bar.” Less qualified students get to be lawyers, and Marquette gets to keep enrollment up. Everyone wins.
Except that isn’t entirely true. Marquette advertises itself as a school with a 100 percent bar passage rate, but this passage rate is only for students who practice in Wisconsin, and who overwhelmingly avail themselves of the Diploma Privilege. The students who wish to practice in a different state – which is increasingly becoming the case as can be seen by the law school’s hiring of Kathleen Pagel who is in charge of bar preparation and student success – are not reflected in those required disclosures.
So we don’t really know how well the students are doing on bar exams. Student success on the bar exam is a major indication of the quality of a legal education, and Marquette is willfully withholding that crucial information. While the overwhelming majority of other law schools compile the data that details bar success rates of students taking the exam in different jurisdictions, Marquette seems to be either willfully ignorant of the passage rates, or purposefully withholding that information.
As a Catholic, Jesuit university that preaches ethics as often as possible, it seems ironic and deceptive to withhold such important information that could affect an applicant’s decision to attend Marquette.
Marquette should, in a sense, practice what it preaches and release that information to the public to allow applicants a more realistic sense of Marquette’s legal education.
Carl Knepel • Feb 11, 2016 at 12:45 am
An Open Letter / Commentary to the Marquette Wire’s Executives & Opinions Staff:
On February 4th your organization published an op-ed piece and an article concerning the law school. Both were highly critical of the Wisconsin Diploma Privilege and of the law school itself. The article – titled “Availing Privilege” – seemingly questions (in my personal opinion) the integrity and competence of not only the law school faculty but also the integrity and competence of every student who has found themselves fortunate enough to graduate and henceforth be known as an officer of the court. This question is apparently justified because Marquette advertises a 100% bar passage rate. Or, as you put it, because “. . . [We] get to sit back and breath easy knowing a Wisconsin Supreme Court rule from the 1800s allows many of them to practice law without ever taking the test.”
It is not my place to say you do not have a right to be critical of the diploma privilege or the law school community. As part of being the press it is your job to be critical. However, in my opinion, I would respectfully submit you did a poor job of justifying your criticism.
If your suggestion is that the law school is facetiously advertising the bar passage rate as a means of garnering prospective students . . . why didn’t you talk to any students? Are there students claiming they were misled by Marquette via the bar passage rate and as a result were forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition for an education that was falsely advertised? Are there students who are claiming they enrolled in Marquette Law on the reliance that they were assured bar passage no matter what state they decided to practice in? That on its face appears to be a pretty absurd suggestion. Especially considering you did not quote any current Marquette Law students in your article. Or any Marquette Law alumni for that matter.
If your suggestion is that as a result of the diploma privilege and/or lack of bar exam Marquette Law grads are not adequately qualified to represent clients . . . where is your evidence? What empirical data is there to suggest that bar exams make better lawyers? Are legal malpractice claims in Wisconsin made at a higher rate than in other states? Is there someone or something attributing ineffective legal representation to the diploma privilege? Attributing ineffective legal representation to Marquette Law’s curriculum?
The point I am trying to get at is . . . I don’t see what your article or editorial was trying to accomplish. They appear to be critical for the sake of being critical. As you have already indicated the Diploma Privilege has been around for a long time now. This really isn’t news to anyone. If your ultimate goal was to advocate for abolishment of the Diploma Privilege it was poor advocacy. Again, what harm are you claiming is occurring as a result of the Diploma Privilege? What benefits could or would be realized if Wisconsin moved to a mandatory bar examination?
I am being critical of your article and editorial because in my opinion they unjustifiably call into question the efficiency of Marquette lawyers. They unjustifiably call into question the dedication and hard work faculty and students put in every day. I am proud of the legal education I receive at Marquette. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to use that education to serve others. Please do not besmirch that education without good reason.
Sincerely,
Carl Knepel, 3L