May 12, 2008
IT IS with a dull anger that I read your article, "These temp lawyers are top-notch, a new firm in Boston promises" (Business, May 5), which my grandmother handed to me as I was clicking on the classifieds in a fruitless effort to find an ad for a junior-level attorney.You see, I have four years of an Ivy League education, followed by three years of law school, and admission to the bar. In a world where someone with a doctor of jurisprudence is automatically considered to be one of the top earners in the country, the Globe frittered away the opportunity to report on the underclass of lawyers who are mired in tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars in debt and count on document review to pay the bills.
Instead, the story gleefully perpetuated a "stereotype" by noting that a contract attorney is a "fancy name for recent law school graduates who are desperate for work."
And it touts the services of a staffing firm that refuses to hire recent graduates who "couldn't get a job anywhere," without bothering to interview a single contract attorney.
This recent underemployed attorney also used to be a journalist. Maybe I should have remained one, as the Globe could certainly use a refresher in one of the cardinal rules of journalism: Always examine all potential angles.
KRISTINA ARVANITIS
Medford
6 comments:
"I think she is trying to rescue biscuits from Popeyes in that scene."
Dude, I nearly snorted out my Coke all over my computer monitor when I read that. Love your blog keep up the good work.
You really should snort Coke while you are on a doc review. Just kidding I knew what you meant and thanks for the comment.
This woman hit the nail on the head, there are many people in the same, desperate situation. The problem is that temporary or contract attorneys are treated as sub-human slobs, not as highly trained, sophisticated professionals. When you combine this with crippling debt, you have a humanitarian crisis.
How does this really differ from the subprime mortgage mess? We have a group of people who have assumed massive debt, based on fraudulent promises, with little or no hope of ever paying it back. Of course there will never be a government bailout of lawyers, unless they work for Bear Stearns or another large corporation.
Wow, I honestly never thought there would ever be a blog post with that title; well, unless it was mocking me in some way. Thanks for the write-up. I'll definitely look around!
-Kristina
http://wickedwords.blogspot.com
Also, I WISH I looked like that.
I've been reading Wicked Words Blog for a while and she has really highlighted a huge problem being faced by young attorneys. I'll keep following her story.
Hey how in heaven's name did you manage to do so many posts in April?
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