“Law School Marketing and Legal Ethics”

That's the name of this article by Ben Trachtenberg of the University of Missouri Law School. Here is the abstract:

Law
schools have misled prospective students for years about the value of
legal education. In some cases, law school officials have engaged in
outright deceit, knowingly spreading false information about their
schools. More commonly, they have presented statistics — especially
those concerning the employment outcomes of law graduates — in ways
nearly guaranteed to confuse readers. These deceptions and sharp
practices violate the norms of the legal profession, a profession that
scrupulously regulates the advertising of legal services. The
deceptions also violate ethical rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging
in dishonesty, misrepresentation, and deceit. This article
exposes how pitches aimed at prospective students, including the
seemingly straightforward recitation of statistics on law school
websites, still paint an unduly rosy picture of the legal employment
market. Focusing on Rule 8.4(c) of the Model Rules of Professional
Conduct, the article explains that law school officials have exposed
themselves to professional discipline, which may offer a solution to the
pervasive problem of misleading law school marketing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *