​Detailing The Law School Bubble​

(2012)

Traditional wisdom about lucrative, stable career options includes such titles as “doctor” and “lawyer,” but not necessarily “startup engineer” or “executive vice-president.” Many of the nation's wealthiest individuals, in fact, are startup founders, finance moguls and corporate executives, but that doesn't seem to stop students from flocking to J.D. programs in search of long-term financial stability.

There is hard data to back this trend. Matt Leichter, an attorney who closely follows what has come to be known as the “Law School Bubble,”shares the graph below (per The AmLaw Daily), indicating how applications to law schools tend to increase during periods of high unemployment and decrease as economic conditions improve.





It's a trend that may reflect applicants' hopes that a J.D. and admission to the state bar will provide access to the storied remunerative potential of an attorney's $112,760 median pay. And who can blame these students for riding out the present economic turbulence by investing in such a highly-respected, and seemingly valuable, professional credential?

It would seem the law of supply and demand does. Data from the Association for Legal Professionals (NALP) demonstrates that the average salary of legal career professionals for the class of 2011 is closer to $73,984, with better than half of the 18,630 reported salaries ranging from $40,000 to $65,000. And this figure is down from $77,333 in 2010 and $85,198 in 2009. This is a clear indication that starting salaries for law school graduates are on the decline. With over 1.2 million attorneys in the U.S.—or roughly one for every 260 citizens (see Leichter's 2010 research) is it possible that the employment market for law school grads is over-saturated? Are the graduation and bar admission rates for new attorneys rapidly outpacing job availability?

We pointedly asked if there’s a law school bubble to a recent Southern Methodist University law school graduate who now owns a private law practice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She responded, “When I went into law school, I would have said ‘no,’ but by the time I graduated, things had changed. During an economic downturn, not as many people pursue legal matters that aren't 'necessary' so the bigger firms that handle those types of cases don't hire as many attorneys. Government freezes and reduced funding for assistance programs also lead to fewer jobs.” The BLS job outlook for lawyers reaffirms this point by stating, “During recessions, demand declines for some discretionary legal services…Corporations are less likely to litigate cases when declining sales and profits restrict their budgets.”

The result is that many law school grads must look for work in occupations that make only marginal use of their expertise—or none at all. Erin Binns, director for career planning at Marquette University Law School, admits that successful grads must creatively deal with rejections and frustrations by casting their nets wide for employment. In the current issue of The Student Lawyer, she tells the story of three grads who landed their jobs by doing such things as applying for positions for which a J.D. was neither required nor preferred, accepting unpaid or part-time work for professional networking opportunities, and going above and beyond traditional expectations of their coursework and job requirements to distinguish themselves from the crowd.

Such things are hallmarks of those who succeed during an economic downturn in any industry, of course, but law students may face more pressure than most to find well-paying jobs after graduation. “Countless J.D.'s are paying their bills with jobs that have nothing to do with the law,” reports David Segal of the New York Times, “and they are losing ground on their debt every day…Studies find that most law students need to earn around $65,000 a year to get the upper hand on their debt.”

This, indeed, is the central problem of the “Law School Bubble.” For years, law schools—more than 200 of them—have been steadily flooding the U.S. marketplace with eager young lawyers who enter the workforce with ballooning tuition debt only to find their prospects aren't nearly so rosy as originally predicted. And others are beginning to take notice of this trend. Jordan Weissmann of The Atlantic believes the bubble is beginning to deflate, as recent numbers indicate law school enrollments are slowly declining from previous years—though he also expresses concern that, ironically, it seems those students with the strongest competitive potential among their peers are the ones opting not to enroll. Is there another educational course such bright minds might pursue instead?

Business Masters programs have traditionally been strong competitors for liberal arts graduates who might otherwise pursue a J.D., but there is a persisting rumor that, while business school might open the door for “truly astronomical earnings,” the legal profession is a better route to “comfortable, affluent stability” (as quoted from this article at the US News University Connection). There’s a perception that the overall need for lawyers will always outpace the need for top-level business executives, whose salaries are almost entirely dependent upon changing economic conditions and the whims of consumer demand. But does this perception hold true in an employment market where attorneys are minted faster than job openings?

There is also the issue of prestige. A law degree, it seems, is still a badge of achievement for many, one that is more tangibly linked to success in the legal profession than even a distinguished business degree is to success in the business world. After all, you do not need a degree to open your own business, but without a law degree you will never be able to open a private law practice. However, in an employment market where J.D.'s are happily settling for jobs as paralegals and part-time research associates, does one with a business Masters who accepts a job as an executive assistant really carry any less prestige? Upward mobility in both professions seems linked more to an applicant's social resources and creative goal-achievement strategies than to their educational credentials. Moreover, one could argue that what the business degree lacks in status it more than makes up for in flexibility and long-term earning potential.

Perhaps this is why an increasing number of students are considering dual-track J.D./M.B.A. programs that immerse students in both disciplines. At least one such graduate recognizes, “School is the means, not the end…Don't go into school without a plan. Talk to lawyers. Talk to law students. Talk to business students. Have a very clear post-grad goal in mind, even if it changes.”

The lesson of the “Law School Bubble” is that too many liberal arts grads are piling into the legal career lifeboat without adequately counting the cost. Professional credentials may serve a social status goal, but when push comes to shove, the bottom line is what really counts—and the “bottom line” is something business school students know plenty about.

- Brandon Chicotsky and David L. Zion (2012)

efficient energy use for our nation’s future.

At the Clean Energy Summit, we learned our university has developed 3,000 strains of algae for companies to pilot test energy extraction potential. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is also sponsoring a project to develop jet fuel, known as JP-8, for military use from biological sources. This involves $25 million in sourced funding.

As university biologists and engineers engage in this research and development, it’s inevitable, “gap fuel,” discussions will ensue. Gap fuels are what T. Boone Pickens described at the Texas Tribune Festival as necessary fuel to bridge the gap from archaic and heavily pollutant energy sources (oil and coal) to fully non-pollutant energy sources. For Pickens, a welcomed Oklahoman onto UT’s campus, he described natural gas as gap fuel touting three benefits, “It’s cheaper than current energy sources, more abundant and domestic.”

Hydraulic fracking, a water-intensive drilling process that fractures rock to release natural gases, was a subject of debate at the Texas Tribune Festival. Pickens, along with U.S. Senator John Cornyn at the policy festival, disputed data reports and environmental activist claims of fracking’s (supposed) cause for minor earthquakes and a detriment to water aquifers. While the Texas Tribune Festival admirably debated the issues and policies around fracking, the Clean Energy Summit showcased companies with missions aimed to make fracking safer, more cost effective and more resource efficient.

It’s fitting our university is a partner in coalescing thought leaders in public policy, energy industry, and innovative technology. These are areas of intellectualism, analysis, and entrepreneurship that shape our future, alter our markets and affect our livelihoods. Every McCombs alumni and fellow Longhorn can stand proud knowing our campus attracts gatherings that change the world, but we should never stand idle. Let’s give, participate and offer our resources to ensure UT remains a leader in these critical energy and technology advances.

- Brandon Chicotsky (2010)

​The Vacuum of Downtime for an Information Baby​

(2010)

My generation may not know who to thank for the capitalization of computer micro-miniaturization advances. Such advances have spawned broadly accessible and affordable personal computer products and internet communication technology. The commercialization and marketing campaigns using this technology have inspired stable interfaces for sharing information and developing captivating applications in what we commonly refer to as, ‘social media’.

Whether it’s the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), British scientist Tim Berners-Lee (“world wide web” creator), Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Tom Anderson, Mark Zuckerberg, or Larry Page and Sergey Brin, my generation owes significant credit to the aforementioned innovators and a host of others for creating a new vacuum of downtime.

Admittedly, my entertainment or whimsical creation is often channeled toward interactive technology, rapid global communication, or information sharing. This begs the question, what does an ‘information baby’ do with spare time? I’ll tell you exactly what we do…we play and inundate our minds.

Put yourself in the mindset of a Baby Boomer. For those who belong to this demographic, I invite sentimental reminiscing. Large-scale commercial products like: erector sets, tinker toys, color television sets, flying miniature helicopters, high-powered telescopes, easy to engineer bottle rockets, remote control toy cars, electric battery lights, citizens’ band (CB) radio, stand-up speakers, four track players, eight track players, and the Texas Instruments’ hand held calculator (remember the $100 and $200 pricing?)…these items among other simple rotary machine toys and sound projecting devices made up the bulk of technology play toys for Baby Boomers.

The downtime of young students in the Baby Boomer era had less connectivity with citizens of other nation-states. There were no visual labyrinths of online linking, coding, and embedding. There were few opportunities to move 2D, 3D, or 4D images in real time through virtual simulation, and few opportunities to map out graphic and informational architecture on a well pixilated and well-illuminated screen.

Information was spread orally, through physical publications, through code transfers connected by electronic wiring, through rough video and audio tracking, or physical transfer of ink typed or written imaging or language. Today, all modes of communication from the Baby Boomer era remain in practice, as do a multitude of expedited processes that captivate, easily commercialize, digitize, and connect the world at rapid speed.

Today, my colleagues in graduate school likely read over 3,000 words of content in a business journal or online news publication before attending lecture each day. It’s estimated the front page of the New York Times has roughly 2,200 words, all of which can be obtained on a smartphone with a few scrolls of the thumb. For us multitaskers, we may enjoy a television news program (they now stream online), which delivers 150-200 words per minute while reading our online publication and fielding SMS (text message) alerts from the Wall Street Journal. This is a simple example of information inundation for news enthusiasts or habitual news readers (I’m one of them).

On average, I have about eight browsers open at once. Most browsers involve news, social media, search engine entries, music applications, or online radio or podcast broadcasting. The audio feeds outside of music involve information output or idea sharing from industry savants or respected authors. Imagine what this does to a mind in repeated daily sequence over a course of several years of formative growth. Almost all colleagues of mine in graduate school have developed these habits. 

While writing this blog entry, I have a radio segment playing in the background, which I helped develop with other information babies. As an example of how we spent our downtime, and to draw a distinct contrast to the recreation involving technology from generations prior, I’ll explain…

While employed with menial tasks (entering data on excel and drafting formulas to determine industry trends and company revenue projections) I found extra time to correspond online with other uninspired young professionals to build an online radio show. We used free software, which we downloaded on sites known as, “open source,” and embedded template applications (also obtained through open source) on another larger template website design. With a little bit of ‘photoshop’ (a term used as a verb, which describes a program that enables graphic imaging and photo editing), we filled in the template design with our customized imaging. With the open source software, open source application, open source web site design, and ‘photoshopped’ imaging, we had a presentable site with functionality.

The site’s goal was to offer a 24/7 radio show and feature humorous video content specific to our industry of interest [either produced by us, by hired interns, or obtained through other online social mediums (like YouTube)]. We took this content and embedded the videos and pictures on our site. We hired interns out of our local universities (respective to our place of work) to broadcast 24/7, covering news content, conduct interviews, and offer entertaining segments around the clock. The radio show would broadcast from the site and be accessible worldwide with a simple internet connection. Finally, we embedded a donation application or, “button,” on the site so listeners have the opportunity to express their support for the show.

This entire operation has proven successful (respective to our goals), and the show remains on air and has been running for months. Our expenses are completely offset by listener contributions, and most notably, we’re all extraordinarily entertained during any waking hour.

Perhaps we were venting from the lack of entrepreneurial freedom in our jobs, or maybe we sensed our generational advantage in developing online endeavors. One confidant is a full-time and profitable online Texas Hold ‘Em player and the other an up-and-coming hardware engineer with a knack for affiliate marketing schemes and basic HTML coding. Bottom line, we represent a breed of plugged-in, online intuitive thinkers, who utilize popular software and internet tools at our disposal to inundate or minds, communicate abroad, and build enterprises via the internet.

Sometimes, these endeavors become markedly profitable for our friends. Other times, as in the case I described with our radio show, only our small network and industry fans enjoy the fruits of our labor. Social media is mostly where we recruit listeners, and those who tune in are loyal listeners and contributors.

Through various chat mediums (skype messaging, facebook chat, gmail chat, “tweets” on twitter, online forum threads, and Microsoft Instant Messenger), we were able to brainstorm several ideas and delegate tasks. Meanwhile, each of us maintained our various projects, managed our jobs’ deadlines and browsed news, engaged social media, listened to audio feeds, and learned new coding methods through search engine entries.

I must qualify this behavior by saying each confidant involved has developed skill-sets that function outside the online arena, as have most information babies. My confidants and I are sufficient public speakers, have respectable interpersonal communication and organizational skills, and we are enthusiastic dressers of business professional or occasional golf casual.

We learned these skills in the last feudal system in the United States – college campus education; a place where tenured professorships provide timeless insight. I promise, ageless principles touted by Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill have not fallen on deaf ears. I refer these skills because they belong to the majority of college educated members of my generation, especially those who attended The University of Texas.

Information babies generally understand the importance of maintaining relationships, building tangible plans, visualizing success, and creating lasting influence as leaders in varied industry positions. All the while, information babies often have other functions or facets of excellence. We’re superb multi-taskers, we retain and regurgitate information at unprecedented levels, we’re exposed to hundreds of thousands of impressions (images on the computer screen) during an average week; whether advertising, news articles, flash media, website architecture, data, interactive maps, search engine results, interface application systems, or communication technology.

What’s most notable is that information babies are now available on the market to join your companies, start their own entrepreneurial endeavors, and educate the next generation of youths. In our early years, most of our parents taught us to utilize our time wisely, develop a high emotional intelligence, and seek mentors. However, it’s likely none of our parents told us to spend our downtime engaging a community of friends through social media tools or inundating our minds with information through search engines and varied online news-feed portals. The reason these mandates were not pressed upon us is because the vacuum of downtime described above never existed until now.

-Brandon Chicotsky (2010)

​Cowtown’s Tax Collection​

(2009)

My hometown, Fort Worth, accounts for tax revenues through a City Operating Budget. The accounts are grouped into what’s known as, Enterprise Funds, General Funds, Internal Service Funds, and Special Funds.

All city services (sanitation works, airports, water works) are supported by Enterprise Funds.

Generally, user charges pay for operations. In recent years, Fort Worth has pursued a noble goal - eliminating all forms of subsidization to utility enterprise funds. This means, no one is using my tax dollars to pay for mismanagement or budget shortfalls - I highly value this form of conservative governance.  

Every tax dollar paid to the municipality initially goes to the General Fund before money is allocated outward. The Internal Service Funds finance the services and goods of each department (equipment, technology solutions, office services, and temporary labor). The Special Fund serves to track revenue and expenses. This fund helps identify excess and lapses while providing a safeguard for any budget oversight.

The city also accounts for grants. For example, in 2006, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development granted the city of Fort Worth over $11 million for community development, emergency shelters, and housing opportunities for persons with AIDS. These grants are handled through a separate budget, which means Fort Worth’s leadership must never become complacent in managing its resources.

Near my family’s retail center on 7th street (Chicotsky’s Center) we have enjoyed new, highly valued commercial and condominium development, which is taking shape throughout the Historic District and downtown area. New development contributes to keeping a low tax rate for property owners. As long as housing developers consider affordability and market forces to avoid over-saturation we can avoid high tax rates.

Fort Worth’s property tax rate has changed several times over the last few years with welcomed tax cuts, and we have proven somewhat immune to the aftermath of the 2008 market dive. Currently, we enjoy the lowest tax rate in the city since 1986. As long as we have an increase in construction, an increase in single-family homes, and smart assessments by the Tarrant Appraisal District (provides current value assessments), we can keep our tax rate competitive.

-Brandon Chicotsky (2009)