3L Tells Dean to Back-Down the Shananigans, and Refund his Tuition

The job market, yeah it's pretty bad out there. And if you are a graduating 3L, who are you kidding, there are plenty of jobs out there: Radio Shack, McDonald's, Taco Bell. Heck, there is a Wal-Mart not too far from my house. I am sure you can make partnership there.

My sentiments are shared far and wide. In all honestly though, we are not entitled to special treatment. These are tough times, and resilience will be rewarded. But some 3Ls have gone a little too far. Below are a few snippets from an actual letter a Loyola University Chicago School of Law wrote to his Dean:

"After yesterday's disaster of a panel discussion on the financial crisis of the nation, I am so angry, I can't even sleep.

I am officially giving notice that I will refuse to answer any exam question that goes beyond the bounds of the course description and I fully expect to graduate 5 days later. I will be encouraging my fellow 3L's to do the same. Should this letter or my course of action be answered by any negative action that would affect my graduating law school, I will send an open letter the the entire Chicago legal community explaining to the potential employers of future Loyola Law grads that professors at Loyola School of Law are given free reign to teach whatever they want despite the school's official course catalog and descriptions."

Now I know I am not the only one. But this is really going out on a limb. There's more:

"Please read the following:

282 - Accounting for Lawyers (3). This course is intended to provide an understanding of basic accounting principles and their practical application in connection with the practice of law. There are no prerequisites and no requirement of a business background. Topics covered include fundamental principles of accounting for business enterprises; how to analyze and understand an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flow; basic concepts of revenue recognition; conventions for capitalization versus expenses; and how to recognize possible manipulation of financial and accounting statements. Recent high profile accounting scandals such as Enron and WorldCom will also be explored.

I chose my classes very carefully this semester such that nearly every class I am taking was directly, and practically, applicable to my job after graduation, including Accounting for Lawyers. Because I don't have a degree in business, economics, or accounting, and because I have never taken an accounting class, I, like many of my fellow classmates, took this class for its practical nature. In light most favorable to Prof. [REDACTED], we spent perhaps two class periods discussing the above basics. He actually pointed us to some website and basically told us to teach ourselves basic accounting. If that what we wanted to do, we wouldn't have signed up for this class."

Now here's his pitch, get ready for this:

"I feel that Loyola and Professor [REDACTED] completely defrauded the students in this class and misrepresented this class by offering the above course description and as a result, I have wasted the proportionate amount of my tuition dollars (approx $3000) taking this class. Prof. [REDACTED] has repeatedly, and I do mean repeatedly, announced to our class his extreme displeasure in the Federal Government's propping up the recently filed financial institutions, at a great cost and little benefit to the average American citizen. It his strong opinion that CEO's who promise shareholders one thing but do another to line their own pockets should not be so greatly compensated.

I challenge Prof. [REDACTED] to live up to his own words. Because he completely failed to meet the objectives of this course as described and sold to us, that Loyola refund each student in this class the proportionate amount of tuition paid. As compensation for the complete waste of our time in taking a class we did not want when instead we could have enrolled in another more practical class, I urge Loyola to make sure that everyone in this class gets FULL CREDIT for the course, and a grade that reflects the student's understanding of topics that are limited to those described in the course description. And considering what little was taught to us, it should be a short exam."

I share his sentiments about some professors creating class substance while using the bathroom right before class. But this is really out there.

Cheers to an awesome profession.