The audacity of attorneys

I’ve spent a lot of time in the theatre with drama queens and I’ve spent a lot of time travling with bands, surrounded by suicide kings. You know the type, the precocious artist with an inflated ego who thinks they are better, because of their art, than those around them. I’ve known a lot of ostentatious people in my life, but I’ve never seen anything like the bravado of the American attorney.

In full disclosure, I’ve spent the past 10 years of my life surrounded by attorneys as well. I’ve worked in almost every capacity in a law firm, except as an attorney, and that could start to change in August if I decide to enroll in law school. My sister and her boyfriend are attorneys as well and it’s through them that I first noticed this phenomenon.  Neither one of them practices law, but both of them feel that their law degree is everything and it places them on a higher level than others around them.  They feel that their J.D. not only qualifies them to wax eloquently about the doctrine of laches, but on anything from Kant to social networking. It’s such bull shit.

At the end of the day, a J.D. is nothing more than vocational training mixed in with basic logic that a Philosophy major would have learned as a Freshman in undergrad. Sure, a J.D. is something to be proud of, but it ranks somewhere below a Ph.D. in the grand scheme of things.

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Now playing: Brook Benton – Rainy Night In Georgia
via FoxyTunes

An absurd policy

The University of Texas-Tyler is, without a doubt, the bane of my existence. Without getting into too many details, I attended UT-Tyler for two years. I made a lot of mistakes and bad decisions during those two years, chief among them deciding to enroll in classes there.

Anytime I request a transcript from this institution, I’m told that I have a hold on my account. It’s not for any outstanding fees or missing work; it’s because I earned my degree from another university and they don’t have an official copy of my transcript from that university.

UT-Tyler’s policy, as explained to me by their admissions office, states that a hold be place on any student’s–past, present or prospective–who does not supply an official copy of all their college transcripts. This policy makes sense for a prospective student. You have to know what credits a student has earned in the past. However, I have no idea why a college I attended for two years, prior to graduating from another university, would need an official copy of a transcript from degree granting institution, when I have no intention of enrolling at UT-Tyler again. 

I first became aware of this policy a year ago and a half ago when I applied to law school. All of the other schools I attended sent my transcripts to LSAC in a timely manner. A week before my application was due for SMU, I learned that UT-Tyler still had not sent my transcript. I contacted their office immediately and they told me that I had an “admissions hold.” I talked to the Admissions Office and had the hold removed with the understanding it was removed for good.

Even though I have been accepted to law school, I decided to apply for law school in June. Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from the graduate school that they were missing my UT-Tyler transcript. Again, I contacted UT-Tyler and was told that I had an “admissions hold” on my account. When I told the admissions office I had resolved this issue in December, they told me that they have to reapply the hold immediately after sending out my transcript.

Does this policy make sense to anyone else?

Law school application mistakes

Previously, I discussed my decision to apply to law school. Most law schools use a similar application (at least the ones I applied to) and LSAC automatically fills in many of the fields based on forms you previously completed.  Recently, one of the law schools contacted me to let me know that one of my answers contradicted information contained in my academic records. This brought to my attention a question that I had misread on every application and set into motion an attempt to clean up a possibly costly mistake.

The contradiction was easily explained, but left unexplained made me look not only dishonest, but also not qualified for law school. I decided to write letters to every law school to which I applied, explain my situation and explain the contradiction. I sent each letter via certified mail, return receipt requested, which came in handy when one of my letters got misplaced at a campus post office. Luckily, the USPS was able to track down the letter via the tracking number and get the letter to the proper location.

I would imagine that mistakes on law school applications are common. Do not let the fact that you made a mistake on your application stop you from getting accepted. The minute you realize a mistake has been made, write a letter explaining the reason for the mistake and supplementing any applicable information. If you discover the mistake after receiving a rejection letter, write the supplemental letter and then draft a letter requesting that the law school reconsider your application based on the supplemental information you provided.

Remember, be honest, explain yourself thoroughly, show that the information you are supplementing actually makes you a more attractive applicant and most importantly, send your letter certified so that you have an official record of the letter.