Hempstead, NY Vol.77 | Issue 14
The Hofstra
Chronicle
Thursday
February 9, 2012
Keeping the Hofstra Community informed since 1935
Law School sued for employment statistics
Cody Heintz/ The Chronicle
The Maurice A. Deane School of Law is facing a class-action lawsuit over a dispute over post-graduate employment statistics. Hofstra is one of several law schools in the nation being sued.
By Zach Mongillo Staff Writer
a class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Hofstra University School of Law this past week, over a dispute about post-graduate employment statistics. Hofstra Law is one of over a dozen other Law schools nationwide currently being sued. This issue initially came about when Jesse Strauss of Kurzon Strauss LLP, a New York City Law firm, began his pursuit of suing multiple graduate law schools in August of 2011. Strauss started his endeavor of bringing American law schools to justice when he served New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley Law School with lawsuits at the end of last summer. Strauss and his colleagues believe that law schools all across the nation have been giving its past and present applicants false hope as to their chances of getting a job in the legal field following graduation. Many alumni of these schools have had trouble finding jobs in their field, and he is out to prove that the after-graduation
employment statistics given by these schools are not what they seem to be. Strauss started with just two schools, but his gaze expanded quickly in the following months as the law firm reached out to alumni of Law Schools like Hofstra, Pace, and Villanova. Today there are over a dozen institutions across the United States being slammed with these class action lawsuits. “There are 15 being sued around the country, and there will be a lot more,” Strauss said during an interview on Wednesday. It had been projected since last October that action would be taken against Hofstra Law. Strauss officially took aim when he found an alumnus to represent
in court. Christopher P. Richens, a graduate of the Hofstra University Law School class of 2009, was working his fingers down to the bone when he was contacted about the case. “I was actually in Fairbanks, Alaska drilling for gold because I couldn’t find a job, when a friend of mine contacted me and told me that they were looking for clients,” said Richens. Richens, who graduated from Hofstra Law in the top third of his class and published twice in scholarly journals during his time here, turned to gold mining after working multiple jobs that he was overqualified for. He knew he had to spend some time in Alaska, as he realized that he could have a higher income than when he had been working at McDonald’s and
“I was actually in Fairbanks, Alaska drilling for gold because I couldn’t find a job, when a friend of mine contacted me and told me they were looking for clients.”
Macy’s for several months each. “It is not terribly pleasant work, especially for someone that has eight-plus years of post-secondary education,” he said. “I literally couldn’t afford food. I only targeted fast food restaurants because I knew that I could eat there [for free].” Since graduation, Richens, who cannot afford to rent an apartment, has been grateful for his friends and family members who have continually lent him couches to sleep on as he continues to search for work in the legal field. He is doing so now as he resides in the city working part-time under contractual pay. “I just recently found a part-time position that might turn into something else,” he said. Yet this seems to be the closest he has been to a “real job” since graduation. Richens claims he has sent out cover letters and résumés to between 500 and 600 companies, yet this was the first one to give him anything. Strauss, who is representing Richens, is hoping to change perceptions of law school forever.
The aim is not exactly to give the plaintiff a monetary reward, but to prevent future law school applicants from being victimized in the way Richens was. Although Richens could use the money to help pay off his student loans, he probably wouldn’t be getting even close to the amount that he needs. “I was basically trying to advocate the point that [Strauss] was trying to make, which was that these employment statistics are misleading,” said Richens. “If there is any money to be arising from it, it would be rather insubstantial; not any amount close enough to have a significant affect on my life.” When Richens applied to Hofstra Law, the school claimed to have an after-graduation employment rate in the mid-90s percentage range. Yet what these statistics don’t account for is the fact that these students only reported to Hofstra that they were making money, not that they were working in the field of law. For example, according to Strauss’ argument, if Richens
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