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Thomas Jefferson Grad Sues Law School, Unhappy as Doc Reviewer

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. | Last updated on

If you went to Thomas Jefferson Law, a class action lawsuit that was recently filed may mean that you can recover something to compensate you for your $150,000 in student debt.

Lead plaintiff in this newly-filed class action is Anna Alaburda, a graduate of the prestigious - though completely unranked - law school. She graduated with honors in 2008, and went on to secure legal employment post-graduation, where she felt rewarded for slaving away through 3 years in law school and paying thousands of dollars worth of tuition with a glamorous life in BigLaw, earning six-figures.

Oh wait, that's not what happened.

Alaburda graduated in 2008 and was unable to find any permanent legal employment, though she has had some part-time and temporary document review work. She felt deceived by Thomas Jefferson Law, located in San Diego, because of their shady statistic that 70-90% of its law graduates secured employment after graduation, according to the complaint.

Of course, that 70-90% does not include only legal employment. It includes non-legal employment and part-time employment as well.

The lawsuit goes on to demand damages and restitution of more than $50,000,000 and an injunction against Thomas Jefferson law for "churning out" law grads who have no hope of ever actually being attorneys.

Oh, cry me a river, Anna. The real problem with law school admissions and law school graduates is the sense of entitlement so many of us seem to get when we finish our 3 years and take the bar exam. Is law school advertising a career as an attorney - or is it really only advertising a legal education, which is what they actually provide?

Perhaps our real problem is thinking too optimistically. If someone gives you an 80% employment statistic, instead of thinking that you will be one of the lucky ones that gets that job, maybe you should consider that you might actually be that 20% that end up with nothing.

Though, the Thomas Jefferson Law class action probably does hold some merit. Their employment statistics do seem a bit skewed, and prospective students would likely benefit with knowing the cold hard truth about the (sad) legal employment market before enrolling.

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