Posted on 09/03/2006 7:20:26 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember
Thomas Joseph Bentey flunked out of St. Thomas University School of Law of Miami, and claims it was a conspiracy of the school to admit students it knew would flunk out, and wants his tuition and room and board back (as well as damages for lost wages and "embarrassment"). (The complaint also complains that Bentey's mother called the law school, but that it refused to review his C grade in Contracts II, and seeks an injunction for a review of the grade.) The attorneys seek class action status, which is frivolous on its face, because the individualized issue of whether a St. Thomas student flunked out because of their own underachieving would clearly predominate any group inquiry even if the conspiracy theory had any basis in rationality. One might also make some adverse inferences about Bentey's attorney, Michael Lombardi of Lombardi & Lombardi, for coming up with such a cockamamie theory of recovery that will only result in more embarrassment for his client, but he is a "Super Lawyer." Other defendants in the shotgun complaint include the ABA and the Department of Education, suggesting hopes for a number of nuisance settlements.
(Bentey v. St. Thomas University School of Law, No. 2:06-cv-03463-PGS-RJH (D.N.J.);
Leigh Jones, "Law School Sued for Expelling Students", National Law Journal, Sep. 1).
re: Florida Statute 57.105 or its sucessor, Florida Rules of Professonal Responsibility
It is clear that this is exceedingly rarely used. However these idiots are suing the ABA, which might just tick some judge off somewhere.
They don't call the US Justice system "the Jackpot Lottery" for nothing.
Lawyers deserve each other.
1. Way too many law schools in the US. Alot of Colleges/Universities that did not have law schools added them because they are a great revenue source. You can charge an high tuition with very low operating/lab costs (with the exception of the law library..which has become virtually obsolete now with Westlaw and Lexis) that would be associated with other degree programs.
2. The US News and World Report rankings have totally changed the admission process of US law schools. Every school is in a fight to increase its ranking so it can get more campus recruiters/more applications ect. Right now..there are only essentially 3 things that determine whether you get into law school or not. GPA, LSAT and Race.
In actuality if you want an accurate predictor of success the LSAT is the best tool. It's ridiculous that someone that graduated with a degree in Physical Education with a 3.0 from Xwest state University diploma mill gets the same consideration based on GPA as someone with a 3.0 in engineering from a top notch school.
It used to be much riskier to enter law school. In the old days the law school would admit a large 1st year class with the expectation that 1/3 to 1/2 would drop out after the first year.
Ben Franklin said: "One lawyer in a town starves. Two lawyers prosper greatly!"
Jonathan Swift-- "When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him."
It's pretty hard to flunk out here, too. It's easier if you are using a lot of financial aid. If you are writing checks as you go, and the checks don't bounce, you will graduate. Witness Joe Kennedy. I don't think he ever passed the NY bar; I'm pretty sure he flunked three times. (He should have done like Ted at Harvard, and just had someone else sit the exam for him... knowing Kennedys he did, but picked a stupid stand-in).
I knew dozens of guys who took it, and they all passed first time. Mind you, they studied, something foreign to the Kennedy family.
As far as flunking out of law school... naw. Show up, do the work, you pass. I bet hundreds of people have graduated from that school with lower LSATs and IQ than this bozo (to start with, all the affirmative action students).
And yes, everybody I know who teaches anything encounters "helicopter parents." The one exception, I've never seen mom or dad argue with a flight instructor (although I have seen indifferent teens frog-marched in for lessons).
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Lawyers suing law schools- it was just a matter of time before the herd of cash cows thinned to this.
There are so many people it could apply to that it just boggles my mind.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
Those who can't teach.
So those who can't teach, teach teachers to teach.
Applying this to lawyers--
Those who can't sue
teach lawyers that do!
Cheers!
Q: How many lawyers does it take to stop a moving bus?
A: Never enough.
Q: What do you call a lawyer who is buried up to his neck in wet cement?
A: Not enough cement.
Q: What's the difference between a porcupine and a Mercedes Benz full of lawyers?
A: The porcupine has pricks on the outside.
Actually most lawyers are far more intelligent than this dunce and his counsel.
That is what makes them so dangerous. And destructive to civil society.
What do Lawyers use for birth control?
Answer: Their personalities.
My son is a medic (second tour of Iraq) and is also a weight lifter. The grunts in his unit love and protect him. They know he can lift and carry their butts to safety if things go bad for them.
since there are more first year seats than law school applicants this is particularly irrelevant since he can go to SOME law school SOMEWHERE.
Of course if FL did not have two other newer diploma mill law schools st thomas would be seen as the diploma mill of the state.
God bless you, and especially God bless your wonderful son!
Just out of curiosity, what are the Florida Lawyer diploma mills?
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