Sunday, September 30, 2007

DLA Piper

Another student commits suicide over massive student loan debt:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/571489,CST-NWS-SUICIDE24.article

"When he graduated in summer 2006, he was unable to find a job despite sending out dozens of resumes. Meanwhile, he watched his loan balance grow. He moved back in with his mom, who lives in a small trailer home in Normal. When the collectors called, they asked him, 'When are you going to pay? Can't you get your mom to sell her house? Late last month, in the middle of the night, Yoder apparently let himself into the ISU lab. Then he hooked up a tube to a nitrogen valve and ran it inside a plastic bag around his head.

Before his death, although Jason helped set up a fledgling tea room his mother runs with her sisters, he was wary of taking a job outside of his field because he feared his wages would be garnisheed. That could tip potential employers to his credit woes. Collinge said many employers won't hire people with bad credit."


Which sort of reminded me of DLA Piper's highly intrusive background check in which they "need" to know if you have any defaults, bankruptcies, or credit issues all for a friggin TEMP JOB!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many in the next generation of workers will be so debt-burdened they will have to delay home purchases, limit vacations, even eat out less to pay loans off on time.

Kristin Cole, 30, who graduated from Michigan State University's law school and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., owes $150,000 in private and government-backed student loans. Her monthly payment of $660, which consumes a quarter of her take-home pay, is scheduled to jump to $800 in a year or so, confronting her with stark financial choices.

"I could never buy a house. I can't travel; I can't do anything," she said. "I feel like a prisoner."

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070930/student_loans_the_spiral.html?.v=1

Anonymous said...

The student loan market crash looks inevitable. This is on top of budget deficit, housing collapse, credit crunch, and trade deficit.

How long do you think until it's cheaper to wipe your ass with a dollar bill than to buy toilet paper?

Anonymous said...

I don't feel bad for any of these people! Lots of people make bad financial desicions and kill themselves over money reasons. Big deal. This is not news!

What the hell are these students thinking taking out 100k loans? All in the hope they will work at BigLAw? They deserve what they get. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

I used to be hopeful about this situation. Now, I am not! The ABA is just going to keep accrediting new law schools. Whether the community needs them or not. The new law schools are going to be adding new grads into a glutted job market. Sooner or later this ballon will explode and a lot of people will get hurt.

Anonymous said...

Maybe should have sent out more than a few dozen resumes.

Anonymous said...

Definitely should've sent out more than just a few dozen resumes. But in the end, a few dozen was enough, he had two potential job offers. Only thing is it was after his death. Just goes to show that timing is everything. Absolutely horrible how timing ruins people.

Actually, I was being considered for a compliance type position at an investment bank earlier this summer. It was my dream come true, finally a ticket out of temping. But then the whole mortgage meltdown happened and the potential job was either pulled or "hiatused." Talk about bad freakin' timing.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any knowledge, expertise, or information about the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act? I heard that if you invoke it with them when they call, they don't bother you with the harassing phone calls 20 times a day.

As far as this guy who killed himself goes, not being able to pay your student loan debt isn't something to kill yourself over. In fact, there isn't anything I can think of that's worth killing yourself over. This guy's problems obviously ran a lot deeper than student loan debt.

Anonymous said...

Hire a lawyer for the above problem and help a brother out, or just wiki it.

Anonymous said...

Dead link Tom.


This Baltimore firm I used to work at doesn't need out of state folks, unless there is an office up your way. It's for Harvard and Yale types, not the undeserving I see in doc review.

Anonymous said...

From 12:40 again:

Sorry, false alarm. My pop-up blocker in IE blocked a new window or something.

I read the article. The loser took out loans. If he can't handle it you cannot go to jail in this country for not paying your debts.

The poor decision maker should have worked 60 hour weeks in doc review and payed his debts. What a cretin.

Anonymous said...

Wow, and here I thought a Master's in chemistry was more marketable than that. Shame.

Anonymous said...

This blog is already insensitive enough without making light of suicide. If you would contemplate killing yourself over a $15/hour job where you fill out an application form that asks whether you've ever committed bankruptcy, you need immediate help from a psychiatrist.

This blog is a pathetic attempt to rationalize a few people's own failings by pretending that there is some grand conspiracy preventing otherwise qualified law school graduates from obtaining good jobs and financial independence.

Any law school graduate who needs to settle for $30k/year doing doc review did not take the right classes, did not seek the right experience during law school, and probably does not interview well. I have yet to meet a single graduate of any law school, from Harvard on down, who had to scrape by on that little money, in that bad a job.

Doc review hell as described on this blog is the exception, not the rule.

Anonymous said...

2:59 - shut up, asshole.

Anonymous said...

The only assholes around here are the losers working for pennies and blaming everyone but themselves for their situation.

Anonymous said...

First, he was only contacted by Pharm Companies. This at most could be assumed is about interviews; job offers were not mentioned. Second, he had a Chem degree. They could have been contacting him for a job as a Chemist not an attorney.

**
Also 5:33PM, I wish there was such a thing as Karma. Why? So, your tier 1 ass could lose its good fortune, and you could have collectors after your ass. They will change your attitude fast!

Anonymous said...

Karma? Tier 1? I merely did my homework before I went to law school! People who take out $200k in loans for law school without a plan to repay them are about as deserving of my pity as all these folks who took out zero-down home loans and are now "shocked" that their monthly mortgage payments are booming!

Gee, maybe the government should bail out recent law school graduates! God forbid people should have to pay for their own mistakes!

Anonymous said...

If you are going to take out loans, man up and figure out how you'll pay them. Look at the world, my friends. Education is not a right, it's a privilege. Too many law students think the world owes them a job that pays six figures or health insurance, even though ppl are slugging it out minimum wage in this country. Figure out how to pay for it or don't go until you do. Simple as that.

Anonymous said...

I went to school back in the 80's. Everyone was watching LA Law and telling me that I would become rich.

I still have $40,000 in Law School Loans. I was forced to do a bankruptcy. Unfortuately, law school debt is not discharged by bankrupcty.

I know a lot of rich people and corporations who have done bankruptcy as a manner of financial planning. Doesn't work for Law School Loans. Unfortunately, there really is no way out for those of us who did not graduate in the top ten percent of Harvard.