From Abovethelaw (via Lafsky) comes a flyer about a “professional clothing drive” for law school students:
The Duquesne University School of Law is holding a Professional Clothing Drive for Law Students.
We are accepting gently worn professional clothing* for 1st Year Law Students preparing for the Oral Argument Program in the spring and all Law Students preparing for job and internship interviews.
Clothing can be dropped off at the Main Office of the Law School between the hours of 8:30 am and 8:00 pm (Monday through Friday) and 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (On select Saturdays please call for dates). A receipt will be provided for your tax-deductible donation.
* We are accepting business suits for women and men as well as shoes, ties, belts and accessories.
As Elie Mystal at Abovethelaw puts it:
It’s the footnote that kills me. Ties, belts and accessories. You’ve got to be kidding me. I mean, are there really law students running around in desperate need of a freaking interview-appropriate handbag? Are there guys who got through four years of college and into a law school without owning a basically acceptable tie? My ties suck, I don’t really want to spend the money on a really nice one, at least not in a world where I need to update all of my Rock Band peripherals. But I go on television with my crap-ass ties. Call it an overdeveloped sense of pride, but I’d be horrified to accept a tie upgrade in a clothing drive.
While I think Mystal’s response is hilarious and worth reading, I have a little bit more sympathy. If you’re already sinking in $150,000 into a law school education, you might not have enough money to spend on nice clothes. I’ve been in a variety of professional settings in my life and I don’t exactly have a dazzling array of suits in my closet. Still, I do agree that the ad raises the question: What the hell were these students doing (in life) until now?
Despite the financial horror that this flyer portends, I’d still like to attend law school some day, but given the current economic climate, I think I chose my current Masters program wisely.
Update: I’m reminded of this conversation I had with Jesse Thorn from Sundance this year: