Not our usual reading material, Grisham’s new novel, The Rooster Bar documents “the apex of the for-profit law school scam.” according to a report in Kentucky.com.
The report goes on to say
“They entice these kids to come in and borrow huge sums of money,” Grisham said — students with poor standardized scores and unremarkable resumes, believing that law school is a ticket to the monied, privileged life.
Disabusing law students of their illusions is nothing new: At Grisham’s first day of law school at Ole Miss in 1978, his professor said that the goal was to flunk out half the class.
“And they did,” Grisham said.
But Grisham attended a public university. With for-profit law schools — in this case, Grisham’s fictitious Foggy Bottom law school in Washington, D.C., a name so preposterous that you will smirk every time you read it — the goal is keep the loan money rolling into the school coffers until the students graduate. Half of them can’t pass the bar exam. Those who do find themselves with meager options, none of them offering the distinction they thought they were buying.
And then come the debt collectors, pouncing on students who have rolled up debts of more than $100,000.
“Each year a million kids go into default,” Grisham said. “Their credit is going to be ruined for decades. … They can’t buy homes, they can’t get married, they can’t start families. … It still drags on the economy. It was easy debt created by Congress.”
