CEO A. Harrison Barnes of LawCrossing says that although the job market is tough, positions are available in smaller firms.

Pasadena, CA -- (SBWire) -- 10/28/2010 -- An anonymous third-year Boston College law student has offered to forfeit his degree, if the college returns his tuition money. The student has been dismayed over the bleak jobs scenario facing most 2011 law graduates.

The student wrote the open letter on the school’s student-run news website. He writes that the tuition has left him struggling to support his pregnant wife because of the enormous debt that he is now saddled with. One year of law studies at Boston College costs around $60,000. He then suggests that the school also stands to gain if he drops out, because this will improve the school’s US News and World Report ranking.

The story has quickly spread among law students nationwide with most of them sympathetic to the student. Boston College has responded with a statement saying that the jobs scenario is tough for not just their graduates but for new law graduates throughout the country.

The University of Miami Law School is also having difficulties in getting placements for all its graduates. But it has come up with a program where students are paid by the school if they are working in a public interest position. The stipend is $2,500 for six months. The amount and duration is the most generous compared to similar programs run by other schools.

CEO A. Harrison Barnes of LawCrossing says that although the job market is tough, positions are available in smaller firms. “These smaller and midsize firms are not going to be paying six-figure salaries, but very few graduates get these kind of salaries anyway. It’s around three percent any year.”

LawCrossing is a job aggregator site for all types of legal jobs. Its database carries attorney jobs (30,613), law student/Clerkship (17,477), legal staff jobs (11,593), partner jobs (241), postgraduate clerkship (588), and summer associate/ internships (2,373).