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If you’ve ever wondered why tuition is out of control at American law schools, look no further than New England Law Boston, which is paying outgoing dean John F. O’Brien — already one of the highest paid deans in the country who once boasted a $867K salary (he lowered it 25 percent amid pressure) — a retirement package of at least $5.3 million. It’s just a little thank you from a school that languishes in the infamous “146-192” U.S. News ranking, a band devised to avoid naming any specific school 192nd. O’Brien guided New England Law to the participation trophy of U.S. News rankings and will take home millions for the effort.
New England Law boasts a 42.6 percent employment score and a 30.6 underemployment score per Law School Transparency and a mere 55.7 percent 2018 bar passage rate. That’s a commitment to mediocrity that demands a multimillion dollar price tag! Thankfully, New England Law offers students a non-discounted $282,393 price tag to afford this kind of administration.
At the end of the year, the school will move on to provide unaccountable paydays to former male model, Senator, and current Ambassador Scott Brown. Brown has never run an academic institution before, but who needs experience when you’ve got Brown’s resume! A reminder that Brown’s resume is that he’s been accused of sexual harassment dating back to his time at Fox News and chastised by the State Department for allegedly using his ambassadorial gig to offend Samoa and ogle Peace Corps volunteers so putting him in charge of a school sounds like a smashing idea.
There’s a petition opposing Brown’s appointment for a whole host of reasons if any New England Law folks out there haven’t signed it yet.
What’s going on at New England Law Boston should outrage everyone. Students are paying through the nose for a degree that they can’t pay off to enrich an administration that shows no signs of being able to improve job prospects for students. In fact, the only New England Law grad I can think of to hit the kind of payday required to pay off the sort of debt students are racking up is… Dean O’Brien.
New England Law dean will leave with more than $5 million [Boston Globe]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.