Law School students’ publication gaining national attention

As it turns out, Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry aren’t the only Jayhawks declaring themselves eligible for the NBA draft.

Ryan McAteer’s hat is in the ring, too.

The second-year KU law student said that while it’s unlikely he’ll be picked, he’d be declaring for the draft anyway, because “there is a higher likelihood of me playing in the NBA than finding gainful legal employment” with the legal market the way it is today.

McAteer was writing in the Kansas Law Free Press, a slightly irreverent website that KU law students started in March. McAteer’s story has attracted national attention from blogs, newspapers and the American Bar Association’s journal.

Slade Bond, another second-year law student, from Virginia, is the editor of the publication. He said he wanted to create a space for law students to connect — something many at KU found lacking, particularly the ones who came straight out of college, Bond said.

He said he appreciated the attention from McAteer’s story, and he’s received positive feedback on the publication’s other articles, too.

The writing is only available online, at http://klfp.org. The website has about 20 contributors, and content like a poll trying to determine the best-dressed law professor (it’s John C. Peck, apparently) and a feature on the Moody Bluebooks, a blues band featuring KU law professors.

Bond said he hoped it might prove useful to potential students, too.

“You can see the good and you can see the bad,” he said. “If you go to law school, you’re not going to make $150,000 right out of the gate.”