Ann Arbor News – Friday, February 02, 2007 via Overlawyered.com:
A Pennsylvania man is suing the University of Michigan Law School because it didn’t make special accommodations for his admittedly poor typing skills.
Adrian Zachariasewycz graduated from the law school in 2004 with a “B” average but says in his lawsuit that on certain exams he received “borderline failing grades” because he couldn’t type as much in the allotted time as other students.
Zachariasewycz, 40, told a reporter that he has moved back into his parents’ home and has been unable to find a job because his 2.996 grade point average doesn’t interest employers.
“Without this typing deficit on certain exams, it would have been about 3.4,” he said.
Zachariasewycz said he was never warned by U-M that he would need typing skills and it never occurred to him to learn to type before entering law school. He said he consistently scored in the top half of the class on exams that didn’t require rapid typing.
In addition to seeking unspecified monetary damages, Zachariasewycz wants the law school to study his scores and provide a letter or make a verbal statement to prospective employers saying that his typing was a factor in his exams.
“I paid a lot of money to go to law school,” Zachariasewycz said. “I interrupted my career. I worked very hard. And I got a big zero out of it.”
Mmmm…. sour grapes!
It sounds like he learned something.
WAAAAHHHHH!
Know what, school is what you make of it. He had his entire time in Law school to take an extra typing class, find tutoring, or even PRACTICE at home!!!
This is a major problem in our society. NOBODY seems to want to take responsibility for their mistakes. Why doesn’t he start his own law firm if he’s that smart? Sounds like he’s LAZY! No, some people are going to say respond that it’s real expensive to start a law firm. Well, not if he starts out from is home. Perhaps he can go out and SELL his services to local businesses.
I wonder if he wins his case, would the law firm representing him against the college would give him a job?
Geez, and I’m still trying to figure out why the legal system in this country is so screwed up.
Wow. Back in my day, we wrote with pens and pencils, and we liked it dammit!
I kinda agree that he shouldn’t have had to type an exam. The written word should be just as acceptable. But, if he wins this case, just think of the law practices that will be clamoring for such a pick…
I am under the impression that it takes more than one term to graduate law school – Wally (2) is right – he should have learned to type somewhere in the middle (after his first bad exam) – its not all that hard.
4. “Back in my day, we wrote with pens and pencils, and we liked it dammit!”
He had the option to write his exams by hand. I have no idea why he chose to type them when he didn’t know how to type. I get the impression he’s a complete idiot.
If there isn’t more to the story than that (e.g., was he told by the teacher that he needed to type if he wanted a good grade?) then it’s just weird any reputable law firm even took the case.
But Named has a point. If this guy wins, he’ll have opened up entirely new revenue stream possibilities for opportunistic law firms. He’ll probably get a job out of it.
6. “then it’s just weird any reputable law firm even took the case.”
A law firm did not file his case. He filed the case himself. You can read his complaint here.
Jeez…I’m a hunt and peck typer and can still break 40 words a minute. This guy has no excuse.
#1 – good one. So it does.
6,
He had the option to write his exams by hand. I have no idea why he chose to type them when he didn’t know how to type. I get the impression he’s a complete idiot.
Well, then my second point stands even taller and stronger!
Cry me a river Adrian, then shut the hell up and sue your own ass.
I wouldnt hire this guy even if he had a 4.0 gpa and could typ 400 words/min. Unfortunately he will probably have to run for election seeing how he is so un-hire-able.
This guy sounds like a nut:
“Zachariasewycz was fired as a summer intern at a Wilmington, Del., law firm, which he is also suing. He claims that following the “abusive dismissal,” the company impeded his efforts to obtain employment.”
In any case, my guess is that in his law school that everyone typed their exams because there was simply no competition between the typists and “handwriters.” The fact that students have an option is like saying that in a race across the U.S., you can drive or fly.
I think this guy probably could type faster than he could handwrite, but not anywhere near some of the speedy typists.
When I was in law school, we didn’t have the option of typing our exam answers. As a result, the entire length of the exam, people wrote furiously. Students ran out of time far sooner than they ran out of things to say (not always a good thing). I can see a significant advantage to typing up exam answers.
So, assuming this guy hand wrote about 20 words a minute, and let’s just guess he could type 40 words a minute, he was probably pissed that the 100 wpm students were putting down a lot more than he was.
I’m pretty sympathetic to his point of view, but I don’t think he should sue over it. Having students handwrite their answers really levels the playing field. As far as I’ve seen, basic typing competence is all that is necessary as an attorney (Blackberry thumbs, OTOH, are highly valued. ;)), so I don’t think typing skills should give students a leg up.
13. “This guy sounds like a nut:”
I agree.
“The fact that students have an option is like saying that in a race across the U.S., you can drive or fly.”
“Students ran out of time far sooner than they ran out of things to say (not always a good thing). I can see a significant advantage to typing up exam answers.”
When I went to law school back in the late 90s we had the option to type or write by hand. The vast majority chose to write by hand. I’m a much faster typist than a hand writer, but I always chose to write by hand.
I don’t remember the exams as being judged based on word count. In fact I remember the professors specifically telling us to write succinctly and to avoid superfluous crap.
“I’m pretty sympathetic to his point of view…”
I’m not. We give disabled people extra time on such tests because they lack the ability to perform a function. If typing was so important to this guy he had the ability to learn how to type but chose not to do so. I have no sympathy for anyone too lazy to better himself. But even less when he blames everyone but himself for his failures.
SN,
I’ll agree that this guy sounds like someone who blames everyone but himself for his failures. He’s not the person I would want to lead the charge for fairness.
However, typing is a skill that I think is largely irrelevant to the practice of law. Once you can type with some competence, there’s really no need to be any better. Consequently, for it to be a factor on an exam seems unfair.
Imagine if the exam had a video game component where your grade was contingent on scoring well in a FPS. And then imagine if Fatal1ty, the world’s best Doom 3 player, was in your class. Why should his skill in an area irrelevant to the practice of law be a factor?
Indeed, I think it’s particularly unfair because there are upper limits to how well a lot of people can type, regardless of practice. People who aren’t lazy but are more invested in learning the material rather than taking typing tests, I don’t think should be penalized.
“The vast majority chose to write by hand. I’m a much faster typist than a hand writer, but I always chose to write by hand.”
Why?
I remember intentionally illegibly scrawling on exams when I couldn’t remember a particular term of art, but I can’t imagine that’s what motivates others.
Give me a break. He’s 40 years old, and no one wants to hire him. Probably has less to do with his lack of typing skills and more to do with him being a crappy lawyer.
Sour grapes is the false denial of desire for something sought but not acquired; to denigrate and feign disdain for that which one could not attain. Using “sour grapes” for “sore loser” is incorrect.
20. Thanks James. But as he is living at home with his parents and is unable to obtain employment and he was unable to get the GPA he wanted, I think it’s appropriate.
He’s certainly denigrating the entire grading system as a sham. His entire argument is basically that the exams test mere word count over knowledge of the material.
This guy is full of it. A Michigan law degree can get you a lot of jobs, even if you graduate at the bottom. He is just being too choosy, and doesn’t want to take something that pays less than what his classmates at the top of the class are getting!
24. I just wanted to add something. You wrote…
“Assuming people are of equal intelligence, the people that don’t have to spend time learning to type well are going to be at an advantage.”
Prestigious schools look for non-academic advantages all the time. Let’s assume two students with identical GPAs. The first student spent his time paying video games in between his studies. While the second student was involved with student government, won numerous spelling bees, won science awards, founded his high school’s chess club, and volunteered at a soup kitchen.
The second student stands a much better chance getting into a prestigious university than the first.
SN,
Thanks for the response.
I would just add, aren’t you glad you didn’t have to handwrite that all out?
😉
No one will ever hire him now, because if they fire him they can bet he will sue them – two down, how many more to go?
#28, As for this guy, well, I stand corrected by SN (#8) – no reputable law firm did take his case. He’s representing himself. If a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, well, that explains a lot.
Comment by TJGeezer — 2/5/2007 @ 8:02 pm
Or maybe he can show just how good a lawyer he really is.
Although I have no idea of the merits of his case, can you imagine if he prevails?
you gUys cuit tiping so fast. icnt kepe up.
He has a strong case, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he prevails. Schools are required to give people more time on tests, including standardized test like the LSAT if they have a disability that requires more time(like slowness of learning.) I think it would be a federal crime for John Dvorak to refuse to hire this person on the basis that he is a slow typer.