Loyola 2L Outs Himself To End Law Firm NDAs

Law.com, ‘Loyola 2L,’ Once Retired, Returns Amid Call to End Law Firm NDAs:

A little more than a decade ago, an anonymous internet commenter using the name “Loyola 2L” grabbed the spotlight by criticizing the ways that so-called second- and third-tier law schools recruited prospective students, many of whom would eventually have trouble finding jobs, partly as a result of the economic downturn a decade ago.

The Wall Street Journal, whose now deceased Law Blog once touted Loyola 2L as its “Lawyer of the Year“ in 2007, and Above the Law covered Loyola 2L’s self-described retirement from the legal blogosphere in January 2008. But recent events in Big Law, particularly a push to end mandatory arbitration and nondisclosure deals in the profession, have motivated Loyola 2L to join the movement and to come forward to answer a longtime question in legal business trivia by unveiling his true identity.

He is Alireza Gharagozlou.

Back in June 2017, Gharagozlou met with this reporter at a now shuttered eatery on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip to discuss his legal career and the sudden disenchantment he felt while working at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles. During that meeting, Gharagozlou claimed to be the real Loyola 2L and provided copies of old emails confirming that identity. But concern about how a public confirmation of his internet nom de guerre could affect his future career prospects led the blogger-turned-research attorney at O’Melveny, which he left in early 2017, to ask that any identification of the real Loyola 2L be put on hold.

Gharagozlou, who said he finds himself blacklisted from the legal profession as a result of the “whistleblowing website” he created with a public blog in March 2017, chose to put his thoughts about the current state of the law firm world in a letter. Here it is: ...

Those still reading are probably a bit curious about what I’ve been doing since 2008. I should confess much of the Loyola 2L character was fictitious. After graduating from Loyola Law School, I went on to New York University School of Law’s tax LL.M. program. After that I taught for a semester at Fordham University School of Law, where, despite outstanding student reviews, I hesitated to teach another class out of worry that I would be part of the scam I had long complained about. My class was filled with bright and talented individuals who I remember to this day, and it broke my heart when a few came to me expressing their difficulty in finding work. I couldn’t handle that every semester.