to the third rate

[angliholic]

Does the phrase "to the third rate" ring a bell to you? If yes, what does it refer to? Thanks.

[Ouisch]

"Third rate" (no "to the") means something or someone of very low quality.

For example: "The court appointed some third-rate attorney for me who probably got his law degree out of a cereal box."

"This is what happens when you get sick on a holiday week-end; you end up in an understaffed emergency room with a third-rate doctor who doesn't know which end of the stethoscope to put in his ears."

[angliholic]

"Third rate" (no "to the") means something or someone of very low quality.

For example: "The court appointed some third-rate attorney for me who probably got his law degree out of a cereal box."

"This is what happens when you get sick on a holiday week-end; you end up in an understaffed emergency room with a third-rate doctor who doesn't know which end of the stethoscope to put in his ears."

Thanks, Ouisch, for the clear reply and the laughing off my head illustration.

However I got stumped by the bolded part--how could someone get his law degree out of a cereal box? What is the story behind this amusing expression?