Law Schools

10 to 15 law schools could close if enrollment keeps shrinking, higher-ed market analyst says

Although there’s been a contraction in the law school market, tuition continues to rise, including at private institutions that take first-year students with lower LSAT scores and have high attrition rates, says Robert Zemsky, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania. Zemsky predicts several of these schools will…

Dec 1, 2016 11:30 AM CST

Mobile Justice: Minnesota law school takes pro bono work on the road

In most parts of the country, recreational vehicles are typically used for leisure activities. But in Minnesota, a 20-year-old RV has been retrofitted for a new purpose: to house the Mobile Law Network, a traveling pro bono law office.

Dec 1, 2016 4:10 AM CST

Law schools expect applications to increase, but grads’ job data shows decline

The numbers: 78 percent of law school admissions officers express confidence their 2016 application numbers will increase. There was a 7.6 percent decline in law firm jobs secured by the class of 2015. Two studies from this fall inspire very different impressions of the state of the legal profession, at…

Dec 1, 2016 1:40 AM CST

More women are attending law school, but at lower-ranked schools, study finds

More women are attending law school, but their numbers at top-ranked institutions aren’t keeping up the pace, a recent study found. While women make up roughly half of all law students at ABA-accredited schools, they are overrepresented at lower-ranked schools. The study was conducted by Deborah Jones Merritt, a Ohio…

Nov 30, 2016 4:30 PM CST

Several law profs land on watch list of academics who advance ‘leftist propaganda’

Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet says he isn’t bothered by his inclusion on a conservative group’s new watch list of leftist professors. “It’s not a big deal,” Tushnet tells the Harvard Crimson. “It comes with the territory.” Tushnet is among nearly 200 professors on the “Professor Watchlist” created by the…

Nov 29, 2016 10:10 AM CST

Former UC Berkeley law dean drops suit over school’s handling of sex harassment allegations

The former law dean of the University of California at Berkeley has dropped a lawsuit seeking to stop a school disciplinary proceeding initiated due to allegations he sexually harassed his one-time assistant. The former dean, Sujit Choudhry, dropped the suit on Tuesday after a federal judge’s refusal to interfere with…

Nov 18, 2016 7:00 AM CST

ABA puts one law school on probation and censures another

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar announced on Tuesday that it is placing the Charlotte School of Law on probation and publicly censuring Valparaiso University School of Law. The section said it is taking the actions because both schools were out of compliance with ABA…

Nov 17, 2016 1:36 PM CST

Law prof who wore blackface at Halloween party ‘wounded our community,’ university president says

A University of Oregon law professor who wore blackface to her off-campus Halloween party “wounded our community,” according to a letter to students written by university president Michael Schill. Regardless of her intentions, Schill said, law professor Nancy Shurtz was wrong to choose such a costume, report the Oregonian and…

Nov 8, 2016 10:09 AM CST

Judge denies law prof’s request for bar-exam racial data

A judge in California has denied a law professor’s request for racial data on would-be lawyers who took the state bar exam. Judge Mary Wiss of San Francisco said the anonymous data would violate personal privacy rights because it could be used to identify individuals, report the Wall Street Journal…

Nov 8, 2016 9:03 AM CST

South Texas College of Law announces its latest new name

The South Texas College of Law has opted for a tweak rather than an entire name change after losing an injunction fight over its plan to change its name to the Houston College of Law. The law school’s new name will be the South Texas College of Law Houston, according…

Nov 7, 2016 2:31 PM CST

These law schools are tops for median private-sector pay exceeding student debt

Prospective law students who hope to earn more in a year than their law school debt should consider these law schools with the highest salary-debt ratios. U.S. News & World Report compiled a list of 10 schools, using the median starting salary of 2014 law graduates who work in the…

Nov 3, 2016 10:44 AM CDT

Going to law school for the wrong reasons? It worked for this justice

It’s the standard advice for prospective students who are considering law school because they don’t know what to do with their lives. Don’t do it, the advice goes. Opt for a different career. Justice Elena Kagan recalls catching herself giving similar advice when she was dean of Harvard Law School.…

Nov 2, 2016 10:04 AM CDT

Indiana Tech Law School will close after $20M loss

Updated: After suffering a nearly $20 million loss, Indiana Tech Law School has announced it will close at the end of June 2017. Indiana Tech president Arthur Snyder said the school’s board of trustees and its leaders concluded that the law school will not be able to attract a sufficient…

Oct 31, 2016 10:15 AM CDT

Law school agrees to second name change after losing injunction fight in trademark suit

The South Texas College of Law has abandoned plans to change its name to the Houston College of Law after a federal judge enjoined use of the new name in a trademark suit filed by the University of Houston Law Center. The law school is devising a new name that…

Oct 27, 2016 10:46 AM CDT

More law schools are covering bar review costs: Is it improving pass rates?

Out of law schools who have July 2016 bar results for first-time test takers, many saw their pass rate percentages drop.

Oct 20, 2016 8:30 AM CDT