Law Schools

What’s the upshot of the Google Reader shutdown for bloggers and the rest of the (not) free world?

When Google announced that it was shutting down Google Reader, its RSS feed reader Legal Blog Watch’s Bruce Carton was, as he put it, part of the “1 percent of the world looked and reacted as if the veterinarian had just said that their dog had only a few months…

Mar 15, 2013 2:16 PM CDT

Is ‘No Child Left Behind’ creating subpar law students?

A culture of “teaching to the test” fostered by the No Child Left Behind law may be creating a generation of law students who lack skills for critical thinking and good writing, according to University of Minnesota law professor Michele Goodwin. Goodwin makes her case in an opinion column for…

Mar 14, 2013 2:53 PM CDT

Law schools should consider med-school model—a dean’s view

Recent news reports suggest broad-based support for a major free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. Many are confident that a pact will be concluded within the next two years—one more giant step in the ongoing elimination of barriers to an integrated global economy. Until very…

Mar 13, 2013 1:54 PM CDT

Ditch the bar exam? Bar report on ‘crushing burden’ of student debt says idea should be considered

State supreme courts should consider allowing qualified law school graduates to become lawyers without taking the bar exam, according to a report on the “crushing burden” of student debt by a committee of the Illinois State Bar Association. In the alternative, supreme courts could allow qualified students to take the…

Mar 13, 2013 1:47 PM CDT

US News rankings change with better jobs data; which law schools are now unranked?

New York Law School is no longer ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Neither is John Marshall Law School, Southwestern Law School, the University of Toledo College of Law and Willamette University College of Law, the National Law Journal reports. They have fallen out of the top 145 schools…

Mar 12, 2013 12:05 PM CDT

Law school drudgery chronicled in 2L’s hit parody video

West Virginia University 2L Andy Loud is giving his mom some of the credit for the success of his music video about the drudgery of law school life. The parody of Maroon 5’s “Payphone” got more than 100,000 views just two weeks after it was posted on YouTube, the Charleston…

Mar 12, 2013 12:00 PM CDT

Northwestern trims class size by 10 percent, raises tuition

In response to what it characterizes as a “shifting legal economy,” Northwestern University School of Law has announced it will trim its incoming class by 10 percent and increase tuition, albeit nominally. The reduction, which means 20 to 25 fewer law students will be enrolled in this fall’s class, is…

Mar 11, 2013 5:04 PM CDT

‘Teaching hospital for law school graduates’ is launching at Arizona State

A tour of the Mayo Clinic a few years ago gave the dean of Arizona State University’s law school an idea that is about to come to fruition. What Dean Douglas J. Sylvester calls “a teaching hospital for law school graduates” will begin operating this summer. While other law schools…

Mar 8, 2013 3:21 PM CST

Why waste the crisis in legal education?

As previewed in a previous post, I had the chance last month to speak to the ABA’s meeting of law school deans. The meeting was off the record, so I can’t disclose any of the group discussions. But I can share my own observations based on what I’ve heard from…

Mar 7, 2013 2:30 PM CST

Former 3L sues after being kicked out of law school for alleged plagiarism

A former third-year law student claims in a lawsuit that the University of Nebraska College of Law discriminated against him and violated his constitutional rights when he was kicked out of school for alleged plagiarism. Layth Mohammad Al-Turk claims discrimination on the basis of his Arabic heritage and Muslim beliefs,…

Mar 7, 2013 1:00 PM CST

Law school donor wants his $7.5M back; suit claims Georgetown reneged on naming rights

A 1978 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center who had legal troubles after graduation is seeking to recover $7.5 million in donations to the school. Businessman Scott Ginsburg claims he is entitled to the money because law school officials reneged on a deal to name a fitness center after him,…

Mar 7, 2013 11:30 AM CST

About half of law schools post incomplete job and scholarship data, group says; Which did best?

About 46 percent of accredited law schools are failing to post charts about student scholarships and employment, or are reporting misleading and incomplete data, according to numbers released Wednesday by the group Law School Transparency. The number was even higher, the group says, before it notified law schools about problems…

Mar 6, 2013 6:30 PM CST

Interim SLU law dean says he resigned because of his big mouth; new dean is named

Updated: The interim dean of Saint Louis University School of Law says he wasn’t cut out for the job. Tom Keefe Jr. announced his resignation from the post on Monday. “I’m a plain-spoken, ambulance chasing plaintiffs lawyer,” he told the St. Louis Business Journal, and that fact alone caused consternation…

Mar 5, 2013 1:11 PM CST

‘Inside the Law School Scam’ blogger signs off; Should appellate briefs have corporate sponsors?

‘I’ve said what I have to say, at least in this format.’ University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos says he has filed his last post at Inside the Law School Scam. Campos started his blog (anoymously, but revealed his identity within a couple of weeks) in August of 2011,…

Mar 1, 2013 2:29 PM CST

Plan to merge Rutgers’ two law schools would end competition for students, faculties

Officials at Rutgers in New Jersey have announced a plan to merge the university’s two law schools at Camden and Newark. The merger, which would take place by the fall of 2014, would create one of the country’s largest law schools. Neither campus would be closed, but the schools would…

Mar 1, 2013 2:03 PM CST