Law Schools

Critical Race Theory Is Less Popular, While Interest in IP Rises, Law Review Citation Study Finds

A new study of the most-cited law review articles concludes that critical legal studies and critical race theory “have faded in acceptance.” The opposite is true for intellectual property law, according to the study by Yale associate librarian Fred Shapiro and Harvard law librarian Michelle Pearse. IP was once viewed…

Jun 1, 2012 3:22 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: ALM’s New Marketing Arm; Hastings Dean Explains 20% Cut in Enrollment

ALM’s Latest Moves Last week, American Lawyer Media announced that it’s forming a “Marketing Services team that will work with clients to plan, execute and measure a comprehensive legal marketing campaign to better achieve their business goals.” “Our clients in the legal services industry are moving away from ad hoc…

Jun 1, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Justice Thomas Is Apparently Reconciling with Yale Law School

Justice Clarence Thomas’ dislike for his alma mater Yale Law School is no secret. In his memoir My Grandfather’s Son, Thomas wrote that some had suggested he was admitted to Yale because of racial preferences, report Reuters and the Washington Post. “A law degree from Yale meant one thing for…

Jun 1, 2012 1:08 PM CDT

Letters: Techie Talk

TECHIE TALK Regarding “Tracking Techies,” April: Back in the 1950s I was a techie studying to become a lawyer. I told a couple of companies of my work on the IBM 650 and 701, but they did not seem interested. I did arbitrate a dispute about computer services in 1972.…

Jun 1, 2012 9:40 AM CDT

A Canine Cure: Law Library Sponsors Therapy Dog Program for Stressed-Out Students

When Jenni Parrish, library director at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, heard about Monty, the 11-year-old Jack Russell-border terrier mix who served as a therapy dog at Yale’s law library (see “Going to the Dogs,” ABA Journal, August 2011), she wondered whether there…

Jun 1, 2012 9:10 AM CDT

Few Jobs, But a Rack of Suits: Law Grads Claim Their Alma Maters Duped Them

In 2005, Chloe Gilgan bet that obtaining a law degree would guarantee her a competitive salary and a steady career path. Instead, she wound up with a mountain of debt and limited job prospects. Gilgan, who says she relied heavily on placement data from New York Law School to decide…

Jun 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

Law Students & Mentors Across the Globe Team Up to Develop New Approaches to the Legal Profession

BREAKING BARRIERS TO INNOVATION IN EDUCATION AND PRACTICE Disquiet and frustration with the state of legal education and law practice has led two professors to create a cyber-based program that spans international time zones and school rankings to design a new legal profession from scratch. LawWithoutWalls is a collaborative academic…

Jun 1, 2012 7:20 AM CDT

Boston Law Firm Got 32 Applicants for Attorney Job Paying $10,000 a Year, Partner Says

A small Boston law firm that hit the headlines when it advertised a job for a new law graduate paying $10,000 a year got 32 applicants for the position, a partner of Gilbert & O’Bryan tells the Boston Business Journal. Although observers note that the the pay is less than…

May 31, 2012 10:35 PM CDT

Top NH Lawmaker Resigns—Twice—After Law Firm Partner Questions Law School Internship Hours

The majority leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives resigned over the weekend after a fellow state lawmaker who operates his own law firm raised questions about the hours former Rep. D.J. Bettencourt reportedly claimed to have worked there during an internship required for his law degree. Initially, Bettencourt…

May 29, 2012 5:28 PM CDT

Toronto Law Grad Pays Off $114K in Student Loans with Cash

A 2009 University of Toronto law graduate apparently made enough money at a venture capitalist firm to pay off his remaining $114,000 law school debt with just one payment—and he did it with cash. Alex Kenjeev tells the Business Insider he was trying to be funny rather than make a…

May 29, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Law Grad Seeks Spot on US Olympic Beach Volleyball Team

Lauren Fendrick, a graduate of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, and her partner, Brooke Hanson, who graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and majored in law, are competing for a spot to play for Olympic gold in London this summer. Fendrick and Hanson, who…

May 25, 2012 7:13 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Nix ‘Here-and-There Words’; Has Blogging Changed Corporate Law Practice?

While Heretofore You May Have Used These Words—Really, You Should Stop Last year, U.S. Bank attorney Andy Mergendahl meditated on the work of Black’s Law Dictionary editor-in-chief Bryan Garner and took lawyers to task for their foolhardy uses of the word “shall” in contracts. This week, the Lawyerist contributor notes…

May 25, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Nonprofit Analyzes Lawmakers’ Speech Levels; Law Grads Come Out on Top and Bottom

Lawmakers with law degrees come out at the very top and bottom of a ranking of U.S representatives and senators based on the sophistication of their congressional discourse. At the top of the ranking by the Sunlight Foundation is U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., a Georgetown University Law Center graduate…

May 23, 2012 10:29 AM CDT

Rutgers at Camden Law Dean Defends Marketing Pitch Touting Salaries of $130K for ‘Many Top Students’

A marketing pitch sent to prospective students by Rutgers University School of Law at Camden touted a 90 percent employment rate in the legal field for its employed graduates and top private-practice salaries in excess of $130,000 for “many top students.” Now law dean Rayman Solomon is defending those claims…

May 22, 2012 5:13 PM CDT

Law School Dropout Gets Student Debt Wiped Out Because of Asperger’s Syndrome

A University of Baltimore law student who dropped out and later obtained a Ph.D. from an online school won’t have to repay $339,000 in student debt. Usually student debt may not be discharged in bankruptcy, but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gordon found that Carol Todd was eligible for an “undue…

May 22, 2012 1:07 PM CDT