Law Schools

Fewer Prelaw Students Interested in Political Careers; Is Money the Reason?

The number of prelaw students interested in a political career has dropped by 16 percentage points in a three-year period. The finding has led to speculation: Is money leading to changing aspirations? The survey of 758 prelaw students by Kaplan Test Prep found that 38 percent said they would consider…

Apr 9, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Law Prof Sees ‘Huge Opportunity’ in Labor Projections Highlighting Law Grad Oversupply

The number of lawyer jobs in the decade ending in 2020 is expected grow by about 10 percent, but competition for jobs will still be strong, according to the latest employment outlook by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2020, the number of lawyer jobs in the United States is…

Apr 5, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Oops! Email to 400 Incoming Baylor Law Students Reveals How They Measure Up

Updated: A group of 400 incoming Baylor law students learned of an extension to pay their deposits—and a great deal more—in an email on Tuesday. The email included an attachment listing personal student information for the group, including their grade point averages and their scores on the Law School Admission…

Apr 4, 2012 3:19 PM CDT

Judge Stays Duncan Law Litigation, Denies School’s Motion for Reconsideration

A federal judge on Monday refused to reconsider his January denial of a Tennessee law school’s request for injunctive relief in its antitrust suit against the ABA. The judge also granted the ABA’s motion to stay the litigation while the school pursues its administrative remedies but denied without prejudice the…

Apr 2, 2012 10:25 PM CDT

Are LLMs Losing? Law Schools Say Students Gain from Advanced Degrees

As law school graduates continue to struggle to find jobs, the juris doctor degree as a ticket to employment has come under criticism, with some JDs saying their degree isn’t generating enough interest or income to pay off their student loans. For lawyers looking to enhance their credentials, the postgraduate…

Apr 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Listen Up! Law Deans and Professors Discuss the Law School Loan Crisis

Deans see the law school bubble; now they seek to deflate it. The second installment of the Paradigm Shift series (see “The Law School Bubble,” January) showed how traditional U.S. legal education paradigms, driven by federal loan underwriting, are not responding to market forces as law schools continue to add…

Apr 1, 2012 8:00 AM CDT

Law Schools Asked to Double Check: Did They Give ABA Low Numbers on Student Debt?

Law schools are being asked to double check figures on average student debt submitted to the ABA after some school officials raised concerns that they may have underreported the figure. The problem came to light after U.S. News & World Report published lists of schools this week with the highest…

Mar 30, 2012 5:08 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Suit Against Avvo Dismissed; Ex-Associate Starts Book on Cross-Country Walk

Was NYLS Suit Dismissal a Win for Law Schools? At Balkinization, Washington University law professor Brian Tamanaha (whose book Failing Law Schools comes out in July) wonders if the dismissal of a lawsuit against New York Law School by nine of its graduates is really a victory. Tamanaha said that…

Mar 30, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Stanford Law School Dean: We Aim to Teach Our Students Not Just to Spot Problems, But to Solve Them

While failings of legal education have been much in the news these past few years, the need to change long predated the economic downturn—which mainly accelerated trends that have been unfolding for years. Stanford began revamping its curriculum in 2004 and already offers a program that does most of what…

Mar 29, 2012 1:00 PM CDT

Stanford Law Dean to Step Down; School Attained No. 2 Ranking

Stanford law dean Larry Kramer will be resigning on Aug. 31 to lead the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on social and environmental problems. Stanford announced the resignation on Wednesday at Stanford University News. The San Jose Mercury News and Above the Law have stories. Kramer…

Mar 29, 2012 11:24 AM CDT

Average Debt of Private Law School Grads Is $125K; It’s Highest at These Five Schools

Corrected and updated: The average education debt for law grads at private schools last year was nearly $125,000, while the average for grads of public law schools was more than $75,700, according to new figures released by the ABA. The debt load increased 17.6 percent from the prior year for…

Mar 28, 2012 10:29 AM CDT

US News Strips St. Thomas From This Year’s Numerical Rankings Over Reporting Error; Dean Protests

After an admission by University of St. Thomas School of Law that it had misreported employment data for recent graduates to U.S. News & World Report, the magazine has stripped the Minneapolis institution of its numerical listing in the latest version of the magazine’s annual law school rankings. Bob Morse,…

Mar 27, 2012 4:32 PM CDT

Dean Says ‘Law School Bubble’ Was 25 Years in the Making

In this second part of a two-part podcast series, hear ABA Journal business of law reporter Rachel M. Zahorsky host follow-up discussions with law school deans and professors to explore the merits and critiques of federal loan programs, examine the root causes of the deep debt students face and propose potential solutions to combat future tuition hikes.

Mar 26, 2012 4:04 PM CDT

Will Law School Transparency Lead to New Rankings Industry? And Will Legal Ed Retool?

A proposal to require law schools to provide more detailed employment information by the ABA’s law school accrediting arm is a lot like cancer treatment, according to Indiana University law professor William Henderson. The proposal “can beat back symptoms and buy time, but it won’t necessarily cure the disease,” Henderson…

Mar 26, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Prof Crunches Law Schools’ Employment Numbers; Do Web Startups Offer Value?

Rank Misrepresentations At The Faculty Lounge, University of North Carolina law school professor Bernie Burk decided to seek out information on law school websites to see what percentage of graduates are holding temporary positions funded by the law school at graduation. He promises to mine more schools’ data and post…

Mar 23, 2012 1:30 PM CDT