Law Schools

Law Blog: Unhappy 3L Creates Model of UVA Law School Made Out of Rejection Letters

An unidentified third-year law student at the University of Virginia has found a creative way to register his unhappiness over a lack of career prospects, according to Above the Law. “This is what happens when skill in arts and crafts meets a bitter law student with time on his hands.…

Apr 4, 2011 9:36 PM CDT

Duke Law’s ‘Tricky Dick’ Musical Signals Shift in Administration’s Stance on Nixon

For decades, the Duke University School of Law has downplayed its association with arguably its most notorious graduate: Richard M. Nixon. However, in a sign that the university is slowly embracing its ties with the embattled president, Duke law students on Friday performed Tricky Dick, a musical imagining an ethically…

Apr 4, 2011 7:03 PM CDT

Florida International 3L Shot and Killed in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Students at the annual “barristers’ ball” at Florida International University’s law school wore purple ribbons Saturday in honor of a 3L who was shot and killed the day before in an apparent murder-suicide. Dannette Willory, 25, had planned to attend the event, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. She was…

Apr 4, 2011 11:40 AM CDT

ABA Committee Members Show No Inclination to Start Over on Accreditation Standards Review

A request that an ABA committee put a hold on its review of law school accreditation standards to consider the broader ramifications of its efforts on the future of legal education did not get much of a response. The Association of American Law Schools made the request at a public…

Apr 2, 2011 10:03 PM CDT

SUV Smashes Into Pittsburgh Law School; Building Evacuated for Safety Check

It might sound a bit like an April Fool’s Day joke. But in fact a sport-utility vehicle did smash into the side of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law last night, requiring an evacuation until the Barco Law Building was declared safe to occupy at around 11 p.m., according…

Apr 1, 2011 6:30 PM CDT

Letters: Feel the Love

Thanks for your valentine to the legal profession, “Why I Love Being a Lawyer (Seriously),” February. I love being a lawyer and found your quotes informative and inspirational. In my term as president of the Florida Bar, I am traveling the state reminding lawyers that they, too, should love what…

Apr 1, 2011 9:09 AM CDT

That’s a Good One: Effective Trial Lawyers Know How to Tell a Good Story

“A great story is like a well-crafted joke—deliciously brief, immediately memorable, eminently repeatable and virtually impossible to dismiss.” —Kenneth Albers, actor and director Whether written or oral, stories are essential to virtually every part of litigation—from opening statements to direct and cross-examinations to final arguments, written briefs and the give-and-take…

Apr 1, 2011 7:20 AM CDT

Hot Topics on ABA Meeting Agenda: Post-Law-School Jobs Data; ‘Revolutionary’ Legal Ed Changes?

Already expected to be well-attended because of a hot topic on the agenda for discussion—rules for reporting post-law school employment—a meeting of the American Bar Association Standards Review Committee this weekend is heating up further as the Association of American Law Schools enters the fray to protest what it describes…

Mar 31, 2011 9:46 PM CDT

Yale Law School Gets Hit by Double-Digit Drop in Applications

Applications are down at the nation’s No. 1 ranked law school. Yale Law School had a 16.5 percent drop in law school applications at its March 1 deadline, the Yale Daily News reports. The average drop in law school applicants nationwide is about 11.5 percent. Public affairs director Janet Conroy…

Mar 31, 2011 4:20 PM CDT

Despite 1-Month Deadline Extension, Law School Apps Likely to Plummet Up to 20% at Kansas U

Reflecting a national trend, law school applications have dropped this year at Kansas University. Even though law school officials extended the deadline by a month until April 15, the total number of applications is expected to plummet 15 to 20 percent from last year’s 1,100, reports the World. Law schools…

Mar 30, 2011 12:16 AM CDT

Law Schools Need to Partner Up to Help Deflate Rising Tuition, Dean Says

Attention, prospective law students: The cost of legal education will continue to rise. That is the prediction shared by two law school deans—Michael Schill from the University of Chicago at a recent panel event in Chicago, and Phoebe Haddon from the University of Maryland, who stopped for a visit with…

Mar 29, 2011 2:04 PM CDT

PepsiCo GC Leaves to Become a Law Prof

Pepsico general counsel Larry Thompson is leaving the company to become a law professor at the University of Georgia. He will be replaced by Maura Abeln Smith, who was most recently general counsel of International Paper, according to a press release. Thompson joined Pepsico as general counsel in 2004 and…

Mar 28, 2011 3:57 PM CDT

Missouri Law Dean Criticizes US News Rankings After His School Takes Another Hit

The University of Missouri School of Law dropped once again this year in the rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, but law dean Larry Dessem is taking it all in stride. “I’m disappointed but not particularly surprised,” Dessem told the Columbia Daily Tribune. “This is magazine marketing masquerading…

Mar 28, 2011 3:26 PM CDT

Yale Law School Is Most Popular as Well as Best, US News Says

Yale Law School is the nation’s No. 1 law school in more ways than one. Yale topped the law school rankings released earlier this month by U.S. News & World Report. Now U.S. News reports that Yale is also the nation’s most popular law school, based on the percentage of…

Mar 25, 2011 12:42 PM CDT

Harvard Law Fellow Is Likely Winner of Election to Lead Tibetan Exile Government

Harvard Law School fellow Lobsang Sangay may soon have a new position—as leader of the Tibetan government in exile. Sangay is favored to win the election for Tibetan prime minister that was held Sunday, the Boston Globe reports. The results won’t be announced until late April. Sangay has never been…

Mar 24, 2011 10:30 AM CDT