Law Schools

Supreme Court Upholds Law School Policy Requiring Student Groups to Admit ‘All Comers’

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a law school’s policy requiring all comers to be admitted to officially recognized student groups. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion (PDF), SCOTUSblog reports. She was joined by four other justices. The Christian Legal Society had contended its First Amendment rights of…

Jun 28, 2010 2:51 PM CDT

Law Schools Do Little to Prepare Future Leaders, Prof Says

The assumption is that great leaders are born, not made—but the assumption is wrong, a Stanford University law professor says. Leadership can and should be taught in law schools and by continuing education providers, according to law professor Deborah Rhode. Writing in the American Lawyer, Rhode notes a recent study…

Jun 28, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Book of Rejection Letters Includes One from Princeton ‘Law School’

Updated: Harvey Wax can’t attribute his inspiration to lawyer Lionel Hutz, the Simpsons character who by some accounts claimed to have a law degree from Princeton Law School. It was 1957, and Wax was writing to Ivy League colleges for law school applications. One school turned him down. “In reply…

Jun 23, 2010 12:24 AM CDT

Law Schools Try Helping Grads by Raising Grades, Paying Firms for ‘Test Drives’

Law schools are taking a proactive approach to helping their grads find jobs in a tough economic climate. Many schools are boosting grades, while others are scheduling earlier on-campus interviews and even paying law firms to “test drive” students, the New York Times reports. Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of…

Jun 22, 2010 11:41 AM CDT

How Law Schools Can Produce Happier Students and Satisfied Lawyers

Law schools need to do more than teach the legal basics—they also have a moral obligation to produce healthy and satisfied lawyers, a recent law grad asserts in an opinion column. Writing in the National Law Journal, Michael Serota says schools should emphasize the importance of students making career decisions…

Jun 22, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Kagan E-Mails Reveal a ‘Sharp-Elbowed and Sometimes Salty-Tongued Lawyer’

In 11,000 e-mails released by the Clinton Presidential Library on Friday afternoon, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan emerges as politically savvy, sometimes sarcastic and given to an occasional swear word. The New York Times and the Washington Post both had stories on the e-mails, the third and last group of…

Jun 21, 2010 1:41 PM CDT

US Law Prof Peter Erlinder to Be Freed from Rwanda Jail on Bail

A law professor from the United States who has been held in a Rwandan jail since May will be released on bail because of concerns about his health. Peter Erlinder was granted bail today and will be permitted to return to the U.S., the Star Tribune reports. Erlinder, who was…

Jun 17, 2010 10:12 PM CDT

69 Law Deans Endorse Kagan

The deans of more than a third of the nation’s law schools have endorsed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan for a seat on the United States Supreme Court. In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that was dated last week and released by the White…

Jun 15, 2010 9:01 PM CDT

4 Law Schools Named in Suit By Blind Advocacy Group Over LSAC’s Online Law School Applications

Four law schools have been added as defendants in a California lawsuit filed last year by a blind advocacy group against the Law School Admissions Council. The amended complaint filed last week contends that the University of California Hastings College of the Law, Chapman University School of Law, Thomas Jefferson…

Jun 15, 2010 12:51 PM CDT

Lawyer (and BC Law Dean) to Replace Cleric as New President of Catholic University

A law dean known for his scholarship on some of the most divisive issues facing the Catholic Church will be named tomorrow as the new president of Catholic University of America. The appointment of John Garvey, who currently is serving as dean of Boston College Law School, will be only…

Jun 15, 2010 12:11 AM CDT

At 45th College Reunion, Law Prof Realizes Reading Struggle Was Dyslexia

New York Law School professor David Schoenbrod figured he couldn’t be dyslexic. After all, he had succeeded in a career that is dependent on skill with words. But he did have trouble with reading all his life, he recalls in the Huffington Post. He excelled at math and science, but…

Jun 10, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Should UT Change Dorm Named After Law Prof in KKK? Panel Will Study Issue

A University of Texas dormitory is named after a dead law professor who was a Ku Klux Klan leader. But the university doesn’t want to be too hasty in considering a name change. Instead the school has named a 19-member panel to make recommendations, according to stories in the Austin…

Jun 10, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

New UCLA Law Dean Will Be First Latina at Helm of a Top 20 Law School

Rachel Moran will be making history when she becomes the new dean of the law school at the University of California at Los Angeles. A law professor at the University of California at Berkeley since 1983, Moran will be the first Latina to head a top 20 law school, according…

Jun 9, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Rotunda Sex-Harass Suit Against George Mason Legal Clinic Exec Is Settled

A sexual harassment lawsuit filed against a George Mason University legal clinic executive director has been settled. Plaintiff Kyndra Rotunda, a former director of the clinic who is the wife of constitutional law scholar Ron Rotunda, has agreed to a confidential settlement of her claims against Joseph Zengerle. It involves…

Jun 8, 2010 6:49 PM CDT

How Law Schools Can Help Next Gen Lawyers Take Gamble Out of Hefty Tuition (Podcast)

More and more, critics of ever-increasing law school tuition say enrolling only makes economic sense if students don’t have to pay tuition, or graduate from a top-tier school.

Jun 7, 2010 8:00 PM CDT