Law Schools

ABA Effort to Add Outcomes to Accreditation Standards Roils Law Deans

A proposed shift in ABA law school accreditation standards away from “input” measures—such as student/faculty ratio or facilities—to student learning outcomes has law school deans talking; and worrying. “I think the concern of deans is twofold,” Northwestern University School of Law Dean David Van Zandt, told the National Law Journal.…

Feb 22, 2010 9:35 PM CST

In a Tight Job Market, Northwestern Is Top Feeder School for BigLaw Firms

A legal publication’s list of go-to law schools highlights how bad the job market is for first-year associates. The National Law Journal determined which law schools send the highest percentages of graduates to the nation’s top 250 law firms. Topping the list for 2009 is Northwestern University School of Law,…

Feb 22, 2010 3:50 PM CST

Law Dean Chemerinsky Says Yelling Hecklers Not Protected by First Amendment

A loud and disruptive protest during a speech last week at the University of California at Irvine has divided students and other observers. Some say members of the Muslim Student Union should be expelled for disrupting the speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, while others say they should not be…

Feb 18, 2010 12:47 PM CST

Ken Starr to Leave Law School Deanship to Become Baylor President

Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr will give up his post as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law to become the new president of Baylor University. In his six years as dean at Pepperdine, Starr helped raise the law school’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report to 55th place,…

Feb 16, 2010 1:04 PM CST

Law School Offers Spring Break Alternative: Help Haitians Stay in US to Support Families

Updated: Law students from across the country will be heading to Miami this March. But instead of beach-hopping and partying, they’ll be immersed in legal advocacy, helping Haitians file for temporary protected status. The status will allow Haitians who were already in the United States legally before last month’s devastating…

Feb 11, 2010 4:15 PM CST

Big NY Firms Resist NALP Proposal to Delay Job Offer Date

Recruiting officials at several large New York law firms are unhappy about recommendations by the National Association of Law Placement that firms push back the date that offers are extended to law students. Moving the offer period to January, five months after on-campus interviews, would make recruiting more costly and…

Feb 10, 2010 2:29 PM CST

Denver Law School Names New Dean

The University of Denver has named Martin Katz dean of its Sturm College of Law. Katz, who has served as interim dean since July, has been a member of the law school faculty since 2000, according to a law school news release. Before joining academia, Katz was a partner in…

Feb 10, 2010 1:14 PM CST

ABA to Study How Law Firms & Schools Are Ranked

The ABA will study how a variety of organizations rank law firms and law schools. The debate in the ABA’s House of Delegates about the measure proved to be the most contentious of any resolution it considered today. Resolution 10A, passed by a narrow voice vote, was prompted by a…

Feb 8, 2010 10:28 PM CST

Would-Be Law Student Files Suit Claiming ADHD Merits More Time for LSAT

A Texas man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming he needs twice the time to take the Law School Admission Test because of his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Matthew Scott Jones of Austin says in the suit that he skipped the LSAT in September 2009 because the Law School Admissions…

Feb 4, 2010 1:59 PM CST

Higher Ed Board Approves Plan for Public Mass. Law School

Today the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education unanimously approved a plan to merge the unaccredited Southern New England School of Law with the University of Massachusetts. The vote paves the way for the state’s first public law school, according to the Associated Press, the Herald News of Fall River and…

Feb 2, 2010 6:40 PM CST

Circle of Patriotic Friends at Harvard Law: Two Die, Leaving Another Twice Widowed

In the span of six years, tragedy ended the lives of two best friends at Harvard Law School who were considered oddities because of their patriotic interests. Now a third classmate who married one and then the other is twice widowed, and other grads are re-evaluating their own career choices.…

Feb 2, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Jones Day: NALP Plan for Delayed Job Offers Is Radical and Anticompetitive

One law firm has come out swinging in its critique of NALP’s call for delaying summer associate job offers. Jones Day was an early critic of the plan for an “offer kick-off day” in mid-January during students’ second year of law school. Now the law firm is offering more details…

Feb 1, 2010 6:07 PM CST

Lawmaker to Mass. AG: Law Schools May Be Misusing Public Funds to Fight Competitor

In a new escalation of an ongoing controversy about whether a non-ABA-accredited law school should merge with the University of Massachusetts, a state lawmaker is calling for an investigation of potential antitrust issues. Three competitors of Southern New England School of Law may be misusing public funds to lobby against…

Jan 30, 2010 2:35 AM CST

New U of Calif. Law School May Be on Drawing Board in San Diego

Officials of California Western School of Law and the University of California at San Diego have formed a joint committee in order to explore the possibility of creating a new University of California law school in San Diego. It would potentially draw on the strengths of both institutions and expand…

Jan 28, 2010 2:09 AM CST

Lockdown Ends at Northwestern Law School; No Gunman Found

A building at Northwestern Law School in Chicago was on lockdown this morning as police investigated a report of a man with a gun in his waistband. No one matching the description of the gunman was found, despite an “intensive search,” Northwestern announced on its website. The lockdown was lifted…

Jan 27, 2010 4:57 PM CST