Law Students

“So, this lawyer walks into a bar ...”

Days before Cassandra E. Hooks was to sit for the California bar exam, her 4-year-old son was hospitalized with a bacterial infection.

Aug 1, 2007 8:30 AM CDT

This Law Grad Better at Business

If you are wondering if law is really the career for you, the experience of Jim Lanzone could prove inspirational. He attended Emory University law school in Atlanta and “hated it from the moment I started,” according to an article in the New York Times. As a summer associate, “I…

Jul 30, 2007 12:19 PM CDT

Bar Exam Film Ups Ante for 6 Law Grads

It’s hard enough just studying for the bar exam. But six California law graduates decided to up the ante even further by doing so in the public eye. Responding to a 2006 request by documentary filmmakers, they agreed to allow video footage of everything from crying jags and the struggle…

Jul 26, 2007 6:24 PM CDT

NY Bar Exam Marred by Glitch

Bar examiners in New York suspect a software glitch caused test takers to experience problems this week saving and uploading their essays. Diane Bosse, chairwoman of the Board of Law Examiners, told the New York Law Journal that officials are trying to determine if any answers were lost. She says…

Jul 26, 2007 1:06 PM CDT

BAR/BRI Settlement Approved

A federal judge has approved a $49 million settlement in a class action suit against a bar review course. But U.S. District Judge Manuel Real refused to approve incentive payments to class representatives and cut requested attorney fees, the Recorder reports. Real said class representatives had a conflict of interest,…

Jul 10, 2007 12:32 PM CDT

Grads: School’s Not Out for Summer

After three years of hard work, the nation’s newly graduated law students aren’t done with their studies yet. The vast majority are still buried in the books as they put in long hours preparing for the next major hurdle in their lives—the bar exam, typically held in July. That’s certainly…

Jul 9, 2007 8:27 PM CDT

Re-engineering the J.D.

Schools across the country are teaching less about the law and more about lawyering

Jul 2, 2007 12:44 AM CDT

Bribe Puts Would-Be Legal Eagle’s Fledgling Law Career at Risk

A New Jersey man’s fledgling law career is not off to a good start. Eager to get into a well-regarded law school, Kevin B. Siangchin of North Plainfield tried to bribe workers responsible for administering the crucial Law School Admission Test to give him an advance copy. But the effort…

Jun 20, 2007 10:18 PM CDT

Judge Questions BAR/BRI Deal

Incentives that would be paid to class representatives have temporarily derailed a proposed settlement in a suit against a bar review course. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles expressed concerns about the incentive awards on Monday, the National Law Journal reports. The $49 million deal would give class…

Jun 20, 2007 1:27 PM CDT

Lawyers Seek Lead Status in West Suit

Lawyers are battling over lead counsel status in the class action lawsuit that claims West Publishing Corp. conspired with Kaplan Inc. to monopolize their markets for test preparation courses. West owns BAR/BRI, the nation’s largest provider of bar review courses, and Kaplan offers courses to prepare for the Law School…

Jun 15, 2007 12:52 PM CDT

Back Off, Professor Kingsfield

A new study says the emotional distress of law students sometimes approaches that of psychiatric patients. The Wall Street Journal’s law blog unearthed the study, which say law schools have a “corrosive effect” on students’ well-being, values and motivation. Schools’ teaching methods “train students to ignore their own values and…

Jun 11, 2007 5:11 PM CDT

15-Year-Old Innocence Project Thriving

When Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld began the Innocence Project 15 years ago, their goals were relatively modest. Today their New York-based program has 38 employees, has exonerated 201 convicts and freed them from prison and is a model for similar efforts in 39 other states. The two one-time public…

Jun 8, 2007 7:50 PM CDT

Legal Writing Prof Has Writing Issues

An online paper about environmental dispute resolution posted by Victoria Dawson reportedly is clumsily written, ungrammatical and filled with spelling errors. The problem is, she’s a legal writing instructor at Florida A&M University’s law school. The paper prompted some students to complain that Dawson is unqualified to continue in her…

Jun 6, 2007 7:53 PM CDT

Dad & Daughter Among Law School’s First Grads

After Sydney Jones decided to go to law school, so did her father, Sidney. In fact, the two both wound up in the same class at Charleston Law School in South Carolina, and are to graduate together over the weekend, in the law school’s first graduating class. Although the two…

May 14, 2007 11:01 AM CDT

Law Firm Lesson Not Learned in Law School

To Anthony Ciolli, not censoring the AutoAdmit Web site he worked on was a First Amendment issue, even though he reportedly admitted that sexist, racist and just plain rude comments posted there could sometimes be offensive. But it has also recently become an employment issue for the 23-year-old third-year law…

May 4, 2007 12:19 AM CDT