Legal Education

Kirkland drops mandatory arbitration of associate workplace disputes after call for boycott

Kirkland & Ellis will no longer require associates and summer associates to agree to mandatory arbitration of workplace disputes.

Nov 27, 2018 10:05 AM CST

Law student gets $30K financial award after fighting off yoga studio shooter with vacuum and broom

When Scott Beierle opened fire at a Tallahassee, Florida, hot yoga studio in early November, it was a Florida State University law student who confronted him. Joshua Quick, a 2L, is set to receive at least $30,000 for school expenses, raised by John Thrasher, president of FSU, and its board…

Nov 19, 2018 1:45 PM CST

Lowest bar pass rate for California in 67 years; other states see drop, too

Only 40.7 percent of the people who took the California July 2018 bar exam passed, according to a state bar news release.

Nov 19, 2018 9:23 AM CST

Computer science programs need to teach the law

During the last few years, the pendulum has swung against internet-enabled technology companies. Once heralded as great equalizers and modernizers, the consequences—intended or otherwise—of these companies are under full review. In response to criticism, academic, corporate and non-profit ethics projects and programs have cropped up in an attempt to give computer science some humanity.

Nov 19, 2018 6:00 AM CST

ABA legal ed council sends bar-passage standard back to House of Delegates

Paperwork for the ABA’s House of Delegates to again consider a proposed revision of the bar passage standard for law school accreditation has been submitted, said Barry Currier, director of accreditation and legal education, on Friday at a council meeting for the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the…

Nov 16, 2018 4:04 PM CST

Judge dismisses whistleblower lawsuit against ABA and Charlotte School of Law

A Florida judge has thrown out the remaining claims in a lawsuit alleging that the now-closed Charlotte School of Law flouted accreditation standards—and that the ABA should never have accredited the school in the first place. Law.com has the story. U.S. District Judge Roy Dalton Jr. of the Middle District…

Nov 16, 2018 11:39 AM CST

Dean Chemerinsky recommends removing Boalt name from use at Berkeley Law

The University of California, Berkeley’s law school dean has recommended that the last name of mining industry baron John Boalt be removed from a campus building, and is encouraging campus groups to discontinue using “Boalt” in their names. The UC Berkeley School of Law has been among several such schools…

Nov 13, 2018 4:40 PM CST

Group asks fellow Harvard Law students to boycott Kirkland & Ellis

The Pipeline Parity Project has called for a student boycott of Kirkland & Ellis until the law firm removes arbitration agreements from employee contracts. The organization describes itself as a group of Harvard Law School students focused on ending harassment and discrimination in the legal profession. Kirkland is the largest…

Nov 13, 2018 1:00 PM CST

Former male Chicago law school employee alleges gender discrimination

A former employee at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago has won the right to continue his federal complaint of gender discrimination against the school, although claims of age discrimination and retaliation were dismissed. John Bergholz, 59, was the law school’s executive director of development and alumni relations from…

Nov 12, 2018 1:07 PM CST

Boards of trustees approve Michigan State University College of Law merging with MSU

Despite its name, Michigan State University College of Law is a separate entity from Michigan State University. But that may change soon. Boards of trustees at both MSU and the law school—a private institution once known as Detroit College of Law, and affiliated with MSU in 1995—have voted in favor…

Nov 9, 2018 3:32 PM CST

Following contempt finding in accommodation lawsuit, LSAC ordered to pay attorney fees

After finding the Law School Admission Council in contempt for violating a consent decree regarding disability accommodations on the Law School Admission Test, a federal magistrate on Monday ordered the organization to pay $480,489 in attorney fees. The finding was sought by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing,…

Nov 9, 2018 1:34 PM CST

How can we reform legal education? Try spotlighting the outcomes

I am happy to be back after an unexpected hiatus because of a summer car accident. The silver lining is that with more time came additional research and conversations about the topic of reshaping our legal profession. Below are some of the responses to my July article, which led me…

Nov 9, 2018 8:15 AM CST

Bar passage standard revisions to go back to ABA House of Delegates

A proposal to tighten a law school accreditation standard regarding bar passage rates will be resubmitted to the House of Delegates at the 2019 ABA Midyear Meeting in Las Vegas. The proposed revision, which calls for a bar passage rate of at least 75 percent within two years, was approved…

Nov 6, 2018 4:15 PM CST

Teach-out plan approved for Arizona Summit with closure date set for end of spring 2020

A new teach-out plan from InfiLaw’s Arizona Summit Law School has been approved by the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Notice of the approval was posted on the section’s website. The for-profit law school will continue with ABA accreditation through the spring…

Nov 6, 2018 3:10 PM CST

Northwestern University law school cuts positions despite nearly reaching $250M fundraising goal

The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law has nearly reached its fundraising goal of $250 million, but the extra cash isn’t insulating the school from a need to downsize. The law school revealed on an internal email discussion list in late September that the school is cutting staff and lecturer…

Nov 6, 2018 12:00 PM CST