Legal Education

Afternoon Briefs: Defense bar calls for protection in prisons from coronavirus; cheese makers protect ‘halloumi’ trademark

Nation’s criminal defense bar calls for ‘prompt implementation’ of COVID-19 plans in detention facilities The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on Wednesday called for the “prompt implementation of comprehensive, concrete, and transparent COVID-19 coronavirus readiness plans for the nation’s prisons, jails and other detention facilities.” NACDL President Nina Ginsberg…

Mar 6, 2020 3:50 PM CST

Bar applicant with extreme school debt can sit for the bar, Ohio Supreme Court says

Cynthia Marie Rodgers, the Capital University School of Law graduate who got dinged on her Ohio character and fitness application for having almost $900,000 in school debt—and seemingly no clear plan to ever repay it—can sit for the bar exam, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled March 5. The court based…

Mar 6, 2020 3:05 PM CST

What comes next for ABA-accredited law schools with two-year pass rates below 75%?

Under the old version of Standard 316, which sets bar passage requirements for ABA-accredited law schools, the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar entertained all sorts of exceptions—including having a 75% pass rate for all graduates over the five most recent calendar years, or at least three of those five years. It’s been said no law school has ever been out of compliance with it.

Mar 5, 2020 2:46 PM CST

Tenured law professor who lied to IRS will return to teaching

A tenured bankruptcy and corporate finance law professor who lied to the Internal Revenue Service will keep his job at the University of Minnesota.

Mar 5, 2020 2:05 PM CST

Texas university remains out of compliance with admissions standards, ABA legal ed section finds

The ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has found that the embattled Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law remains out of compliance with a key admissions standard. The section council has also asked the school to appear at its May meeting as it determines "whether to impose sanctions, including removal of approval."

Mar 4, 2020 1:02 PM CST

Lawyer, author and founder of program for wrongfully convicted dies at 52

Laura Caldwell, a lawyer, author and founder of a project that supported the wrongfully convicted, died Sunday after a long battle with breast cancer.

Mar 4, 2020 11:03 AM CST

Internal candidate is selected to lead the ABA’s legal ed section

William Adams, the deputy managing director of the ABA's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, will replace Barry Currier as the organization's managing director of accreditation and legal education, starting April 6. Currier announced in summer 2019 that he would be stepping down from the position.

Mar 3, 2020 10:45 AM CST

New York removes mental health question from state bar application

Bar applicants in New York will no longer have to answer questions about mental health conditions or treatment history as a result of action by the state’s court system.

Feb 28, 2020 1:07 PM CST

Law school tech classes may not bring job opportunities, but they do help teach practice skills

Chicago-Kent College of Law students can learn about legal analytics. Students at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta have the opportunity to work in startup groups with MBA students, as well as graduate-level students from the Georgia Institute of Technology. And at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law, students taking a class about representing people who experienced domestic violence hear stories from “virtual victim” avatars to learn about the listening process.

Feb 27, 2020 5:15 PM CST

Want law profs to embrace technology? Show them how it improves their teaching

“In terms of how I decide to use technology, I ask myself if it will make me a better instructor. I never try to use technology just because I want to use technology. There’s got to be a pedagogical reason,” law professor April Gordon Dawson says.

Feb 27, 2020 2:43 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Texas university leader leaves without blame for law school scandal; judge sides with immigrants

Texas Southern University president leaves school with no blame for alleged law school misconduct Texas Southern University is parting ways with its president without any claims of wrongdoing, which is a change from earlier this month, when the school’s board of regents voted to fire him based on allegations that…

Feb 21, 2020 4:50 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: George Zimmerman sues Dems over tweets; Concordia Law finds new parent school

George Zimmerman sues Buttigieg and Warren over tweets The neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted in the murder of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin has filed a defamation suit against Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. The Feb. 18 lawsuit filed for George Zimmerman targets two tweets. One by Buttigieg read:…

Feb 20, 2020 3:56 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Trump agrees he makes AG Barr’s job difficult; fired BigLaw lawyer denies harassment

Trump agrees he makes Barr’s job difficult but keeps tweeting President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that his tweets make U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s job more difficult, even as he continued to share opinions on how the Department of Justice should do its job. On Twitter on Wednesday, Trump shared…

Feb 19, 2020 4:28 PM CST

All full-time ABA employees are eligible for federal loan forgiveness program after litigation settles

All full-time employees of the ABA are now eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program following a settlement in the association’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.

Feb 18, 2020 3:36 PM CST

Law schools see an increase in bar passage rates, new ABA data shows

The bar passage rate for first-time test-takers has increased by nearly 5 percentage points, according to data released Monday by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Feb 18, 2020 2:41 PM CST