Legal Education

Obama can use pardon powers to stop deportations, law prof says in op-ed

President Barack Obama could use his pardon power to partly implement his deferred deportation program, according to a law professor’s op-ed. Writing in the New York Times, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law professor Peter Markowitz says the president’s pardon power extends to “all offenses against the United States,” which could…

Jul 8, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center gets new name after $15 million donation

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School is getting a $15 million donation from Michael R. Klein, who received an LLM from the school. It has been renamed the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, according to a Harvard Law press release, and the donation…

Jul 5, 2016 12:06 PM CDT

Law prof says his school is on the cutting edge when it comes to restrooms

George Washington University Law School has plunged into a national debate by creating a multiple-use, multi-occupant coed restroom, according to one GW law professor.

Jul 1, 2016 3:40 AM CDT

Oyez website finds sponsors to take over its Supreme Court audio archives

The future of Oyez, the website devoted to audio recordings of U.S. Supreme Court proceedings, was up in the air earlier this year as founder Jerry Goldman approached retirement. At stake was a vault filled with Supreme Court history accessible free to the public.

Jul 1, 2016 2:40 AM CDT

Fewer lawyers—and jobs—for the Class of ‘15

Chart by Stephen Ravenscraft This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of the ABA Journal with this headline: “Fewer Lawyers–And Jobs: Class of ‘15 gains only in percentages.”

Jul 1, 2016 1:40 AM CDT

One law school experiments with accepting the GRE for admissions

It's a long-standing tradition: Law school applicants take the standardized Law School Admission Test. Applicants' scores on the test, which is given four times a year, can determine the range of schools for which they can expect a reasonable chance of admission. It's accepted by the ABA and used by the vast majority of ABA-accredited law schools.

Jul 1, 2016 1:10 AM CDT

University of Houston Law Center sues over law school’s ‘strikingly similar’ new name

The University of Houston Law Center claims in a lawsuit that the South Texas College of law infringed its trademark by changing its name to the Houston College of Law and adopting its red-and-white colors. The suit, filed on Monday in Houston federal court, also alleges unfair competition, according to…

Jun 28, 2016 10:13 AM CDT

Vigilant rental car company may have thwarted earlier attempt on law prof’s life

A rental car company may have prevented two murder suspects in the death of a Florida State University law professor from carrying out the crime in an earlier attempt, prosecutors say. According to Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, murder suspects Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera traveled to Tallahassee in…

Jun 24, 2016 2:58 PM CDT

ABA threatened with 1-year suspension of law school accreditation powers

A Department of Education panel on Wednesday recommended that the ABA’s accreditation power for new law schools be suspended for one year, on the basis that the organization failed to implement its student achievement standards and probationary sanctions, while also not meeting its audit process and analysis responsibilities regarding students’…

Jun 24, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

For-profit law school with $39K total tuition bill set to close

Tuition is about $39,000—total—at California Southern Law School, and if you’re interested, now is the time. Owners of the non-accredited Riverside institution say that after fall 2016, they won’t be taking new students. Elwood Rich, a Riverside County Superior Court judge who opened the school in 1971, died last year.…

Jun 24, 2016 12:30 PM CDT

Why law schools need to teach more than the law to thrive (or survive)

The ongoing discussion on the future of legal education all too often misses the opportunities for innovation and re-invention. In its most recent discussion of the topic, for example, the New York Times highlighted the impact of declining applications (down by around 40 percent from the peak six years ago),…

Jun 23, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Tech companies hire law students for internships

Technology companies such as Facebook and Microsoft are hiring law students as summer interns in their legal departments, though the positions aren’t a path to jobs straight out of law school. Pay for the internships ranges from nothing to $7,500 a month, Law.com (sub. req.) reports. Most students in the…

Jun 22, 2016 4:49 PM CDT

Unranked law school changes its name; dean of similarly named school sees possibility of confusion

Updated: The South Texas College of Law has changed its name to Houston College of Law. Law dean Donald Guter tells Texas Lawyer (sub. req.) he hopes to improve recruiting and the reputation of the school by linking its name to its heritage and location. The law school is the…

Jun 22, 2016 4:24 PM CDT

Is law school a ‘fruitful choice’? Pay boost for JDs suggests a benefit, study says

The New York Times is taking another look at the value of law school after critics said its story highlighting the struggles of Valparaiso law school grads had ignored some bright spots in the statistics. The latest New York Times article, published at its DealBook blog, is entitled “Law School…

Jun 22, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Two men are indicted in law prof’s slaying

Grand jurors in Leon County, Florida, on Friday indicted two men who were allegedly “enlisted” to kill Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. Grand jurors indicted Sigfredo Garcia, 34, and Luis Rivera, 33, both from South Florida, on charges of first-degree murder, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. According to arrest…

Jun 20, 2016 2:18 PM CDT