JD Journal » law school

ABA Tells Judge not to Overrule Denial of Duncan School of Law

jim — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:53:56 +0000

A Tennessee judge has been urged by the American Bar Association not to force the ABA to withdrawal its denial of accreditation of Lincoln Memorial University’s law school. The law school filed a lawsuit of antitrust last month.

The ABA, in its brief of response, said that the temporary restraining order request by the Duncan School of Law is “undeserved and unprecedented.” They also said that it should not be approved.

The denial decision was made on December 20 by the ABA, which says that Duncan has not run out of ways to appeal the decision. The decision was made by the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The ABA also states that Duncan cannot show that it will be harmed beyond repair by the denial because the school can apply for accreditation from the ABA.

The response from the ABA also stated that if it was ordered to remove from its website the denial notice then truthful speech would be silenced. This is information that law students, both prospective and current, along with the public, need to know.

“There is a strong public interest in having those who look to the council’s evaluation of legal education — including current and prospective law students, faculty, state supreme courts and bar admission authorities, the U.S. Department of Education and the public — receive prompt and accurate information,” the response issued by the ABA explained. “Duncan’s requested restraint on truthful speech would harm this public interest.”

The Duncan School of Law is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The ABA was sued by the school on December 22, 2011, claiming that the ABA practiced collusion with various law schools in order to restrain competition amongst other schools by denying accreditation for the school.

Instead of appealing the decision by the ABA, the law school has decided to file a lawsuit against the ABA. The school claims appealing would not work because of the “complete and utter disregard” by the Council of the ABA of all the data presented by the law school.

There are almost 200 students enrolled at Duncan, which opened during the fall semester back in 2009 for students going to school part-time and then opened to full-time students last year. The reason issued for the ABA denial to Duncan was that LSAT average scores for students incoming was too low for those studying at the school to finish their law study and then be admitted to the ABA.

In the lawsuit, Duncan alleges that there were no fewer than eight schools that have scores for the LSAT that average lower than those that were accredited by the ABA. In the ABA response, the bar claims that Duncan has not been able to provide enough information to prove claims of antitrust.

Michael L. Cioffi, of Blank Rome LLP, is the representative for Duncan along with Robert H. Watson Jr. of Watson Roach Batson Rowell & Lauderback PLC.

Why It’s Not A Good Idea To Go To Law School Straight Away

chelsei — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:44:15 +0000

Every year newly finished college graduates head straight to law school hoping that another degree in law will help them to land a good job. This is becoming more and more of a bad idea.

In hiring most entry-level lawyers, the law firms and companies are favoring those candidates who have actually worked somewhere. It’s a big change in the legal world–which once favored those intellectual bona fides over hours logged over at the office. It’s just one more example of how the recession has impacted even the country’s most privileged: Young college graduates from the top universities who thought that they were doing every single thing right, getting into the law schools with the best reputations and positioning themselves for a high-paying job out in the legal world.

”What am I supposed to put in a cover letter? That I have been in school?” says Samantha Walls in a recent phone interview. Walls went straight from college at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, to the law school at Georgetown. She finished last spring and is still out trying to get a job.
”Of everyone I know from Georgetown who has one the [law] firm jobs you need to pay off law school loans, all but two had work experience between undergrad and law school,” Walls said, who also finished in the middle of her class. ”You are competing with all the laid off lawyers and graduates from the last few school classes who can’t find work. I can’t compare to someone who has worked at a bank and knows about financial transactions and can start making a firm money right away.”

While no one is tracking the employment rates for lawyers with some professional experience, interviews with more than 30 law professors, admissions officers, law students, recent graduates and hiring partners at law firms confirm that professional experience has grown more important in this disintegrating economy. In many of the cases, work experience functions as a tiebreaker in a toss-up between two otherwise equally qualified candidates. Many of the young lawyers that had previously gone directly from law school are now regretting their hurried decision.

With all of the unemployment rates at a record high, even for the lawyers–68.4 percent of graduates from the national law school class of 2010 are employed in jobs that require a doctorate decree in law, just a drop of 8 percentage points from the class of 2007–college graduates without any experience out there in the real world need to think carefully about heading straight to law school.

”There is no doubt that this is a buyer’s market for hiring,” says Kevyn Orr, who is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of a top-tier law firm Jones Day in a phone interview. ”And so in a more competitive market, we will look at the experience more now than in the past. For a candidate on the margin, yes, it can make a big difference. But it’s currently hard to quantify.”

Law Dean Pens Paper on Law School Debt and Financial Viability

rebneely — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:55:52 +0000

Per the December 12^th law.com article, “Law school, a ticket to economic security? Better run the numbers”, University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Dean Jim Chen is skeptical.

In an academic paper, “A Degree of Practical Wisdom: The Ratio of Educational Debt to Income as a Basic Measurement of Law School Graduate’s Economic Viability,” Chen uses an example of qualifying for a home loan while paying off student debt as a means of determining if a legal education makes economic sense.

Per Chen, law students are too highly focused on the high salaries that are most oft reported, from select schools’ graduates. Too frequently, the long term financial picture, including bankrolling their education, is not thoroughly investigated.

Chen was quoted as saying: “There is obviously a lot more that goes into the decision to attend law school, but you look around the world right now and everyone is paying attention to debt-to-income ratios. I wanted to offer some guidance to people contemplating law school.”

By utilizing the debt standards as established by mortgage providers as a guideline, Chen came to the conclusion that law graduates have to earn three times their law school tuition per year to obtain what he calls “adequate” financial viability. This is based on the assumption that students borrow only the exact amount of money they need for law school tuition, and that they do not have any additional debt – which, in most cases, is simply not true.

Therefore, graduates of relatively low-cost schools charging annual tuition of $16,000 would need to earn $48,000; graduates of schools charging $32,000 would need to earn $96,000; and graduates of schools charging $48,000 would need to earn $144,000.

To maintain a “good” level of financial viability — meaning they could easily secure loans and would be very financially secure — graduates must earn six times their annual tuition, Chen calculated, per the article. That means graduates of $16,000-a-year schools would need to earn $96,000; graduates of $32,000 schools would need to earn $192,000; and graduates of $48,000 schools would need to earn $288,000.

To maintain “marginal” financial viability, graduates of $16,000-a-year schools would need to earn at least $32,000; graduates of $32,000 schools would need to earn $64,000; and graduates of $48,000 schools would need to earn $96,000.

Per the National Association of Law Placement, new law graduates earn, on average, $68,500. Based on this statistic, this means a great number of them would not be able to purchase a home and repay their loans, according to Chen’s analysis. Lenders tend to be wary of educational debt that represents over 8 percent to 12 percent of the borrower’s monthly gross income, Chen wrote.

Chen is quoted as saying: “I was trying to think of a simple way to capture some of the growing discomfort over the economics of the decision to attend law school. At a bare minimum, you should not borrow so much money that you can’t afford a house.”

The paper is scheduled to be published in a future edition of the William Mitchell Law Review.

The John Marshall Law School Launches New Law School in Savannah

rebneely — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:13:02 +0000

The John Marshall LawSchool, located in Atlanta, Georgia, announced in recent days that it had received American Bar Association approval to launch a Savannah branch campus next fall. The new location will be called Savannah Law School.

Alan Boyer, associate dean for recruitment and marketing, was quoted as saying in the December 8^th Law.com article, “Law school establishing branch in Savannah”: “There is no other law school serving that part of the southern Atlantic region. As word has got out, we’ve had some applicants to the school here inAtlanta ask to switch over to Savannah.” The region is expected to experience a large population growth over the next ten to fifteen years.

The new campus will probably draw students from over twenty nearby colleges and universities, according to Boyer. The closest ABA-accredited law schools are the Charleston School of Law in Charleston, S.C., and Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Fla.. Each is 90 minutes or more away by car. The University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, Georgia State University of College of Law and John Marshall’s main campus are over four hours away.

Over 1,500 judges and lawyers work in the Savannaharea; this gives a strong indication that students would have opportunities for externships and clerk positions, according to John Marshall administrators.

The school plans to enroll almost 100 students next year, with 60 attending full-time and the rest part-time. The part-time program is aimed at doctors, law enforcement officers, paralegals and retired military servicemen and -women. A “noncompetitive” environment will be stressed, which is intended to encourage teamwork; this means there will be no forced grading on a curve.

Richardson Lynn, dean at John Marshall, will oversee operations in Savannah, which will maintain a separate faculty from that at the main campus. He was quoted as saying: “With the new Savannah Law School, students from theSavannaharea and throughout the Atlantic coastal region can begin their legal careers closer to home. And students from around the country and the world can live and learn in a community rich in culture, heritage and southern hospitality.”

The school will begin hiring for the new branch in the spring. Interested students are able to begin the application process this month.

Though the ABA has approved new campus, theSavannahLawSchoolstill needs to get provisional accreditation. Boyer was quoted as saying: “Our plan is to immediately begin that process so that the inaugural class will be able to sit for the bar inGeorgia.”

In addition to the city of Savannah getting a new law school during the next academic year, a small group of lawyers is planning to open the California Desert Trial Academy College of Law in Indio,Calif., in September. As well, plans for other new law schools are underway in the Louisiana and Indiana. In addition, the Thomas M. Cooley Law School has plans to open a new campus inTampa, Fla., next year.

Although some legal educators are skeptical about launching new, additional law schools during a time when hiring in the legal industry has declined, the ABA is of the mind that limiting the number of law schools could pose an issue with regard to antitrust laws.

IU Law School in Indianapolis Gets $24 Million From Former Student

chelsei — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:00:31 +0000

Retired banker and attorney Robert H. McKinney is donating $24 million to the Indiana University of Law School in the city of Indianapolis.

On Thursday afternoon, university officials announced the gift and said the law school would be renamed the University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in honor of McKinney.

The gift is the largest gift that the law school has ever received. Combined with matching funds from an IUPUI fundraising campaign, the total value rises up to $31.5 million.

The law school said that the money will fund five endowed chairs to help attract and retain nationally recognized scholars to the faculty. The gift will also create a $17.5 million endowment to fund scholarships for excelling students.
”With this extremely generous gift, Bob McKinney will have a transformative impact on a law school that already has provided the academic foundation for a remarkable number of lawyers, judges and community and government leaders across Indiana and beyond,” IU President Michael A. McRobbie said in a prepared statement.

The law school, housed in Lawrence W. Inlow Hall on the IUPUI campus west of downtown Indianapolis, is the biggest law school in the state, with more than 1,000 students. The school’s 10,000 or so graduates reside in every state and several foreign countries.

McKinney’s gift follows the renaming of IU’s law school in Bloomington in December of 2008, in honor of Indianapolis attorney and businessman Michael Maurer, who gave $35 million. Mauer is the co-owner of IBJ Media.

IU School of Law-Indianapolis Dean Gary R. Roberts said that McKinney’s gift will help the school achieve its long-term goals.

”It is impossible to overstate the impact of this gift upon the law school, the campus and the state,” said Robets in a prepared statement. ”It provides for faculty chairs and student support to create an unparalleled resource with which to realize the aspirations of our school–to become one of the finest public law schools in the nation.”

Until his retirement in 2005, McKinney served as the chairman and CEO of First Indiana Corp., parent of First Indiana Bank. First Indiana was acquired in 2008 by Wisconsin-based M&I Corp. for $529 million. Based on the 20 percent of First Indiana shares McKinney previously owned, he would have grossed more than $111 million in the deal.

McKinney also co-founded the local law firm Bose McKinney & Evens LLP, from which he retired in 1992.
Trained as an engineer, McKinney received his law degree from IU and he also holds a bachelor’s degree from the US Naval Academy.

”A law degree is a great introduction to broad areas of leadership–political leadership, business leadership and civic leadership,” said McKinney is a prepared statement. ”The IU law school in Indianapolis plays a vital rose in developing the leaders Indiana needs to succeed.”

Law Student Debt to Double by 2020

jim — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:59:33 +0000

The U.S. News and Official Guide data released information about 44,245 ABA law school graduates who acquired $3.6 billion in student loans in 2010. This number is up from the $3.1 billion of debt for the students back in 2008.

The reason for the increase in law school student debt is the fact that the government permits students to completely finance their legal educations and their living expenses. This occurs because the government provides law students with grants of $20,500 from Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Graduate PLUS loans, which cover the remainder of the costs of law school for students. As a result, the amount of debt law students will accrue is bound to increase greatly in the future because of tuition increases. This causes Congress to have no solutions for the 199 J.D.-conferring law schools that employ 22,000 people at their current rate of salary.

It can be doubted that the law schools in the United States did not send the ABA the correct debt information for their 45,000-plus graduates based on recent news about law schools fabricating statistics in an effort to keep people applying. In a more believable scenario, the law schools probably took an average of their students’ debt and submitted those numbers to the ABA.

In order to correctly calculate the total amount of law school graduate debt, three things are needed. Those three things include the number of graduates across the country, the breakdown of the graduates between public and private, and the amount of those graduates who actually took on debt. From 2008 to 2010, the average split between public and private law schools graduates was at 35/65 based on the Official Guide. According to U.S. News, in the same time frame, 85 percent of all public school graduates took on debt, which can be compared to the 84 percent of private school graduates.

Two of the 16 law schools that received accreditation from the ABA from 2001 to 2009 were public schools. Accreditation was granted to Irvine in 2011, so this school is not counted in the tally. The legal education industry has been one of the most successful in the country over the past two decades, boasting a 6.9 percent annual growth rate when it comes to debt-revenue.

For 2010 graduates of law schools, the total debt average was at $97,310 for those graduates who borrowed money. Based on current enrollment numbers, the 44,706 of 53,000 students who should graduate in 2020 will acquire debt to get through school. The total average debt for those graduates will be $156,977. That number will be $118,128 for public law school graduates and $178,179 for private school graduates.

As the projected doubling of law school debt by 2020 is very troubling, law schools are claiming that law students must spend billions of federal dollars if they wish to obtain legal educations. Congress needs to destroy the Direct Loan Program and determine an equal and pain-free method to record the debts of law students. This should include adding bankruptcy protection to student loans, both private and public.

Statistics and other information researched from The AmLaw Daily.

Recruiting and Retaining Minority Lawyers Tough for Law Firms

jim — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:57:32 +0000

Applying for, being accepted, and completing law school is the easy part for minority law students. The hardest part is keeping their job in a law firm upon graduation. Employers are still searching for minorities to work at their offices, which is astonishing despite the rough economy. The problem begins when data released shows that 87 percent of ethnically and racially diverse law firm associates quit their jobs within the first five years across the nation.

Take Minnesota for instance, where only 13 percent of attorneys in the state are from a population of color, which is only slightly better than the national average of 11.6 percent. A nonprofit organization known as Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, which is seven years old, aides 27 local law firms and 12 corporate legal firms find more diverse legal candidates.

“The Twin Cities has done a better job talking about its business climate,” said Executive Director Val Jensen. “It’s pretty white and pretty cold. So why would you want to come here as an African American or a Latina?”

Jensen’s job duties include getting more candidates into law schools, making sure they understand the position’s realities, and making sure that their employers allow room for advancement.

A bar survey released information about overall perceptions of racial bias in the legal world, which has risen in the past five years, those perceptions have decreased amongst minorities. Two-thirds of minority attorneys said they experienced bias in their interactions with other lawyers back in 2005. This number can be compared to 56 percent in 2010. From 2005 to 2010, the percentage of discrimination in workplaces being reported dropped from 77 to 75 percent. The amount of perceived bias in courtrooms fell from 61 to 59 percent. People who report an experience with bias in law schools tallied only 52 percent, which is a very welcoming statistic.

“Our focus is on getting lawyers of color into the Twin Cities and then supporting our members in keeping them here,” said Jensen.

The organization recently invited 75 minority students from the Twin Cities’ four law schools to the law offices of Faegre & Benson for an evening with mentors they will team with over a period of six months. The mentor program is one of the most well respected in the country, helping minority law students learn about their future careers and making contacts along the way.

“The way large law firms work is they bring [prospects] in after the second year of law school typically,” said Jensen. “Everyone wants to take you to lunch. But that wooing period is not at all indicative of what the next three to five years of your life is going to look like. You get on the job and in your practice group and then there’s a disconnect of expectations. You might very well have to do [tedious] document review for a few years.”

Mainstream Media and Law School

jim — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:59:05 +0000

Many students applying for law school believe that they will be able to find a job right out of school despite the tough economy and will make money hand over fist as well. What many law student applicants come to find out is that this is far from the truth. One of the main reasons for this is that the media sugarcoats how successful young attorneys can be right out of school.

If law school students and applicants perform just a little bit of research they will be able to find out that the legal world is not what it is portrayed to be in movies and television. In fact, it is very difficult to find a job upon graduation. Law school students need to determine if spending $100,000 or more on a law degree is worth it in this current economy. Thousands of law school students decide to make this investment for the wrong reasons each year.

Those wrong reasons can be blamed on law schools that bend the truth when it comes to their statistics in an effort to increase enrollment. There are over 10 law schools across the country facing class action lawsuits for intentionally inflating employment statistics of their graduates. These inflated statistics have led to students being jobless after graduation and in debt because of the cost of the education.

The information regarding the class action lawsuits against the various law schools has been appearing in major news outlets across the country. This is helping current law school students understand what is occurring at schools across the country, possible even their own. The news is also affecting prospective law school students, who will now think twice before deciding to apply.

The media can still be a helpful hand for those looking to apply at a law school, specifically the site known as Top Law Schools. This site is a nonprofit, which prides itself on providing applicants with accurate information on schools across the country. The website provides a forum for users, who can remain anonymous; to post any questions they have about law school. Those questions range from how to negotiate with a school for a larger scholarship to how to study for the LSAT. Forum users tend to ask tougher questions because their names do not appear on the screen, making it easier to protect their reputation no matter the question they ask.

The website mentioned above, along with other legal websites, ensure that students and prospective applicants are receiving the correct information about law schools. The information has been taken from these sites and posted on blogs, school websites, and even on the news recently. For the most part, law schools report their graduates’ job information accurately, but not everyone can be trusted. Advice for prospective law students is to do as much research as possible before deciding whether or not to go to law school.

Studies Finds That Faculty Diversity Impacts Law Review Memberships

chelsei — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:14:49 +0000

A new study suggests that law schools with a diverse faculty are more likely to have law reviews members and leaders who are minorities or women. The new report, completed by The New York Law School Law Review, looks at female and minority representation among law reviews membership and leadership at ABA-accredited law schools. Membership on a school’s law review is a big indicator of the future of career success.

”Getting into law school is only half the battle — for better or worse, grades matter a lot and law review membership is one of the most prominent indicators of academic achievement,” said Dana Brodsky, who is one of four 3L editors who conducted the research. ”Our survey shows a possible connection between the overall environment a school provides and the achievement of its women and minority students.”

The study looked at three different pools — ABA-accredited law schools with some of the highest reported percentage of female faculty; law schools with some of the highest reported percentage of minority faculty; and then the top 50 law schools ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

The study found that, on average, the schools with a large female faculty had greater gender diversity among their student membership and leadership than law reviews at law school ranked in the Top 50 — 52.2 percent compared to 44.3 percent.

Also, these schools had a higher rate of female law review Editor In Chiefs — 60 percent compared to just 33 percent at law reviews in the Top 50 sample. However, only 13.3 percent had an EIC who identified as a person of color.

Law reviews at schools with large minority faculty also had quite a significantly higher percentage of female membership — which is 58.6 percent compared to 44.3 percent. In addition, at least 46.2 percent of those law reviews had a female EIC, compared to only 33 percent in the Top 50 sample. And a 41.7 percent had an EIC who was a person of color.

The editors at The New York Law School Law Review said that their hope is that their study will spark a discussion for what factors drive or inhibit diversity on law reviews.

This study is an extension of an August 2010 report from Ms. JD, which is a nonprofit that helps women lawyers. That study had examined the female membership and leadership on the law reviews at law schools ranked somewhere in the Top 50 by U.S. News & World Report.

Ms. JD found that, even though the percentage of female students on those law reviews (44.3 percent) and in leadership positions (46.2 percent) was in line with the same percentage of women awarded law degrees during the same time period (45.7 percent in 2008), the representation of women in the EIC position was very ”disproportionately low” as just a measly 33 percent.

Suffolk Law School Supports Free Speech and The Troops

chelsei — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:32:22 +0000

Even though Michael Avery recently and publicly objected to the school-wide solicitation for care packages being sent to soldiers in Afghanistan, the powers at Suffolk couldn’t leave it at that. Both the dean of the law school, and the president of the university had to weight in and try to defend the school and regain their honor.

This is the post that was put on the Suffolk University for everyone to see:

”Together with the Dean of the Law School, and on the behalf of the University, I would like to address certain issues in connection with the Packages for the Troops effort at the Law School and the discussion that has occurred.

Suffolk University has a century-long history of supporting the free exchange of ideas and robust debate. We respect the right of our faculty members to exercise academic freedom and support all members of our community in speaking freely and expressing their opinions. A consequence of this open dialogue is the articulation of many points of view. As a diverse community, no one opinion or perspective is representative of the views of the whole community.

Along with our support of freedom of expression, Suffolk University has a long and proud history of supporting our men and women who have served their country in the armed forces through many programs and community outreach. We have been at the forefront among very few private institutions in New England in providing education and educational counseling to returning veterans through out Veterans Upward Bound programs, which helps U.S. military veterans develops the skills needed for success in college. Through our Yellow Ribbon Program, we provide scholarships to returning veterans for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Suffolk University Law School has been a leader in creating pathways for law graduates to enter careers in the military, including officers in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps.

In the long history of Suffolk University, we have embraced discourse within the framework of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. We encourage free discussion; yet remain uncompromising in confronting acts of discrimination. As Suffolk’s history shows, all of this can be done while supporting our mission to provide access to excellence in education to those who deserve it, not the least of whom are active duty military personnel and returning veterans, who by their brave acts have honored each of us and our nation.

Barry Brown
Acting President and Provost”

The Law School Dean Camille Nelson sent out a similar statement of pure nonsense. Her opening statement is absolutely priceless:

”While I personally intend to donate a care package for our troops, I respect the right of others to hold a differing perspective.”

I guess Suffolk felt it had no idea but to fall over itself trying to distance the university from Professor Avery’s statements. But they worried that in distancing the university, it would have a bad effect on free speech.

Law Schools Are Accused With Falsifying Job Outlook Information

jim — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:51:52 +0000

Job seekers in today’s tough economy need to know what they are up against when applying for a position. You need to know what you are worth and what the average starting salary of that company you are applying to actually be. How bad is it, then, if you go into the career field of your choice, or were convinced by many to go into, only to find out that the job opportunities and salary information you received was wrong?

That is exactly what happens to graduates of law schools around the country, according to Jeffrey Keller, a practicing attorney for Keller Grover LLP, a Bay Area employment attorney. The first class action lawsuit was filed against New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. The lawsuit states that both schools failed to print the correct information about post-graduate job statistics, according to Keller.

It is kind of bizarre really, to see schools that teach students the ethics of law, lie about how much their graduates can make in today’s economy. These students are charging the schools, saying that the law schools posted the distorted salaries and information as a way to entice prospective students into entering into their program.

Today, these students are graduating law school with a debt to the tune of $100,000. The jobs the schools promised are not there, along with the potentially high yearly salary, according to Keller. Keller works in San Francisco as a consumer protection agency lawyer.

The lawsuit also states that these students most likely would not have gone through the rigorous schooling if they had known the end result would have been something different from what they were told, according to Wired PR News.com.

Law.com reports that, along with New York Law School and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 15 more universities might find themselves on the list. These schools include:
Southwestern Law School, Albany Law School of Union University, Widener University School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Villanova University School of Law, St. John’s University School of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, Pace Law School, California Western School of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, The John Marshall Law School (Chicago.) DePaul University College of Law and Florida Coastal School of Law.

Each of these schools report their student job placement rates at above 90 percent, according to Law.com. The American Bar Association is looking into changing its rules regarding what the law colleges can advertise when it comes to job placement statistics. In the past, the American Bar has not regulated what the school can advertise regarding job placement and salary information but this is bound to change very soon.

Do Lawyers Undersupply? Barriers to Protect Consumers

chelsei — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:14:40 +0000

If you want to go to law school, but can’t get into an ABA-accredited one, then there has to be something wrong with you. Maybe you cant read scantron sheets or brochures, but something is not right if you can’t get into law school but you really want to.

It doesn’t matter if you had some kind of culturally difficult upbringing or have some kind of trumped-up attention disorder or if you are a deaf-mute, because even intelligent abused orphaned deaf-mutes suffering from ADHD with daddy issues can easily get into accredited law schools, given the totally minimum barriers to entry into such programs. All you have to do is fill out some forms and take a multiple choice exam without scoring significantly worse than random chance, and then…you are in!

I’m not sure that most people understand that the barriers to entry, such as they are, aren’t just there to protect lawyer salaries. Lawyers are also trying to protect the consumers of legal services too.

Look, no one is saying that having a great LSAT score or a solid college GPA means that you will be a really good lawyer.

What they are saying is that doing the things you need to do in order to get into an accredited law school, and eventually become a practicing attorney is one important indication that you might not be a mouth-breathing idiot who should never be trusted with such a sensitive matter. This is not a foolproof system. People go and slip through the cracks all the time. But, the suggestion that there should not be anything standing in the way of a potential imbecile and a career in the law-talking business is just disgusting.

From the Economist:

”Three supply barriers bulk largest. The American Bar Association accredits law schools, and in most states you must be a graduate of one of them to practice law.
The second hurdle for a would-be-lawyer is the bar exam itself.
Finally, American states do not allow non-lawyers to manage or invest in law firms, nor can companies not run by lawyers practice law in any form.”

Now, let’s deal with the last thing first. Allowing banks to also provide some legal services wouldn’t have any effect on the supply of lawyers, though it may as well increase the demand for lawyers to work at these mythical bank firms that can steal your money, and then turn around tell you how to sue them to get it back.

And as for the second ”hurdle”, the bar exam, that is legitimate point. Certainty, the bar prevents some of the people, some people who would be great lawyers, from becoming lawyers. But, it definitely seems that the problem there isn’t that the test is too unreasonably difficult, the problem is that law schools have three but can’t seem to teach everybody enough to pass this entry exam.

Clients Refuse To Pay For What Law Schools Churn Out

chelsei — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:30:01 +0000

You take three years out of your life to slave over books in law school. Then you spend over a hundred thousand dollars on getting that education. After that you take a difficult entrance exam to prove that you are qualified to practice law. You would think that after all that trouble and hard work, you would be able to convince sophisticated clients of your value as a lawyer.

But, of course, if you thought that, you would be wrong.

The Wall Street Journal has recently said in a report that over 20% of corporate clients simply refuse to pay for the first- or second- year associate work on some matters.

And today’s report isn’t telling us anything new. The clients have been quite reluctant to pay the bills for junior attorneys since the very start of the recession. They have also been openly willing to talk about the ”worthlessness” of junior attorneys for some time.

We will just say that the fact that this prejudice against junior attorneys is kind of stupid. At most of the Biglaw firms, first- and second-year attorneys are given only the work that a conscientious high school student could preform. While it definitely seems outrageous to pay the large billing rates for the first-year associate to put together a ”hot docs” binder, because clients would probably want to pay a fifth-year to do that work, I’m sure that law firms would definitely be accommodating.

But that doesn’t matter, law firms will adjust and in a free market, clients are free to spend their money however they so please.

The sad part about this story is the absolute lack of reaction from American law schools. Again, the Wall Street Journal’s report is not entirely new information. Law schools have know this, and had years to digest the information that clients think recent law school graduates are ill-prepared to advise them on their legal issues. Because whether you go to a great school or one that gets sued over allegedly misleading employment statistics, clients will still say that you are way underprepared to do what they need you to do.

Which is actually really sad when you consider that you’ve spent the past three years of you life, and six figures to learn skills that people are allegedly willing to pay for. What are law school actually doing if they aren’t pumping out people who can convince clients to pay for their work.

Some may argue that the American legal profession needs to move to an apprenticeship system, like the one that they have in the U.K. Which could be very interesting.

Law schools remain totally oblivious to reality. All they keep doing is charging money, and putting poor kids through an education that is increasingly out of touch with what the market demands.

School Hires New Law Firm

jim — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:17:15 +0000

News is that The Jordan-Elbridge school board has hired a new law firm. The school has hired two other law firms and this is their third in the past year. It was quite a win when the board decided to hire Bond, Schoeneck & King. The decision was a 7-0 result that landed the law firm with the school. Each law firm holds special positions and B,S & K will hold the position as the “district’s general council.”

The school also decided to keep Frank W. Miller on board and assign him as “special counsel for litigation.” “Miller was appointed the school district’s interim counsel in October 2010 immediately after the board voted to fire Danny Mevec and his law firm, Mevec & Cognetti. At that meeting a year ago, board members admitted to a raucous crowd of 800 that they’d made mistakes based on legal advice from Mevec.”

Since this “shake-up” the board has been hit with a lot of different legal issues. Some of those issues have been regarding legal fees due to firings. From the beginning of the year until the middle The Jordan-Elbridge School paid Miller more than one hundred thousand dollars. Although the school was happy with the way Miller handled their legal issues, the school put out a bid for a new one that could handle a “broad range of legal issues.”

One school employee said “he thinks it’s important the Miller law firm continues its litigation work, but the district would go to Bond, Schoeneck & King for other legal issues as they arise. The superintendent said the district will need legal advice in a variety of areas, particularly special education.”

Bond, Schoeneck & King answered the calling and now will represent the school because they are obviously the best fit for the job position. Bond, Schoeneck & King has a very diverse and large law firm that can handle anything that comes in the path of the school in a legal sense.

The legal team does not try and get by with only one attorney. Instead the law firm is very hands on and brought 5 lawyers to the board meeting at one point. While they have a friendly fee for their services, Bond, Schoeneck & King and also have a lot of experience. The school was looking for a firm that could fit their legal and financial needs.

Bond, Schoeneck & King comes with a lot of legal knowledge and a high recommendation from past clients. Many people in the community are happy with the choice the school made regarding the new district’s general counsel.

Although the Miller law firm tried to be the “general law counselor” for the school, the school was looking for a firm with a little more depth and know-how. Bond, Schoeneck & King seems to be the perfect match for the school’s legal troubles.

Law School Loan Provider Calling it Quits

jim — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:15:13 +0000

College students are not the only one looking for ways to provide for college. The biggest law school loan provider is going out of business. For the past 25 years this loan provider has been the leading agency in giving money to law students so they could fulfill their dreams. The staff is being severely affected along with the workers of Access Group Inc.

All of these changes are due to a new law passed by the government over this past school year. The lending agency has to stop lending to new students and has been “kicked out” of the federal student loan program.

“We are out of the lending business,” said Access Group President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Chapman. The only exception, he said, is that the company will disburse loans for one final semester to a small group of international students. “We’ve been legislated out of the federal loan program.”

Everyone at the loan center is more shocked then anything because no one was expecting this big change. The group would be shed from a large staff of about 260 down to a small staff of about 40. There is no reason to maintain a large staff when the business is no longer there. The law school sent a letter to Access Group explaining their decision and how the school would provide loans to new law students.

Access Group no longer has the ability to create new loans for law students and cannot afford to keep a large staff on board. The company does want to note that current borrowers should not panic because repayment options will remain the same. However, the past borrowers of this company should note that “where they send their payments will change.” Students and staff should expect these changes to occur in the next couple of months.

“The company was devised as a way to ensure that law students had access to lower-priced loans. In its early days, it provided between 75 percent and 80 percent of law student loans. That percentage fell over time, and the company eventually was spun off from the council. In recent years, Access Group was lending as much as $850 million annually to 25,000 to 30,000 law students.”

This company will be greatly missed by many law students. This was a cheaper loan option for those who chose to go through with law school. The US Department of Education is now the major provider of loans on a federal level. Access Group is not the only company affected by these changes.

Graduate students should also note that they no longer have access to subsidized Stafford loans but they are instead unsubsidized. This means that students will pay a larger amount of interest while they attend school.

“Should federal policy toward student loans shift, the company would be in a good position to once again provide loans.” Chapman said. Access Group can only hope for the best with this entire situation.

Is Law School Worth the Fight?

jim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:46:24 +0000

Millions of students attend law school every year to only leave with thousands of dollars in debt. Michael Wallerstein is one of those students, but he is about $250,000 dollars in debt. Creditors are hounding his door wanting their money, but how can he pay all of that money back? Dozens of creditors want a piece of his “money,” but there is no guarantee that any of them will see it.

“And I don’t open the e-mail alerts with my credit score,” he adds. “I can’t look at my credit score any more.”-says Michael.

Finances are overshadowing more than just Michael, but also millions of other graduated students. Not many people can say that Michael’s law school was that great of an investment. Over 15,000 legal jobs have vanished as a result of the economy as well. Law students, graduates and firms are all feeling the heat from the biggest economic downfall of history.

Temporary employees are picking up more entry level work than ever before. These jobs are also going overseas to countries like India and leaving the U.S. permanently.

“But improbably enough, law schools have concluded that life for newly minted grads is getting sweeter, at least by one crucial measure. In 1997, when U.S. News first published a statistic called “graduates known to be employed nine months after graduation,” law schools reported an average employment rate of 84 percent. In the most recent U.S. News rankings, 93 percent of grads were working — nearly a 10-point jump.”

Some reports are showing that law graduates are actually finding job positions. However, graduates are telling a different story. Those graduates like Michael, who have to sit back and wallow in debt.

How do law schools hide the truth?

“A law grad, for instance, counts as “employed after nine months” even if he or she has a job that doesn’t require a law degree. Waiting tables at Applebee’s? You’re employed. Stocking aisles at Home Depot? You’re working, too.”

Unfortunately, these graduates are not all working in law, but instead are working anywhere they can. The average school of law for one year costs around $43,000 dollars. This is an incredible number for those who cannot find jobs after graduation.

Although the economy is not seeing more jobs for those with a law degree, enrollment is not dropping either.

“I think the student loans that kids leave law school with are more scandalous than payday loans,” says Andrew Morriss, a law professor at the University of Alabama. “And because it’s so easy to get a student loan, law school tuition has grossly outpaced the rate of inflation for the last 20 years. It’s now astonishingly high.”

The big question here is “Is law school worth it?” No one can decide that for you. However, it is best to outweigh the high price of law school for the low amount of jobs available to those who need it.

Battle of the Legal Blogs

jim — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:46:49 +0000

Law school is supposed to be for those who want to dedicate themselves to the law. Instead, some students are more about picking apart certain aspects of a school that prepares students to practice law. Students are supposed to have freedom of speech; however, one student crossed that line when he ruined the reputation of Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

A student who went by the Internet alias Rockstar 05 would soon change the world of blogging in a legal manner. The blogger took it upon himself to rip apart Cooley Law School and tell others what he thought.

“The blog was to serve a strong buyer-beware message to students considering Cooley as an option for law school,” Rockstar05 said in an interview with The National Law Journal that he granted only on condition of anonymity.”

While the identity of this blogger stays anonymous, many people are out to protect his rights within the first amendment. The “Dendrite International Inc. v. Doe No. 3 for weighing the First Amendment rights of anonymous Internet commenters against the rights of plaintiffs who seek to unmask them”—is a huge topic at this point in the case. Both parties seem to have good points against each other. But in the end who is right?

Rockstar05 has changed schools since all of this has taken off. However, a lot of issues are still at stake with this lawsuit. The derogatory blogger could have issues finding employment if his name is exposed. What may have started out as an innocent way to rip apart a law school-has turned into a full-fledged legal battle that might not go away for a while.

“The bloggers’ statements damage our reputation because today’s law school applicant looks online for information about the law schools he or she may attend,” said Cooley Associate Dean for Legal Affairs and General Counsel James Thelen. “As a law school that emphasizes professionalism and ethics, we are particularly harmed by false statements that are dishonest.”

The Thomas Cooley law school is more concerned about the long term effects of the bloggers harsh words. Cooley Law School is one of the largest in the country and already feels as though this blog has caused a major issue in enrollment.

“Cooley seeks monetary damages, a retraction of the statements and their removal from the Internet, and a court order barring the defendants from any future defamation against the school.”

The school wants what anyone who has been slandered wants—retraction and the truth. The legal issue is that Rockstar05 went above just stating his opinion about the school. However, the blogger is fighting back, which some experts say is unusual.

“It’s very easy to bring a libel suit against someone when you are criticized, if you have the resources,” she said. “The unmasking of anonymity is often enough to chill the speech.”

The Cooley law school is in for a long battle while RockStar05 continues to defend is very outspoken blog.

Law Student Test Scores could be Audited

jim — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:35:24 +0000

Dan Bernstine, the president of the Law School Admission Council, says that his organization might have to police the Law School Admission Test scores and GPA’s that law schools submit to the American Bar Association each year. This news comes on the heels of scandals where law schools have been inflating the GPA’s and test scores of law students when submitting the information to the American Bar Association.

“We are working to determine whether we can set up procedures through which we would be able to confirm school-reported LSAT scores and [undergraduate GPAs] in a reliable and responsible way,” Bernstine said. “Unfortunately, this is going to take some time. That’s just not something we have done historically, and I don’t see why we would,” Bernstine said. “We’re not in the reporting business. We don’t distinguish between our members.”

The council is not planning on investigating the GPA’s or test scores of this year’s incoming law school classes, since that information is due by the end of October, but will consider beginning the process with next year’s class.

“I think this pressure is coming from the admissions offices,” said Kyle McEntee, a co-founder of Tennessee nonprofit organization Law School Transparency. “I’ve spoken with people at a number of admissions offices and they are concerned about all the misreporting. I get the sense that they’ve been feeling helpless, so this is a good thing.”

Bernstine went on to discuss the following in his October 11 statement about the investigation:

“If we provided some sort of auditing statement, it would confirm only that the school’s reported numbers are accurate for the students the school tells us are at the school,” Bernstine said. “We are concerned, first, that this would not be a useful confirmation and, second, that people might misinterpret it to mean more than it really does.”

If the council was to audit the grades of incoming legal students, U.S. News would welcome the investigation, said director of data research for the magazine Bob Morse:

“US News as a data user and publisher would strongly be in favor of such a plan as one swift way to restore law school integrity in this area,” Morse said. “Since the LSAC has the power and the data to do this, it could bring instant and definitely needed credibility to LSATs and GPAs reported by schools — the two most visible and important admission data points that have been the subject of painful disclosures in both the Villanova and [University of Illinois] cases in 2011.”

The reason that some schools across the country would file misleading test and GPA scores is that those stats weigh heavily on the ranking given to the schools by the U.S. News and World Report rankings for law schools each year in the country.

Law professors: law schools should open their own law firms

EmploymentCrossing — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:58:58 +0000

According to law professor Robert Rhee’s article, a new twist might occur in the history of law schools; law schools starting their own law firms. This will be done to erode the huge criticism from public for producing unskilled law freshers every year. These law firms would shape the emerging lawyers in good shape when they come out of school. This type of law firm would have a duration of two years for every new lawyer.

Read the original article here:
What if law schools opened their own law firms?

Law schools schedule early interviews with law firms for their students

EmploymentCrossing — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:31:23 +0000

The hiring outlook may be slightly better for law students this year, and the hiring law firms include Bingham McCutchen and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. This year, more than 100 are conducting August interviews! Law firms are increasing their hiring by more than 66 percent! This is a great time to get a job at a law firm.

Read the full article here:
Several Law Firms Plan to Increase Hiring; Law Schools Jockey for Placements

W.P. Carey Foundation Announces Gift of $30 Million to University of Maryland’s School of Law

rebneely — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:04:48 +0000

The W. P. Carey Foundation announced a gift of $30 million to the University of Maryland’s School of Law. Not only is the gift the largest in the school’s history, but it is one of the largest in the history of the University system of Maryland. Additionally, the gift ranks among the top ten largest gifts ever given to any law school.

The gift of money will help the School of Law to bolster its programs, in particular in faculty support, as well as helping to increase the School’s endowment. Also, the University of Maryland has committed to raising $15 million to support the School of Law.

W. P. Carey Foundation founder William Polk Carey was quoted as saying in a PR Newswire press release that: “This gift represents the Carey family’s educational and philanthropic legacy in the great state of Maryland and helps us honor family members who dedicated their lives and careers to education, to civic duty and many to the legal profession itself. It is our hope that with this gift, the University of Maryland School of Law will continue its tradition of graduating students who make a special contribution to the business world—like my grandfather and his brother did.”

The School of Law will be named the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law after W. P. Carey’s grandfather who is a graduate of the law school from the class of 1880, and co-founder of what is now the biggest law firm in the world: DLA Piper, formerly Carey, Piper and Hall.

University of Maryland School of Law Dean Phoebe A. Haddon was quoted as saying: “This extraordinary gift will support the school’s dedication to providing a world class education. Our program has a rising national reputation for excellence and it is our hope that this gift will engage and strengthen the School of Law and the University System of Maryland overall as we continue to graduate the best and brightest students.”

The W. P. Carey Foundation is a private U.S. foundation, incorporated in 1988 by William Polk Carey. The foundation’s mission is to support educational institutions with the bigger goal of improving America’s competitiveness in the world, and its main focus is to support schools, universities, and other programs with an affiliation with the Carey family.

Law School Applications Down

joshua — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:14:16 +0000

It was bound to happen. As the economy tanked and jobs for recent graduates fell, law school admissions continued to rise, leading to a glut in the legal job market. The result was numerous articles and blogs begging students to think twice before jumping into law school. Those words of warning seem to have finally had an impact.

New applications for law school are down 11.5% this year, to just under 67,000 – the lowest number since 2001. But it may not be entirely attributable to a depressed legal job market. As the economy improves, there are more jobs available for college graduates without advanced degrees making the prospect of joining the work force now more appealing, rather than racking up another hundred thousand dollars or so in student loans.

Jones Day Announces Plans for New Office in Boston

joshua — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:52:02 +0000

Jones Day will open a new office in Boston in January 2011.

In the press release at the firm’s website, Jones Day’s Managing Partner, Stephen J. Brogan, a graduate of Boston College and Notre Dame Law School, was quoted as saying: “We are privileged to have many strong client relationships in Boston and throughout New England. The Boston area is a leading center of new technology and continues to foster new business development and entrepreneurial spirit that is now bringing these companies to new markets around the globe. Our Boston Office will include some of our finest next generation talent, lawyers with distinguished academic and professional careers, who will be able to serve New England based clients backed up by the highest levels of legal capacity that the Firm has built up around the world. We look forward to more effectively serving our existing clients through a formal Boston presence, and becoming full participants in the vibrant business and cultural life of Boston and the region.”

Traci L. Lovitt, formerly an Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General and law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, will serve as the Partner-in-Charge of the Boston Office.

Jones Day’s Boston Office will offer a full range of legal services, as well as Jones Day’s one firm worldwide access to its lawyers around the globe. The Firm expects there will be close to 20 lawyers in the office by the end of the first quarter in 2011. Among the first partners to join Ms. Lovitt in Boston will be Eileen Falvey and Lynn Coe. The Firmwide head of Jones Day’s Trial Practice, Thomas (Tim) Cullen, Jr., will divide his time between Boston and Washington.

Jones Day is a global law firm with over 2,500 lawyers, including more than 400 in Europe and 200 in Asia. With the openings in São Paulo and Boston, Jones Day will have 34 offices throughout the world.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:25:59 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Thursday, October 28th. Here’s a quick look back at yesterday’s stories.

Baker & McKenzie was slapped with a $103 million malpractice verdict by a Mississippi jury…

Four attorneys at Milberg LLP were selected for the 2010 Top Attorneys List by legal media company Lawdragon…

Sidley Austin’s Michelle Illene Ruiz, a partner in the firm’s Chicago office, was honored at The Anti-Defamation League’s 3^rd Annual Rising Star Awards Luncheon…

Renowned mediation attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg headlined the ILR Summit…

DLA Piper announced that Stéphane Lemarchand will join its Intellectual Property and Technology practice in Paris as a partner in the beginning of November…

Anti-Defamation League Honors Sidley Austin Chicago Partner

joshua — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:00:53 +0000

Sidley Austin’s Michelle Illene Ruiz, a partner in the firm’s Chicago office, was honored at The Anti-Defamation League’s 3^rd Annual Rising Star Awards Luncheon Tuesday. Ruiz was one of five women recognized “as the next generation of women defining the future.”

“Michele has a deep commitment to Chicago and has been dedicated to the community throughout her career,” said Thomas A. Cole, chair of Sidley’s Executive Committee. “Her leadership and tireless commitment to her profession and the community is evidenced through the wide range of Chicago organizations to which she contributes her time and talent.”

In addition to her legal practice, Ruiz is actively involved in many organizations throughout Chicago. She served as co-chair for three years of the Alliance of Latinos and Jews, a bridge-building organization with a long history in the Chicago area. She also has given back to her law school, the University of Chicago Law School, in many ways, including co-chairing their Annual Fund campaign in 2006-2007 and serving as a mentor in their Women’s Mentoring Program.

At Sidley, Ruiz represents hedge fund clients in structuring private offerings and compliance matters. She assists hedge funds and other end-users to navigate the complex world of derivatives, particularly in light of the recent sweeping U.S. financial reform.

Sidley Austin is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with approximately 1,600 lawyers practicing in 17 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:29:31 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, October 25th. Here’s a quick look back at Friday’s stories.

According to a new study conducted by the University of Maine Center, a relatively high percentage of elderly residents of Maine will require legal intervention at some point in their lives….

A survey by law school admissions consulting firm Veritas Prep showed 81% of law school applicants would still apply even if a significant number of graduates were unable to find jobs in their desired field…

The University of California, Irvine School of Law will provide scholarships of at least one-third of tuition to each member of its next class of students…

John Frankenheimer of Loeb & Loeb will be stepping down as the firm’s co-chair…

Lawyers for SAP AG, a German software company, requested that a federal judge issue a gag order during a forthcoming trial for an intellectual property theft case…

Sam Baxter of McKool Smith has been named by The Best Lawyers in America the 2011 Dallas Intellectual Property “Lawyer of the Year…

Whistle-blower website Wikileaks published classified documents related to the Iraqi war last Friday…

Law School Applicants Remain Bullish Despite Tight Job Market

joshua — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:36:20 +0000

A survey by law school admissions consulting firm Veritas Prep showed that 81 percent of law school applicants would still apply even if a significant number of graduates were unable to find jobs in their desired field. The results provide interesting insight at a time when law school rankings and reported career placement data are coming under increased scrutiny.

About 12 percent of respondents said they would postpone applying until placement rates improved and 4 percent said they would not apply to law school.

Other notable findings from the survey:

–44 percent of respondents said a reasonable desired base salary upon graduation to be $75,000-$100,000; 29 percent expect $100,000-$145,000; and 11 percent anticipate base salaries over $145,000.

–Location was the most important factor in selecting a law school among 69 percent of applicants. Career placement rates was important to 62 percent; and, perhaps most interestingly, 37 percent of respondents indicated that prestige and ranking was not important.

–Affordability was important to 54 percent of respondents and only 37 percent anticipate having law school debt of over $100,000.

The survey was conducted in conjunction with Law School Podcaster and Pre-Law Magazine. Research was conducted in June and July of this year.

UC Irvine School of Law to Again Offer Tuition Help

joshua — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 16:18:49 +0000

The University of California, Irvine School of Law will provide scholarships of at least one-third of tuition to each member of its next class of students, which school officials said will help it to continue it to attract high-caliber students.

The scholarships will cover all three years of law school for the Class of 2014. They are funded by private donations, which includes a gift from Mark P. Robinson Jr., chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council and senior partner at Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson Inc. in Newport Beach, Calif.

“Because of the generosity of Mark Robinson and others, UCI Law will continue to provide generous scholarships to help us attract top-quality students,” said Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. “These scholarships will also help reduce the debt burdens of our students by the time they are ready to pursue careers in law and public service.”

UCI Law, the first new public law school in California in more than 40 years, aims to enroll about 100 students in its next class, which will be the third since the school opened in August 2009. Tuition at UC law schools in the fall of 2011 is expected to be about $40,000 for in-state students and $50,000 for those out of state.

The first two classes of UCI Law students also received scholarship support from private donations: The first received full-tuition scholarships, the second, half-tuition. Those classes had median grades and LSAT scores on par with classes at top 20 law schools, UC Irvine said in a press release.

The first two classes numbered 60 and 83 students. The school will increase the size of its classes gradually until they reach about 200 students.

Other types of financial aid, including guaranteed federal loans and loan forgiveness programs, will also be available to help cover tuition costs and other expenses.

Prominent Healthcare Attorney Joins Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

joshua — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:54:14 +0000

Tracy E. Miller, a prominent health care lawyer, has joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP as a member of the Corporate Department in the New York Office.

Ms. Miller focuses on health care governance and regulatory affairs, including Board fiduciary matters, conflicts of interest, compliance, and health care quality. As the former General Counsel of a health system of hospitals and nursing homes, she has experience advising CEOs and Boards of Directors of health care organizations. She has also directed legal work in key areas to advance compliance and quality, achieve health system reorganization, and meet the operational needs of health care providers.

In the press release at the firm’s site, Paul Mourning, a corporate partner in the Health Care, was quoted as saying: ”Tracy’s arrival strengthens our practice in so many ways. Not only has she played a leadership role in health care policy and practice, but she is a terrific person who will be an indispensible player on our team.”

Before joining Cadwalader, Ms. Miller served as Executive Director of the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law and Policy at Seton Hall Law School. There, her work focused on conflicts of interest in the relationship between industry and medicine. From 2002-2007, she served as General Counsel of the Catholic Health Care System. Ms. Miller is also the former Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at the Greater New York Hospital Association and the founding Executive Director of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, a 25-person task force convened by then Governor Mario Cuomo to devise law and policy on issues posed by medical advances. Ms. Miller has authored numerous articles in the health care field and has been a frequent speaker at national and state medical, legal, and civic organizations. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University magna cum laude, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, cum laude.

Established in 1792, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP is one of the world’s leading international law firms, with offices in New York, London, Charlotte, Washington and Beijing. Cadwalader serves a diverse client base, including many of the world’s top financial institutions, undertaking business in more than 50 countries on six continents.

Greenberg Traurig’s Ballon Selected for IP Vanguard Award

joshua — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:42:14 +0000

Ian Ballon, a shareholder in the Silicon Valley and Los Angeles offices of Greenberg Traurig, has received a 2010 IP Vanguard Award from the executive committee of the IP section of the State Bar of California. The honor, presented annually, honors outstanding legal professionals at the forefront of new developments in the world of intellectual property.

According to a Greenberg Traurig press release, Ballon is the only private-practice attorney to receive the award. It will be presented at a luncheon on Oct. 29 at the 35th annual Intellectual Property Institute in Napa, Calif.

Ballon represents technology, media and entertainment companies in complex intellectual property and Internet litigation, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy and security, computer law, class action, Internet, and Web 2.0 cases.

Ballon is also the author of the four-volume legal treatise, E-Commerce and Internet Law: Treatise with Forms 2d Edition, which is considered a leading reference work in the field. He is also executive director of Stanford University Law School’s Center for E-Commerce.

Greenberg Traurig is an international law firm with approximately 1,800 attorneys and more than 30 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:57:53 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, September 13th. Here’s a quick recap of Friday’s stories.

The ACLU will represent defense lawyers against U.S. Homeland Security…

According to a CT TyMetrix Inc. and The Corporate Executive Board survey, billing rates in Washington, D.C. are the second highest in the U.S….

The Quellos Group owners pled guilty to fraud and tax evasion…

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was ruled unconstitutional in California’s 9th District…

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan disqualified herself from 10 more cases…

Law School admissions officers survey tells prospective students how to prepare…

Burleson Cooke added nine attorneys to its Pittsburgh office…

Law School Admissions Officers Survey Tells Prospective Students How To Prepare

ashley — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 04:07:44 +0000

According to the most recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, over 50% of admissions officers are expecting to see an increase in law school admissions this year while only 6% expect to see a decrease. This could prove problematic in the future as the number of graduates grows but the number of jobs at laws firms does not. No longer does a degree in law guarantee a new graduate a job.

Though job prospects may be shrinking and the amount of students growing, candidates still planning on applying for law school should do the utmost to stand out in the admissions process. Of law school admissions officers, 64% rank LSAT scores as the most important factor when screening applications. And, to boot, 73% of those surveyed believe more financial aid is available to those with high LSAT scores. Only 23% of law admissions officers deem undergraduate grade point averages to be more important than LSAT scores.

Surveyors also mention letters of recommendation possibly ruining a student’s chances at enrollment. In fact, 15% of those surveyed find negative recommendation letters to be the most influential when throwing out a candidate. Of those surveyed, 87% say they have received negative letters, suggesting that students need to more carefully consider the judgment of those they would choose to write recommendations.

Firms Looking to Increase Summer Hires

joshua — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:08:16 +0000

AM Law Daily provided some encouraging news Friday in a preview of the upcoming summer hiring season. According to its reporting, summer associate class-size is expected to show significant increases in some cases among the more prestigious firms.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which has a summer class size of 23 now, is expected to increase its hiring to around 75 for next summer. The story notes how Cravath “shocked the market” when it slashed its summer class size from 123 in 2009 to this year’s low number.

The number of summer associates at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom fell from 225 in 2009 to 79 this year, but that number could jump back to over 100.

While still not at the levels from before the cuts, the AM Law Daily notes that the increases are “a modest jump, but modest jumps are what pass for good news these days.”

Ropes & Gray could go over 100 summer associates after having 82 this year. Jones Day expects to increase its summer class from the 124 of this year and Proskauer Rose will hold steady.

None of this is official, however, as much of the information for the story is based largely on anonymous sources.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:36:42 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, July 26th. Here’s a look back at Friday’s stories.

New Jersey-based firm Archer & Greiner named a new president…

According to NALP’s Jobs & JD’s report released this week, employment is down but salaries are holding steady for law graduates…

A partner in the Dallas firm of Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail was selected as one of the nation’s “Most Powerful Employment Attorneys…

Dinsmore & Shohl added three new associates to its IP practice…

Employment Down, Salaries Hold for Law Grads

joshua — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:01:14 +0000

The employment rate for law school graduates of 2009 was 88.3 percent as of February of this year, a 3.6 percent drop from 2007’s historical high, and the national median salary of $72,000 was unchanged from the Class of 2008, according to NALP’s Jobs & JD’s report released this week.

For those working at law firms, the national median salary was $130,000 as compared with $125,000 the prior year. The national mean was $115,254.

However, NALP offered for the first time an “adjusted mean” that drove the national mean downward. The new measure is designed to account for the fact that fewer than half the salaries for jobs at small law firms are reported while salaries at large law firms are often a matter of public record. With the additional weight given to reported small-firm salaries, the adjusted mean salary for full-time law firm jobs was $102,959.

James Leipold, NALP’s executive director, explained the system in a press release.

“As a matter of consumer information, especially for students who are considering applying to law school, the adjusted mean provides a better benchmark than the unadjusted mean, because it accounts for the larger number of lower salaries that are not reported,” Leipold said. “Nevertheless, the overall mean for starting salaries, whether adjusted or unadjusted, is best used to measure the rise and fall of aggregate salaries over time, and not the likelihood of earning a particular salary when graduating from law school. As the distribution of starting lawyer salaries makes clear, very few new law school graduates earn anything close to the mean. Instead, many graduates will earn much more than the mean salary, and many more will earn much less.”

NALP found the most common employment setting was that of private practice at law firms, which was reported by 55.9% of the members of the Class of 2009 who provided employment information. This figure has fluctuated only between 55% and 58% since 1993.

Over one-quarter (25.8 percent) of Class of 2009 graduates who reported being employed on February 15, 2010, were working in public service positions, including government jobs, the military, judicial clerkships, and public interest positions. This percentage has also remained relatively stable for almost three decades. Employment in business was 13.5 percent, essentially unchanged from 2008, and still within the 13-14% range reported for the last six years.

At 3.5%, the percentage of jobs in academia was the highest ever recorded by NALP, with the number of jobs up by over 400 compared with the Class of 2008. The report speculates that could be the result of schools providing post-graduate job opportunities given the tight job market.

NALP’s Class of 2009 Jobs & JDs report is based on information submitted by 192 ABA-accredited law schools on 96% of the graduates in the Class of 2009.