You are currently browsing archives for February 2016.
Education Law (IN): Helping Schools Work With Families, Regulations, And More
February 29th, 2016 / By I Am The Law
This episode is presented by The United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corp.
Many types of educational institutions exist in the United States. Schools can be public or private, and serve different age ranges and missions. Regardless, schools are highly regulated at the state and federal level and need lawyers to function.
Seamus Boyce is a 2006 graduate of the University of New Hampshire School of Law and an education attorney at a 38-person firm with offices throughout Indiana. In this episode, he tells us about routine work advising clients with one-off questions, as well as more complex work involving student services, discrimination, and legislation. He also talks to us about his ascent to partner and the choices his firms make in pursuit of client satisfaction.
This episode is hosted by Aaron Taylor, a law professor at St. Louis University. It is sponsored by Barbri, ShouldIBeALawyer.com, and Top-Law-Schools.com.
Episode Links
Lawyers and Legal Services
February 26th, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt
There was a time when lawyers delivered most of the nation’s legal services. That time, however, is slipping away. Businesses increasingly obtain law-related work from contract managers, compliance officers, and human resource directors. Individual clients buy homes, draft wills, file uncontested divorces, and conduct other legal business with interactive software. When those individuals visit the courthouse, they may consult a self-help kiosk rather than a lawyer.
The ABA now recognizes that these changes are altering the market for legal services. The House of Delegates recently approved Resolution 105, which establishes model regulatory objectives to guide state regulation of “non-traditional legal service providers.” The objectives are relatively hospitable to non-traditional providers. They include, for example, a focus on “delivery of affordable and accessible legal services” as well as “efficient, competent, and ethical delivery” of those services. Those objectives would support many types of service delivery by non-lawyers.
The mere passage of this resolution, moreover, sends an important signal to the legal profession: Alternative service providers are here to stay. Have law schools gotten this message? What does it mean for us?
LSAT or GRE?
February 25th, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt
The University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law has decided to accept GRE scores from applicants. The school will also accept LSAT scores, with applicants free to choose between the tests. (Note, though, that an applicant who takes the LSAT must submit that score; that applicant may choose only whether to submit a GRE score as well.)
Is Arizona’s move an attempt to attract more students in a weak market for legal education? Undoubtedly–the school’s press release admits as much. But that doesn’t mean that the change is bad for prospective students or legal education. Weak markets should prompt innovation. Arizona has taken a number of other steps to make legal education more accessible and attractive to students: It slashed tuition (twice) for nonresidents and created a BA program in law.
Here’s why I like Arizona’s latest innovation as much as the other two.
Attrition May Jeopardize Accreditation Status Of Dozens Of Law Schools
February 24th, 2016 / By Kyle McEntee
This column originally appeared on Above the Law
Earlier this month, the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar took an important step towards holding law schools accountable through the accreditation standards. The committee charged with writing the law school accreditation standards voted to send a slate of accountability measures to the Council of the Section of Legal Education — the final authority for law school accreditation.
Last week I wrote about the proposed changes to the minimum bar passage standard and the transparency standard. This week, I discuss the Standards Review Committee’s proposals for refining the non-exploitation standard, Standard 501. (more…)
» Read the full text for Attrition May Jeopardize Accreditation Status Of Dozens Of Law Schools
Women In The Law
February 23rd, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt
During three years of law school, I learned the law from only one female professor. But she was a gem: the future Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After graduation, I had the honor of clerking for then-Judge Ginsburg on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The following year, I clerked for an equally admirable woman in law, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Justices Ginsburg and O’Connor faced stiff sexism throughout their careers. Even when they ascended to the Supreme Court, their gender could diminish them. I heard one lawyer address the Court as “your honors and Mrs. O’Connor.” Other advocates confused Ginsburg and O’Connor, despite their different jurisprudence and physical appearance.
Entering the law a generation after these pioneers, I faced much lower barriers–although women of my generation still struggled to prove their value in the workplace and to combine work and family. Today’s women, another generation forward, face a somewhat more hospitable workplace. But I don’t kid myself that the playing field is level: glass ceilings, hidden biases, and workplace stereotypes still hinder women in the legal workplace. Both men and women, meanwhile, struggle to combine a demanding professional career with a supportive home life.
Against that background, I’m delighted to announce that LST Radio is creating a podcast mini-series that will explore the ongoing role of gender in the legal workplace. Episodes will address implicit bias, the leaky pipeline, media images of female lawyers, and much more. Podcasts will include summaries of expert research, interviews with individuals, and round table discussions.
LST has assembled a first-rate team of producers, as well as partners who will distribute the podcasts widely. But to go into production, they need some start-up funds. Diversity Law has made a generous matching pledge: If you donate to the “Women in the Law” podcast project now, your dollars count double. Give $10 and the project receives $20. Give $25 and $50 goes in the pot. I’ve already made my pledge–please add your dollars here.
Let’s make sure we understand the forces that still hold women lawyers back–and work to overcome them.
Federal Government Transactions (WA): Affordable Housing Deals and Counsel
February 22nd, 2016 / By I Am The Law
This episode is presented by The United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corp.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, through a system of rules, regulations, and incentives, seeks to create strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities in recognition of every citizen’s right to affordable housing. Naturally, such a system requires lawyers to dot the i’s, cross the t’s, and keep the system moving and improving.
Kevin Krainz is a 2013 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and HUD attorney in the Seattle regional office. In this episode, he tells us about his roles at HUD and how it differs from other types of public interest work related to affordable housing.
This episode is hosted by Debby Merritt, a law professor at The Ohio State University. It is sponsored by Barbri, ShouldIBeALawyer.com, and Top-Law-Schools.com.
Episode Links
Selective Attention
February 20th, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt
Want to see why it’s more difficult to multi-task than you think? Take a look at this video. It’s silly, but it shows how limited our attention is. Our brains aren’t video cameras that record everything within hearing and seeing distance; instead, we focus selectively on parts of the landscape. Other events–like all of those changes in the video–escape our notice.
This lesson is important for students who think they can follow a law school class while texting, reading for the next class, or (horrors) reviewing another professor’s law review submission. If their attention is focused on one of those activities, they will miss much of what happens in the classroom.
The phenomenon, however, also has implications for professors.
Summer Employment
February 18th, 2016 / By Deborah J. Merritt
The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) recently announced “an encouraging view of law firm recruiting,” pointing to the fact that “the average size of law firm [summer] programs has nearly recovered to pre-recession levels.” That statement conflicts with accounts I have heard from students, so I looked more closely at the NALP report.
It turns out that the average size of 2015 summer programs reported to NALP matches that for programs reported to the organization for the summer of 2007: Reporting firms in both years averaged thirteen second-years in their summer programs. The number of firms reporting to NALP, however, has declined dramatically since 2007.
In 2007, 425 firms told NALP that they had employed a total of 5,379 second-year students in their summer programs. That works out to an average of 12.7 students per program. Last summer 335 firms reported a total of 4,329 second-year summer associates. That’s 12.9 students per summer program–but it’s also 1,050 students fewer than in 2007. What should we make of this? Do these figures really give “an encouraging view of law firm recruiting”? *
The ABA’s New Bar Pass Rate Standards
February 17th, 2016 / By Kyle McEntee
Originally published on Above the Law.
Does the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar do enough to hold law schools accountable through accreditation? People throughout the legal profession, including people at law schools, think the answer is no.
This past weekend, the Section took an important step forward. The Section’s Standards Review Committee is charged with writing the law school accreditation standards, and it’s voted to send a slate of accountability measures to the Council of the Section of Legal Education — the final authority for law school accreditation.
This week’s column is about Standard 316 (the minimum bar passage standard) and Standard 509 (the transparency standard). Next week, I’ll write about the SRC’s proposals for refining the non-exploitation standard, Standard 501.
(more…)
» Read the full text for The ABA’s New Bar Pass Rate Standards
Criminal Justice Advocacy From Within The L.A. Mayor’s Office (CA)
February 16th, 2016 / By I Am The Law
This episode is presented by The United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corp.
When someone is jailed for a crime, the punishment often extends beyond the sentence because formerly incarcerated people face structural barriers in their transition to freedom. In particular, limited employment prospects too often lead to a cycle of crime that’s difficult to escape. The City of Los Angeles, under the leadership of Mayor Eric Garcetti, established the Office of Reentry in response to this problem. Through programming, policy development, and outreach the office seeks to not only help the formerly incarcerated rejoin the public, but also to alter conditions that lead to jailing in the first place.
Kimberley Baker Guillemet, a 2005 graduate of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, helped Mayor Garcetti open the office in the fall of 2015. In this episode, she talks about how her background as a lawyer prepared her to tackle this job and how the intersection of law and policy can make a difference in millions of people’s lives.
This episode is hosted by Kyle McEntee, executive director of Law School Transparency. It is sponsored by Barbri and Top-Law-Schools.com.
Episode Links
About Law School Cafe
Cafe Manager & Co-Moderator
Deborah J. Merritt
Cafe Designer & Co-Moderator
Kyle McEntee
Law School Cafe is a resource for anyone interested in changes in legal education and the legal profession.
Around the Cafe
Subscribe
Categories
Recent Comments
- on Experiential Education
- on Scholarship Advice
- on ExamSoft: New Evidence from NCBE
- on COVID-19 and the Bar Exam
- on Women Law Students: Still Not Equal
Recent Posts
- Experiential Education
- The Bot Takes a Bow
- Fundamental Legal Concepts and Principles
- Lay Down the Law
- The Bot Updates the Bar Exam
Monthly Archives
Participate
Have something you think our audience would like to hear about? Interested in writing one or more guest posts? Send an email to the cafe manager at merritt52@gmail.com. We are interested in publishing posts from practitioners, students, faculty, and industry professionals.