ABA Journal

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ABA Legal Ed council rejects Golden Gate University's plan to end its JD program

After years of struggling to meet the ABA’s accreditation standards and financial woes, Golden Gate University School of Law announced it will discontinue its juris doctorate program when this academic year ends. However, the ABA Legal Ed council rejected the plan because it “did not include sufficient detail relating to the operation of a teach-out.”



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Inside the claims against DoNotPay's Joshua Browder and the 'World's First Robot Lawyer'

Kathryn Tewson, an investigative paralegal with the New York City-based corporate law firm Kamerman, Uncyk, Soniker & Klein, has taken her dispute with DoNotPay and its founder, Joshua Browder, from social media to the courtroom.



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This lawyer has built a criminal defense practice for clients with mental disabilities, autism and dementia

Her mission is to get fair and compassionate outcomes—not make excuses—for clients who don’t fit neatly into a system that is often ill-equipped to deal with them. “You use a mental disability as a reason, not as an excuse,” Elizabeth Kelley says. “Not all people with mental disabilities get in trouble or are charged with crimes or commit crimes.”



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Does artificial intelligence discriminate in child neglect case assessments?

When Andrew and Lauren Hackney followed their doctor’s advice in caring for their baby, the Pennsylvania parents never dreamed it would lead to losing custody of their 7-month-old daughter—or that their heartbreak would be at the center of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation.



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Legal sports betting creates more work for lawyers and invites scrutiny of gambling industry

Now that sports gambling has been brought into the light, perhaps the biggest change for the legal world is to identify and eliminate the kind of chicanery that might have no remedy on the illegal market.



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You're Not Alone: No matter how dire the situation might seem, help is available



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Making It Back: Bruce Simpson tried to take his own life, then he started healing

I have practiced law in Kentucky for 40 years, and I write this today to warn you about reaching the point of no return should you ever determine, as I did in January 2023, that death is a better option than life. Here is why I am sharing this: People are more vulnerable to being mentally shattered, given certain life crises, than they sometimes can appreciate. I do not want anyone I can influence—lawyer or not—to descend into an unstoppable spiral to the point of no return.



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2023 'Profile of the Legal Profession' report spotlights the scarcity of legal aid lawyers

The ABA released its annual Profile of the Legal Profession report Thursday, and it offers a sobering look at the dearth of civil legal aid lawyers in the U.S.



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ABA withdraws 2 online statements on Israel-Hamas war

Two statements on the Israel-Hamas war by ABA President Mary Smith have been withdrawn and are no longer available on the association’s website.



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Minority law school applicants lean on personal statements post-Harvard decision



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