Education Law

Free football tickets sweetened exit deal for general counsel pressured to resign in Rutgers scandal

Rutgers University’s interim senior vice president and general counsel has negotiated an exit deal that includes cash and free football tickets. John Wolf will be paid nearly $420,000, representing 18 months of his salary, and will get tickets for next season’s Scarlet Knights football games, the New Jersey Star Ledger…

Apr 15, 2013 1:59 PM CDT

New fallout for Rutgers over fired coach as ex-employee files whistleblower suit

A former employee filed a whistleblower suit against Rutgers University in state court in New Jersey on Friday, contending that he suffered retaliation for complaining about mistreatment of basketball players. Eric Murdock, who made public a video that led to the recent firing of the basketball coach, followed by the…

Apr 8, 2013 7:27 PM CDT

Million-dollar-plus bonds in cheating scandal? Lawyers say Al Capone paid less, win reductions

Lawyers reacted with disbelief when grand jurors recommended bonds as high as $7.5 million for educators accused in the Atlanta schools cheating scandal. The lawyer for former schools superintendent Beverly Hall, J. Tom Morgan, spoke to reporters after negotiating with prosecutors to reduce his client’s $7.5 million bond, CBS News…

Apr 3, 2013 2:07 PM CDT

Job market for would-be lawyers is even bleaker than it looks, analysis says

The job market for prospective lawyers is even bleaker than the law school employment outcome data released Friday by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar would appear to suggest, according to one group’s analysis of the data. Excluding jobs funded by law schools, only 55.1…

Apr 1, 2013 7:14 PM CDT

Barely half of all 2012 law grads have long-term, full-time legal jobs, data shows

Barely half of all 2012 law school graduates had full time, long-term legal jobs as of Feb. 15, according to employment outcome data released Friday by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Law schools reported that 56.2 percent of 2012 graduates were in jobs requiring…

Mar 29, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

ABA taps one-time law school dean to head new Legal Ed Section post

After a nationwide search, the ABA has chosen Barry Currier, its interim consultant on legal education, as the new managing director of accreditation and legal education for the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The appointment was announced to the staff after the close of business Wednesday…

Mar 28, 2013 8:34 PM CDT

Shooter in Newtown school massacre had weapons and ammo galore, officials say

The deceased suspect in the massacre of six educators and 20 first-graders at a Connecticut elementary school last year was armed with a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle and two semiautomatic handguns, which he used to fire over 150 rounds in less than five minutes, according to search warrants made public Thursday…

Mar 28, 2013 5:21 PM CDT

In ‘surprise development,’ SCOTUS agrees to consider a voter ban on affirmative action

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to Michigan’s voter-approved ban on affirmative action at colleges and universities. The court accepted the case though it has not yet issued a decision in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case challenging race-conscious admissions policies at the University…

Mar 25, 2013 3:01 PM CDT

Banned from campus for submitting ‘Hot for Teacher’ essay, college student sues for $2.2 million

Booted out of Oakland University after writing an essay titled “Hot for Teacher” to fulfill a creative writing class assignment, a former student has filed a federal lawsuit against the public university, its trustees and other officials. Joseph Corlett, 57, says in the suit that the public university violated his…

Mar 22, 2013 6:23 PM CDT

ABA legal ed section’s governing council advances so-called LSAT requirement

The governing council of the ABA’s law school accrediting arm has preliminarily approved two more chapters of a proposed overhaul of the accreditation standards. The council, which met Friday and Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., voted unanimously to post the proposed changes (PDF) for notice and comment. It also agreed to…

Mar 18, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Adjunct law prof faces theft and harassment charges over campus demonstration

An adjunct law professor at the University of Oregon not only had his teaching duties reassigned after a confrontation with protestors at a campus demonstration on Thursday but was criminally charged. James Olmsted, 58, was cited for second-degree theft and physical harassment, escorted by authorities from the campus and given…

Mar 18, 2013 3:23 PM CDT

Family fights for bathroom rights for their transgender grade schooler

A Colorado family is fighting for the right of their transgender daughter to use the girls’ restroom at her grade school in a complaint filed with the state’s civil rights division. The problem arose when Coy Mathis was 6 years old and in first grade in the Fountain-Fort Carson school…

Mar 18, 2013 1:15 PM CDT

Sandusky matter has cost Penn State over $41M, not including possible victim settlements

Legal bills, crisis handling and other costs related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse case have cost Pennsylvania State University over $41 million, so far. But that figure doesn’t include possible settlements that are being discussed with some of his 10 victims, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. A letter released by…

Mar 12, 2013 5:28 PM CDT

Boy, 7, suspended for chewing pastry into shape of gun, pointing it and saying ‘bang, bang’

In the latest example of a zero-tolerance policy concerning weapons brought to school that some see as having been taken to an extreme, a 7-year-old boy was suspended for two days over a breakfast pastry. The unidentified student at Park Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., is the son of William…

Mar 5, 2013 4:58 PM CST

Lehigh grad loses $1.3M lawsuit against alma mater over C+ grade

Updated: A Pennsylvania judge was clearly not happy about his role in a Lehigh University graduate’s $1.3 million suit over a C+ grade in a fieldwork class for her master’s degree in counseling. He questioned whether he even had the equitable power to order the university to award the B…

Feb 13, 2013 6:42 PM CST