Law Prof Hits Quick Responses and Billable Hours, Cites ‘Informational Amphetamines’

There is value in waiting, according to a law professor who is an expert in financial market regulation. Speedy reactions produce errors, University of San Diego law professor Frank Partnoy writes in the New York Times. He cites as an example the rush to report on the health law decision.…

Jul 11, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

ABA Council Denies Duncan School of Law’s Accreditation Appeal

The governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has affirmed its denial of Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law’s bid for provisional accreditation. The council notified the school of its decision in a letter Thursday, according to papers (PDF) filed Friday in…

Jul 9, 2012 6:00 PM CDT

‘Failing Law Schools’ Author Challenges Law Schools to Make Dramatic Changes

ABA Journal Business of Law Reporter Rachel Zahorsky talks with Brian Z. Tamanaha, author of Failing Law Schools, on the need for new law school models that reflect today’s reality, where the six-figure cost of a J.D. is grossly disproportionate to the economic benefits for most graduates.

Jul 9, 2012 5:35 PM CDT

US Law Schools Expanding Clinical, Professionalism Offerings, Survey Shows

U.S. law schools have been beefing up their clinical and professionalism programs in response to the shifting economy and various calls for curricula changes from academia and the media, a new survey shows. Three-quarters of the schools surveyed cited the changing job market as a reason for the curricula changes.…

Jul 5, 2012 4:20 PM CDT

Law Prof: Possible 5-4 Ruling on Health Law Shows Why Court Should Be Supersized

Just one swing voter justice could decide the fate of the Obama administration’s health care law. The possibility troubles George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who suggests in a Washington Post op-ed that the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine members have too much individual power. The ideal size, he says,…

Jun 28, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Nova Law Prof, Fired After Gun Talk, Fights to Regain His Job

A former law professor claims in a lawsuit that school officials improperly fired him because of misguided perceptions that he was “mentally deranged enough to engage in a campus shooting rampage.” The National Law Journal covers the case of Anthony Chase, a former tenured professor at Nova Southeastern University Shepard…

Jun 27, 2012 1:08 PM CDT

Law Prof Sees Securities Issues in Proposal to Finance Education Through Stake in Grads’ Future Pay

A University of Chicago law professor is pointing out some securities problems in a proposal to finance education with a venture capital model. The proposal by University of Chicago professor Luigi Zingales is for investors to finance college education in exchange for a fraction of students’ future incomes—or perhaps a…

Jun 25, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

ABA Legal Education Section, LSAC to Certify Admissions Data About Entering Law Classes

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and the Law School Admission Council are collaborating on a plan to begin certifying the accuracy of law school entering-class academic credentials. To make the program possible, the section will begin requiring law schools to report on their annual…

Jun 18, 2012 7:30 PM CDT

Want Better Elections or Better Election Case Law? Amend the Constitution, Law Profs Say

Updated: If America wants to do something about elections, the nation should pass a constitutional amendment allowing limits on political contributions. Or it should pass an amendment establishing a U.S. Elections Commission. Or it should pass an amendment guaranteeing a right to vote. Those are the suggestions of three law…

Jun 18, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Harvard Law Prof on ‘Inc. Law’ v. ‘People Law’

Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig contrasts “Inc. Law” and “People Law” in a commencement speech he delivered last month at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. One system works well, and the other doesn’t, Lessig said in his speech posted at Lessig Blog, v2. Here are portions of his message:…

Jun 11, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Law Dean at Arizona State Unveils Plan to Create Law Grad ‘Residency’ Program at Nonprofit Law Firm

Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law isn’t the first to consider helping new graduates hard-hit by the dismal legal economy establish their own law firms. But it’s hoping to do so in a bigger way than others than other law schools have previously done. Dean Douglas Sylvester…

Jun 5, 2012 5:52 PM CDT

Law Prof: Economics of Legal Education Are Broken Because of Exacting Standards, Loan System

The cost of legal education is out of proportion to the economic benefits of a law degree—and something needs to be done about it, a law professor says. Writing in the New York Times, Washington University law professor Brian Tamanaha declares that “the economics of legal education are broken.” “The…

Jun 4, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Critical Race Theory Is Less Popular, While Interest in IP Rises, Law Review Citation Study Finds

A new study of the most-cited law review articles concludes that critical legal studies and critical race theory “have faded in acceptance.” The opposite is true for intellectual property law, according to the study by Yale associate librarian Fred Shapiro and Harvard law librarian Michelle Pearse. IP was once viewed…

Jun 1, 2012 3:22 PM CDT

County Prosecutor Won’t Charge ‘Sister Wives’ Family

Corrected: Members of the family portrayed in the Sister Wives reality TV show won’t face prosecution in Utah County, Utah. In a motion to dismiss a challenge to the state’s bigamy law, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said his office has adopted a policy that it won’t prosecute consenting adults…

Jun 1, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Few Jobs, But a Rack of Suits: Law Grads Claim Their Alma Maters Duped Them

Jun 1, 2012 8:30 AM CDT