Law Schools

Pre-Law Students Rank Penn Most Overrated on Chat Board

Pre-law students participating in a pre-law chat board have ranked the University of Pennsylvania the most overrated law school. About 20 percent of the 259 students participating in the poll chose Penn, followed by Cornell, which got about 14 percent of the vote, and Georgetown, with a little less than…

Jan 28, 2008 6:59 PM CST

Law Prof Sees ‘Explosion of Interest’ in Animal Issues

Ninety ABA-approved law schools teach courses in animal law, up from only a handful that offered such classes a decade ago. A Michigan State law professor, David Favre, tells USA Today the development is part of “an explosion of interest” in animal welfare issues. Just as law students in the…

Jan 28, 2008 3:17 PM CST

NYU Law Pays $4.2M for New Prof’s Condo

New York University law school apparently helped lure professor Catherine Sharkey from Columbia University with the purchase of a multimillion-dollar, 4,000-square-foot condo for her in a complex overlooking Central Park. A foundation associated with NYU paid $4.2 million for an 80 percent interest in the condo at 455 Central Park…

Jan 23, 2008 3:07 PM CST

ABAJournal.com Among Robert Ambrogi’s Faves

Writing for Law Technology News, Robert Ambrogi has named ABAJournal.com as one of the five most notable legal websites for 2007. Ambrogi notes that the redesigned website now offers content from the ABA Journal free to the public, with online magazine articles through 2004 and more to come in the…

Jan 23, 2008 1:09 PM CST

Abe Lincoln’s Self-Study Route to Law Practice a Vanishing Option

It still is possible, in a handful of states, for an individual to pass the bar and work as an attorney without ever actually having attended law school. But, as a practical matter, such self-study of the law is a dying career option available only to a few individuals favored…

Jan 22, 2008 8:59 PM CST

Nerdy 1L Compared to Cool B-School Student in YouTube Videos

Reports that law jobs are losing their social prestige are reinforced by a series of new videos on YouTube that compare a nerdy-looking “law school guy” with a cool, fun-loving “B-school guy.” Law school guy just can’t seem to win in the videos, a parody of the ads for Apple…

Jan 22, 2008 1:44 PM CST

Big Drop in Minority Law Students, Columbia Site Says

Nationwide enrollment of African-American and Mexican-American students in U.S. law schools is down significantly since 1992 and could drop further. According to statistics reviewed by individuals at Columbia Law School and the Society of American Law Teachers and discussed on their website, law school enrollment by members of these racial…

Jan 17, 2008 9:43 PM CST

Law Grad, 32: Don’t Do What I Did

A 32-year-old Boston University law graduate is on a one-woman crusade to save others from making the same mistakes she made. High on Kirsten Wolf’s list of don’ts is spending the time—and especially the money—she did to get a law degree. Now saddled with $87,000 in educational debt that she…

Jan 16, 2008 10:39 PM CST

EBay Listing Purports to Sell Law Degree

Updated: A listing on eBay supposedly written by an unhappy law grad is hawking a DePaul law degree. The starting bid is $100,000. At this writing, there were no takers. “So America… just how much is an education worth?” the listing says. “Let’s find out. Up for sale is my…

Jan 10, 2008 1:53 PM CST

Beauty Queen Law Student Suspended After Kidnapping Charge

A former pinup girl-turned-law student who has been accused of kidnapping an ex-boyfriend and holding him captive is now a former law student, at least for the moment. Kumari Fulbright, 25, has been temporarily suspended by the University of Arizona, where she is a second-year student at the James E.…

Jan 9, 2008 5:22 PM CST

CUNY Law Program Encourages Grads to Return to the Hood

The City University of New York law school is encouraging graduates to hang their shingles in underserved communities with an 18-month training program on how to run a law practice. The sessions, financed by the school and the state, cover how to find clients, keep financial records, and hire and…

Jan 9, 2008 2:19 PM CST

Attorney Avatars Create Virtual Bar, Virtual Law & Virtual CLE Courses

In many ways, it looked like a standard bar association meeting. But the woman clad in an orange tutu and thigh-high black stockings offered one clue that the attorneys attending the Oct. 20, 2007 meeting in the Second Life Bar Association’s conference room were actually avatars—animated characters created to represent…

Jan 8, 2008 8:29 PM CST

Big Salaries Linked to Big-Name Law Schools; Small Pay Is Larger Reality

Graduates of 58 law schools make average starting salaries of $60,000 or less, a fact ignored by many of the stories touting $160,000 starting salaries at big law firms. Instead, the reality is that there are two classes of law grads, the National Jurist reports: those who earn the big…

Jan 8, 2008 2:39 PM CST

Iowa Law’s Career Office is Making House Calls

For University of Iowa College of Law grads who are at a standstill, not quite sure what to do next, expect a house call. UI law school officials have begun an innovative new program in which a college rep travels across Iowa or across the country to meet face-to-face with…

Jan 3, 2008 10:10 PM CST

Study: ‘Millennials’ More Collaborative, Private Law Schools More Challenging

So-called millennial students who have opted for law school continue to be more collaborative, social and engaged in resumé-boosting activities than older students, a new study released today reveals. Older students, however, reported doing more to prepare for class and participate in classroom discussions. The 2007 Law School Survey of…

Jan 3, 2008 7:20 PM CST