Law Schools

Lawmakers Move to Slash Law School $$

A Wisconsin lawmaker fed up with “ambulance chasers” and “frivolous lawsuits” has managed to convince his state’s General Assembly this week to de-fund the University of Wisconsin law school. “We don’t need more ambulance chasers. We don’t need frivolous lawsuits. And we don’t need attorneys making people’s lives miserable when…

Jul 13, 2007 11:03 PM CDT

Re-engineering the J.D.

Schools across the country are teaching less about the law and more about lawyering

Jul 2, 2007 12:44 AM CDT

Online Sites Rank Law Schools

Students choosing law schools may want to take a look at many online sources of information. U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings are considered a primary resource for would-be students. But at least 12 online and academic sources have their own evaluations, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)…

Jun 26, 2007 7:07 PM CDT

Dean: Law Schools Won’t Boycott Survey

Despite recent efforts by a number of colleges to lessen the impact of the annual U.S. News & World Report college survey by simply not participating, that’s unlikely to happen with law schools. At most, a “handful” will do so–and even if they do refuse to partcipate, the magazine will…

Jun 26, 2007 2:25 AM CDT

No Tenure for DePaul’s Finkelstein; Harvard Law Prof’s Tempest a Factor?

Pleas by one of Harvard Law School’s most prominent professors, among others, to refuse tenure to an assistant political science professor at DePaul University, had no effect, according to DePaul’s president. But Norman Finkelstein, perhaps best known for his controversial views on Jews, the Holocaust and Palestine, was reportedly denied…

Jun 11, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

Back Off, Professor Kingsfield

A new study says the emotional distress of law students sometimes approaches that of psychiatric patients. The Wall Street Journal’s law blog unearthed the study, which say law schools have a “corrosive effect” on students’ well-being, values and motivation. Schools’ teaching methods “train students to ignore their own values and…

Jun 11, 2007 5:11 PM CDT

15-Year-Old Innocence Project Thriving

When Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld began the Innocence Project 15 years ago, their goals were relatively modest. Today their New York-based program has 38 employees, has exonerated 201 convicts and freed them from prison and is a model for similar efforts in 39 other states. The two one-time public…

Jun 8, 2007 7:50 PM CDT

Legal Writing Prof Has Writing Issues

An online paper about environmental dispute resolution posted by Victoria Dawson reportedly is clumsily written, ungrammatical and filled with spelling errors. The problem is, she’s a legal writing instructor at Florida A&M University’s law school. The paper prompted some students to complain that Dawson is unqualified to continue in her…

Jun 6, 2007 7:53 PM CDT

Law School Lite: Master’s in Health Law

A handful of universities are offering a master’s degree in health law. Such programs teach students how to perform regulatory and compliance work, risk management and contract negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). “It’s a short version of law school,” Joshua Timari, a 2005 graduate of Seton…

Jun 5, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

The EZ J.D.

With the price of a law school education pushing into the six figures, aspiring lawyers may think twice before taking the plunge.

Jun 2, 2007 12:32 AM CDT

Dad & Daughter Among Law School’s First Grads

After Sydney Jones decided to go to law school, so did her father, Sidney. In fact, the two both wound up in the same class at Charleston Law School in South Carolina, and are to graduate together over the weekend, in the law school’s first graduating class. Although the two…

May 14, 2007 11:01 AM CDT

Couple Donates $51 Million to Law School

A couple who met while students at Marquette University are donating $51 million to build it a new law school. Shipping entrepreneur Ray Eckstein graduated from the law school in 1949, and he met his wife, Kathryn, while a student there, according to msn.com. A press release announcing the donation…

May 4, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

Law Firm Lesson Not Learned in Law School

To Anthony Ciolli, not censoring the AutoAdmit Web site he worked on was a First Amendment issue, even though he reportedly admitted that sexist, racist and just plain rude comments posted there could sometimes be offensive. But it has also recently become an employment issue for the 23-year-old third-year law…

May 4, 2007 12:19 AM CDT

PI Lawyer’s Widow Helps Law School Expand

Loyola University’s College of Law in New Orleans was able to meet ABA demands for more space with help from the widow of a famous personal injury lawyer. Anne Gauthier, the widow of Wendell Gauthier, contributed about $2.5 million toward a new wing, which will be dedicated on Saturday, the…

May 2, 2007 6:47 PM CDT

One L of a Read

Law schools are all about diversity these days, yet when it comes to reading about the law school experience, all the authors seem to be white guys from Harvard. Like Scott Turow, author of the classic One L, and Richard D. Kahlenberg, who wrote Broken Contract.

May 1, 2007 7:35 PM CDT