Law Students

First!

Third-year law students typically focus on finishing school, finding a job and passing the bar exam. But Georgetown University law student Mike Sacks has added another task: Being first in line this semester for all oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on cases of wide political or public interest.

May 1, 2010 8:30 AM CDT

What Goes Around?

It wasn’t that long ago when graduating law students could almost count on a six-figure starting salary. Now it’s more likely that they’ll graduate with a six-figure debt.

May 1, 2010 7:50 AM CDT

Harvard Law Student’s Racist E-Mail Goes Viral; Dean Calls It ‘Sad & Unfortunate’

The dean of Harvard Law School has now weighed in concerning a student’s racist e-mail that reportedly went viral on the Internet this week. Dean Martha Minow describes the e-mail in a statement today to the law school community as “troubling” and a “sad and unfortunate incident” that “prompts both…

Apr 29, 2010 6:32 PM CDT

With Missouri Move, Idea of Uniform Bar Exam Finally Gets Legs

Missouri has become the first state to replace its bar exam with a uniform test that could help make lawyers more mobile. Test-takers won’t see the new exam until February, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Other jurisdictions considering a uniform exam include Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota and…

Apr 29, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

Law Prof Sees Parallels Between Tuition Hikes and Subprime Mortgage Bubble

A University of Illinois law professor sees parallels between the subprime mortgage crisis and the proliferation of law school debt. Writing at the Conglomerate blog, Professor Christine Hurt makes her argument. “For a couple of decades now (and until a few years ago), the conventional wisdom was that real estate…

Apr 27, 2010 11:49 AM CDT

New 2-Year College Is Designed as Path to Law School for Onetime Underachievers

New Hampshire legislators have approved a new two-year college that is designed as a path to law school for community college students who were onetime underachievers. The founder and dean of the new college is Lawrence Velvel, the dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, the Concord Monitor reports. Velvel…

Apr 26, 2010 12:25 PM CDT

1L’s Street Soccer Film ‘Pelada’ Sells Out First Screening at Film Festival

Word of positive reviews of “Pelada,” a documentary about street soccer, is spreading. So much so that its first scheduled night at the Newport Beach Film Festival sold out and a second showing was added. All the while filmmaker Luke Boughen is prepping for finals at the University of California,…

Apr 23, 2010 6:52 PM CDT

Harvard Law Students Pass the Hat to Fund Public Interest Job

Public interest fellowships sponsored by law schools are fairly common, but at Harvard, students have decided to fund their own. The student-run Post-Grad Student Funded Fellowship seeks to raise $50,000 to fund a public interest job for one student after graduation, the National Law Journal reports. The goal is to…

Apr 23, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Survey: Most Pre-Law Students Confident re Own Prospects, But Dubious About Others

Despite the economic debacle of the past year or two, most pre-law students are confident about their own career prospects, a survey found. However, they express doubt about others’ ability to find the legal job of their dreams, according to a Business Wire press release. The survey by Kaplan Test…

Apr 21, 2010 11:25 PM CDT

Law Students Push for Transparency, More Info re Law School Employment Stats

Two Vanderbilt law students have created a new website where they hope to publish better job and salary information for all ABA-accredited law schools. Students Patrick Lynch and Kyle McEntee say law schools hide their employment data in aggregate form, the National Law Journal reports. “You may know that 50…

Apr 21, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

Temple 3L Ordered to Trial in Shooting

A third-year Temple law student will have to stand trial for a shooting caught on videotape outside a Fox television studio in Philadelphia. Gerald Ung, 28, had told police he acted in self-defense, and Ung’s lawyer, Jack McMahon, pressed that argument at the preliminary hearing on Friday, the Philadelphia Daily…

Apr 19, 2010 12:02 PM CDT

Researcher Says Law Students Need to Learn to Read Like Lawyers

Most law students are told they need to think like lawyers. But a Pennsylvania State University researcher says students also need to read like lawyers. The scientist and higher education professor, Dorothy Evensen, formerly worked as an item writer for the reading comprehension section of the Law School Admission Test,…

Apr 19, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Health Care Law Will Make Student Loan Repayment Easier for Some Future Law Grads

Students considering taking out a loan for law school in future years should take a look at provisions in the new health care law that could make repayment easier. Under the law, new borrowers who take out direct federal loans can have loan payments capped at 10 percent of their…

Apr 15, 2010 3:23 PM CDT

US News Warns of Tough Times for Law Grads; Expert Says ‘It’s Just Like the Lottery’

U.S. News & World Report has a “reality check” for would-be students studying its new law school rankings: First-year associates at small firms are expected to make between $49,750 and $73,000 a year. And not everyone will be able to find a job, U.S. News warns. “Jobs are no longer…

Apr 15, 2010 12:17 PM CDT

A Marketing Prof Tries Law School, Encounters Stress Level that Is ‘Scarily High’

A 58-year-old marketing professor is a 1L at New York Law School, largely because of a stint on jury duty and a dinner party conversation with a woman who turned out to be the dean. Writing at Inside Higher Ed, Steve Cohen recalled how he told the woman about an…

Apr 14, 2010 11:00 AM CDT