Law Students

Raids of Faculty Coffee Spur Harvard Law to End Cutbacks of Free Brew

Earlier this year, Harvard Law School cut back on one its cherished perks: free coffee for students. The school had announced that free coffee would end at 10:15 a.m., rather than noon, and it would be served at fewer locations. Never mind. The school has reversed course, and is now…

Nov 11, 2009 12:41 PM CST

Southern New England Law Dean Prepares for Battle over Merger Plan

Southern New England law school dean Robert Ward is preparing for battle over his school’s plan to merge with the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and become the state’s first public law school. Ward defended his school during a tour of the campus with a Boston Globe reporter. Ward says…

Nov 6, 2009 2:41 PM CST

Ex-Chief Justice of New Mexico Dies While Giving Speech to Law Students

Former New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Gene Franchini collapsed and died Wednesday while giving a speech to first-year students at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Students tried to perform CPR but were unable to revive Franchini, KOB.com reports. The audience of about 100 people included students,…

Nov 5, 2009 2:25 PM CST

Duke 2L Finds ‘Simpsons’ Knowledge Can Be Lucrative

A Duke law student corrected the actress who voices Lisa Simpson and helped a cake decorator earn $10,000 on the Food Network Challenge television show. Second-year law student Andrew Blumberg was one of four Simpsons fans chosen to help cake decorators make an ultimate Simpsons cake, the News & Observer…

Nov 3, 2009 5:22 PM CST

Sidley Austin Rescinds Offer to New Hire Suspected of Setting Fire to 9-11 Chapel

Updated: The law firm Sidley Austin has rescinded an employment offer to a Harvard law graduate who has turned himself in to police for allegedly setting fire to a Sept. 11 memorial in Manhattan. The suspect, 26-year-old Brian Schroeder, is a 2009 graduate of Harvard Law School, the Harvard Law…

Nov 2, 2009 7:05 PM CST

BYU Law Student Wears SWAT Costume to Class—Until Campus Police Intervene

A law student who came to class dressed in full SWAT gear on Thursday said it was only a Halloween costume, but apparently campus police weren’t so sure. The Brigham Young University law student wore the getup to a criminal procedure class featuring a guest speaker—Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff,…

Nov 2, 2009 3:45 PM CST

Law School Warns of Impostor Student, May Have Also Faked Medical Background

A man outed as an impostor law student Friday may be the same person who pleaded guilty to impersonating a physician’s assistant in Florida in 2001. Officials at the University of Notre Dame Law School warned students Friday that a man posing as a law student had used the school’s…

Nov 2, 2009 2:58 PM CST

Blog Outs Five Monsters Lurking in Law Schools

In honor of Halloween, the blog Bitter Lawyer is revealing “the spooky truth about real law school monsters.” The blog designates five types of law school monsters, and says only one—the werewolf—is worth knowing. “By day, he’s your average law student—overstressed and overworked,” Bitter Lawyer says. “But at night it’s…

Oct 30, 2009 2:58 PM CDT

Brooklyn Law School Won’t Turn In Illegal Downloaders After All

Updated: For a while, it appeared as if students at Brooklyn Law School who illegally downloaded copyrighted movies and TV shows could get some firsthand experience with the court system. Students received an ominous memo yesterday from chief information officer Phillip Allred, Above the Law reported. The memo warned that…

Oct 29, 2009 4:16 PM CDT

Law School Says Stats on Jobless Grads Were Wrong; Publication Differs

Updated: An early report about bleak unemployment numbers for the class of 2009 at the University of Colorado Law School has provoked controversy and a debate over whether the statistics are accurate. Law Week Colorado reported last week that about 35 percent of of the school’s students had jobs at…

Oct 29, 2009 12:39 AM CDT

Columnist Laments Unemployed Law Grads and Broken Unspoken Contract

As factories closed and the economy changed, young people were repeatedly told that the way to succeed was to get an education. But that advice hasn’t helped many of today’s law and college graduates, according to columnist Bill McClellan of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It’s the No. 1 topic…

Oct 28, 2009 12:52 PM CDT

GAO Puts Blame on US News Rankings for High Law School Tuition

Updated: Law school tuition has been rising since 1994, reaching as much as $50,000 per year when combined with fees at law schools such as Yale and the University of California at Hastings. But don’t blame the ABA. A new report (PDF) by the Government Accountability Office says accreditation requirements…

Oct 27, 2009 1:13 PM CDT

Justice Thomas Reveals His Best Day of Law School—Graduation

Justice Clarence Thomas told law students at the University of Alabama on Friday that his best day at Yale Law School was his graduation. Thomas said law school was extremely difficult, according to stories in the Crimson White and the Tuscaloosa News. The Crimson White says Thomas talked with law…

Oct 26, 2009 2:33 PM CDT

Miami Law Grads Get $10K Foreclosure Fellowships to Fill Legal Services Gap

New legal tactics are showing promise for some homeowners in foreclosure, if only they had lawyers to help. The shortage of foreclosure lawyers has reached “emergency proportions,” Time magazine reports. As many as 86 percent of homeowners in foreclosure in hard-hit areas last year didn’t have a lawyer, according to…

Oct 26, 2009 1:41 PM CDT

Bright Light of New York Law School Aggravates Neighbors

It may initially have seemed like a bright idea to those in charge of the design. But neighbors are seeing the light at New York Law School’s new building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. And they aren’t happy about it. A 24/7 continuous fluorescent glow from the five-story glass-covered…

Oct 22, 2009 5:45 PM CDT