Law Students

Law Prof Says Students Should Be Forewarned About Practice Perils

Brooklyn Law School professor Anita Bernstein believes that forewarned really does mean forearmed. Toward that end, Bernstein advocates warning law students about the perils of law practice. She says student cynicism and lawyer malaise might be remedied if would-be lawyers learn up front about the profession’s perils. Bernstein outlines her…

Sep 22, 2009 6:48 PM CDT

Heated Debate Over This Question: Should 2Ls Accept All Summer Offers?

A blog’s suggestion that second-year law students should consider accepting all their offers for summer associate jobs is provoking a strong reaction. Above the Law’s suggestion is that 2Ls should accept all offers for summer associate jobs, then revoke the offers they don’t want after they learn more about the…

Sep 22, 2009 4:03 PM CDT

S&C Reportedly Backs Off Demand for a 2-Week Response Window to Job Offers

Sullivan & Cromwell reportedly told several of the nation’s top law schools that it would require students to respond to job offers within two weeks, but quickly abandoned the plan. Sullivan & Cromwell backed down after Harvard Law School told the law firm it would not be allowed to recruit…

Sep 18, 2009 12:34 PM CDT

Slower Economy Leads to Lower Offer Rates at BigLaw Firms in Texas

What a difference a year makes. It wasn’t unusual for a BigLaw firm in Texas to make offers to almost all the law students in its summer program as recently as 2008. But this year the offer rate to summer associates dropped significantly at a number of well-known firms, in…

Sep 16, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Law Grads Who Fail the Bar Have a Difficult First Five Years, Then Spring Back

What has happened to the estimated 150,000 law grads who failed to pass the bar exam? A UCLA School of Law researcher who set out to answer the question found that these bar-exam failures had staying power, faring more poorly than even college graduates in the first five years after…

Sep 11, 2009 7:44 PM CDT

University of New Mexico No. 1 on List of Top Law Schools for Hispanics

The University of New Mexico School of Law awards 30 percent of its degrees to Hispanics and has a law faculty that is 23 percent Hispanic, earning the school first place on a list of top law schools for Hispanics. Diversity at the law school “has developed organically from surrounding…

Sep 9, 2009 12:52 PM CDT

Was It Worth It? With Debt of Up to $250K, Some Law Grads Are Dubious

Zack Leshetz would like to get married and buy a home. But his $175,000 in student loan debt is a significant roadblock, reports the Wall Street Journal in a lengthy article about the growing educational debtload being shouldered by young Americans. Even though some of his loans are in forbearance,…

Sep 4, 2009 6:20 PM CDT

N.D. Law Dean Disputes No. 2 Rank on US News List of Clerk Feeder Schools

Updated: A surprising new ranking suggested that aspiring lawyers yearning to clerk for a judge may want to consider law school at the University of North Dakota or the University of Wyoming. Both were among the top five on a U.S. News & World Report list of law schools with…

Sep 4, 2009 4:23 PM CDT

Physics, Math Majors Get Top LSAT Scores; Poli Sci Majors Are Average

Physics and math majors do the best on the Law School Admissions Test, according to a study by an economics professor. Physics and math majors have an average LSAT score of 160, well above prelaw and criminal justice majors, who have average LSATs of 148.3 and 146 respectively, according to…

Sep 1, 2009 5:43 PM CDT

New OCI Reality: Law Students Less Cocky, 40 Fewer Firms Recruit at Illinois

As law firms trim their summer associate programs or eliminate them entirely, law students are feeling the squeeze. Law firms are cutting back on the number of campuses they visit to recruit summer associates and reducing the number of available slots. The days of old where summer associates were treated…

Sep 1, 2009 2:07 PM CDT

Law Student Recalls Sabotage by Co-Worker

A law student who worked at a law firm during his undergraduate days says a co-worker there tried to sabotage him. Law student Robert Beckler recounted the incident for the Rebel Yell, the student newspaper published by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Beckler said he was asked to…

Aug 28, 2009 2:03 PM CDT

Law Firm Leaders: Why Hire Summers When Laid-Off Lawyers Are Available?

Two leaders of Ohio law firms that cut their summer associate programs next year explain their decision in part with this sad fact: There is a lot of unemployed talent to choose from, if the need arises. The law firms—Roetzel & Andress and Brouse McDowell—are among four Ohio law firms…

Aug 28, 2009 1:30 PM CDT

Law Firms Delay Decisions on Job Offers to Summer Associates

Law firms are taking longer to make job offers this year, according to a career official at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Melissa Lennon, the school’s assistant dean for career planning, told the Legal Intelligencer that she is tracking about 20 law firms, but only four have made job…

Aug 28, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

Law Prof Recalls Ted Kennedy as Average on Paper, Good on His Feet

A law professor who had taught Ted Kennedy at the University of Virginia remembers him as better at oral advocacy than written tests. Law professor Mortimer Caplin taught both Ted Kennedy and his brother Robert, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Ted “was kind of an average paper student, but he was…

Aug 27, 2009 2:04 PM CDT

Greyacre Revisited: Free App Has Sample Bar Exam Questions

Law students studying for the bar exam can download a free app with sample questions for their iPhones. The “BARBRI Challenge” consists of a series of sample bar exam questions that must be answered in 15 minutes or less, according to a press release. Users can compete with others in…

Aug 27, 2009 1:06 PM CDT