Legal Education

1Ls are in the driver’s seat as law schools look to poach talent

Faced with dwindling admissions, some law schools seek out overachieving 1Ls. Although the number of student transfers has been decreasing, law schools are interested in taking transfer students to bring in more revenue, according to higher-education consultants. It’s become a seller’s market for first-year students at the top of their class: They easily can move to a higher-ranked school or stay put and get bigger tuition discounts.

Jun 1, 2017 1:00 AM CDT

Northwestern considering GRE scores as an alternative to the LSAT

Although the issue of law schools accepting the Graduate Record Examination as an admissions test is still being considered by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law is the latest to consider those scores over the traditional Law School Admissions…

May 30, 2017 3:57 PM CDT

Arizona Summit ordered to post $1.5M bond to repay students if the school closes

Arizona Summit School of Law, part of the for-profit InfiLaw System, must post a $1.5 million bond, which would reimburse students if the school closes. “It’s just to protect the public, just in case,” Keith Blanchard, deputy director of the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education, told the Arizona…

May 26, 2017 1:38 PM CDT

Columbia law prof’s age bias complaint is without basis, university contends in motion to dismiss

Columbia University is seeking dismissal of an age bias suit filed by a 78-year-old law professor who contends the school is pressuring him to retire by making it more difficult to meet a teaching quota. This week, the university filed a motion to dismiss the March lawsuit by law professor…

May 26, 2017 10:34 AM CDT

As class sizes shrank, the number of ABA-accredited law schools remained mostly flat

For nearly 40 years starting in 1971, law schools had an average first-year class size of 246 students, peaking to 262 in 2010. Since then, that average has dropped 31 percent to an average of 182 students. Despite the sharp decrease, Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Bill Henderson…

May 25, 2017 10:56 AM CDT

Some Charlotte School of Law students receive federal loan money

The U.S. Department of Education has released the second disbursement of direct loan funds to Charlotte School of Law.

The money was released May 5, a Department of Education spokesperson told the ABA Journal on Monday.

May 22, 2017 5:38 PM CDT

BigLaw partner meets the law student who intervened to stop his attackers

Baker McKenzie partner John Rowley says there was just one person who intervened when a group of teens attacked him on May 12 at a Metro station in Washington, D.C. Last Wednesday, Rowley met the man who helped him, George Washington University law student Andrew Miller, report Fox 5, radio…

May 22, 2017 11:05 AM CDT

After losing LSAT lawsuit against the ABA, legally blind man sues LSAC

A legally blind Michigan man who wants to attend law school has filed another federal lawsuit alleging the Law School Admissions Test is discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act, MLive reports. In March the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert in a lawsuit Angelo Binno filed against the American Bar…

May 18, 2017 2:00 PM CDT

Law school applicants will soon have option to take LSAT more frequently

Beginning in September, there will be no restrictions on how many times one can take the Law School Admissions Test during a two-year period. More information about the LSAT schedule will be released soon, according to the Law School Admissions Council website. Currently, the LSAT is given four times a…

May 17, 2017 2:15 PM CDT

Erwin Chemerinsky named to lead Berkeley Law

Erwin Chemerinsky has been selected as dean for the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Chemerinsky, the founding dean of University of California Irvine School of Law, is scheduled to start the new position July 1, according to a press release. The constitutional law scholar previously served as a…

May 17, 2017 1:05 PM CDT

Drake University announces law school scholarship program with three HBCUs

In an effort to increase diversity, graduates of three Historically Black Colleges and Universities will receive scholarships covering at least half of tuition upon admission to Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa. The HBCUs participating in the program are Lincoln University of Jefferson City, Missouri; Kentucky State University…

May 16, 2017 9:47 AM CDT

Law student with felony record and Skadden fellowship denied character and fitness recommendation

Tarra Simmons, a third-year law student, convicted felon and former drug addict who in December won a Skadden Fellowship to help people recently released from prison, did not have her character and fitness review approved by the Washington State Bar Association. The character and fitness board’s vote against Simmons’ recommendation…

May 12, 2017 4:27 PM CDT

4% decline in jobs requiring bar passage for law class of 2016, ABA employment data shows

The number of graduates of the law class of 2016 in jobs that require bar passage is down 4.1 percent from the class of 2015.

May 11, 2017 2:27 PM CDT

Vermont Law receives $17 million loan from US Department of Agriculture

Corrected: Vermont Law School has received a $17 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture. The loan will be used to restructure debt and further develop an online education program and year-round classes that offer greater flexibility for students, the Valley News reports. The loan, which comes from…

May 10, 2017 9:59 AM CDT

LSAC names Kellye Y. Testy new president and CEO

Corrected: The Law School Admissions Council announced Tuesday that University of Washington School of Law dean Kellye Y. Testy, is its new president and chief executive officer. A past president of the Association of American Law Schools, Testy succeeds Daniel O. Bernstine, who died last September. “We look forward to…

May 9, 2017 12:06 PM CDT