Legal Education

Law students and future doctors learn about the legal challenges they may face in special seminar

Legal and medical needs often intersect, but future physicians receive little legal training. Only a handful of medical programs offer practical legal training beyond the required theoretical ethics and jurisprudence classes. These programs include training on being deposed, learning how to be an expert witness before Congress and completing a monthlong rotation in a law clinic to work on health equity issues.

Feb 1, 2024 12:40 AM CST

Head of the Class: Law schools consider post-ChatGPT coursework

ChatGPT’s unveiling sparked conversations among law faculty, with opinions ranging from banning GPT platforms in certain classes to encouraging experimentation to reconsidering law school pedagogy.

Feb 1, 2024 12:05 AM CST

These Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants have seen their student debt erased

Many public service attorneys had an overwhelming feeling that massive student loan debt would travel through life with them. But many of those attorneys got relief in the past year, thanks to recent changes to the federal government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Feb 1, 2024 12:00 AM CST

Yale Law’s Owen Fiss talks about threats to democracy and ‘Why We Vote’

After 50 years as a professor at Yale Law School, Owen Fiss says his students are still idealistic and passionate about the rights won in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. A classroom discussion prompted his new book.

Jan 31, 2024 8:47 AM CST

Justice Sotomayor says she’s tired and working harder than ever, but she’s not giving up

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told law students Monday that the Supreme Court is hearing bigger and more demanding cases while also dealing with a busy emergency calendar.

Jan 30, 2024 11:31 AM CST

Prosecutors are ‘quitting in droves,’ and it’s bad news for defendants, law prof says

Prosecutors are “quitting in droves,” while the offices that employ them are getting a fraction of the applications that they have in the past, according to a law professor who studied the problem.

Jan 26, 2024 8:57 AM CST

Legal Ed council calls for comments regarding fully online law schools

Two proposals regarding the accreditation of fully online law schools were posted for comment by the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar this week.

Jan 25, 2024 2:25 PM CST

2020 Supreme Court decision offers ‘dangerous’ path for stealing election, legal scholars say

A 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision on faithless electors appears to allow state legislatures to pursue a “dangerous strategy” for overturning election results, according to an op-ed in the New York Times by two legal scholars.

Jan 24, 2024 10:13 AM CST

Facing undergraduate debt and law school loans, students wonder whether it’s worth it, new AccessLex study says

Almost half of all law school students have debt from their undergraduate education, more fund their legal education with loans and less than half say it was worth it, according to the AccessLex Institute’s Legal Education Data Deck.

Jan 23, 2024 8:06 AM CST

Half of law schools worry about creating diverse student body, new Kaplan study says

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision striking down affirmative action, half of law school admissions officers are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about creating a diverse student body, according to a survey conducted by test prep company Kaplan released Monday.

Jan 22, 2024 9:40 AM CST

Met that law school application deadline? You might be too late, AccessLex study finds

If a student from an underrepresented community applies to law school right before the deadline, then they are already late, according to a report from the AccessLex Institute released in December.

Jan 18, 2024 8:57 AM CST

Is BigLaw mostly liberal? SCOTUS amicus briefs indicate answer is yes, especially in significant cases

Large law firms are showing their ideological leanings in U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs filed on behalf of likely pro bono clients, according to a study by a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.

Jan 17, 2024 3:59 PM CST

JD-Next should be backup to traditional entrance requirements, says ABA consultant

JD-Next, a prelaw school exam administered by Aspen Publishing, should be used only as a secondary supplement to more established measurements of potential law student success, such as undergraduate grades or more established testing scores, according to a new report from a consultant for the ABA.

Jan 17, 2024 12:26 PM CST

Northwestern law prof’s $5K charitable donation isn’t substitute for attorney fees sanction, federal judge says

A law professor’s $5,000 charitable donation can’t take the place of attorney fees that he was ordered to pay for wrongly seeking to remove a probate motion to federal court, a federal judge in Colorado ruled Monday.

Jan 11, 2024 2:29 PM CST

LSAC president shifts to lead Association of American Law Schools

Kellye Testy will become the executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools on July 1.

Jan 11, 2024 12:38 PM CST