Top Law School Stories of 2008 (Part 2): The Hottest New Trends
As 2008 draws to a close, your ATL editors are looking back over some of our favorite stories of the year. On Monday, we named our law students of the year. If you already checked it out, you may want to revisit it — a third student fought his way onto the list, per popular demand.
Today, we’re looking at the pet rocks/Rubik Cubes/slap bracelets/Beanie Babies (depending on your generation) for law schools around the nation. After the jump, find out which three trends we deemed the most important in 2008. Law school deans, read on to find out what’s hot at a law school campus near you.
If you were hoping to see “boots over leggings” on this list, you shall be sorely disappointed. We’re taking more of a macro approach in naming the top three trends of 2008. In increasing order of importance:
3. Going Wireless-Less in the Classroom: The University of Chicago cut off internet access in its classrooms in March. Debate, of course, ensued. Many lamented the inability to check their Facebook pages and shop online during lecture hours. In an informal poll, we found that two-thirds of respondents favored internet access during class.
Those opposed find their classmates’ Web surfing distracting. In the words of one of our commenters:
“it’s tough to concentrate when some douchebag in front of you is browsing Perez Hilton’s bright pink site with pictures of your favorite celeb with a big hand-drawn dildo promiscuously drawn on.”
In April, the topic resurfaced with Chicago Law School Dean Saul Levmore saying that ten other law schools had contacted him about following suit in banning wireless in the classroom. We haven’t heard anything since, maybe because tipsters can’t e-mail us from class. This trend may have gone the way of the Macarena, but we’re still willing to revisit it.
2. Grade Reform: This year, a number of top law schools rocked their student bodies by reforming their grading systems. First Stanford and then Harvard converted from the traditional “A, B, C, Die” system to a Yale (and Boalt)-esque pass-fail hybrid. Then NYU and USC instituted new curves. And Columbia is wrestling with the idea of grade reform.
Reforms were instituted stat, so that current students were dragged along for the ride, and they kind of freaked out, about how honors would be given out and the loss of a traditional GPA. And we wondered how alumni at the schools where grades would be curved were feeling about having their GPAs diminished by comparison.
Stanford may have been the first school to jump on the P/F bandwagon this year, but we know Yale is the true trend driver.
1. Painful Fall Recruiting: The economic crisis hitting Biglaw trickled down to law schools earlier this fall. A number of law firms cancelled their on-campus interviews, in whole or in part, as early as August. Most often, 3Ls were the ones left out in the cold. But as the fall recruiting season progressed, the difficulties spread. By October, our reporting revealed that firms were cutting back on summer associate class sizes, with some even cancelling SA programs altogether. As one tipster put it:
“What’s different this year is that the bottom 60% at top schools and the bottom 90% of lower-ranked schools is [sic] not doing well.”
Top law schools sent out e-mails pressuring students with offers to accept them prior to the NALP deadline. Career services offices at Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, UPenn, UT, and Michigan urged students to accept offers early because of reports that firms were oversubscribed and might rescind offers.
Students at Harvard and Yale encountered special difficulties because of those schools holding their interviewing relatively late in the season — in September. Yale has since decided to move its OCIs up to August, noting that “students from law schools with August 2008 programs had, in some cases, already accepted employment offers before YLS students interviewed or conducted callbacks.”
These are tough times. We hope fall recruiting is easier in future seasons, but as we periodically remind our readers: unfortunately, law school is not a golden ticket.
Earlier: Top Law School Stories of 2008 (Part 1): Law Students of the Year
Prior ATL coverage of Grade Reform
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Comments
these are stupid stories
First bitches!
hahahhahahaha! 2 is a loser
is that picture on the laptop kash? if so, i'm in love
Damn you 3
2 = loser, indeed.
And these stories aren't really stupid. I mean, everyone does year-end reviews. Why not ATL?
And yeah, the recruiting season sucking was a major story for a good deal of ATL readership. Whether it was biglaw, or public interest, getting a job has sucked.
2 has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that
EPIC FAIL is his/her middle name.
why do grandmothers always butter the bread on any sandwich? does a pb&j or salami and cheese really need butter?
kash, will you marry me?
@8 - because they like to smell the buttery insides? Just a guess.
Slap bracelets = awesome
HERE'S to WORKING ON NEW YEARS EVE!!
At least I am employed and not out in that disgusting cold with the poors already massing in Times Square.
Serious question from an NYC biglaw first year associate: If I bought a couple of bottles champagne for myself and my fellow jr associates working tonight for a little midnight toast, would that be a shrewd way to enhance profile amongst my peers and spread some cheer, or a straight ticket to a) reputation as a drunk, b) reprimand from sr. associate or jr. partner.??
thanks
@8 It was common during the depression and during the WWII, it's just a carry over.
12 -- you are a dumbass. How does being a drunk hurt your rep at all? You must be a law student, because otherwise you'd know drinking = success.
11- I concur with your reasoned analysis
BITCH SPREAD THE BUTT CHEEKS SO I CAN SMELL TEH JUICY INSIDES!
14-
I'll be sure to pass your advice onto our summers this spring.
16
You must be a law partner looking to scavenge what you can from your associates.
Thanks 3, 6, and 7. I will continue to fail at being a govt. lawyer with a layoff-prof job. Gotta love the AFGE. Btw, what's a billable hour?
-2
2 - btw, whats "layoff-prof"
Missing an "o" in "proof"
That's why I'm not in biglaw.
-2
2/19:
Wow, nice comeback.
First of all, learn to spellcheck. Oh, wait, the government doesn't provide you with any program better than WordPerfect? Oh well.
Second, enjoy your government salary. Now, I'm only talking the NYC market, but you would be lying if you said that the salaries did not suck right now. Government budgets are being slashed. So enjoy what you can, but don't front and say life is peachy.
Happy New Years!
These Top Stories posts are really stupid. Quit while you are ahead.
- I'm just saying
2 - no, you're not in biglaw because you lack the reasoning skills and intelligence necessary to exceed in law school. lots of biglaw people can't spell or proof their work. ex - mysTTTal
22:
Actually, we only get Word which is strange because the Fed courts use WordPerfect and the conversion is messy.
The salaries are fine and are not affected by a change in budget. Maybe if it was a state govt. job, I'd be worried.
25 -- That is odd. Goodness knows WordPerfect sucks...having to deal with it in Word is still annoying.
Do they at least allow you to surf the internet at all?
22- get your facts straight: Congress approved a pay raise for gov't employees across the board come January. I'll be taking home a sweet 4.8% increase.
Match that!
22- get your facts straight: Congress approved a pay raise for gov't employees across the board come January. I'll be taking home a sweet 4.8% increase.
Match that!
22-get your facts straight. Congress approved a pay increase for all fed gov't employees across the board come January. I'll be taking home a sweet 4.8% increase.
Match that, I dare you!
22-get your facts straight. Congress approved a pay increase for all fed gov't employees across the board come January. I'll be taking home a sweet 4.8% increase.
Match that, I dare you!
26:
Yea, but a lot of sites are blocked including the game sites. I can't even check gmail or yahoo and have to use a direct url to access espn.
-25
28, 29, 30:
What locality are you in? I only got a 3.9% increase.
31/25- I work for the govt and can check gmail. That's weird you can't.
31/25- I work for the govt and can check gmail. That's weird you can't.
19: Who's laying off profs? Times really are tough.
22 - 30 is right, a nice 4.8 percent increase.
If you are in DoD, been converted to NSPS and got 3 shares or better, that goes up to 7.5 percent.
By the way, I have sat on hiring committees and see the refugees from BigLaw who are looking for a "lifestyle change." We would rather not fill a position than give it to a former associate that has spent 3 to 6 years of sucking up, doing doc review and never entering a courtroom.
One last nail in your coffin - we's going to get tuition reimbursement soon. Suck it BigLaw.
24 You're a complete douche. I hate grammar dudes here on ATL. Let's stop pretending we are writing in a prestigious journal and remember this is a blog. Minor mistakes are allowable in my opinion. Along with the stupid abbreviations we all use like ATL or letters for any law firm.
What I don't stand is a grammar douche who has incorrect grammar in his post. So if you are correcting someone, be sure to capitalize after a period. Douche!
Ohh and I forgot, since the holidays are passing, why don't you grab a sphere ornament from any nearby tree, crush it into pieces, then carefully insert them up your butthole, and then take a long, slow, painful dump.
-37
To all the govt lawyers: Stop bragging about your *awesome* govt job. No one respects govt workers, especially govt lawyers. Unless you are in the upper eschelons of D.C. politics, you all are lazy, poor, and and incompetent. I would rather have my secretary represent me than any one of you, which is in part a reason that she makes more money than you.
39 - Sounds like someone is still bitter about not being selected for a clerkship. Chin up, document review can’t be that bad.
39, this is 36 - I am at that level and in DC.
You may feel that way, however, when your client gets a letter from my office, you, your secretary and your co-workers get the thrill of working on your wife/kid/life-partner's [insert significant event here].
My recommendation is for you to go back to collecting those documents that a Government attorney requested from your client. If you do it properly, your supervising partner will not have to go through the humiliation of asking for an extension of time to reply. I'd say you could do it, but, as we all know, associates don't go to meetings, they just prepare binders for those that do.
40/41:
1) A clerkship is not considered being a govt attorney since it is a temporary gig to lead to bigger and better things and if you are a career clerk, then you are court staff, which is different.
2) 36/41: You are not in the upper echelon of politics, so you fall into the category of worthless govt lawyers.
3) While I despise the inept and overbearing inquires and regulations personally, they generate significant revenue, so I suppose I am grateful for your worthless existence.
4) I have no fear of dealing with govt attorneys. Unless my client is patently guilty AND there is a smoking gun dropped into the hands of a govt attorney, I will prevail.
5) My secretary makes more money than you do.
42 - I'd take the time to respond, however, I get to stop working now, unlike you. I'd also say that I was going to stop on my way home and throw a hump into your gf, however, you probably went gay long ago and I'm not interested in that.
Happy New Year bitch!
43-Bravo! You tell 'em!