Law School Deans, Law Schools

Pace Hires Taxi Man As New Law School Dean

New law dean should offer a 'law student's bill of rights.'

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In fairness, the new law dean at Pace University didn’t actually drive a taxi. David Yassky was the head of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and he’s just been named the new Pace Law dean. So there is only a small chance that Pace Law students will get cursed at when they ask Career Services to find them a job in Brooklyn.

On the other hand, one of the few things new New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and his Republican opponent Joe Lhota agreed about was the need to replace Yassky when they got the job. So Pace Law is going with a dean who got pushed out of running a taxi service.

And it’s not like Pace students can call 3-1-1 if they can’t get a job…

All joking aside, Yassky has qualifications for this job beyond his TLC experience. From the New York Times:

Mr. Yassky, who received his law degree from Yale, has previously taught at Brooklyn Law School and New York University Law School.

“This is going to be a ball,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “What could be more fun than working at a law school at this moment?”

“Fun” is not exactly the word I’d use. Pace Law, located in White Plains, is ranked 134th by U.S. News, but charges $43,878 a year for full-time students. I mean, I guess that is “fun” for the people who get to work at Pace and charge students all this money, but this is hardly an ideal time to convince students to sign up for an overpriced education.

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Yassky is undaunted by the challenges:

He said some things remained constant: “The core point — that educating highly competent and highly ethical lawyers is a core part of our society — is true and will remain true.”… he said, “The mandate is to think creatively about how Pace has to adapt with the changes in the profession.”

Ooh, ooh, I have a “creative” idea that is ripped right from the Taxi Commission: Pace should charge students $25,000 for the first year and then $5,000 for each additional year. That’s about a $10,000 cost reduction for Pace Law students right off the bat. Maybe being a law school dean really isn’t that hard.

Pace Picks Yassky, Ex-Taxi Chief, as Its Law School Dean [New York Times]

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