American Bar Association / ABA
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American Bar Association / ABA, Animal Law, Deaths, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Pro Bono, Real Estate, Trendspotting
Morning Docket: 05.02.12
* Starting next year, if you want to be a lawyer in New York, you’re going to have to work for free. Because nothing says “we care” like indentured servitude. Thank God for law school clinic hours… maybe. [New York Times]
* Mo’ law schools, mo’ problems? That’s what Dean Wu thinks. Here’s a new trend to watch: UC Hastings will be joining forces with lower ranked law schools in an effort to reduce its incoming class sizes. [USA Today]
* MOAR TRANSPARENCY! Support has been shown for the ABA’s proposed changes to law school disclosure requirements. All the better for those “sophisticated consumers,” eh, Judge Schweitzer? [ABA Journal]
* “Dogs are always happy to see you, no matter how you do on your Evidence exam.” Only real bitches would throw shade. Emory has joined the therapy dog pack for finals. [11 Alive News]
* In trying to dismiss a $50M suit against billionaire George Soros, his lawyer claimed that his ex would have had to suffer an “unconscionable injury.” Dude, she did. She banged an octogenarian. [New York Daily News]
* Ann Richardson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UDC School of Law, RIP. [Washington Post]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Musical Chairs
The American Bar Association Will Have An Online Law School Guy As Its Top Adviser On Legal Education
It's not clear the ABA can pass the LSAT. Their logical reasoning for picking a new legal education czar seems weak. - Sponsored
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American Bar Association / ABA, Cars, Disasters / Emergencies, Immigration, Law Schools, Morning Docket, New Jersey, New York Times, Police, SCOTUS, Student Loans, Supreme Court, Wal-Mart
Morning Docket: 04.25.12
* Arizona’s immigration law is heading to the Supreme Court today. Meanwhile, former Senator Dennis DeConcini lobbed the worst insult ever against his state. How embarrassing for you, Arizona. [New York Times]
* Will Wal-Mart regret not disclosing its bribery investigation sooner? Not when the delay saved millions in criminal fines. What Wal-Mart will regret is being forced into disclosure by the NYT narcs. [Corporate Counsel]
* Delete all the oil from ocean, and then maybe we’ll care about this. A former BP employee was charged with obstruction of justice for deleting texts having to do with the Deepwater Horizon disaster. [Bloomberg]
* The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners has granted Duncan Law an extension on its bid for ABA accreditation. Woohoo, five more years of allowing students to “negligently enroll.” [Knoxville News Sentinel]
* “Once you cross the six-figure mark, you think, what’s a few thousand dollars more?” You’re doing it wrong: you’re supposed to be bragging about a six-figure salary, not a six-figure debt obligation. [Baltimore Sun]
* New Jersey residents don’t always have the great pleasure of nearly being killed by two high-speed Lamborghinis, but when they do, they prefer that police officers be suspended and sue over it. [ABC News]
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3rd Circuit, American Bar Association / ABA, Barack Obama, Biglaw, Constitutional Law, Federal Government, Free Speech, Guns / Firearms, Legal Ethics, Money, Morning Docket, Old People, Politics, Pornography
Morning Docket: 04.18.12
* Since you’re so funny, crack some jokes about this one, Obama. Senate Republicans will be filing an amicus brief in support of a challenge to the constitutionality of the President’s recess appointments. [New York Times]
* Thanks to this Third Circuit ruling, you can rest easy knowing that you can rely on the First Amendment to protect your homemade sex tapes from all of those strict porn record-keeping and labeling requirements… for now. [Reuters]
* Due to Kelley Drye’s EEOC settlement, the New York State Bar Association is asking firms to end mandatory retirement policies. Because old folks need to make bank till they croak. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* The ABA’s Commission on Ethics 20/20 has decided to ditch its proposal to allow limited nonlawyer ownership of law firms. Cue tears and temper tantrums from the likes of Jacoby & Meyers. [Am Law Daily]
* “If I believe that Chris Armstrong is a radical homosexual activist, I have a constitutional right to express that opinion.” Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell that to the judge who dismissed your suit, Shirvell. [Detroit Free Press]
* Presenting “her royal hotness”: apparently Pippa Middleton has been seen cavorting around France with gun-toting lawyer Romain Rabillard, of Shearman & Sterling. [Daily Mail]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Biglaw, Billable Hours, Christopher Christie, Law Schools, Money, Morning Docket, Murder, New Jersey, Prostitution, Southern New England School of Law/Umass
Morning Docket: 04.16.12
* * The harsh realities of post-recession practice: will Biglaw leaders have to resort to alternative billing practices in order to survive? Well, they better, or else they’re “not going to have a law firm for very long.” [Washington Post]
* I don’t think “secret service” means what you think it means. Listen up, agents, prostitution might be legal in much of Columbia, but it makes America look bad when you can’t afford a $47 hooker. [New York Post]
* Jessica Recksiedler, the judge assigned to oversee George Zimmerman’s case, may have a conflict of interest thanks to her husband. Somebody’s getting banished from the bedroom this week. [Bloomberg]
* Law firms with ties to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have seen record profits compared to their take under Jon Corzine’s rule. That said, even if he called them “idiots,” it was totally worth it. [Star-Ledger]
* UMass Law is being reviewed for accreditation by the American Bar Association, and opponents are throwing some major shade. As if Dean Ward’s scandalous resignation wasn’t enough. [South Coast Today]
* Is this house haunted as a matter of law? That’s what this New Jersey couple is hoping that a judge will say about their rental home. Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened in the tri-state area. [ABC News]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Plaintiffs Firms
BREAKING: Class Action Lawsuit Against New York Law School Dismissed
The class action lawsuit filed by Team Strauss/Anziska against New York Law School over its allegedly deceptive employment statistics has been dismissed. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Job Searches, Law Schools
Elite Law Schools Are Suffering the Consequences From Their Lack of Credibility
Most people and institutions jealously guard their credibility, but as a couple of elite law schools are learning this week, right now their word and credibility carries significantly less weight than the New York Post’s…. -
American Bar Association / ABA, Cardozo Law School, Law Schools
Breaking: Thomas Jefferson School of Law's Motion to Dismiss DENIED -- And Twenty More Law Schools to Be Sued
Today, the lawyers leading the law school litigation squad announced that they are planning to target 20 more law schools for class action lawsuits over their allegedly deceptive post-graduation employment statistics. This time around, you may be surprised by some of the law schools that appear on their list.... - Sponsored
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In this new report of more than 100 professionals at small and smaller midsize law firms, iManage and Above the Law shed new light on… -
American Bar Association / ABA, Bar Exams, Law Schools
Another Law School Sued, But This Time With Allegations of 'Negligent Enrollment'
We’ve previously written about all of the problems that have befallen Duncan School of Law’s hopes for provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association. With motions pending in Duncan Law’s antitrust lawsuit against the ABA, perhaps the school thought that it could enjoy a momentary respite from all of the negative media attention it’s been […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Attorney Misconduct, Biglaw, Celebrities, Law Schools, Morning Docket, Nude Dancing, SCOTUS, Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court, Television, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 02.10.12
* “All My Justices” may soon be coming to daytime television station near you. In a close vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that calls for television access to Supreme Court proceedings. [Legal Times] * A former Cravath associate’s law license has been suspended as a result of a DV assault charge. For […]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism
Can A Law School Force You To Be Racially Sensitive?
Is it right for a law school to send its students to tolerance camp? Mandatory tolerance camp? Mandatory tolerance camp, where unexcused absences will result in an intolerant notation placed in students’ permanent records? When I came across the story of a state law school holding a “mandatory” diversity seminar that students were required to […] -
9th Circuit, American Bar Association / ABA, Antitrust, Arnold & Porter, Biglaw, California, Department of Justice, Election 2012, Election Law, Morning Docket, Politics, Summer Associates
Morning Docket: 02.07.12
* Obama has officially nominated William Baer, an Arnold & Porter partner, to run the DOJ’s antitrust division. Get ready for an election year confirmation showdown between the parties. [New York Times] * Newt Gingrich has dropped out of the Virginia ballot lawsuit that was originally filed by Rick Perry. What does this mean for […]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Antonin Scalia, Biglaw, Clerkships, Money, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Clerks
Quotes of the Day: Mo' Superior Legal Minds, Mo' Problems!
What does Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia think about the state of the legal profession and Biglaw's compensation system? See what he had to say about both at the 2012 American Bar Association Midyear Meeting....
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American Bar Association / ABA, Animal Law, Attorney Misconduct, Bankruptcy, California, Football, Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, Student Loans, Utah, Violence
Morning Docket: 02.06.12
* More law school graduates are trying to get their day in court for bankruptcy protection. Looks like these people didn’t read their student loan MPNs carefully (or at all). They state pretty clearly that you’re screwed for life. [Reuters] * Part-time programs are closing their doors. Even Cooley Law took a hit, trimming its […]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Bar Exams, Law Schools, Money
Which Law School Is Allegedly Paying Students Not to Take the Bar Exam This Summer?
What happens when a law school's graduates fail the bar exam in such great numbers that it becomes national news? Does that law school hang its head in shame and admit defeat? Or does it figure out a way to game the numbers so that next time, it won't be so embarrassed? As with most things having to do with numbers, this law school has allegedly made an ill-advised decision to appear more appealing to the public (and the American Bar Association). This law school is allegedly offering its students money in the hopes that they won't take this summer's bar exam. But which law school? -
American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Ground Control to ABA, Are You Listening?
Due to the current weakness in the job market for environmental journalists, Columbia’s dual degree program in Earth & Environmental Science Journalism will not be accepting new students for the foreseeable future. — A note posted on the official website for Columbia University’s Dual Masters program in Earth and Environmental Science Journalism. (I feel like […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, John Marshall Law School, Law Schools
Twelve More Law Schools Slapped with Class Action Lawsuits Over Employment Data
Back in October, we informed our readers that law school litigators Jesse Strauss and David Anziska intended to file class action lawsuits against 15 additional schools, on top of the two they'd already filed against Cooley Law and New York Law School. In mid-December, we brought you an update on the status of those potential filings after Anziska told us that at least three named plaintiffs had been secured for 11 out of the 15 law schools on October's target list. And now, about a month and a half later, have we got some news for you.... -
American Bar Association / ABA, Bar Exams, Law Schools, LSAT, Lunacy, Reader Polls
ATL Readers to ABA: Enforce Stricter Standards
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.” In contrast, Thomas Jefferson School of Law does not tremble before the toothless authority of the ABA. In fact, the school feels free to respond to utter institutional FAIL with peevish blame-shifting. Either […] -
American Bar Association / ABA, Edwards Wildman, Law Schools, Marijuana, Morning Docket, New Jersey
Morning Docket: 01.19.12
* Occupy Wall Street supporters, please take note: this is how you stage a protest. Yesterday’s internet blackout definitely made lawmakers think twice. SOPA bill backers dropped like flies. [New York Times] * The American Bar Association may be taking baby steps toward improving the way law schools report graduate employment and salary statistics, but […]
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American Bar Association / ABA, Bar Exams, BARBRI, Law Schools
Thomas Jefferson School of Law Believes Its 2011 Graduates To Be Kind of Stupid
Much to the ABA's embarrassment, Thomas Jefferson School of Law released some papers to reassure students that even with a 33% first time bar passage rate (and an incomprehensible 13% pass rate for returning test takers), TJSL was still well within ABA parameters. So who is to blame for these alleged "outlier results"? According to the law school, Bar/Bri, and the students themselves....