Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:18 AM - By Elie Mystal
A couple of days ago, we mentioned the new Super Lawyers Law School Rankings. The list ranks law schools by their number of Super Lawyer alumni. At the time, we noted that a potential flaw with the magazine’s methodology was that it is just looking at raw numbers. The rankings aren’t adjusted for class size.
Northwestern Law placed #18 on the list. That’s not too bad if you care about things like rankings. The school placed higher than other traditional Top-14 law schools like Stanford, Duke, and Cornell.
But Northwestern Law Dean David E. Van Zandt does care about rankings. He cares about them a great deal. And while #18 is certainly respectable, it wasn’t quite enough for Dean Van Zandt. Here’s part of his email to Northwestern law students:
As you know, I am a proponent of rankings in general and believe they provide a useful source of consumer information for applicants as well as employers. While their methodology needs improving, I applaud Super Lawyers Magazine for developing a ranking that is based on career performance outputs.
So — in a brilliant exercise of Descartian rationale — Dean Van Zandt changed the list. He (or somebody that works for him) went and changed the methodology to make Northwestern look even more awesome.
Let’s check out Super Lawyers according to Van Zandt after the jump.
Kate McLaughlin will be the youngest 1L at Northwestern Law School this fall, at just 19 years old, reports the Orange County Register.
McLaughlin, who graduated from high school at 12 and from UC San Diego at 17, rocked the LSAT (score: 174) and is going to law school because she wants to save the world:
McLaughlin is not sure yet what she wants to do with her law degree, but hopes it will help her to be more effective in lobbying for the social causes she feels passionately about - feminism, combatting racism, equal rights for gays and lesbians, and international humanitarianism.
“I’m an idealist; I want to change the world,” she said. “I bleed blue; I’m a Democrat. I’m an ardent feminist. I’m big on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights - Prop. 8 was a big issue for me.”
[S]he says being a lawyer isn’t at the top of her to-do list. Rather, she wants to be a science fiction writer…
We’re all for law school — and who are we to say what McLaughlin should do? — but, frankly, we sort of share McLaughlin’s worry about not having time to do the things she’s interested in. How about making a run in the science-fiction world and then heading to law school a bit down the road?
McLaughlin’s not the first especially young one to head to law school. After the jump, we give you a round-up of other barely pubescent law school students and how they’ve fared. One of them has fared especially well — her life might be turned into a TV sitcom about life as an underage lawyer, starring Hilary Duff.
Gentleman, how emasculated would you feel if your future father-in-law shuttled your bride down the aisle, and then, instead of pecking her on the cheek and handing her over, actually turned around and performed the wedding ceremony? Talk about control issues. That’s exactly what this groom endured last Sunday, as he was married by his father-in-law, United States Federal District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
The Rakoff wedding didn’t make our final three. Neither did a couple of lesbianunions, a WGWAG, and several other worthy contenders. Here are the three who made the finals:
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 1:48 PM - By Elie Mystal
Earlier today, we mentioned that Northwestern University School of Law has stepped up to help law students harmed by the terrible economy. We now have the full memo that details all the steps the school is taking to actually help students with the misfortune of graduating during the worst legal economy in recent memory. The school has some great plans to help its soon-to-be alumni:
[W]e are taking proactive steps to identify and establish additional ways that the Law School can help our graduating students and alumni during this challenging period. These options are grounded on the premise that it is important to continue pursuing activities that build your network, your skill set, and your resume. If you are currently in the midst of a job search, have been notified of a deferred start date by your future employer, or are experiencing other related circumstances, I encourage you to consider the following alternatives, which may serve as a short-term bridge to the next step in your career and the ensuing recovery in our economy which will eventually occur.
As the Chicago Tribune reported, the headline news is that Northwestern is encouraging people to apply for extended loan forbearance. For loans taken out directly with Northwestern, the school offers up to 36 months of forbearance, without a balloon payment requirement at the end of the period.
But just as importantly, Northwestern is helping people out with health care:
Health Insurance Extension
Graduating students with University Health Insurance may apply for privately provided Short Term Medical Insurance to bridge the gap between the termination of University coverage (August 31, 2009) and their employment start date. There are a number of products on the market, but the product that is recommended by Northwestern University, and with which University graduates have reported high levels of satisfaction, is offered by United Health Care: https://www.uhcsr.com/SHIP/ShortTermInsurance.aspx.
Northwestern also offers a short-term medical plan through Marsh Affinity Group Services for alumni who are seeking post-graduation employment; between jobs; in part-time or temporary positions; or in other circumstances that may require short-term health insurance coverage. For more information including a free online quote, please consult this website or call [Redacted].
You may finance the cost for this short-term health insurance coverage through Bar Examination Loans (see next). We also are researching alternative options for bridging the health insurance gap.
In this market people need their pills. There are so many deferral programs that are not helping incoming first years with health care that it is starting to look like a lottery system to see who ends up with coverage. Standardizing the process for all Northwestern graduates should really help the school’s students.
Did you notice that line about a bar loan? We get into that and post the full memo after the jump.
A friend of ATL brings us a surprising report from a recruitment event at Northwestern University School of Law on Wednesday night. Despite the rough economic times, rampant layoffs, rescinded job offers, and general end of the legal employment world as we know it, many students decided to skip out on the chance to mingle with recruiters from Biglaw, the DOJ, and the SEC. Says our source from a New York Biglaw firm:
Went to “meet the employers night” at northwestern last night — there was practically no turnout.
The event was aimed at 1Ls, but open to all students. One recruiter complained that “it was f***ing full of LLMs and no one else.”
There were lots of firms there (even Latham), but everyone was shocked at how few students showed up. We talked to maybe 5 the whole night (2 hours). I had a bunch of friends there from other firms — they all had the same reaction — expecting tons of students, shocked at how few showed up…. All said turnout was noticeably lower than in previous years.
Hey Northwestern kids, what’s up with that?
The firm folks speculated as to the reason for the low turnout, and here are the theories they came up with:
1) they’re resigned to not getting jobs
2) they’re more worried than usual about saying something stupid
3) they’re more worried than usual about studying
Northwestern’s head of placement was perplexed, says our source. The firm representatives were perplexed. We are perplexed. What’s the explanation here?
“Northwestern kids are surprisingly confident in their ability to secure jobs this fall,” hypothesized our source, a bemused, but proud, Northwestern alum.
Monday, December 29, 2008 11:31 AM - By Kashmir Hill
Last May, we held an open thread about law school transfer students as second-class citizens, based on the University of Connecticut’s Maya Angelou-inspired “Phenomenal Transfer” poem. There was quite a lot of anti-transfer-student sentiment in the thread, though some former transfer students chimed in to say that they had experienced no animosity in their new homes.
For those put off by transfer students, there were three main themes in the thread:
Transfer students get to skip out on the hellish first year at a top school, and then ride the curve to graduation.
Law schools game the system with transfer students. They get the extra tuition money and avoid hurting their US News ranking by not factoring in the GPAs and LSAT scores of transfer students.
Transfer students may well be gunners, but they are also being gunned… as in hunted. In “Northwestern Unapologetically Poaches 1Ls at Other Schools,” Paul Caron of the TaxProf Blog pointed us to a recent ABA Journal article that picks up on the themes of our open thread. From the Journal:
Northwestern University Law School is actively—and unapologetically—recruiting top-performing law students from lower-ranked schools, a practice that some deans claim is becoming commonplace at elite institutions.
Each year, 150 or so of Northwestern’s 5,000 applicants turned down for first-year admission receive letters inviting them to apply again for “conditional acceptance” the following fall. [Ed. note: Northwestern later revised these numbers with the ABA Journal, saying they only extend 15-25 conditional acceptances each year.]
Deans of lower-tier schools resent the predatory practice. The Journal quotes Northwestern Dean David Van Zandt as saying the poaching allegation is “probably true,” but that, “Chrysler and General Motors don’t agree not to poach each other’s customers.”
Really, Dean Van Zandt? You’re looking to Chrysler and GM as your business role models?
More on transfers, and a look at the number of students bagged by top schools, after the jump.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 3:04 PM - By Elie Mystal
After our post on the importance of accepting your offers, we figured that most students sitting on offers would do the right thing — for themselves and their colleagues — and make a decision.
But maybe some students are just a little more indecisive than others. Last night, Northwestern students received this email:
Dear Second-Year Students Holding Offers,
As you know, we are in very tough economy. In tough economies, firms, not unexpectedly, tend to take a much closer look at the bottom line.
Please accept your offers as soon as possible. We have heard, both by communication with our colleagues at UPenn and from one of our own students, that offers may be withdrawn once a firm considers that its summer class is full, whether or not the 45-day period has expired.
In addition to assisting other students who may then receive an offer that you turn down, it is also in your own best interest to accept quickly.
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your Career Advisor.
Good luck with your decisions,
Your Career Advisors
We expect that quite a few Northwestern law students have offers in the Chicago market. Have you guys been paying attention to what is happening in the Chicago market?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:02 PM - By Elie Mystal
The University of Pennsylvania Law School announced they will begin offering a J.D./M.B.A. program that can be completed in three years.
In order to make it work, Penn will concede a painfully obvious point: one year of law school is really all anybody needs. According to their press release:
Students in the new program will spend the first year in the Law School and the following summer in four Law and Wharton courses designed specifically for the three-year J.D./M.B.A. The second and third years will include a combination of Law and Wharton courses, including capstone courses in the third year and work experience in law, business, finance, or the public sector in the summer between the second and third years.
Applicants will still need to apply to the two schools separately. So, you’ll have to be able to get into Wharton on the strength of that multi-million dollar business you’ve been running out of your treehouse since you were eight.
Penn is not exactly breaking new ground here; Northwestern has been offering a 3-year J.D./M.B.A program for a few years. But maybe Penn just doesn’t fear the purple:
Penn’s three-year J.D./M.B.A. is the country’s first fully integrated three-year program offered by elite law and business schools.
You hear that Kellogg? Penn is calling you out.
Expect U.S. News & World Report’s highly anticipated “Best 3-Year J.D./M.B.A Programs In the Lower 48 States” issue to be coming out soon to help college graduates make a decision.
As some of you have noticed, we tend not to remark negatively on the innate physical attributes of our Legal Eagle contestants. There are several reasons for our reticence, but the most basic one is simply this: LEWW believes that prestige is beautiful. LEWW believes that every bride can look gorgeous on her special day if she has the right law degree. LEWW believes that a JD from HLS is like a great bra; it looks flimsy and has a jaw-dropping price tag, but it will support you and make you look better than you deserve.
Having made much of our reluctance to comment disparagingly about our subjects’ appearance, we’ll promptly depart from our own custom and announce that this is Hotness Disparity Week on LEWW. All of our grooms are decent-looking but undeniably average Joes, and we submit to you that all of them have married up.
Well, maybe not “near you,” unless you live in Chicago. But still, this is big news — and could mark the start of a trend. From Inside Higher Ed (via TaxProf Blog):
Northwestern University is today announcing a new choice for those applying to its law school: a degree in just two years.
Such an option would have been impossible until 2004, when the American Bar Association lifted a requirement that law degrees follow six semesters of instruction. In 2005, the University of Dayton introduced a two-year option that officials there say has been a success. Northwestern is among the bigger names in legal education, however, so its move may have more of an impact.
How will this work exactly?
Northwestern law students [in the two-year program] will begin their courses the summer immediately after they are admitted, rather than in the fall. Then students would enroll in the regular fall and spring semesters for the next two academic years, leaving time for the traditional law internship between the two full years. Students would complete the same number of courses and credits in the two- and three-year programs, with accelerated students simply taking an extra course most semesters.
Will this give students a break on that hefty law school tuition? Not necessarily:
David Van Zandt, dean of the law school, said in an interview Thursday that no decision had been made about whether tuition would differ for the program. While Northwestern currently charges tuition of $42,672 for a year of law school, Van Zandt said that the decision may be to charge by the program and not the semester. The financial attraction to the program, he said, is much more likely to be the ability to be earning a salary a year earlier — not an insignificant matter when many Northwestern law grads pull in $150,000 to $200,000 in their first jobs….
Some legal academics at other schools are critical of the idea. From the Chicago Tribune:
University of Chicago professor and former dean Geoffrey Stone called the two-year program “irresponsible” and said it risked producing inferior lawyers who haven’t had time to develop intellectual and analytical skills.
“My sense is that compressing the educational process is likely to seriously derogate from the quality,” he said. “What is lost is likely to be much more than anything that is gained by hustling the students through more quickly.”
Additional critics are quoted in the Tribune piece (including Larry Solum, of Legal Theory Blog). On the other hand, we’ve often heard it said that the 3L year is a colossal waste of time.
What do you think? Read the complete piece over at Inside Higher Ed, which has additional details about the NU two-year program (e.g., 25 to 40 students to be admitted next year; a requirement of two to three years of “substantive” post-college work experience to be admitted). Then take our poll:
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 2:18 PM - By Kashmir Hill
ATL broke the news earlier this month that Northwestern Law School selected Jerry Springer as commencement speaker for its May 16 graduation.
ATL got a shout-out in the Chicago Tribune, which described the controversy around Springer’s selection. Despite some students’ dissatisfaction, the decision is final:
Last week, the students who selected Springer announced in an e-mail to classmates that their decision had faculty approval and was final, emphasizing that he also was an Emmy-winning news anchor and political commentator who had drawn large crowds at previous speaking engagements.
On Sunday, Springer, a 1968 graduate of the law school, confirmed that he will deliver the address.
“The students invited me, and I’m honored,” Springer said through his publicist, Linda Shafran. Although he has spoken on numerous college campuses, Shafran said, this will be Springer’s first commencement address.
We had a poll last week asking, “Do you support Northwestern Law School’s selection of Jerry Springer as its graduation speaker?” Here are the results. Springer had your overwhelming support, with over 76% voting in favor of the selection.
There was extensive discussion on our earlier post. We chose a few of your comments to highlight, after the jump.
When it comes to law school graduation speakers, it’s hard to please everyone. Earlier this year, controversy erupted at Boston College Law School when U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was announced as the commencement speaker. Some students, faculty and alumni voiced opposition to AG Mukasey, based on his involvement in the waterboarding / torture controversy (extensive coverage collected here; resolution of the situation described here).
Now we report on commencement controversy news of a rather different (and somewhat less highbrow) sort. It arises out of the decision by Northwestern University School of Law to invite Jerry Springer to serve as this year’s commencement speaker. Springer got his law degree there in ‘68, worked as a campaign aide to Robert F. Kennedy, and served as mayor of Cincinnati. But he’s perhaps best known as the ringmaster of scandal and vulgarity on the Jerry Springer Show (and an unsuccessful contestant on Dancing With the Stars).
Some Northwestern students are not happy about Springer’s selection. From a tipster:
There is a current uproar in the graduating class at Northwestern Law. The graduation committee thought Jerry Springer would be an appropriate speaker for this year’s convocation. Most of the student body is opposed to this, but this administration is sticking by the committee’s decision.
Maybe he’ll bring Northwestern students with secrets and unresolved conflicts up on stage, then have them confess and brawl. That might be more fun than the usual staid graduation ceremony.
We contacted the school for comment, which issued the following statement, from Dean David E. Van Zandt:
In keeping with the spirit of our community, our commencement speaker annually is selected by a student committee, approved by the administration, and invited by both.
Mr. Springer is an alumnus who has held public office as a city council member and mayor of Cincinnati. He has had a very successful career in the news and entertainment industries.
We look forward to Mr. Springer’s participation at commencement.
At least one LLM candidate is trying to prevent Springer’s speaking. See the protest letter circulating at Northwestern, and vote in our reader poll, after the jump.
Update: Also after the jump, a defense of Jerry Springer’s selection as commencement speaker, which went out over the NU law school listerv.
Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of U.S. News & World Report have leaked, in advance of their official Friday publication date. They’re all over the blogosphere and the message boards (links collected below).
We’ve been sitting on this item for a little while — coordinating with our other posts this morning, taking into account our traffic patterns, etc. There is a method to our madness.
Ideally we’d hold this item even longer (which would allow us to do a more detailed write-up). But it’s clear that you’re all dying to talk about the rankings RIGHT NOW. And we don’t want to get any more emails and comments of the “why aren’t you writing about U.S. News” variety.
So here you go. Rankings and discussion, after the jump (i.e., click on the “Continue reading” link below).
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 4:29 PM - By David Lat
We’re not sure we “get” this story. We agree, in part, with this comment:
[The Northwestern Law School controversy] sounds very boring to me.
The SBA president offends the Latinos Students association, people ask him to resign, he resigns. End of story.
Where’s the “scandal”? Who cares….
Our only observation, which the WSJ Law Blog post hints at, is the sheer irony of all this. The SBA president got in trouble for not inviting minority student group leaders, qua minority student group leaders, to a breakfast with Chief Justice John Roberts (and for some remarks he made after the fact).
Yes, THAT Chief Justice Roberts. The jurist who wrote, in last year’s big Texas redistricting case: “It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.”
It is a sordid business, this divvying up of breakfast tickets by race.
But we seem to be in the minority. Several of you have asked us to write something about this dispute. And over at the WSJ Law Blog, there’s a comments clusterf**k going on.
So here’s an open thread. Enjoy!
P.S. We have to step away for a bit. But if we get inspired, maybe we’ll update this post a bit later with some actual substance.
A couple of days ago, we mentioned the new Super Lawyers Law School Rankings. The list ranks law schools by their number of Super Lawyer alumni. At the time, we noted that a potential flaw with the magazine’s methodology was that it is just looking at raw numbers. The rankings aren’t adjusted for class size. 
Continue reading "Northwestern Law Adjusts Super Lawyers Rankings and Is Pleased with Itself"
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After our post on the importance of accepting your offers, we figured that most students sitting on offers would do the right thing — for themselves and their colleagues — and make a decision. 
Northwestern University is today announcing a new choice for those applying to its law school: a degree in just two years.
Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of 
