I told you so.
Longtime Above the Law readers will remember the Southern New England School of Law. We extensively covered the purchase of that unaccredited private law school by the University of Massachusetts, which turned it into the state’s first public law school, renamed the UMass School of Law. I opposed the transition.
But nobody listened to me and the plans went forward, with UMass Law supporters talking about what a great thing the school would be for the people of Massachusetts. Just over a year ago, UMass Law Dean Robert Ward was crowing about the school’s re-opening and the record number of applications it received.
Today, Dean Ward is resigning, under a cloud of scandal….
Continue reading “Dean of the New UMass Law School Resigns”
UMass School of Law (fka Southern New England School of Law) is open for business. Orientation happened last week, and students started classes yesterday, at Massachusetts’s first public law school.
As has been well-documented in these pages, I’m unimpressed. Put simply: there isn’t enough of a demand for new lawyers right now to justify a revamped public law school — no matter how many times you emphasize the word “public” in your press releases.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to voice my concerns to the dean of UMass Law, Robert Ward, on NPR’s Radio Boston program. Click here to listen (I start running my mouth at the 8:30 mark).
I was asked on the program to provide an alternative perspective to the dean, and that’s what I did. But the mentality of the callers was particularly interesting. They really illustrated why there is so much support for more law schools…
Continue reading “UMass Law School is Open: Law Dean Robert Ward and I Talk About It”
We’ve done so many posts about UMass acquiring the Southern Poverty Law Center New England School of Law that I actually thought people were paying attention.
I was wrong.
The ABA Journal reports:
More than 400 students have applied at the new law school at Dartmouth,
There’s more to that sentence but I had to stop right there to dry my crying eyes…
Continue reading “Fools Rush In … To UMass Law”
Some days, it feels like trying to help prospective law students is like trying to stop lemmings from jumping off of a cliff. The ABA Journal reports:
Applications tripled in February after the Southern New England School of Law merged with the University of Massachusetts, creating the first public law school in the state.
Looking only at February data, the school has received triple the number of applications over the same month last year, the Herald News reports. Overall, applications at the school have jumped 132 percent so far for the 2010 school year, with 123 would-be students seeking admission.
Have I taught you nothing? Don’t you wanna-be UMass lawyers care about yourselves? How can I help you if you won’t lift a finger to help yourselves?
The Boston Herald reports:
A “robust recruitment effort” will begin in the next few weeks, the announcement said.
The UMass law school will initially enroll 278 students, slightly higher than its enrollment this year. Enrollment will grow slightly each year, reaching 559 students in fall 2017.
I heard a strange noise. It was… screaming. Some kind of screaming, like a child’s voice … Lambs. The lambs were screaming. First I tried to free them. I… I opened the gate to their pen, but they wouldn’t run. They just stood there, confused. They wouldn’t run. They wouldn’t run.
Would-Be Students Clamor to Apply at New UMass Law School [ABA Journal]
UMass Law applications soar after approval [Boston Herald]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Southern New England/ UMass Law School
Ed. Note: We apologize for our technical difficulties. The commenting function should now be working again.
It’s official. Southern New England School of Law will be converted into the first Massachusetts public law school by the University of Massachusetts. The Boston Globe reports:
The Board of Higher Education today approved the creation of Massachusetts’ first public law school, a historic vote that opens the doors for the initial class of students to enroll in the fall. Under the controversial plan, vehemently opposed by three private law schools, UMass-Dartmouth will acquire the private Southern New England School of Law, which is donating its campus and assets to the state.
Of course the plan wasn’t just opposed by private law schools. It was also opposed by a number of people who actually care about whether or not graduates from UMass Legal will be able to spin off their legal education into an actual practice.
But, it sounds better to say that only “private” interests were arrayed in an anti-competitive attempt to block the new school. Never let facts get in the way of a good story.
More spin after the jump.
Continue reading “UMass Law School: All Systems Go.”
As we mentioned in Morning Docket, late last week the University of Massachusetts board of trustees approved the plan to convert the Southern New England School of Law into the state’s first public law school. The vote went 14 to 4. The Boston Globe reports:
“A public law program will fill a conspicuous gap in the Commonwealth’s public higher education curriculum,” said UMass president Jack Wilson. “It will give our students the public law option that exists in 44 other states. . . . This is about students and about educational opportunity. It is not about which private law school may face more competition.”
Oh please. This is not about the students. And it’s certainly not about educational opportunity — unless by “opportunity” you mean the invitation to saddle yourself with tens of thousands of dollars of debt in exchange for a degree from an unaccredited law school in the midst of the worst market for legal jobs anybody can remember.
We all know what this is about: money. Lenders have it, the state wants it, the financial future of citizens of the Commonwealth be damned.
After the jump, we don’t even have to read between the lines to see the true motives in Massachusetts.
Continue reading “Umass Trustees Approve Plan for Public Law School”
We have reported on the proposed merger of Southern New England School of Law with the University of Massachusetts, which would bring the first public law school to the state. At the time, I wrote:
I mean no offense by this, but isn’t the Southern New England School of Law not a very good law school? There’s a reason the school isn’t accredited, right? I just don’t see how raising the profile of bad law schools is the right way to go.
Apparently, Southern New England School of Law took offense. The Boston Globe reports:
“My students and faculty have been maligned,” the school’s dean, Robert Ward, said during a recent tour of campus, a 75,000-square-foot three-story building next to an outlet mall in North Dartmouth.
Ward acknowledged his school has a way to go to meet national accreditation standards, but said it is far from the crumbling, financially destitute failure critics portray it to be.
He noted a retired appeals court judge — a Harvard Law graduate, no less — among his 13-member faculty.
Putting aside the question of whether or not Southern New England is a good school, can we get back to the question of whether Massachusetts needs a public law school?
Continue reading “Southern New England School of Law Prepares to Fight”
