Association of American Law Schools
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 11.07.18
* Republicans’ control over the Senate grew after the midterm elections, but Democrats managed to take the House. Here are six interesting reasons why that means President Donald Trump could be in “huge legal trouble” now. [Law & Crime]
* Florida voters approved an amendment to their state constitution to restore felons’ voting rights, which will now be automatically restored after prison time is completed and restitution paid. That’s at least 1.4 million more voters! [Orlando Sentinel]
* Remember Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed after she refused to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples? Last night, she lost her reelection campaign to Elwood Caudill Jr., a Democratic challenger. [Lexington Herald Leader]
* In case you missed it, President Donald Trump chose former White House counsel and current O’Melveny of counsel A.B. Culvahouse to go Down Under to
put another shrimp on the barbieserve as U.S. ambassador to Australia. [National Law Journal]* A California appellate court has paved the way for former Winston & Strawn partner Constance Ramos to get out of an “unconscionable” arbitration agreement with the firm. This may be the first Biglaw gender bias case to make it to trial. [The Recorder]
* Sorry, but you can’t deduct the cost of your law degree on your taxes because it qualified you for a new trade or business. The U.S. Tax Court says that even with a shiny new J.D. in your possession, you’ve only enhanced your current skills. [Law360]
* Grab ’em by the public interest: Per a new Gallup survey, pre-law students don’t care about Biglaw money; no, they say the top reason to go to law school is to “pursue a career in politics, government, or other public service.” [Idaho Business Review]
* A group of crypto investors has filed suit against rapper T.I., alleging that they could not have whatever they like because he tricked them into backing FLiK Token. The Rubberband Man’s lawyer says, “Tip is truly disheartened by the lawsuit.” [Complex]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools
Law School Deans Whine About The New York Times Calling Out Their Debt Scam
Faced with high-profile criticism, law school deans pull out the scare tactics in defense of the lucrative status quo. - Sponsored
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 01.06.15
* At the annual Association of American Law Schools meeting, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg handed out a delightful piece of marriage advice that she sometimes uses when dealing with her colleagues on the Supreme Court: “It helps to sometimes be a little deaf.” [National Law Journal]
* Thomas Gilbert Jr., the man accused of killing his father — who just so happened to be the founder of the Wainscott Capital hedge fund — allegedly shot him to death over a $200 cut in his monthly allowance. This is why rich people can’t have nicer things. [New York Post]
* Litigants on both sides of a First Amendment issue headed to SCOTUS are using a law review article penned by none other than Justice Elena Kagan in an attempt to influence all of the justices. See, people do read law review articles. [New York Times]
* Musical chairs, dean-poaching edition: Fordham Law just named Matthew Diller as its new dean, but he’s still going to remain as dean at Cardozo until the end of the year. Let’s see how he tackles the school’s enrollment decline. [New York Law Journal]
* Per a study conducted by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, law school graduates who participated in a practice-ready program fared better as attorneys than those who did not. Whoa, nice going. [WSJ Law Blog]
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Association of American Law Schools, Law Schools, Quote of the Day
Which Law Schools Will Be The First To Close? Expert Hazards A Guess
Could one of them be your law school? -
Cars, Contests, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Student Loans
6 Cars Law Students Drive: Please Show Us Yours
Is your law school debt high because you drive a nice car? -
Abortion, Association of American Law Schools, Biglaw, Books, Conferences / Symposia, Football, Gender, Intellectual Property, Jed Rubenfeld, Law Schools, Racism, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Law, Sports, Tax Law, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 01.06.14
* “Either access to abortion will be dramatically restricted in the coming year or perhaps the pushback will begin.” We’re moving back in history. Here’s hoping pro-choice advocacy will be born anew in 2014. [New York Times] * George S. Canellos, the SEC’s co-chief of enforcement, announced his departure on Friday, and people are already wondering whether he’ll return to his old stomping grounds at Milbank Tweed. [DealBook / New York Times] * We hope legal educators had fun at the Association of American Law Schools annual meeting, but we hope most of all that they learned what needs to change to really make legal education pay. [WSJ Law Blog] * “I believe women lawyers can contribute a lot to the legal system.” Saudi Arabia now has its first female law firm dedicated to bringing women’s issues to the country’s patriarchal courts. Congratulations! [RT] * A Starbucks spokeswoman issued a defense to the cease-and-desist response letter that went viral worldwide, and it reads just like how her company’s coffee tastes: bland. [International Business Times] * Amy “Tiger Mom” Chua is back with a vengeance, co-authoring a controversial new book (affiliate link) with her husband, Jed Rubenfeld. Which cultural groups are superior? [New York Post] -
Association of American Law Schools, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Rudeness
Well That's A Rude Way To Welcome Your New Dean
Maybe law deans should be hired like football coaches. -
Law Schools, Quote of the Day
As the Ivory Tower Crumbles, New Leadership Emerges
It's a scary time to step into a leadership role at the Association of American Law Schools... - Sponsored
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
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Antonin Scalia, Arthur Miller, Biglaw, Conferences / Symposia, Federal Judges, Law Professors, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Arthur Miller Puts Justice Scalia and Others on Panel; Good Thing Everybody Did the Reading
Even if you are on a panel with Justice Scalia, you should really do the reading... -
Biglaw, Celebrities, Disasters / Emergencies, Drugs, Federal Government, Harold Koh, Harris Beach, Holidays and Seasons, Job Searches, Law Firm Mergers, Law Professors, Law Schools, Marijuana, Morning Docket, Music, Musical Chairs, Parties, State Department
Morning Docket: 12.10.12
* “The people who are paying us say this is what we want.” When it comes to cross-border mergers, law firms aren’t becoming behemoths for the hell of it. The end goal is to be able to edge out the rest of the competition. [Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)]
* It’s been six weeks since Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast, and “[e]verybody wants to go back downtown,” but some Biglaw firms in New York City — firms like Harris Beach and Cahill Gordon — are still stuck in their temporary offices. [New York Law Journal]
* Following Jeh Johnson’s adieu to the DoD, drone-loving Harold Koh will be packing up his office at the State Department and returning to Yale Law to resume his professorship next month. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector is employing 5,800 more people than it was at this time last year. We’d be in good shape if 40,000 people hadn’t graduated law school in May. [Am Law Daily]
* Another day, another wrist slap: Villanova Law has been placed on probation for by the Association of American Law Schools over its grade-inflation scandal. Does that even mean anything? [Philadelphia Inquirer]
* The Lanier Law Firm, known for its spectacular Christmas parties, hosted some country superstars at this year’s event. Guess we know where Faith Hill and Tim McGraw go for legal assistance. [Houston Chronicle]
* A slim majority of American adults think that federal government employees should just sit back, relax, and smoke a bowl instead of enforcing federal laws against marijuana use. [FiveThirtyEight / New York Times]
* “I’m sorry they are confused in the White House.” Puerto Rico’s statehood referendum received a majority of votes, but lawmakers say the results of the two-part plebiscite are too confusing to add a 51st state. [CNN]
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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 […] -
Biglaw, Education / Schools, Job Searches, Law Schools, LLMs, Student Loans, Tax Law
The Value of the LL.M. Degree? Still Low
Every so often, people ask us about the "value" of getting an LL.M. degree. Our answer has remained pretty consistent. Is it a tax LL.M. from Georgetown or NYU? No? Then save your money and buy something valuable like gold or drugs. The National Law Journal made that EXTREMELY OBVIOUS point this week (again).... -
Benchslaps, Education / Schools, Federal Judges, Law Professors, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Sonia Sotomayor
Outsiders Criticize Law Schools, But Will Change Ever Come?
While many of the law school deans and other administrators at the AALS conference acknowledged problems with the system, most of the actual critiquing came from people with no power to change it. Media members criticized law schools, judges criticized law schools, outgoing deans that shamelessly profiteered off of unwitting law students criticized law schools -- and the people who could actually change their systems dutifully listened. But despite all of the critiques, there weren't a lot of schools that seemed ready to institute sweeping change to the business of educating lawyers....
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American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Student Loans
Law School Professionals Want Bill Robinson to Put a Sock in It
When the story about the head of the ABA's tactless remarks broke, Elie had the good fortune of being in Washington, D.C., at the annual conference of the Association of American Law Schools. Law school professionals -- the people who have to deal with the perception of general ABA incompetence on a day-to-day basis -- were not at all happy with William Robinson's comments.... -
Law Professors, Law Schools, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: It's the End of the World as We Know It
The jolt to the legal profession is real, and the world is not going back to the way it was. — Thomas D. Morgan, professor of law at George Washington University Law School, commenting on the state of legal education during a plenary session at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. […] -
3rd Circuit, American Bar Association / ABA, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, Morning Docket, New Jersey, Pornography, Prostitution, Television
Morning Docket: 01.06.12
* Is New Jersey’s Senator Robert Menendez blocking Patty Shwartz, Obama’s Third Circuit nominee, out of resentment? Time to build yourself a bridge and GTF over it. [New York Times] * Sullivan & Cromwell took the top spot among law firms in M&A transactions in 2011, with $325.7 billion in deals. You better believe they’re […]
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Law School Deans, Law Schools, Money, Student Loans
Kudos to Maryland Law for Protecting Its Students from Tuition Increases
Next month I’ll be appearing on a panel at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The subject of the panel: how to get good press for your law school. One obvious answer: do good things for your students. Just like the University of Maryland School of Law. Our coverage of UMB […]