BARBRI
-
Law Schools
BARBRI Teaches Most Important Lesson Of Being A Young Lawyer: Dealing With Passive-Aggressive People
The competition for bar exam prep seems to be getting to some people. -
Law Schools
Board Of Law Examiners: The Kings Of Wishful Thinking
LawProfBlawg has spent too much time with the Board of Law Examiners lately. He’s become one of them. - Sponsored
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
Legal document automation is no longer only for the exclusive few. -
Law Schools
10 Reasons To Attend Law School From Rising 1L Students Throughout America
If you would like to read the essays in their entirety and help select the $10,000 winner, you can do so here.
-
Law Schools
Women Are Flocking To Law School Thanks To Donald Trump
The Trump bump is real, and women who want change in America are heading to law school. -
Law Schools
BARBRI Take the Wheel, ‘SeRiouS’ly
A discussion of how Mary E. Juetten prepped for the exam seven years out of law school, while working, and well over the average test-taking age -- and passed. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 09.26.17
* Winston & Strawn becomes the latest firm slapped with a gender bias suit. The article is fixated on the fact that the plaintiff went to high school with Obama, but the more fascinating aspect of the story is that it “has not yet been previously reported,” which I think means there’s a time machine involved. [The Recorder]
* As a general rule, if someone contemporaneously points out, “we’re laundering money,” it should raise a red flag. [Law360]
* A new bill would exempt law firms from laws against abusive debt collection practices because some people don’t think the legal profession is objectionable enough and maybe a policy carveout allowing them to send Rocko out to crack client heads might just do the trick. [Detroit News]
* It’s a shotgun wedding! If you replace “shotgun” with “risk that a material witness would be compelled to testify against me.” [Lowering the Bar]
* BarBri seems to have successfully escaped the $50 million antitrust lawsuit it faced. [Law.com]
* Velcro has a music video urging people to call their product “hook-and-loop” to protect their trademark. Because if you want to reverse decades of informal association, try to convince people to use the stupidest name ever. [Velcro]
* Could a Vulcan adopt a human child? Sure, but who wants to be a Vulcan? Tell me if I can ever realize my dream of being adopted by Zaphod Beeblebrox. [Legal Geeks]
* Here’s a disturbing video of a couple of ICE agents harassing an American citizen. Oregon lawmakers are calling for a federal investigation. When I recently spoke to former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, she explained how her office put in tremendous effort to ensure that immigration enforcement agents on the ground understood their legal limits. It would seem this administration is less focused on that. [ACLU of Oregon]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glb0LJ7XX_k
-
Bar Exams, Law Schools
Worst Results Ever? The ONLY Grad From This School To Pass The Bar Exam Speaks Out
He knows what it’s like to be the only person from your law school to pass the bar exam. -
Antitrust, Bar Exams, Law Schools
BARBRI And 11 Law Schools Get Hit With A $50 Million Antitrust Lawsuit
This ain't BARBRI's first time at the antitrust rodeo. - Sponsored
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
In this CLE-eligible webinar on April 10th, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.23.16
* Bar exam-prep companies seem to be involved in a never-ending war with each other, and shots have been fired in the latest battle. BARBRI has been sued by LLM Bar Exam in a federal antitrust action, and several law schools have been caught in the fray. We’ll have more on this later today. [WSJ Law Blog]
* New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his legal team have until today to file an appeal of the Second Circuit’s decision in the Deflategate case. According to an attorney who once served as outside counsel to the NFL, Brady’s chances of success are “near zero” if he decides to pursue this Hail Mary. [Big Law Business]
* OOOOk-lahoma, where the crazy comes sweepin’ down the plain: Oklahoma’s state legislature wants to impeach President Barack Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch over the administration’s guidance on transgender bathroom accommodations. The Sooner State’s actions are “highly symbolic,” but they’re likely “doomed.” [TIME]
* Did he wear an ascot and a smoking jacket while he was deposed? Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner testified at a deposition in a case filed by a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby at the Playboy Mansion while she was a minor. Thanks to a gag order, no details on Hef’s deposition are available at this time. [Reuters]
* Sorry, but you still can’t deduct the cost of your law school tuition and fees on your taxes, even if you’re an accountant/tax preparer who only enrolled to get a leg up on your tax skills and never intended to practice law, but especially if you later start a law firm with a family member. The Tax Court frowns upon things like this. [Accounting Today]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 05.13.16
* “Congress is the only source for such an appropriation, and no public money can be spent without one.” The House was successful in its suit over the improper funding of an Obamacare subsidy program, but this victory may serve as a setback to those who have come to rely upon it. You can expect the Obama administration to appeal. [POLITICO]
* The Ninth Circuit will allow attorneys who secured a victory in the Stetson BARBRI antitrust case to get a second chance to score the nearly $2M in attorneys fees they originally requested before Judge Manuel Real shot them down. Due to his prior “erroneous findings and conclusions,” the Ninth Circuit has essentially removed Judge Real from the case. [Courthouse News Service]
* “People are turned off on legal education because of a lack of suitable paying jobs.” Even while facing a dearth of applicants, Minnesota Law has decided to scale back on the size of its first-year class — taking in less of the tuition income that it needs to survive — in order to preserve its standing as a top law school. [DealBook / New York Times]
* Former partners of the dearly departed Dickstein Shapiro will no longer have to worry about that $8.4 million sublease lawsuit filed by Sullivan & Worcester after they left the firm’s New York office to lateral en masse to Blank Rome. Both sides have amicably resolved their dispute, but we wonder how much it cost to do so. [Big Law Business]
* A grand jury has upgraded the charges against Ryan Petersen, the man alleged to have shot 23-year-old law firm clerk Chase Passauer to death in his office chair. Peterson had been charged with second-degree murder in Passauer’s death, but now faces a charge of premeditated first-degree murder for the commission of the crime. [Star Tribune]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.26.16
* John LaTorre, the former chief financial officer of Barry Law School, recently pleaded guilty to second-degree grand theft after spending tens of thousands of dollars on school corporate card to finance his Hooters outings and pay his utilities bills. LaTorre faces up to 10 years of probation and will have to pay the school $24,838 in restitution in monthly payments of at least $175. [Orlando Sentinel]
* Professor Sujit Choudhry may have resigned from his position as dean of Berkeley Law School after being accused in a sexual harassment scandal, but now he says the school is trying to strip him of his tenure, and he’s not going to go down without a fight. In a grievance letter, Choudhry claims school officials smeared him in the press and violated his due process rights. We’ll have more on this development later today. [WSJ Law Blog]
* This “sets back every blind person who wants to be a lawyer out there”: Three blind law students have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against BARBRI, alleging that the bar exam test preparation company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to properly accommodate them with usable study materials, thereby “preventing them from fully, equally, and adequately preparing for the bar exam.” [Dallas Morning News]
* Just when you thought this ugly legal dispute couldn’t get any messier, one of Dennis Hastert’s sexual assault accusers decided to sue the former Speaker of the House for breach of contract. Identified as James Doe in his pleadings, he alleges that Hastert agreed to pay him $3.5M in hush money for keeping quiet about the abuse he endured when he was a teen, but thus far, he’s only seen $1.7M of those funds. [CBS Chicago]
* It’s late April, and if you’re still looking for advice on your personal statement for your law school applications, then you’re probably already in trouble. However, if you’re desperate for a helpful hint even this late in the game and your law school of choice has a late submission deadline, you may want to try including a thesis — it’ll keep your essay from becoming a regurgitation of your résumé. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]
-
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 04.13.16
* Led Zeppelin doesn’t want drug or alcohol evidence coming into the upcoming “Stairway to Heaven” suit. Good luck… it’s not possible to talk about that song without drugs. [National Law Journal]
* A lot of small and solo lawyers are shy about big bills. They shouldn’t be. [Business of Law Blog / LexisNexis]
* “10 Supreme Court Novels to Get Your Mind Off the Nomination Battle.” Great, now we’ve got to wait until Senator Grassley gets through all of these before he sets up a hearing. [ABA Journal]
* Speaking of Judge Garland, Fix the Court sees this nomination as an opportunity to generate some momentum around the concept of Supreme Court term limits. [Fix the Court]
* Apparently the key to getting good grades from narcissistic professors is to be a narcissist yourself. That seems odd because you’d expect narcissists to chafe at someone striving to steal the spotlight but “game recognize game,” I guess. [TaxProf Blog]
* Remember when we said that the Florida bar exam results were bad? They were really bad. [Bar Exam Stats]
* A Rutgers Law professor is in hot water over allegedly mishandled funds. [Legal Profession Blog]
* BarBri Law Preview has a $10k scholarship for a lucky 1L this coming year. If you want it to be you (or someone you know), then act fast because the deadline is Friday. [BarBri Law Preview]
-
Bar Exams
Bar Examinee Hilariously Lashes Out At Prep Companies
The bar exam is a lot of pressure and eventually someone had to crack.
Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
Profit Powerhouse: Elevating Law Firm Financial Performance
Document Automation For Law Firms: The Definitive Guide
Sponsored
How AI Is The Catalyst For Reshaping Every Aspect Of Legal Work
Are Small Firms Going Big On Legal Tech?
-
Bar Exams, Sponsored Content
What Is Most Important In Choosing A Bar Prep Course?
A look at the some findings from a survey about bar exam prep. -
Events, Law Schools, Sponsored Content
Thanks To Everyone Who Took The MoFo Communication Challenge
Here's a report on this educational and enjoyable event. -
BARBRI, Career Files, Law Schools, Law Students
Don't Miss: Communication Workshop with ATL, BARBRI & MoFo
Apply today to take the ATL and Morrison & Foerster Effective Communication Challenge, an innovative law student competition hosted by BARBRI. Winners will receive Apple Watches courtesy of MoFo. -
BARBRI, Career Files, Events, Law Schools, Law Students
Take The ATL/MoFo Communication Challenge!
Apply today to participate in the ATL and Morrison & Foerster Effective Communication Challenge, an innovative law student competition hosted by BARBRI. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.09.15
* Amal Clooney, the attorney who tamed George Clooney’s heart and is now considered one of the most famous human rights lawyers in the world, will be teaching at a New York law school this spring. Which one? We’ll have more on this fun news later today. [USA Today]
* Talk about a Hail Mary play: The ACLU has decided to come to the defense of a very unlikely cause. Per a recently filed federal brief, the organization thinks that the USPTO’s cancellation of the Redskins trademark was unconstitutional. [WSJ Law Blog]
* According to a new BARBRI study, the vast majority of third-year law students think they’re ready to go when it comes to practicing law, but the lawyers who have had the (dis)pleasure to work with new graduates don’t seem to agree. [National Law Journal]
* “Those kinds of jobs are never going to be enough to absorb the number of people graduating from law school over the next five or 10 years.” Northeastern’s dean laughs in Biglaw’s face — his grads measure their success in other ways. [Boston Business Journal]
* Ellen Pao’s “racy” gender discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins serves as a harsh criticism of the sexist culture of Silicon Valley. Luckily, jury members will be able to busy themselves with the case’s more lurid details. [The Upshot / New York Times]
* Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency is working on a new podcast that will help prospective law students to see what working in the legal profession is really like. “I Am The Law” debuted in January 2015, and it’s worth a listen. [U.S. News & World Report]
-
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 03.06.15
* Per a recent Super Lawyers survey, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the Supreme Court justice with whom the nation’s top lawyers would most like to share a lunch date. Come on, admit it: you just want to get wasted with the Notorious R.B.G. [TIME]
* Perhaps in anticipation of a SCOTUS ruling on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, states across the country are dreaming up legislation that would allow businesses to refuse service to gay couples. Man, we’re such jerks. [New York Times]
* Taking over China with its Dacheng merger wasn’t enough for Dentons, and what’s now the largest firm in the world by attorney headcount still wants to conquer the United States. Dentons is trying to woo McKenna Long & Aldridge, again. [Am Law Daily]
* Dewey know which firm’s ex-COO is denying knowledge of any financial funny business? Defense lawyers for D&L’s former top brass are now relying on his statements that staffers may have been inept, but surely weren’t doing anything illegal. [New York Law Journal]
* Remember that BARBRI antitrust class-action settlement that was reached almost a decade ago? The lawyers and law firms involved are still fighting over legal fees in the case, namely how many millions they think they ought to receive. [National Law Journal]
-
Art, Bar Exams, BARBRI, Law Schools, Pictures
How To Keep Yourself From Losing Your Mind While Studying For The Bar Exam
When it came to the bar exam, you weren't studying. As it turns out, you were stuDYING.