Employment Statistics

* The “best way to get a handle on a circuit judge’s judicial philosophy is to look at the judge’s concurrences and dissents,” but that’s a bit problematic in Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s case — in his 19 years on the D.C. Circuit, he’s only dissented 16 times. That’s less than one dissent for each year he’s been on the bench. We’d probably be able to get to know him better if he got a hearing. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* Recent law school graduates aren’t thrilled about their life choices: Per a survey of more than 7,000 law school alumni, less than half of those who graduated since 2000 “strongly agreed” that if given the chance, they’d choose to go to law school again, and just 20 percent “strongly agreed” that law school was worth the cost. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “[L]aw schools systematically deceived students with misleading statistics, with the blessing of the American Bar Association.” The jury’s verdict in the Alaburda v. TJSL case continues a long history of law schools being left unaccountable and off the hook for their disingenuous employment and salary statistics. [DealBook / New York Times]

* “I was not ‘instructed’ to strike black jurors so much as I was advised or encouraged to do so as a matter of trial strategy.” Assistant District Attorney Nathan Wood of Wharton County, Texas, has accused his boss of excluding black residents from juries in criminal cases to improve the prosecution’s odds of receiving guilty verdicts. [Houston Chronicle]

* One week after resigning from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court over his role in the infamous “Porngate” scandal, citing “disgust” with his conduct, former Justice Michael Eakin was fined $50,000 by the state’s Judicial Conduct Board. At least Eakin will be able to keep his state pension, with an estimated $140K annual value. [Associated Press]

Which side prevailed in this historic trial?

This case is not about an entitled millennial brat trying to play victim. It’s about a corporation allegedly doing horrible things to people for financial gain.

* What’s the difference between the late Justice Antonin Scalia and Chief Judge Merrick Garland, his potential replacement? “[He] always sounds the same. Most of the time, he is very even-toned, not aggressive.” For starters, Scalia’s dissents were usually fiery and entertaining, while Garland’s dissents tend to be very respectful and courteous. [Washington Post]

* “[T]here were errors and flaws in the way Thomas Jefferson carried out their research.” An expert retained by Anna Alaburda in her suit against Thomas Jefferson Law testified that the methods the law school used to collect grads’ job data were improper and could have caused some inaccurate info to be reported. [Courthouse News Service]

* Donald Trump’s presidential campaign — and his path to the White House — may be interrupted by a pesky fraud trial over his now defunct real estate school. The Donald will likely be asked to testify by New York AG Eric Schneiderman, and if he pleads the Fifth, it could have YUGE implications on his defense strategy. [WSJ Law Blog]

* “When someone — or something — is going away, there are usually some people that want to get it before it goes away, for whatever reason.” Racist memorabilia? Harvard Law is trying to quickly eliminate all ties to its controversial shield, but its bookstore will be slowly selling off all remaining merchandise bearing the symbol. [Boston Globe]

* “The average graduate cannot expect to make enough in the years following graduation to even hope to make a dent in the student loans they take on from going to law school. And that’s if they can even pass the bar and find a job as an attorney.” Law profs face buyouts, but their students aren’t in a much better position. [Northwest Indiana Times]

The second half of this year's ATL March Madness revealed!

* “In 2 to 4 years, a University administration will shut down a top law school and we may never see it coming.” Uh-oh! Is a top law school really going to close? This law professor seems to think so, and she’s pointing the finger at Minnesota Law, which has been experiencing a slew of financial troubles due to its enrollment issues. [Forbes]

* “The employment numbers were very high in a huge economic downturn and it just felt suspicious. I decided to stand up for myself and others.” Anna Alaburda, who sued Thomas Jefferson School of Law over its allegedly deceptive job statistics, took the stand this week, where she spoke about her failed legal career. [Courthouse News Service]

* “The record number of deals in 2015 is a reflection of the intense competition among law firms for new work, and we expect the market to remain hot in 2016.” Oh boy! If you think 2015 set a merger record, you ain’t seen nothing yet. We should apparently be expecting even more law firm merger mania this year. [Chicago Daily Law Bulletin]

* Why on earth would a partner leave a firm like Munger Tolles, with profits per partner of $1.9 million, to go to a firm like Dentons, with profits per partner of $680,000, a considerably lesser amount? What’s in that Biglaw behemoth’s special sauce that’s so amazing? It’s the “irresistible” opportunities. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA]

* As many of our readers have had the displeasure of experiencing firsthand, law school tuition can be absurdly expensive. If you’re wondering which school took home the prize of being the most expensive for the 2015-2016 school year, it’s Columbia Law, with a shocking sticker price of $62,700. Ouch, that’s painful. [U.S. News & World Report]

What did your law school's job statistics used to look like? Probably just as bad as the stats now being litigated in court.

* “I’ve taught immigration law literally to 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.” Immigration Judge Jack H. Weil seems to think that children facing deportation don’t need court-appointed attorneys because they’re perfectly capable of representing themselves. We’ll have more on this later. [Washington Post]

* “[T]his will be the first time a law school will be on trial to defend its public employment figures.” It’s taken five years, but Anna Alaburda will finally get to face off in court against Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Soon we’ll find out if the word “allegedly” can stop being used as a prefix for the school’s allegedly deceptive job statistics. [DealBook / New York Times]

* If President Obama nominates Judge Jane Kelly of the Eighth Circuit for a seat on SCOTUS, then Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) of the Senate Judiciary Committee could be in a pickle. Would Kelly, a longtime Iowa public defender, be refused a hearing even though Grassley supported her when she was appointed in 2013? [Des Moines Register]

* The Alabama Supreme Court begrudgingly dismissed suits filed by conservative groups seeking a ruling declaring that the state’s anti-gay marriage laws were still in effect, despite the SCOTUS decision in Obergefell. In a concurrence at odds with reality, Chief Justice Roy Moore held fast to his belief that the state’s law was still intact. [AL.com]

* As we mentioned previously, the American Bar Association will vote on a change to its bar passage rate rules for law schools. Schools notorious for their bar passage problems better hold onto their hats if this proposal is passed, because their accreditation may quickly turn out to be like their graduates’ job prospects: nonexistent. [WSJ Law Blog]

Knowing what she knows now, would she still choose to attend her law school?

Never before has a law school been forced to actually stand trial for allegedly inflating its employment statistics. This is historic.

Can you guess which law school we're talking about?

If any of the remaining law school lawsuits end up in appeal, the motions to dismiss should be denied and the cases be allowed to proceed.

* Arizona Summit Law wasn’t the only law school to post an embarrassing passage rate on the July 2015 administration of the bar exam. Only 28 percent of test-takers from this law school passed, but its dean says that the scores don’t “reflect a problem with the school’s quality.” Hey, whatever helps you get to sleep at night. [Tennessean]

* Speaking of bar passage rates, if you’re applying to law school, should you care about them? Job statistics are probably a more telling measurement when comparing schools, but then again, it’s harder to get a job when you can’t pass the bar exam. [U.S. News]

* “It’s a huge blow to his tenure as DA.” The mistrial in the criminal case against Dewey & LeBoeuf’s former executives is putting a major damper on what was supposed to be Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s crackdown on corporate crime. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Thanks to the Department of Education’s “gainful employment rule,” for-profit law schools could be in trouble when it comes to eligibility for federal student loans under the “debt-to-earnings” test. This certainly may put a crimp in Infilaw’s style. [Huffington Post]

* The vast majority of all class members in the Subway “footlong” lawsuit aren’t likely to see a dime. This is fine because they don’t need to see any “dough,” but a guarantee that the company’s next spokesperson won’t be a child predator would be nice. [WSJ Law Blog]

* John Stamos of Full House fame was formally charged with driving under the influence earlier this week following his arrest for erratic driving this summer. He faces up to six months in jail if convicted. We have faith that his beautiful hair will survive time in the slammer. [USA Today]

* While the vast majority of the law school lawsuits containing allegations related to deceptive employment statistics have been dismissed, a few are still alive and kicking. The very first one filed — Alaburda v. Thomas Jefferson School of Law — is heading to trial in 2016. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Trick or treat? Per federal prosecutors, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will plead guilty before Halloween as part of a deal in his ongoing sexual misconduct hush-money case, but whether he’ll serve time is a question that’s yet to be answered. [Reuters]

* Headcount at real estate firms with once-prominent foreclosure practices continues to shrink thanks to the recession’s end. To that effect, two Chicago firms have eliminated hundreds of positions for legal professionals since 2013. [Chicago Business Journal]

* Thanks to a new online system, Northwestern Law will be able to interview prospective students any time, anywhere. The school is the first in the country to offer awkward casting couch sessions as part of its admissions process. [Northwestern University News]

The law school in question was successful at defending its allegedly deceptive employment statistics.

An oversight in an earlier article gives rise to some more troubling observations.

How will this struggling law school be able to survive?

* Her dad’s the ringleader, he calls the shots; she’s like a firecracker, she makes it hot: Since “everything is working perfectly” under pop star Britney Spears’s conservatorship — which has been in effect for the past seven years — it’ll likely stay that way indefinitely. [Us Weekly]

* Well, that was fun while it lasted. The ABA did away with its year-old LSAT exemption rule in record time. Law schools will only have until 2017 to lard up classes with students who haven’t taken the exam. Good luck and Godspeed. [National Law Journal via TaxProf Blog]

* Simpson Thacher isn’t the only Biglaw firm that allegedly blew it when it came to turning hundreds of General Motors’ secured creditors into unsecured creditors. Mayer Brown is also facing twin class-action suits for this $1.5 billion boo-boo. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

* Good news, everyone! The ABA approved a merger between Rutgers Law-Camden and Rutgers Law-Newark, and we’re going to look at this in a positive light because theoretically speaking, there’s now one less law school out there. [MyCentralJersey.com]

* “Are Law Schools Skewing Job Placement Numbers?” In a word, yes. Not to be a complete pessimist realist, but come on, you know most school-funded positions exist solely to prop up any given law school’s less-than-pleasing job statistics. [Bloomberg]

* When you’ve taken the lives of so many, no one cares about your sad life story. A Colorado jury inched closer to inflicting the death penalty upon convicted movie theater shooter James Holmes in the second phase of his trial’s penalty portion. [New York Times]

* According to this former Supreme Court clerk, Justice Scalia’s judicial zingers are just like porn in that they’re “titillating, but over time they coarsen the culture of which they are a part.” (Plus, for what it’s worth, the jurist’s audience usually never gets a money shot.) [Washington Post]

* Better late than never? The ABA dropped the hammer on law schools trying to game their employment stats with a new rule that’ll force them to report school-funded jobs as part-time unless certain length and salary reqs are met. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The largest of D.C.’s largest law firms grew even larger over the past year, and thanks to a merger, an outsider firm — Morgan Lewis — managed to infiltrate the capital’s Big Four. Sorry, WilmerHale, but maybe 2016 will be your comeback year. [National Law Journal]

* In other ABA news, the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar rejected a plea for academic credit for paid externships, because we apparently want to keep students as indebted as possible before they begin their professional legal careers. [ABA Journal]

* A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Richard Lee, a known conspiracy theorist, who sought the release of the Seattle police department’s death-scene photographs from Nirvana star Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Hey! Wait! He’ll file a new complaint. [Seattle Times]

* After closing arguments in the Dark Knight movie massacre trial, the case against accused shooter James Holmes now goes to a jury. He’s facing 165 criminal charges, and if found guilty, he may be sentenced to death. [NBC News]

* A federal magistrate judge ordered the NCAA to pay almost $46 million in legal fees and costs to lawyers representing student-athletes in their antitrust suit against the organization, and he even likened the case to Game of Thrones in his decision. This is a monumental win. [Reuters]

* Last night, SCOTUS denied a stay of execution for Mississippi death row inmate David Zink, even though his lawyers cited Justice Breyer’s recent death penalty dissent in Glossip with high hopes that the Court would act in their client’s favor. [National Law Journal]

* For your information, the gender gap in the legal profession extends far beyond pay and partnership prospects. According to a recent study by the American Bar Association, about two-thirds of all attorneys who appeared in federal civil trials were men [WSJ Law Blog]

* Going to law school in an underserved community that isn’t overflowing with lawyers is great for résumés, because the University of New Mexico School of Law is seriously bucking the trend of its students having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. [KOB 4]