LSAT

University of Illinois Law School Fined and Censured For Inflated LSAT Scandal

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Illinois College of Law

Well, it’s not like the Penn State sanctions. But it’s not like the University of Illinois College of Law was covering up a Jerry Sandusky. The school was inflating the LSAT scores it reported to the American Bar Association.

Today the ABA fined Illinois Law $250,000. The ABA also censured the law school.

The Chicago Tribune reports that this is the first time the ABA has fined a law school for inaccurate consumer information. I guess that’s a step in the right direction. Still, considering the average salary for an Illinois College of Law full professor is $194,624, it’s hard to see the fine meaning very much to the school’s operations…

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The ‘Law School Scam’ Only Exists Because of Cognitive Bias

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We here at Above the Law write day in and day out about the so-called law school scam that’s happening at educational institutions around the country. At this point, we’ve honestly got to wonder why people keep taking the LSAT and applying in droves to take on loads of non-dischargeable debt in the hopes of becoming a member of the 55 Percent.

Come on, you know who the 55 Percent are — they’re the law school graduates who have managed to obtain full-time, long-term jobs that require a law degree nine months after graduation. The thing is, you don’t see all of the other unemployed or underemployed law school graduates parading around like Occupy Wall Street folks and proclaiming themselves to be the 45 Percent. But why?

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If You Want To Work In-House With A Quant Fund, You Better Have A Booming LSAT Score

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For some people, the thought that their LSAT score will follow them around for years and years is really terrifying. For other people, they had parents who emphasized the importance of doing well on standardized tests.

A better LSAT scores gets you access to better law schools that give their graduates better opportunities to have successful and lucrative careers. That’s just a fact. It doesn’t mean those people are smarter. It doesn’t mean that people with bad LSAT scores can’t go on to be every bit as successful as people with great scores. It’s just that people who score very highly on standardized tests can coast on that for a long ass time. It’s always easier to sail with the wind.

It’s all a question of opportunity. Having a good score opens more opportunities, and having a poor score will close some doors that you’ll have to find some other way of kicking down.

Of course, there are some doors that people will low LSAT scores won’t be able to pry open with a crowbar. LSAT scores for June are out today, and if you want to work at a well respected hedge fund years from now, you better make sure your score is up to standards….

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Morning Docket: 06.19.12

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Brett McGurk

* Dewey know how many professional services firms it takes to wind down a Biglaw firm? According to new D&L bankruptcy filings, there are at least eight of them — including Togut Segal & Segal, a leading law firm that reportedly charges $935 an hour. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Despite Barack Obama’s pledge of support, Brett McGurk has withdrawn his name from the White House pool of ambassadorial candidates amid much salacious controversy. Apparently this man knows a lost cause when he sees one. [Washington Post]

* So many DOMA lawsuits, so little time: what’s happening in the six major cases on this statute? The majority are in various stages of appeal, and the world at large is currently awaiting a cert filing to get a final take from the Supreme Court. [Poliglot / Metro Weekly]

* LSAC will now vet incoming law students’ GPAs and LSAT scores. The ABA won’t do it because they need the insurance policy of someone else to blame in case something happens to go wrong. [National Law Journal]

* Stephen McDaniel’s lawyers are expected to ask a judge to reconsider his $850K bond today. If he’s released, it seems like there’s a high probability that he’ll become an ATL commenter. [Macon Telegraph]

* Remember the legal fight over the Tyrannosaurus bataar? Well, now Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the S.D.N.Y., is on the case, and he wants it to be seized for return to Jurassic Park Mongolia. [New York Observer]

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Attention Ladies: Nursing Moms Will Get Extra Time on the LSAT

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Back in October 2011, we brought you some depressing news about the battle of boobs v. brains when it came to LSAT accommodations. While students with ADD were permitted to receive double the standard testing time on each section of the exam, along with other test-taking luxuries, the Law School Admissions Council essentially gave nursing mothers a response that amounted to “tough titties” — literally.

(Maybe LSAC figured that if a pregnant woman can go into labor during the bar exam — and then pass the test — taking the LSAT while nursing shouldn’t be a big deal.)

Now, nine months later (how very apropos), LSAC has birthed a major about-face for women seeking entry to the legal profession. If you’re a nursing mother or are pregnant and plan to be nursing at or around the time of the next LSAT administration, it might serve you well to listen up….

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.25.12

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Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, May 28, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

UPDATE (5/28/2012, 11 PM): Unless, well, Dewey files for bankruptcy.

* This is a crazy idea to contemplate: Do bosses’ wives sabotage the advancement of women in the workplace? [The Careerist]

* Mary mother of pearl. This is terrifying. I wouldn’t pull this on my worst enemy. Well, maybe the worst, like an Emperor Commodus-level nemesis. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

*The LSAT is bad enough as it is, but no one warns you about how it can lead to getting L-fat. [Life in the Law School Lane]

* Petty crime, penny crime. Same difference. [Legal Juice]

* It’s a wonderful plot of land. You have the hillside, a great view, and if you walk down this way, you’ll see the mine field and our chemical weapons collection. We are offering a discount for… wait, why are you running away? [Courthouse News]

* Wow. Google says it removes a million copyright infringing links… every month. Last month more than half of the requests came from Microsoft. [Threat Level / Wired]

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.23.12

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Remember when this man had credibilty?

* Colin Powell continues his tradition of saying the right things only when he has no power to do anything about it. [CNN]

* A new poll shows Americans think it’s more “morally acceptable” to kill criminals than to love somebody of the same sex. After I saw that poll, I turned to Jesus and said, “Now your failure is complete.” [Atlantic]

* This strikes me as a pretty frank way of looking at bias in the LSAT. [LSAT Blog: Ace the LSAT]

* Kashmir Hill was on the Kojo show talking about the Dharun Ravi sentence. Sure, like she’s never been taped having a gay hook-up. [The Kojo Show]

* Black people who wear hoodies get shot to death, and white people who wear hoodies don’t live up to their IPO expectations. What a lovely post-racial world some people seem to be living in. [Dealbreaker]

* Here come the men in black. Won’t let you remember. Here come the… what are you doing? Decapitate him? Come on, he’s not an alien, you get that we just saw a movie, AAAAHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOO. [New York Daily News]

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LSAT Tutor Improperly Claimed He Got Three Perfect Scores; The Internet (And a Competitor) Get Very, Very Angry

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We don’t cover the goings-on over at Top Law Schools very often. It’s such a vibrant online community that one could devote an entire second site to meta-coverage of TLS. But over the last couple of weeks, a scandal of sorts has been unfolding. It is unusual enough that we figured it’s worth talking about.

An LSAT tutor by the name of Dave Hall has, for some time, promoted his business over at the TLS forums. He conducts most of his teaching over the internet, and he appears to have a fairly solid fan base on the site. Recently, he landed in some pretty hot water when his longstanding claim of receiving three perfect LSAT scores turned out to be untrue.

The site erupted in conspiracy theories, harsh criticism, and allegations of forging documents. In the midst of the hullabaloo, another tutoring service sued Hall for unfair competition.

Who knew the dreary world of test prep services could be so dramatic? Well, we spoke to Hall about the situation he’s found himself in. The story is not quite what you might expect….

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.14.12

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Can this man help JPMorgan?

* Andrew Sweat claims fear of concussions made him hang ‘em up and go to law school. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be scared of football, I’m saying he should be worried about law school, too. [Deadspin]

* Studying for the LSAT helps your brain. No really. It can even make you smart enough to avoid law school all together. [LSAT Blog: Ace the LSAT]

* Looks like Jamie Dimon decided to send in The Wolf. [Dealbreaker]

* How famous do I have to be before weight loss companies compete to make me take their diets for free (plus hire me a personal trainer) so they can say their weight loss program “works”? Surely, I’m fat enough. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Instead of making laws against bullying, parents could also be less lazy and just learn how to use Facebook. [Orlando Sentinel]

* Lawyer on lawyer name-calling. [Legal Newsline]

* Hey, you’re going to be able to buy liquor on Sundays in Connecticut. Cool. Good to see that laws based entirely on weird, religious tradition are being found to be stupid. [WTNH]

* This is a fun time to think about law firm branding, don’t you think? Sorry, let me make that a little more clear: Dewey think this is a fun time to think about law firm branding? [Law and More]

* Looking ahead to the Facebook IPO in Blawg Review, which is also posted on Facebook this week. [Preaching to the Perverted via Blawg Review]

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Non-Sequiturs: 05.11.12

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* Stab your lawyer with a pencil once, shame on you. Stab him a second time, shame on me. Stab him a third time, they will strap you to your chair with a “stun cuff” so it doesn’t happen a fourth time. [Legal Blog Watch]

* (Crack) cocaine is a hell of a drug. [Legal Juice]

* A first-person account of why you don’t ever, ever want to end up in central booking. [The Crown]

* Telling opposing counsel you hope she “sleep[s] with the fishes” is mean and inappropriate. But on top of that, what the heck do you even stand to gain from saying that sort of thing? [Minneapolis StarTribune]

* If you want to complain about racial profiling at airports, there’s an app for that! [Prawfsblawg]

* To catch (an alleged) law school predator. Icky. [Delaware Online]

* Seriously? This “Is it Kanye or the LSAT?” quiz is surprisingly tricky. [LSAT Blog]

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