Paul Campos

Is being employed by your law school after graduation similar to a Ponzi scheme?

* Chief Justice John Roberts, in his capacity as circuit justice for the Fourth Circuit, has given the green light — for the time being — to Maryland’s continued collection of DNA samples from people charged with violent felonies. [New York Times] * Professor Dan Markel isn’t a fan of the practice, arguing that it “is yet another abuse of the presumption of innocence.” [PrawfsBlawg] * In other Supreme Court news, the proponents of Prop 8′s ban on gay marriage have filed a petition for certiorari with the Court. [Arthur Leonard / Leonard Link] * And in other gay marriage news, yet another federal judge — Judge Vanessa Bryant (D. Conn.), a Bush II appointee — has struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. [Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed] A California litigatrix's lawyerly lair. * Lawyerly Lairs: Emily Alexander’s beautiful, light-filled home is awash in color. There are no hunting prints in sight — even though she used to practice at Sullivan & Cromwell. [California Home + Design] * The mother of a man who died during a police chase has sued the SFPD over her son’s accidentally shooting himself. Opines SFist: “It remains unclear to us why [Kenneth] Harding has been chosen to serve as a martyr, given his not-so-stellar record and the self-inflicted wound.” [SFist] * Poor Professor Campos — does his self-loathing know no bounds? The prominent law professor, one of legal academia’s harshest (and most eloquent) critics, has now turned his powerful fire on baby boomers — of whom he is one. [Salon]

* Interested in going to law school this coming fall? It’s not too late to apply, frighteningly enough. [Inside the Law School Scam via Tax Prof Blog] * Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Even graduates of Harvard Law School wind up homeless. [Concurring Opinions] * Sorry, I don’t like bike dudes; so many cyclists are rude, irresponsible, and annoying, to both pedestrians and drivers. If I were king, they’d go to prison; but I’m not, so we’ll have to settle for reeducation. [New York Times] * What does Bruce Springsteen think of Obamacare? [Althouse] * A few jurisdictions have laws against “attractiveness discrimination.” Try to guess which ones, then click on the link. [What About Clients?] * Larry Lessig and Ilya Shapiro debate the value of disclosure requirements in the campaign finance context. [Lean Forward / MSNBC]

* Dear ABA: could you please at least LOOK at what’s going on at Rutgers-Camden. We’ve already looked at their arguably misleading ads. Now Paul Campos has figured that the school may have been massively under-reporting the amount of debt people graduate with to the ABA (scroll down to Upate III). Seriously ABA, do one small part of your freaking job JUST ONCE. [Inside the Law School Scam] * Here’s a great way to lower the cost of education: make books free. I mean, it’ll never, ever happen, but it’s a good idea. [CALI via Tax Prof Blog] * Law students might need a bit of a refresher on supply and demand before they hit up fall recruiting. [Adam Smith Esq.] * Legacy LeBoeuf retirees have also been screwed by the D&L fiasco. Boy, Dewey know how they feel. [WSJ Law Blog] * Should we care about the “scholarship” of law professors at all? [Adjunct Law Prof Blog] * Wild strippers are a national problem in New Zealand. [The Telegraph] * Congratulations to the latest class of Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40! [National LGBT Bar Association]

Here's a law school putting more resources into career services. Is it a good idea?

* How many cops does it take to kill a man? [Simple Justice] * Professor Paul Campos has been having fun with the NALP numbers. Well, fun for him, and for me. Less fun for anybody unlucky enough to have been part of the class of 2011. [Inside the Law School Scam] * And if you don’t like to read, here’s some video about how bad the job market is for the class of 2011. ARE YOU LISTENING, PROSPECTIVE LAW STUDENTS? CAN YOU TAKE IN AND PROCESS INFORMATION? [Bloomberg Law] * How come my anonymous readers don’t drop $25 million on me? I’d name a whole wing of my new house after them. And give them a T-shirt. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * In the recession, we cling to what we have instead of striking out into the unknown. In related news: if you leave your law job, there’ll be a stampede of people happy to take your spot. [What About Clients?] * I don’t even think you should be allowed to defend yourself pro se. [Underdog] * Southwestern Law’s Dean Bryant Garth is stepping down. One of these days, somebody will let me run a law school. [Southwestern Law School]

The Rutgers Law Dean defends the school's statistics, regardless of how many people might have been misled by them...

* I bought the excellent Mayweather/Cotto fight this weekend. Floyd looked great for a guy who was too much of a coward to fight Manny Pacquiao. But the sweet science is dying. In its place, a bunch of grabbing and submission could be legalized in New York. [New York Daily News] * Speaking of boxing, hey football, I bet 40 years ago nobody thought this would ever happen to boxing. [Overlawyered] * Cooley Law subpoenas Professor Paul Campos. [Inside the Law School Scam] * Accusing the president of “thuggery,” just another day on the campaign trail. [Election Law Blog] * These kids are smiling because those diplomas were free, folks. [OC Register] * Here is a visual representation of the Dewey & LeBoeuf partner departures (which have also been captured in tabular form by Am Law Daily). [Thomson Reuters News & Insight] * I think if more lawyers drew inspiration from Jeanne d’Arc, more recent graduates would light themselves on fire. [Amicae Curiae via Blawg Review]

Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals announced yesterday that a new bar admission hurdle would be foisted upon would-be lawyers in the state, in the form of a 50-hour pro bono requirement. What does it mean for you?

Check out the $3.6 million apartment, located in the magnificent prewar condominium at 845 West End Avenue, that NYU Law School just added to its collection of fabulous faculty housing....

Most people and institutions jealously guard their credibility, but as a couple of elite law schools are learning this week, right now their word and credibility carries significantly less weight than the New York Post’s….

Professor Paul Campos has a drastic idea for fixing for what he would call the “law school scam.” It all starts at Stanford University, where he visited earlier this week to talk about his idea. What did he have to say? Does “30 percent unilateral tuition cut” mean anything to you?

Do law students have unreasonable expectations about their employment prospects? Survey says....

Which law schools excel at sending their graduates into jobs at large law firms, i.e., Biglaw? Check out the National Law Journal's annual ranking of the top 50 law schools by the percentage of 2011 juris doctor graduates who took jobs at NLJ 250 firms.

File this under: "reasons why the alumni office should clear everything with the PR department." Somebody at Columbia Law School sent out an email to recent alumni asking for a $1,000 donation (or twelve $85 monthly installments) to help current law students. A bunch of Columbia grads who aren't working in Biglaw were asked to... wait, let me get this language exactly right: "Give a student the chance at a dream job." Hilarity ensues....

* Pepsi lawyers offer a creative (if disturbing) defense to a lawsuit by a man who claims he found a mouse in his Mountain Dew. [Madison County Record via The Atlantic Wire] * Will birther queen Orly Taitz get to depose — i.e., “rupture the jurisprudential hymen” — of President Barack Obama? That would be […]

Above the Law's 2011 Lawyer of the Year contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who nominated a lawyer; thanks to our finalists, for being such accomplished and interesting individuals; and thanks to all the voters, who picked our victor. And the winner is....

It's hard to believe that another year has passed, but here we are. The weather is turning cold, the Republican presidential contest is heating up, and it's time to review this year's biggest stories on Above the Law. We'll refrain from offering our subjective judgments on the most important stories of the year. Instead, we'll identify the ten biggest stories of the past year as decided by you, our readers....

The year is quickly drawing to a close, but we have unfinished business to conduct here at Above the Law. We still have to crown our Lawyer of the Year for 2011. The polls will remain open until January 3 at 11:59 PM. And the nominees are....

* Are Asian American lawyers too nerdy to climb the Biglaw or corporate ladder — or is this just an outdated stereotype? [The Careerist] * Does having your law school sob story featured on national television count as “employed upon graduation”? (Or, more seriously, here’s an opportunity for an unemployed law school grad.) [Inside the […]