The picturesque Richard H. Chambers Courthouse in Pasadena, home of the Ninth Circuit.
California has released some macro-level results from the July 2011 administration of the bar exam. The California bar is notoriously difficult, and every year we like to take a look at which schools prepared their students well for the exam, and which schools did not.
Last year, the overall pass rates were 68.3% for all takers and 75.2% for graduates of the twenty ABA-approved law schools in California. This year, overall pass rates clocked in at 67.7%, while students who went to ABA-accredited law schools passed at a 76.2% clip.
But you might be surprised at which California law school had the best passage rate on the California bar. Hint: it’s not Stanford, or Boalt Hall, or UCLA….
Continue reading “California Bar Passage Rate Holds Steady; Shame For Underperforming Schools Deepens”
* Jared Lee Loughner has been declared incompetent to stand trial. So no trial, but what happens next? Put him in the two dimensional, General Zod prison? Navy Seal Team 6? We need options, people. [CNN]
* DOJ, TSA successfully mess with Texas. It wasn’t even that hard. [Not-So Private Parts / Forbes]
* This age verification idea is so simple that it just might work. [Legal Blog Watch]
* Are the police arresting bitcoin miners on suspicion growing weed? Are the authorities really that out of touch and that far behind the times? [Computerworld]
* I don’t remember anything in that UC Davis video about alleged sexual battery by a law student. [The Davis Enterprise]
* Raj Rajaratnam wants his conviction set aside. I want to ride to work on a Pegasus galloping on a rainbow but it ain’t gonna happen. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Calling all Gen Y lawyers (lawyers born in 1980 or after) — your insights are needed! [MCCA]
After the closest vote in (the three-year) history (of the Law Revue contest), we are finally able to crown the best law revue video in 2011.
May all of the pride and good feeling in all the land be sent henceforth to Boston University School of Law, for their winning video submission: I Like The Law.
Their video bested the submission from UC Davis Law, Davis State of Mind, by a mere 47 votes. That’s 47 votes out of nearly 11,000 cast. That’s ridiculous…
Continue reading “Congratulations To Our 2011 Law Revue Video Contest Winner!”
Prom date Ken probably doesn't know anything about sex in the stacks either.
Last week, we wrote about the crazy party at the “Over the Hump” law prom of UC Davis Law.
Many Davis commenters chimed in to say that the party really wasn’t all that crazy. That’s not surprising. If you go to a party that’s off the hook, only you didn’t witness or experience anything particularly memorable, it’s natural to downplay events. Better to accuse some people of “exaggerating” than to acknowledge the fact that you just missed out.
Luckily, a few additional King Hall students emailed us, stood up to our cross-examination, and shared some additional fun details about the dance.
One person even shared a picture, and I have to say there is definitely some “talent” at UC Davis…
Continue reading “Law School Party Follow Up — Now With Art”
High school prom: lost innocence.
The volume of applications to law schools nationwide is down by about 13 percent for the fall 2011 class, as noted recently by the Daily Journal (subscription). This is positive news. Maybe it means that people who are thinking prudently about their futures are finally getting the message that law school is no longer a golden ticket (assuming it ever was).
Of course, if all the wise people start avoiding law school, we’ll be left with the Idiocracy paradigm: only the slow and reckless will submit themselves to three years of legal education.
That might be bad for the legal profession, but it will certainly give us more to write about here at Above the Law. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a bunch of law students doing dumb, drunken things at a law school event. (Tulane, I don’t even know who you guys are anymore. The bad economy must be killing your mojo.)
With Tulane sidelined by a case of “let’s try to be respectable,” I’m happy to report that another law school seems ready to step up and fill the embarrassingly drunken void….
Continue reading “Drunk and Disorderly Conduct at a Law School Prom?”
The Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from my hotel room last weekend. (I just got back from the AALS conference in San Francisco.)
Here in New York, home to Above the Law and Breaking Media, we’re gearing up for more epic snow. Those of you lucky enough to live in the Golden State might have to deal with earthquakes, mudslides, and obnoxious celebrities, but at least you don’t have to deal with blizzards.
Falling snow? Not in sunny California. Falling bar exam passage rates? Yes — at least for 2010.
A few days ago, the State Bar of California released overall statistics for the July 2010 administration of the (notoriously difficult) California bar exam. The overall bar pass rates went down by a little — but at some schools, the pass rates went down by a lot.
Which law schools’ pass rates tumbled, and by how much?
Continue reading “California Bar Exam Results By Law School: Open Thread”
And we might have had a perfect score if it not for that pesky God character floating around.
In the past few weeks, we’ve brought you two stories about would-be lawyers trying to make critical life decisions. There was the first-year law student who was considering dropping out of law school after just one semester. And there was the prospective law student who wanted to take the LSAT instead of attending his grandmother’s funeral.
In the former case, the Above the Law readership overwhelmingly voted for the 1L to drop out of law school. In the later case, I strenuously argued that the person should go to the funeral and take the LSAT later.
We have updates on both people. It appears that Above the Law readers are more persuasive than I am…
Continue reading “Above the Law Is 1 for 2 at Helping Would-Be Lawyers Do the Right Thing”
Given the legal economy, prospective students should clearly be shooting for law schools in the top-15. But, not everybody can rock the all powerful LSAT. Going to a law school in this group can still result in Biglaw jobs for graduates who want them — especially if the school is located in the market where you ultimately want to practice.
To refresh your memory, here are the law schools ranked #17 to #28 according to the latest U.S. News law school rankings:
17. Vanderbilt
18. USC (Gould)
19. Washington University in St. Louis
20. George Washington
21. Illinois
22. Boston University
22. Emory
22. University of Minnesota
22. Notre Dame
26. Iowa
27. Indiana University
28. Boston College
28. William and Mary
28. U.C. – Davis
28. Georgia
28. UNC
28. Wisconsin
Thoughts on these schools? I’ve got some thoughts on this particular group of rankings as a whole…
Continue reading “Open Thread: 2011 U.S. News Law School Rankings (17 – 28)”
Last month, we reported that UC Hastings College of Law was set to become the most expensive law school in California. Apparently, the good people at Berkeley and UC Davis took that as a challenge.
Tomorrow, November 18th there will be a meeting on the proposed budget for the California university system. The tuition numbers for law schools would be terrifying for prospective law students — if only they were able to exercise common sense.
First let’s look at the proposed tuition and fees for California residents at Berkeley and other California public law schools over the next three years:
Notice that these numbers are up from the proposal that was on the table just this past August. I can’t imagine what tuition will look like when we actually get to 2012 – 2013. By then they’ll be charging people in Euros and organ donations.
After the jump, we look at what these schools plan for non-resident students (hint, it’s obscene enough that I considered putting up NSFW warnings), and why UC administrators think students will accept the tuition hikes.
Continue reading “Law School Tuition Hikes Spread Like Wildfires in California”
I have criticized U.S. News for caring about the number of books available in a law school library. I’ve criticized the Thomas Cooley law school rankings for caring about the size of a law school library.
Clearly, I don’t know what a law school library should be used for. But students at UC Davis do.
Continue reading “UC Davis Law Students Need to Get a Room”
Rebecca Cohn was a California assemblywoman representing Buena Vista, Burbank, Cambrian Park, Campbell, Fruitdale, and parts of San Jose and Santa Clara. After losing to Jim Beall, she decided to matriculate at UC Davis School of Law (King Hall).
Cohn said that her lifelong dream was to attend law school. But she apparently couldn’t shake the political monkey: she decided to run for 1L representative. Our friends at The Shark pick up the story from there:
No doubt recognizing the tough road ahead of her, Cohn ran her 1L Representative campaign with some enthusiasm that stunned some students. Her ascension to high profile student caused a commotion on campus that involved: a war over her Wikipedia entry, the re-use of signs from her assembly campaign, and several salacious rumors that are too inflammatory and unverified to repeat.
If we receive any “salacious” rumors, we will happily repeat them.
The Shark at least hinted at the tenor of the rumors swirling around Cohn:
Most of these rumors seem to stem from the report that her San Jose magazine cover … prompted two assembly aides to sue her for creating a sexually charged workplace. Cohn, who is single, seems to be avoiding this situation at King Hall: the San Jose Mercury News reported that she has not been asked out on a date by a single King Hall student.
More on Cohn’s campaign craziness, after the jump.
Continue reading “Former Assemblywoman Loses Bid for Barbiedom”
This was absolutely agonizing; but after hours of deliberation, we managed to do it. We reviewed the male side of the field in our ERISA Lawyer Hotties Contest, then painstakingly winnowed it down to twelve deserving finalists. (Yes, we previously said we’d have ten finalists. But picking even a dozen, from so many worthy competitors, was nearly impossible.)
Our decisions were based on (1) photographs of the nominees, and (2) reader testimonials about them. In order to make the final cut, a nominee needed an appealing picture and a strong testimonial. We also gave priority to attorneys who work primarily on pension and employee benefit law, as opposed to ones whose practice involves the field only tangentially.
The female finalists will follow tomorrow. For now, check out the pictures and testimonials for the male finalists — and cast your vote for America’s Hottest Male ERISA Lawyer — after the jump (click on the “continue reading” link).
Continue reading “ERISA Hotties: Your Male Nominees”
