University of Minnesota Law School

Deadbeat Debtor Warns of Great Catholic Conspiracy

By Elie Mystal

Honestly, 'convert or be eaten' wouldn't have been a hard choice for me.

There are some debtors who go to such lengths to escape their obligations that you have to wonder what kind of person lent them money in the first place.

Today we’ve got an expedited motion to vacate. It’s filed by an attorney, representing the debtor, who seems mad — both mad as in “angry,” and “mad” as in “bats**t crazy pants.” She’s mad at the lender, and she’s mad at the judge.

But mostly, she’s mad at Catholics. Dirty, dirty Catholics….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Deadbeat Debtor Warns of Great Catholic Conspiracy”

2011 Legally Themed Halloween Costume Contest Winner

By Elie Mystal

The voting for the best legally themed Halloween costume was close this year.

Very close.

The contest pitted a group against a couple. It pitted NYU Law against the University of Minnesota Law School — Big City v. Heartland. And when all the votes were counted, the final margin was seven votes, out of over 2,400 votes cast!

Should we have a run-off? Hell no! This isn’t youth soccer. The votes are final and winner takes all. Let’s see who gets the coveted Above the Law t-shirt(s)….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “2011 Legally Themed Halloween Costume Contest Winner”

Legally Themed Halloween Costume Contest: 2011

By Elie Mystal

Oh Halloween, a time when the keenest minds have an opportunity to dress up as obscure legal concepts that will baffle their friends.

But not Above the Law readers. Oh, we get the jokes, all the jokes. Which is probably a little sad….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Legally Themed Halloween Costume Contest: 2011″

Minnesota Takes the High Road to Mentoring

By Natasha Lydon

I was never a huge fan of firm mentoring programs. In the days after firms started cracking down on using mentoring funds for hookers and blow, mentoring became distinctly less exciting. For the male associates, it seemed to revolve around mass quantities of red meat and booze. For the female associates, it was a lot of talk about “feelings,” and “glass ceilings,” and figuring out how to get a manicure on the firm’s dime. And while pretty nails are always nice, it was just one more billable hour that I’d have to make up at night.

But perhaps creative mentoring isn’t dead after all. It seems as though the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association might be trying to bring some fun back to its mentorship program. The MHBA recently distributed fliers on the University of Minnesota Law School campus that bear images of some pretty questionable-looking foliage.

Was this just an innocent mistake, or are Minnesota Law students being offered a chance to expand their horizons in more ways than one? You be the judge, after the jump….

UPDATE (6:30 PM): We’ve added statements from a board member of the MHBA and from the president of the Latino Law Student Association at the University of Minnesota, also after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Minnesota Takes the High Road to Mentoring”

You Know What Makes Studying for the Bar Exam Easier? LOUD BANGING IN THE LIBRARY.

By Staci Zaretsky

The first day of the bar exam is about 13 days away. THIRTEEN DAYS. The number thirteen is just evil (especially for those with triskaidekaphobia), but pairing that number with the term “bar exam” makes it that much worse. You’re probably on edge. Your Facebook statuses are bordering on homicidal. You’re so pissed off at the pen-clicking guy in the library that you’re contemplating slicing his throat with the worst notecard paper-cut ever.

I know that we’re not supposed to panic, but some people are panicking, and rightly so. The powers that be at the University of Minnesota Law School are not making it pleasant for recent graduates to study for the bar exam at the school’s law library. Apparently, there’s a lot of banging going on between the stacks, and not of the variety you’d brag to your friends about….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “You Know What Makes Studying for the Bar Exam Easier? LOUD BANGING IN THE LIBRARY.”

Private Funding of Public Law Schools = Bad News For Future Law Students

By Elie Mystal

Do you know an easy way for moderately priced public law schools to make even more money? Charge more for tuition. Do you know an easy justification for jacking up tuition rates? Say that you are moving to a “private funding model” while you bemoan the lack of public support for your institution.

After that, it’s all profit baby!

The big news in the law school hot stove league is that another major public law school is toying with moving to a private funding model. The logic for eschewing public funds for an increase in private dollars is, as always, disingenuous. But hey, as long as the law school keeps paying its tithe to the university, few will object to increased gouging of prospective law students…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Private Funding of Public Law Schools = Bad News For Future Law Students”

Law Revue Video Contest: Dishonorable Mentions

By Above the Law

We started taking submissions for our third annual Law Revue Video Contest way back in March. It’s taken us so long to review the videos because we’ve had scheduling challenges with our special, returning, awesome guest judge. As you’d already know if you follow Above the Law on Twitter, editor emerita Kashmir Hill has returned to her ATL roots, to pass judgment on the funny videos submitted by our wonderful readers.

This year, 25 law schools submitted nearly 30 videos for the contest. Some of them were entertaining, others excruciating less so.

We’ll start with the latter. If we may paraphrase The Simpsons: other legal blogs reward knowledge, Above the Law punishes ignorance.

Aww… just kidding. We really just want to give shout-outs to as many law schools as we can. And we figure the students who submitted these clips are grown adults who won’t mind some gentle ribbing.

Of course, if you submitted a video we’ve singled out for dishonorable mention, you might want to whip out the Astroglide before you read the comments, just to make sure the ribbing feels gentle enough. Your three ATL editors aren’t that harsh, but we can’t speak for the commenters….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Law Revue Video Contest: Dishonorable Mentions”

The Choice: 0Ls Try To Figure Out Which Law School Is Right For Them

By Elie Mystal

This is the time of year when future lawyers have to make a crucial choice that will follow them for the rest of the legal careers: where to go to law school. The choice of law school is critical, maybe unfairly so. When you look at medical schools, the hard part is getting into a medical school. But in the legal profession, your choice of law school will be a huge factor in what professional opportunities you can take advantage of with your J.D.

Perhaps in past years, this choice was really easy for 0Ls: they could just go to the highest-ranked school they got into, and then hope for the best. But given the realities of the legal economy, 0Ls need to look at a number of factors beyond the U.S. News law school rankings: how much the school costs, what job markets the law school feed into, and so on.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve received a number of inquires from 0Ls asking for advice about which law school to attend. We’ve pulled out two of the best questions, and now we want to open it up to the Above the Law readers to give these students — and all 0Ls — the combined wisdom of the ATL community.

These are really tough choices, and we know reasonable people will disagree. Hopefully you guys can help these 0Ls feel comfortable with their decisions, whichever way they go….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “The Choice: 0Ls Try To Figure Out Which Law School Is Right For Them”

13% Tuition Increase + 1% Faculty Salary Cut = 100% Screwing of Minnesota Law Students

By Elie Mystal

CORRECTION: This post has been revised since it was first published to reflect the fact that the 13.5% tuition hike for in-state students occurred this summer and applies to the current academic year (2010-2011).

Last year, the University of Minnesota contemplated imposing a significant tuition hike on its law students, while trying to keep college tuition low. This year, Minnesota did in fact push through the tuition increase, while protecting the high salaries of its law school faculty.

Paul Caron at Tax Prof Blog pointed us to a number of reports about how Minnesota hiked law school tuition by 13.5% for this academic year, while planning to cut faculty salaries by only 1.15% in the 2011 fiscal year. So Minnesota law students, if you were hoping for a dollop of Astroglide along with your next tuition bill, you have my sympathy. The administration at Minnesota Law doesn’t even have the common courtesy to give you a reach-around.

Law school administrators don’t care about you, current and prospective law students. They don’t even have to pretend to care about your problems anymore…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “13% Tuition Increase + 1% Faculty Salary Cut = 100% Screwing of Minnesota Law Students”

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Green Day

By Laurie Lin

First, a couple of notable non-legal nuptials: Kelly McGillis (of Top Gun and Witness) married her long-time girlfriend. Short ceremony, long write-up.

There’s also perhaps the most painfully stylish wedding we’ve ever come across. The bride is the daughter of modernist architect Richard Meier, who keeps his homes “very relaxed and casual but everything has to be perfect” — “[e]ven the Snapple bottles are lined up perfectly in the pantry.” (Oh . . . so not really relaxed and casual at all.) Watch the slideshow of the uber-posh wedding, and take note of those origami flowers; you’ll be seeing poorly executed versions in weddings near you for the next few years.

Now, our legal eagle couples. Here are the finalists:

1. Nicole Moen and Michael Skoglund

2. Jennifer Ain and Russell Lippman

3. Anne Green and Leonard Braman

Marvel at these couples’ résumés, after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Green Day”

Foley & Lardner: The Firm That No Offered a Summer Associate War Veteran

By Elie Mystal

Yesterday, we told you about a law firm that left a war veteran without an offer. Today, we are able to confirm that the firm in question was Foley & Lardner. But we also have a correction and some additional details about the situation.

Let’s get to the correction first. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported:

Matt Nelson graduated last week from the University of Minnesota with a law degree and an MBA. Nelson, 36, was on track to earn $145,000 his first year at a Milwaukee firm. But duty called, and while he was serving as an Army paralegal in Iraq, Milwaukee withdrew its offer.

The Minneapolis paper got it wrong here. Matt Nelson was a summer associate at Foley & Lardner in 2008 and 2009. Foley no offered him at the end of his 2009 summer at the firm, which was after he had returned from Iraq. The firm did not pull his offer while he was serving overseas.

That’s lucky for Foley. As many commenters pointed out, yanking an offer while Nelson was in Iraq (as the Star-Tribune reported) might have gotten Foley into legal trouble. As it stands, Foley’s actions are just a depressing statement about insufficient respect for our war veterans.

Above the Law reached out to Matt Nelson, and he made it clear that he doesn’t want anybody feeling sorry for him just because of one no offer….

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Foley & Lardner: The Firm That No Offered a Summer Associate War Veteran”

New Low for Law Firm Behavior During the Recession

By Elie Mystal

A number of people sent us this article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. At first it reads like your classic “boy, this recession seems to be affecting lawyers too,” mainstream media story. Most of the stuff here are things regular Above the Law readers are fully aware of, though it’s always interesting to hear how the secondary markets like Minneapolis-St. Paul are doing.

But about halfway through the piece, the paper reveals one of the most callous stories that we’ve heard during this entire recession:

Matt Nelson graduated last week from the University of Minnesota with a law degree and an MBA. Nelson, 36, was on track to earn $145,000 his first year at a Milwaukee firm. But duty called, and while he was serving as an Army paralegal in Iraq, Milwaukee withdrew its offer.

Are you kidding me? The firm pulled an offer from somebody who was serving his country in Iraq!? What kind of bleeping bleep firm bleeps over our bleeping troops when they’re in the middle of a bleeping war, trying to make it safe for these bleeping partners to bleep their secretaries on their motherbleeping planes?

UPDATE / CORRECTION: This discussion is subject to a correction — see here.

Of course, Nelson handled this world-class rogering with more grace and class than I can even imagine…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “New Low for Law Firm Behavior During the Recession”

Open Thread: 2011 U.S. News Law School Rankings (17 – 28)

By Elie Mystal

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…

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Open Thread: 2011 U.S. News Law School Rankings (17 – 28)”

Another Law Professor Screws Up Exam Time

By Elie Mystal

Minnesota law logo.jpgI know most law professors don’t like giving or grading exams. They’re busy people with many commitments that don’t have anything to do with preparing the next generation of lawyers.
But given the legal economy, given how important law school grades are right now, how can professors justify putting almost no effort into the examination process? We already had a case on an NYU Law professor using previously published questions on an exam this fall. And now we have a substantially similar situation at the University of Minnesota Law School. A professor there used exam questions that had previously been made available to some students, but not the entire class.
Details after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Another Law Professor Screws Up Exam Time”

Law Student of the Day: Minnesota 1L Dennis Jansen

By Kashmir Hill

dennis jansen university of minnesota shot.jpgIn yesterday’s open thread on #17 though #28 schools in the U.S. News rankings, we neglected to include a riff on the crime statistics in various schools’ cities. We did start thinking about it today, though, as it seems that bullets occasionally fly in the City of Lakes, home to the #20-ranked law school. And Dennis Jansen, a University of Minnesota 1L, was unlucky enough to catch one in the back this weekend.

Jansen keeps a blog called No. 634 tracking his law school adventures. Usually the posts are about fairly mundane topics, like his new dog Harley (a mastiff) and classes (“CrimLaw is a waste of time“). But yesterday, he posted something rather out of the ordinary. One of his fellow students sent it along to us, saying, “So I read this blog by a kid in my 1L crim law class… and THIS was definitely the most interesting post: Jansen gets shot.”

According to the post, Jansen was out on the wild streets of Minneapolis Sunday after going to a club when…

I’m walking across Hennepin with what felt like the entire hiphop room of the Gay 90′s, when I hear popping sounds.

People scream and start running.

I feel something hit my back.

I stop on the curb and call over to T.

Me: “I think I got hit.”

T: “Shut up, where?”

(I lift up the back of my shirt and point.)

T: “OH MY GOD, they got you! They shot you!”

Me: “It’s a gunshot?”

T: “YES! THEY GOT YOU! (then to the street) HE GOT SHOT!”

His first thoughts were not of his mortality but of class the next morning:

So it’s around 2:30 am on a Monday morning and I’m sitting downtown bleeding on the side of the street. Random people coming from clubs stopped as they saw the blood coming from my back. I had a pretty good idea that I was going to miss this morning’s civil procedure class…

And you thought you were having a rough finals week.

Jansen may give former honoree Alex Botsios (the Arizona 1L who wrestled his laptop away from an armed robber) a good running for ATL Law Student of all time. More after the jump, including a gratuitous, but not graphic, photo of the wound.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Law Student of the Day: Minnesota 1L Dennis Jansen”

Escape From Minnesota: Free Erin Keyes!

By David Lat

umn law school logo.JPGWhen a law school dean threatens a massive invasion of privacy, something stinks.

The Assistant Dean of Students at University of Minnesota Law School is Erin Keyes. You might remember her for her 3rd place performance in our Law School Dean Hotties Contest.

But having a pretty face doesn’t prevent Keyes from getting dirty when the job requires. Yesterday she sent around a school-wide email:

We have had several recent reports about a strong, offensive odor emanating from a small section of the Law School’s locker room. If you believe you may have left a lunch or other item behind, we ask that you remove it immediately. Starting at 3 PM today, staff from the Law School’s Facilities office will begin opening lockers to find and remove the source of the odor.

We appreciate your cooperation, and in the future, ask all students to ensure that no perishable food items are left in lockers.

We’ll get back to dirty smelly puns in a second.

But UMN Law students should take immediate action. Take your drugs out of your locker NOW. 3:00 p.m. will be upon you soon and if one of you leaves the crystal meth (or whatever they are doing in the upper Midwest these days) in your locker, you will be mocked. You’ll be mocked on ATL, in court, and later when somebody who knows your story buys coffee from you.

End of PSA announcement.

Back to the smell (if there is such a thing) after the jump.

double red triangle arrows Continue reading “Escape From Minnesota: Free Erin Keyes!”