Bar Exams

Things are looking much better than they were last year. Nice work!

If we are looking at all law schools throughout the country, and if the baseline is not 2018, but rather 2012 or 2013, then we are still far away from 'normalcy.'

Which law schools need to help their graduates a little more to put them in the best position to pass the bar exam on the first try?

Not great.

Early results actually look impressive.

The most popular bar exam in the country.

This bar exam should be relatively easy to pass.

Holy crap...

The lawsuit alleges the law school tried to 'weed out students' prior to graduation.

Southern California Institute of Law is one of two non-ABA schools that fell short.

Yay! It's good news!

* Just in case no one saw this one coming, LeClairRyan has filed for bankruptcy. The firm owes $15 million to two secured creditors. [American Lawyer]

* Like it or not, the next recession is coming: Some law firms will struggle more than others, and “once this party ends, its going to end very quickly and it’s going to end very severely.” [Big Law Business]

* What’s wrong with the bar exam? This is what the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Testing Task Force is taking its sweet time trying to figure out. [Law.com]

* Law school classes come in all sizes, but you may want to think about how yours will affect the attention you’ll receive, your social life, your networking opportunities, and most importantly, your ranking. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* Thank u, next? Pop star Ariana Grande has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Forever 21 after the store allegedly hired a look-alike model for a social media campaign, rather than Grande herself. [THR, Esq. / Hollywood Reporter]

The court will pay hourly rates ranging from $375 to $995 for the investigation.

Starting her fifth year as an Above the Law columnist, Jill Switzer shares reader feedback.

Then what was it that made exam performance improve?

* The House Ways and Means Committee has filed for summary judgment in its lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS over their refusal to turn over President Trump’s tax returns and has also asked the judge to consider the case on an expedited basis. [The Hill]

* Jones Day blasted plaintiffs in the new parental leave bias claims against the firm on social media, alleging that while one ignored “both the law and biology” to file suit, the other’s performance was “below expectations.” [American Lawyer]

* New York adopted the Uniform Bar Exam to make it a little easier for law school graduates to pass the test. Well, uh… that didn’t exactly work out as planned because the UBE had little to no impact on test performance. [New York Law Journal]

* This just in from the Seventh Circuit: In case you were wondering, there’s no such thing as a First Amendment right to lie on your bar applications. [Big Law Business]

* In case you missed it, lawyers for Adnan Syed, subject of the “Serial” podcast, have applied for certiorari before the Supreme Court, asking that the justices reverse a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling where he was refused a new trial. [CNN]

The NCBE just published some forceful critiques of its bar exam.

* According to a new report, “personal attacks and language that politicizes or otherwise casts doubt on the judicial branch as a whole has the potential to cause significant damage to our democracy.” Thanks, Trump. [Big Law Business]

* Why are there so few minority law clerks?
California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu and Federal Judicial Center director Jeremy Fogel are trying to solve this “mystery” in conjunction with the ABA. [National Law Journal]

* A former IRS staffer has pleaded guilty to unlawfully accessing Michael Cohen’s confidential financial information and distributing it to Michael Avenatti, who once represented Stormy Daniels. He faces up to five years in prison and up to $250K in fines. [New York Post]

* With hundreds of flights canceled, Hong Kong’s airport had been at a complete standstill due to protestors clashing with police until this Biglaw firm managed to intervene. Be sure to thank Hogan Lovells for getting an injunction on airport protests. [American Lawyer]

* In case you’ve been wondering about what bar pass rates and law school debt have looked like for the past decade or so, you can see it in some stunning graphics right here. [Law.com]

* Thanks to the Lousiana Supreme Court, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell won’t have to testify just yet in the Rams-Saints NFC Championship game lawsuit. Everything is on pause while the state’s high court decides whether the case should be allowed to continue at all. [NBC Sports]