Berkely Law

California Bar Passage Rate Holds Steady; Shame For Underperforming Schools Deepens

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. 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....

Morning Docket: 11.23.11

* The American Bar Association can’t handle law schools, yet Obama trusts them to vet potential judicial nominees. Well, seems like they’re doing a bang-up job with that, too. [New York Times] * First the New Jersey bar exam results, and now more MF Global drama. Angry investors want to know if a lawsuit will […]

The Berkeley Beatings

Many of you have heard about the beatings that took place at UC Berkeley's Occupy Berkeley protests. Here's a memo for police: next time you simply must beat unarmed protesters who are not threatening you, maybe you shouldn't do it in front of a law school....

Non-Sequiturs: 10.24.11

* The TSA must be stopped. They’re now leaving creepy notes when they spy personal items in your luggage. [Not So Private Parts / Forbes] * Law students, trust me, there’s nothing on your Facebook page that three more points on the LSAT won’t fix. [WSJ Law Blog] * Berkeley Law 1Ls are playing an […]

Congratulations to Justice Goodwin Liu!

Congratulations to Goodwin Liu — until today Professor Liu, but after today, Justice Liu. In July, California Governor Jerry Brown nominated the 40-year-old Liu, a law professor at Boalt Hall, to serve on the California Supreme Court. The nomination was subject to the approval of a three-member state commission. What did the commission have to […]

A Conservative’s Worst Nightmare: Justice Goodwin Liu?

Goodwin Liu, the Berkeley law professor whose nomination to the Ninth Circuit fell victim to a filibuster, is getting a nice consolation prize. Governor Jerry Brown just nominated Professor Liu to the California Supreme Court.

Boalt Hall and UCLA Issue Scholarships To Cover Last-Minute Fee Increase

The administrations at UCLA Law and Boalt Hall step up to the plate to help law students facing yet another fee increase.

Fun Fact of the Day: Surprising?

Performance on the LSAT is negatively correlated with networking ability. — Vice Provost and Professor Sheldon Zedeck of UC Berkeley, at a panel entitled Beyond Grades and Scores: Factors Predicting Lawyer Success and Effectiveness, at the annual NALP conference (which concluded yesterday).

Open Thread: 2012 U.S. News Law School Rankings (7 – 14)

Welcome Texas! As you are all know, the University of Texas School of Law has moved into the “top 14” in this year’s U.S. News law school rankings. It’s a bit of cheat for U.S. News: Texas is technically tied for 14th, which means that the magazine has actually managed to cram 15 schools into […]

California Bar Exam Results By Law School: Open Thread

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 […]

UC-Berkeley’s Gun Club Secret Society Rides Again
John Yoo unimpressed

UC-Berkeley once again topped Michigan in the (leaked so still unofficial) U.S. News law school rankings. Boalt Hall also dominated the Wolverines this month when it comes to secret society activity. Whereas, members of Michigan’s “Barrister’s Society” threw their dirty laundry o’er the rooftops, resulting in campus-wide derision, recent activities by Berkeley’s “Gun Club” have […]

Congratulations to the Newest Class of Skadden Fellows

In addition to being one of the world’s most successful law firms, Skadden is also a public-spirited one. The firm just donated $100,000 to Haiti relief efforts, for example. (More on that later.) In addition, the firm supports public interest work through the Skadden Fellowship Program: The Skadden Fellowship Foundation, described as “a legal Peace […]

A New Name for Boalt Hall: WGWAG School of Law!

Dean Christopher Edley, listen up. The people have spoken, and here is their verdict. UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall should be renamed… the White Guys With Asian Girls School of Law! Don’t like this idea? That’s okay. At least we didn’t charge you $25,000 for it. UC Berkeley dropping Boalt Hall from law school’s official name […]