Practice Ready

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.08.15

* We mentioned earlier this week that Charleston School of Law may suspend enrollment of first-year students next year. Perhaps the law school's ultimate failure wouldn't be a bad deal for students -- a closed school loan discharge would actually be a blessing for them. [WSJ Law Blog] * With law school graduation right around the corner, you can kiss your dreams of a Supreme Court justice delivering your commencement speech goodbye. Thus far, not a single SCOTUS jurist will deliver remarks at a 2015 ceremony. [National Law Journal] * Per the latest report from Citi Private Bank’s Law Firm Group, law firm expenses outpaced revenue in the first quarter of 2015. Some of the biggest expenses are salaries, so maybe this is another reason why some firms are resorting to layoffs. [Am Law Daily] * They should've just watched The Wire? Under Attorney General Loretta Lynch's leadership, the Department of Justice is going to launch an investigation into whether the Baltimore Police Department has been involved in any discriminatory police work. [NPR] * If you're still trying to decide which law school to attend, you may want to consider one that has robust practicum offerings. Being "practice ready" after graduation supposedly does wonders for your job prospects. (Just kidding.) [U.S. News & World Report]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.09.15

* Amal Clooney, the attorney who tamed George Clooney's heart and is now considered one of the most famous human rights lawyers in the world, will be teaching at a New York law school this spring. Which one? We'll have more on this fun news later today. [USA Today] * Talk about a Hail Mary play: The ACLU has decided to come to the defense of a very unlikely cause. Per a recently filed federal brief, the organization thinks that the USPTO's cancellation of the Redskins trademark was unconstitutional. [WSJ Law Blog] * According to a new BARBRI study, the vast majority of third-year law students think they're ready to go when it comes to practicing law, but the lawyers who have had the (dis)pleasure to work with new graduates don't seem to agree. [National Law Journal] * "Those kinds of jobs are never going to be enough to absorb the number of people graduating from law school over the next five or 10 years." Northeastern's dean laughs in Biglaw's face -- his grads measure their success in other ways. [Boston Business Journal] * Ellen Pao's "racy" gender discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins serves as a harsh criticism of the sexist culture of Silicon Valley. Luckily, jury members will be able to busy themselves with the case's more lurid details. [The Upshot / New York Times] * Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency is working on a new podcast that will help prospective law students to see what working in the legal profession is really like. "I Am The Law" debuted in January 2015, and it's worth a listen. [U.S. News & World Report]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.06.15

* At the annual Association of American Law Schools meeting, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg handed out a delightful piece of marriage advice that she sometimes uses when dealing with her colleagues on the Supreme Court: “It helps to sometimes be a little deaf.” [National Law Journal] * Thomas Gilbert Jr., the man accused of killing his father -- who just so happened to be the founder of the Wainscott Capital hedge fund -- allegedly shot him to death over a $200 cut in his monthly allowance. This is why rich people can't have nicer things. [New York Post] * Litigants on both sides of a First Amendment issue headed to SCOTUS are using a law review article penned by none other than Justice Elena Kagan in an attempt to influence all of the justices. See, people do read law review articles. [New York Times] * Musical chairs, dean-poaching edition: Fordham Law just named Matthew Diller as its new dean, but he's still going to remain as dean at Cardozo until the end of the year. Let's see how he tackles the school's enrollment decline. [New York Law Journal] * Per a study conducted by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, law school graduates who participated in a practice-ready program fared better as attorneys than those who did not. Whoa, nice going. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky