The Shark

usf keeps cool head despite rankings drop (impressive)

[cynthia foster]

You guys, the drama may be ongoing, but there is a calm wave coming over USF in the wake of the ratings shake-up.  In case you don't know, University of San Francisco School of Law suffered a fairly significant slip in the US News rankings this year (dropping into the third tier and out of the top 100).  This may or may not have caused outbursts from USF students on the internet, we're not sure.  We're definitely sure it caused some hearts to sink in San Francisco.

But, there may be one bright spot in all of this: turns out their dean, Jeff Brand, actually has a pretty level-headed attitude about it all.  In his emailed response, Brand (commendably) points out the "disjunction between the rankings versus feedback from the ABA and bar results" and calls it "jarring".  He also outlines some very straightforward steps the university will take to "not only benefit the law school but... also improve rankings." 

The full email can be found after the jump.

hit the brakes, rankings mania

[cynthia foster]

Since we revealed the US News law school rankings, the blogosphere has been abuzz.  First, the rankings were fake.  Then, the rankings were maybe incorrect.  Finally, the rankings were legit but meaningless.  Despite that, the official release by US News has confirmed our initial "findings" and sent many law schools (particularly those who dropped) into a tailspin. 

Above the Law has a pretty comprehensive/entertaining look at administrations' reactions to their new statuses.  Particularly hilarious are the deans who promised students that they'll re-evaluate their school's course according to its move on the scale.  It's all one big popularity contest, after all.

slow and steady wins the legal education race

[justin gosling]

While I was perusing the recent U.S. News & World Report when I came across an interesting article that highlights the importance of incorporating business skills into the traditional law school education. I could not agree more; business skills are valuable, particularly as students move from the classroom into the real world. It seems that many students are not fully satisfied with the current state of legal education (myself included), and some schools are tinkering with certain aspects of their program, but nobody wants to launch a full scale revamp. Maybe the better question is should law schools revamp, tinker, or stick with the status quo?

The current legal education system is relatively unchanged from Dean Langdell's original casebook method.  The most recent example of shaking up legal eduction came from Washington and Lee University School of Law when they decided to make the final year of law school completely "experiential in nature."

While some think the change is radical, I'm not so sure it is such a gigantic step.

adios, san francisco. hola... fort worth. (golden gate dean decamps for texas wesleyan)

[petra pasternak]

Golden Gate University School of Law’s dean is setting out for Texas.

Frederic White, who arrived at Golden Gate in the summer of 2004 as one of California’s first African-American deans, will take over the dean post at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Fall 2008 will be his first semester there, according to a Wesleyan spokeswoman.

White said, during a phone call from Atlanta (where he was watching a basketball game), that his decision is the result of both the desire to tackle a new project and the lower cost of living in Texas.

Wesleyan has a young and very supportive alumni base, he said, and a university president who is hands off.

“The law school usually keeps all of its money which is not the case at most law schools, including Golden Gate,” he said. It just so happens that former Golden Gate admissions dean, Sherolyn Hurst, recently joined Wesleyan as well.

White will be the first African-American dean at Wesleyan.

Both Wesleyan and Golden Gate ranked in the fourth tier of last year’s U.S. News & World Report.

it's ok to buy your outlines on the internet

[abony holmes]

Eric Johnson over at Prawfsblaw made some valid criticisms against law professors who shun commercial outlines.  According to him, commercial outlines have some disadvantages (e.g. incomplete information) but they have many benefits, namely:

• The give students a basic understanding of the black letter law.
• Students don't have to waste time and “separate the doctrine from the chaff” while reading cases.
• They allow students to read cases “at higher intellectual level, casting a critical eye on the court, questioning the motives of the parties, and learning how the blackletter doctrine works, or doesn’t work, in the real world.”

I have to agree with those points, and I’d like to add a few of my own:

• They give structure to a course that may lack structure.
• They present a simplified version of the big picture — ideal for those moments where the minutiae of every case you read overwhelms you.
• They give you a place to double-check your understanding of the lecture and the casebook without having to wait in line for office hours or waste class time with simple questions.

I also agree with this piece of Johnson’s advice: “start with an outline in hand, and then spend the rest of the semester learning what’s wrong with it.”

building a better legal profession... for stanford students?

[abony holmes]

The Chicago Tribune spoke to some Stanford Law School students who are trying to change the workaholic culture of the legal profession. The article centered on the efforts of the group Building a Better Legal Profession.

The goal of these students is not unique: increase the numbers of women and minorities in the legal profession, and foster a better work/life balance for attorneys in large firms. Their criticism of the legal profession, however, is not unique: firms pay obscene amounts of money to fresh graduates with no experience so that they do not have to make commitments to diversity or promoting work/life balance.

But will these student groups and others like them make any real progress for the large majority of newly minted lawyers, or will they simply help graduates of top law schools like Stanford have an even cushier existence while the vast majority of law school graduates are forced to do the work associates won’t do for less pay?

We know one of you has the answer.  Let's hear it.

boalt triumphs over chicago and pennsylvania

[petra pasternak]

Psst. Don’t tell anyone, but The Shark got its hands on a preview of the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of law schools. We’ve heard its official publishing date is Friday.

One development is likely to make Boalt Hall students pee their pants: UC-Berkeley’s law school has muscled ahead of both the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania, bumping them to claim sixth place. We’ve heard that may be the highest ranking Boalt has ever had.

Here are the Top 10 (UPDATE 3/28: IT'S OFFICIAL)

1/ Yale University
2/ Harvard University, Stanford University
4/ Columbia University
5/ New York University
6/ University of California – Berkeley
7/ University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania
9/ Northwestern University, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Virginia

Four other California schools dropped down on the list compared to last year’s results.  UCLA fell from 15th place to 16th, sharing that spot with University of Texas — Austin this year.  USC also dropped, from 16th, to land on the 18th rung.  Hastings slid from 36th last year to share 38th place with three other schools this year.  And UC-Davis seems to have taken the biggest tumble, falling from 34th last year to 44th.

We lucked out when we heard from someone who’d bought a copy of the magazine already, apparently displayed ahead of schedule. Maybe you can run out and find a copy at a newsstand near you, too.

Thoughts on the changes, readers?

diversity in law school over happy hour

[abony holmes]

In the newest installment of our law school interview series, 1L Danielle discusses the downside of having interesting classes that lead to conversations outside of class. As much fun as Constitutional Law is, she doesn't want to deal with heated affirmative action debates while she's trying to enjoy her beer.

linx: how to make money off your law school misery. 1st step: make movie about taking the bar.

[abony holmes & cynthia foster]

It's been awhile, but we're back.  We bring you, the Internet:

• Law School Woes Could Win You $10K (Legal Blog Watch)
• An Online Law School — What’s Next? (The Redgate Read on Online Learning)
• People You Meet In Law School #3: The Philosopher (Barely Legal)
• Stanford Students #1 Firm Favorites (PR-inside via Vault.com)
• DVD Review: A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar (Atomic Popcorn)
• How Other Top 10 Schools Fund Summer Public Interest Work (Virgina Law Weekly)
• Back From Addiction, and Sharing the Lessons (NYTimes)
• Security Lapse Exposes Facebook Photos (AP via Yahoo)

the 1L revelation: law school is hard, man

[justin gosling]

A few weeks ago I led a group of new admits around my campus and it was a blast. The mysticism surrounding law school really gives tour guides a 'god complex' because you are the only person that can answer questions about the real student experience.

Some of the questions were tame.... Yes, the Socratic Method is tedious, but you only have to sit through the drudgery for one class period per class, per semester. Plus, you know the answer is inevitably going to be "it depends," and there are probably enough gunners around to help out when you are stuck on a problem. So it's not that bad.

There was one question that stood out and I really didn't know how to answer it.

"Why is law school so hard and why does it consume so much of your life?"