The Shark

UCLA prof resigns from admissions committee, accuses university of bias toward black students.

[cynthia foster]

Via the Orange County Register this morning: a UCLA professor has resigned from the university's admissions committee, accusing the university of violating state law in order to give preferential treatment to black applicants. 

The university denies wrongdoing, but Professor Tim Groseclose's incendiary report on his findings is circulating the internet.  The report, which some are calling "amazing," includes transcripts of meetings between university officials and Prof. Groseclose.  The full report can be found here.

taking the "socratic method" one step further, into a more relevant land.

[brian lauter]

This morning on Concurring Opinions Professor Paul Ohm (University of Colorado Law School posted) an interesting item on the Socratic Method.

The Socratic Method is a traditional favorite of many law school professors (possibly due to a lack of competition in the discussion methods industry). However, as most law students and (hopefully) law professors know, the Socratic Method we use is a bastardized version of the Socratic Method envisioned and used by Plato/Socrates a couple thousand years ago.

Old school Socratic Debate involved two people, or a relatively small group, propounding a series of probing and argumentative questions, back and forth, in the search for truth. Law school Socratic Debate usually involves a number of people getting called on in a given class period. Usually several of these students are not paying attention, and are asked to recite the facts and rationale of cases. Sometimes a student may be asked what they thought of the decision, did it make sense to them, etc. These are not Socratic questions, and this is not Socratic Debate.

laptop, out. blackberry, in. oh yeah, pen and paper are in, too.

[justin gosling]

One of my favorite parts of modern life is when your computer only shows hostile vertical lines when you just want Windows to boot up.  And just in time for law school, no less.  Awesome.   Thank goodness I have a phone with email capabilities and the nimble thumbs of a tween. Yep, I'm phone blogging.  Phlogging.

One piece of good news is that the professor in my Con Law class has a 'no laptop' policy, so I'm not at a disadvantage compared to the other students in that class, despite my computer's failure at life.  The professor actually laid out a decent argument for banning laptops in the classroom, and I am going to give the laptop-less second year a try. 

So far I actually feel pretty good about sticking to pen and paper, but I do miss the ability to check my email and read the news during a dry moment in the classroom.  The big benefit to using a pen and paper is that it forces you to think about what you want to write because you can't just hit delete to make a correction.  This added level of focus seems to help, but it may be too early to make any firm conclusions.

I did notice that during class some people using laptops were taking down an insane amount of unnecessary notes and spending waaaay too much time not focusing on the task at hand.  I kept asking myself if I did the same things before converting to life sans laptop.

Okay, maybe 'sans laptop' isn't entirely correct because Tony the Repair Guy is going to fix my computer, and I do plan on transcribing my handwritten notes onto it once it's up and running.   Cutting out the technology 100% is probably just as bad as relying on it 100%.  I thing there is a strong argument for using computers (and other technology) to supplement tried and true methods of taking notes.  If you can take notes well on the computer, e.g. in the same way as you would with a pen and paper, then by all means continue on.  If, however, you are taking unnecessary notes or find yourself browsing for shoes on eBay, then maybe you should use the computer to supplement your studying rather than letting it subvert your studying.

I'm willing to be the test case, but first I need to call up Tony the Repair Guy because typing on this tiny keyboard is killing my thumbs.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

who am i and why am i here? the law school identity crisis.

[brian lauter]

This year’s 1Ls are halfway through their first week of law school. Its about this time that nearly all incoming 1Ls begin to ask: Why did I come to law school?

Of course, there are thousands of specific answers to this question. Generally, however, I think these answers can be lumped into three broad categories:

1. “I came to help people/change the world.”

This is the most admirable of the three groups, and, at least in my experience, the smallest. Members of this group will get involved in legal aid societies and assistance programs, take classes focusing on prison law, labor, and immigration, and participate in clinics. They do great work in law school, and seem to enjoy it the most. They are the best at coping with the stress and hard work.  Maybe because they have a moral stake in law school.

2. “I came to get rich.”

While probably the least admirable of the three categories, at least you know where these people stand. Members of this group will take business/corporate law courses, maintain excellent grades, and limit their participation to law review, moot court, or other resume-building activities. They know how to have a good time, don’t get too involved at school, and mostly cruise after they get that 2L summer associate offer.

3. “I had nothing better to do.”

In my experience, this group is the largest of the three. Members of this group obtained relatively useless political science/English/sociology degrees. Upon graduation they couldn’t find anything to do that excited them or paid them enough money, so they decided to go to law school. This is the most amorphous group. Their grades will vary widely, and they will participate in a variety of activities hoping to spark their interest in the law. Over the course of their law school careers, some will join the “came to get rich” crowd, while others will join the “came to help people” crowd. Some will graduate still not knowing why they came to school or what they should do with their degrees. 

I’m not suggesting that every 1L fits into one of these categories. There are always a few outliers. But, generally, these categories seem to hold up. 

Although lumping people into broad, practically meaningless categories is fun and exciting, it can also be useful tool for remembering why you came to law school on those occasions when your will is tested. It can help keep you centered on your own goals, and remind you to not to focus on what others are doing with their law school careers.   

hastings' dean newton unimpressed by us news' robert morse.

[petra pasternak]

Deans from across the country pumped their fists in the air in response to the U.S. News & World Report’s announcement that it is considering changing its take on part-timers and the role they play in law school rankings. Hastings College of the Law’s Dean Nell Newton is keeping her cool.

Newton told us this afternoon that Robert Morse, director of data research at the magazine in charge of the popular list, is seen by many as “the Emperor of Evil,” and his methodology as “deeply flawed.” Any change he attempts to make to curb gaming by schools to improve their rank would probably just be an opportunity for a different kind of game, she said. To read more, check out our sister blog Legal Pad.

law firms take over student activities fair and hold out on the hot dogs.

[abony holmes]

What does a blogger with writer’s block do? Complain. Today I’m complaining about last week’s “Student Activity” fair at Boalt, which featured, embarrassingly, law firms hawking schwag and depriving me of hot dogs unless I feigned an interest in their brightly colored brochures.

As a member of various campus organizations, I was more than a little perturbed that our spotlight was stolen by law firms with way cooler toys (we had flyers, they had laptop sleeves) and more substantial vittles (we had cupcakes and brownies, they had Top Dog). I won’t comment on how appalling it was to witness law firms speaking to (dare I say recruiting) 1Ls that were rightfully ours to recruit. I won’t even comment on the transparency of using the Law and Technology journal as a cover for their presence there (oh right, the tech journal invited you so you’re totally cool). I’m being so generous by not remarking on the fact that they were given the nice shaded area of the courtyard, while the students were relegated to the hellishly hot section (and pretty tightly squeezed in, I might add).

What I am going to complain about is the hot dogs. It was patently unfair that I had to talk to the firm in order to get a “hot dog ticket.” If the firms want to give us hot dogs, so be it. If they want us to talk to them, they should put lots of mini staplers and Nalgene bottles on their desks. But the sheer embarrassment of ending my awkward conversation with a law firm representative by asking for a hot dog (for my troubles of course)… well, that was too much to bear. Let me regale you with my exchange with an unnamed law firm:

Me: I don’t know anything about your firm.
Law Firm Guy: *confused stare*
My Friend: Uh, do you need a technological background to work in your IP practice area?
Law Firm Guy: Blah blah blah.
Me: *confused stare*
My Friend: What other offices do you have in the California Area?
Law Firm Guy: Womp womp womp womp.
Me: *hungry stare*
My Friend: How large was your summer associate class this summer?
Law Firm Guy: Dobedobedo…
Me: *bored stare*
Law Firm Guy (at me): Do you have anymore questions?
My Friend: No, that’s it!
Me: Ahem, actually, no I have one. Can I have my hot dog ticket?

This kind of exchange was to be heard far and wide throughout our “activities fair.” I heard tales of a spunky 1L who simply walked up to a law firm and asked for “a meal ticket.” Wise beyond his years, that fellow.

But what the 1Ls don’t know is that things weren’t always like this. There was a time, long ago, back in the days of Ortiz and the locker room, that the student activities fair featured only (gasp) student activities! In fact, the food for that fair was provided for by the school, and the students (the vast majority of whom were 1Ls and transfers) were encouraged to browse student tables and select the people they’d spend the next two semesters complaining about cite checking with. Not so this year. I’ll never know why. But I do feel sorry for the 1Ls. I was lucky enough to stroll about the activity fair last year in jeans and flip flops, a bit of chocolate on the side of my mouth, and a naive and innocent ignorance of the sultry temptation of firm life. Oh, how the times are a-changing…

heller ehrman gives king hall oci the brush-off.

[cynthia foster]

Looks like Heller has pulled out of OCI at Davis (via ATL). 

According to firm spokesman Patrick Bustamonte: "Because we plan to hire fewer summer associates next summer, we did cancel our plans to interview at some schools and to focus on schools where we have been the most successful in the past."

Sorry, Aggies.

growing trend of law profs as free agents may put the quality of your education in jeopardy.

[brian lauter]

In July, NYU Law Professor Clayton P. Gillette published an article entitled “Law School Faculty as Free Agents,” available in its entirety here. As is apparent from the title, the article discusses the increasing trend toward a free agent model of law school hiring.

When I think of free agency, I immediately think baseball. Apparently, so does Professor Gillette.  He argues that, in many ways, free agency among professors differs from free agency in sports, to the detriment of legal education.

Baseball players are paid almost exclusively for high visibility tasks – all we have to do is turn on Sportscenter to see if the Giants are getting their money’s worth out of Barry Zito. Law professors have both high-visibility and low-visibility duties. Increased free agency is likely to emphasize their high-visibility duties (scholarship) while deemphasizing their low-visibility duties (teaching).

Professor Gillette also notes the traditional lack of emphasis on institutional service – e.g. organizing conferences and serving on committees – in law school hiring. He argues that, because the benefits of teaching and institutional service are not conferred on those who play a role in the hiring process (faculty), but instead on those who don’t (students), teaching abilities and institutional service will not be valued when hiring free agents, decreasing professors’ incentives to improve or excel in these areas.

Gillette’s emphasis on the roles played in the hiring process begs the question: If students did make hiring decisions, would the result be any different?

update: AALS caves to protesters, moves annual conference.

[cynthia foster]

As a quick update to our item on the boycott of this year's Association of American Law Schools convention in San Diego, we've got this: The National Law Journal is reporting that the protesters have prevailed.

Originally objecting to the the AALS' choice of venue in San Diego, because of its owner's financial support of Prop. 8 and the AALS' group members' commitment to equal rights, the protesters demanded that AALS reconsider its decision and move the conference to an alternate location.  AALS relented, and has moved its events over to the San Diego Marriott Hotel. 

Small bit of irony here: the new venue was developed (but is not currently owned by) Douglas Manchester, the same businessman the protesters rejected initially.

what not to do/think/say/feel in law school.

[brian lauter]

Last week Ms. JD posted another installment of its law school advice series . This item lists Law School Don’ts, as submitted by law students from around the country.

The Law School Don’ts column features several helpful tips, such as: “don’t miss class,” “don’t be a stress-magnet,” and “don’t take yourself and law school too seriously.”

Ms. JD didn’t ask me for my advice, but after reading the advice she collected, I feel comfortable adding some of my own “don’ts” here: “don’t sweat the small stuff,” “don’t cry over spilled milk,” and “don’t do unto others as you wouldn’t have them do unto you.”

If none of these pearls of wisdom help you prepare for the upcoming school year, you may want to take a look at a 2007 item from Inter Alia listing Law School Dos and Don’ts.