The Shark

laguna beach settles with erwin chemerinsky in dispute over rights of the homeless.

[cynthia]

You may remember Erwin Chemerinsky's lawsuit, on behalf of four homeless people, against Laguna Beach. It attracted national attention and raised the profile of the UC Irvine dean even higher at a time when his nascent law school was just getting its bearings.

Chemerinsky, and law firm Irell & Manella, claimed the city had mistreated its homeless citizens by interfering with those who chose to sleep in the streets.

Well, the city has settled, according to LA Legal Pad.

"Under the agreement, the city's police officers will not cite, arrest or harass people under state law simply for sleeping in public places, as long as there are no reasonable public health or safety concerns.

The agreement also establishes a process for expunging from the public record citations and convictions obtained under the city's previous anti-camping ordinance, key portions of which were repealed in February following the filing of the lawsuit last December."

the ll.m.: bigger at berkeley than you thought?

[cynthia]

copy of the spring issue of Transcript, the Berkley Law alumni magazine (although they call themselves "Boalt," presumably because it's all in the family?), made its way onto my desk a couple of weeks ago, and I've been slowly perusing it. 

One of the more interesting features is a Q&A with Dean Christopher Edley, with a timeline assessing the successes of his aggressive plan to elevate the school.

Edley, who began his tenure in July of 2004, set out with "plans to restore Boalt's standing as a premier law school." While most of the notations along the five year timeline are universally-acknowledged positives (Koret Foundation gifts, law centeres launched, revisions of LRAP), I couldn't help but notice a universal theme throughout: the LL.M. program. 

the musical that must not be named

[julie anne]

I'm not a law student yet, but, by golly, I know injustice when I see it. Which is why I was so frustrated when, because of copyright issues, the videos for Harry Potter: The Musical were taken off YouTube.

Yes, I know there are bigger things going on in the world. But based on the video found at blog io9, the music and the performances in the fan-made musical were, in the words of Ron Weasley, bloody brilliant, and give the stories of J.K. Rowling life beyond the pages of her book and the movies based on them.

In a video posted to the StarKidPotter channel, creators of the musical explained, well, sang, why they had to suddenly pull their videos off the air:

"We don't wanna, we don't wanna be sued. We're not tryin', tryin' to be rude. Cause it ain't funny, we ain't got the money to lose. We never wanted, never wanted to fight. Legal issues, and misuse, and copyright. If we annoy ya', we ain't got no lawyers to use. So understand that we're just fans. We can't fight the man. So we're playin' it safe and takin' our whole show down so there's no show-down. ... It's just for now. So stay tuned. We'll be back here soon." 

Yes. Even their "please don't sue us, we're poor college-age kids who don't have any money" video is entertaining.

Watch the video here.

blagojevich scandal reaches university of illinois law school admissions office.

[cynthia]

In case you hadn't heard, it's WTF Is Up With Law School Administrators Week.

In addition to the drama at DePaul, things at University of Illinois are also reaching a "oh no they did not" boiling point, due to some investigative work done by the Chicago Tribune when they asked themselves: "What does it cost to get an unqualified student into the University of Illinois law school?"

According to the Tribune and internal emails released earlier in the week, all it costs is a handful of jobs for U of I law grads. Now that's taking a creative look at career services!

"In one e-mail exchange, University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman forced the law school to admit an unqualified applicant backed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking a promise from the governor's go-between that five law school graduates would get jobs. The applicant, a relative of deep-pocketed Blagojevich campaign donor Kerry Peck, appears to have been pushed by Trustee Lawrence Eppley, who often carried the governor's admissions requests."

When Law School Dean Heidi Hurd balked on accepting the applicant in April 2006, Herman replied that the request came 'Straight from the G. My apologies. Larry has promised to work on jobs (5). What counts?'

Hurd replied: 'Only very high-paying jobs in law firms that are absolutely indifferent to whether the five have passed their law school classes or the Bar.'

Hurd's e-mail suggests that students getting the jobs are to be those in the 'bottom of the class.'"

I'm not really sure what to say about that. It looks like Illinois politicians aren't sure what to say, either. So far, a state commission has been convened to investigate those administrators implicated.

Dean Hurd apparently spent a lot of her work-time hating her students, as the emails characterized her as one who "showed [her] disdain for the special admits and even worked behind the scenes to campaign against them" at the same time as she was "[operating] a parallel admissions review for clouted students."

"I'll do my best to keep the number of Provostian admits to a minimum, and extract payment for them," Hurd wrote to her admissions staff in 2003.

At least 24 "special interest" students were admitted over a four year span, indicating that despite their dislike of politically-connected students, they weren't willing to give up the lucrative possibilities of their admittance. In a sense, these "clouted" students were admitted for their potential to serve the school, like really fucked up and sad athletes.

So why'd they do it? My guess: the US News rankings, of course! Job placement after graduation accounts for 18% of a school's US News ranking score.

conflict between depaul university officials, students over ousted law dean hits facebook.

[julie anne]

Since DePaul law Dean Glen Weissenberger was let go last week, the blogosphere has been weighing in on the popular dean's ouster. I think the TaxProf blog pretty much summed it up in a headline, stating that the action was "universally condemned".

Students and alumni have also weighed in by creating Facebook groups "Reinstate Dean Glen Weissenberger!" and "DePaul College of Law Community in Support of (former) Dean Weissenberger", and signing petitions to show their support.

Initially, it was reported that Weissenberger was let go because he suggested there were mistakes made to documents sent to the ABA. There may have also been a power struggle between Weissenberger and university Provost Helmut Epp, according to Above the Law.

But the minutes for a June 22 meeting between Epp, university officials and students recently posted to one of the Facebook groups suggest there may have been more to the story.

Check out the minutes from the meeting, after the jump.

linx: because twitter is too easy.

[cynthia]

• Looks like Kirsten Wolf 2.0? [SherriLynn]
• Since law school doesn't prepare you to be a lawyer, I suppose it's a small victory that it can prepare you to be something else. [The Legal Intelligencer via Law.com]  
• And here we thought law students didn't want to blog. [I Don't Wear Skinny Jeans]
• Deans at T1-T4 schools in Minnesota weigh in on the US News rankings. Can you guess where they each stand on them? You might be surprised. [MinnLawyer Blog] 
• Firm managing partners feel "slightly" less grim about the future. Huzzah! [Cal Law (free reg. req.)]

law schools need to get that future flow.

[julie anne]

Law schools need an upgrade, according to AM Law Daily columnist Paul Lippe. Or, in the words of the Black Eyed Peas, law schools are so 2000 and late, and need to be more 3008.

Lippe states that law schools have evolved from apprenticeships, to trade schools, and finally to their current state, where they focus on scholastic gymnastics and abstract thought.

But this current approach is flawed, Lippe says.

He states that when students graduate from law school they don't have marketable skills, and, as such, aren't prepared for the practice of law.

To fix these problems, he suggests that schools offer an accelerated curriculum, teach more about the practice of law, encourage social networking, force deeper inquiry, and continue skills development for students post graduation.

The remedies Lippe suggest are similar to those found in a 2007 study by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

One thing that distinguishes Lippe's argument from the study, however, is his suggestion to move back to what he calls "mission-centered managemen,t" where the mission of law schools should be to serve society, the profession and - get ready for it - its students.

I know that, as a 0L, I am something of an outsider. But as a former journalism student preparing to go into the legal world, it seems to me the problems that law schools face are similar to the ones that journalism schools are facing: do they take an academic, often idealistic, approach and observe/theorize how battles have played or are playing out, or, do they take a practical approach and place their students in the line of fire?

Do they want to turn out scholars who can run circles around others when it comes to legal theory? Or, do they want to turn out attorneys who can go to the mat in the courtroom?

Both approaches in either profession have their benefits and serve unique purposes.

But, for the most part, it appears that law schools have been making the choices for their students on what approach is taken. 

Do you go to HYS or other T14 school? You will be a legal messiah, and the legal gods will smile upon you and bless you with judicial clerkships. Do you go to a more regional school? You are destined for the regional firm trenches.

If schools really wanted to serve their students, the choice of focus should really be in their students' hands. If they want to grow more legal grey matter, build more legal muscle, or try a little bit of both, the school should have programs in place that allows their students to cater a program to their own needs.

Got another idea on how to fix law schools? Let us know in the comment section below!

howrey forgoes high first year salaries, instead intends to train its associates to be lawyers.

[cynthia]

Our sister blog, Legal Pad, reported on the Howrey first year reorganization yesterday.

If you haven't heard, Howrey's cutting first year salaries (pretty substantially) and also upping (pretty substantially) the amount of on-the-job training they'll receive, in the form of workshops and pro bono work, in effect using the first year as an opportunity to educate associates in the practice of law.

The salary cuts (to $100K) have resulted in a fair amount of buzz on the blogosphere. You can check out The National Law Journal's lengthier story on the new program, including an interview with managing partner Robert Ruyak, here, and you can check out Legal Pad's ever-evolving list of California firms that are engaging in associate salary cuts here.

Still no word on what, exactly, law school is for.

former berkeley law prof takes the helm at yale.

[cynthia]

Robert Post, a former Berkeley professor, will replace Harold Koh as dean of Yale Law School. The news came after months of rumors about the con law scholar's prospects. 

Post, who left Berkeley for Yale in 2003, was a member of a class of professors who left the school in what the media characterized as a "talent raid" by wealthier Ivies, such as Yale and Harvard.

testmasters v. blueprint: it's all over for real.

[julie anne]

The sun has set on a four-year showdown between law school admission test preparation companies Testmasters and Blueprint Test Preparation, which I took to prepare for the December LSAT.

Here's a bit of the release from the Blueprint website:

"After over four years of litigation, a 25-day trial spanning over three months, and more alcohol imbibed by the defendants than was strictly speaking healthy, the trial between Testmasters and Blueprint is done. Finito. Gone like Donkey Kong.

On June 15, 2009, Judge William Highberger entered the statement of decision and DENIED the permanent injunction sought by Testmasters against Blueprint and UPHELD the jury's verdict."

Read the decision in full here.

If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, because, dude, it's summer, here's my understanding of what went down:

Blueprint Test Preparation was started several years ago by former Testmasters instructors, who started Blueprint four months before the end of their Testmasters teaching gigs. According to Testmasters, since Blueprint founders were disloyal to the company, they had to pay back wages earned from Testmasters during those last four months and any profit earned from Blueprint during those four months.

Testmasters representatives also implied that Blueprint materials were derived from Testmasters' materials.

A jury last year found that Blueprint and its employees were liable on some causes of action. The jury awarded damages to Testmasters, in the amount of 1% of the originally sought amount. Judge Highberger upheld the jury verdict, and further stated that Blueprint materials were distinct from Testmasters' materials.

Some of the Testmasters more PR-y tactics used during the litigation included: disseminating inflammatory fliers about Blueprint on college campuses, editing deposition videos for use on a website called "Blueprint Blues," and an endless stream of cease and desist letters.

If you're a Law 360 subscriber, you can read a story they wrote here.