The Shark

uc davis suffers possibly embarrassing(?) drop in bar exam passage rates.

[cynthia foster]

TaxProf has a nice chart up breaking down the July 2008 California Bar Exam passage rates by school.  You can see his full chart here. 

Probably the biggest shocker here is that UC Davis dropped considerably in the statewide rankings. 

In July 2007, Davis came in at a very respectable #5 with a passage rate of 84% (.pdf).  In 2008, however, they slipped to #14 with a passage rate of 80%.  While the discrepancy between the two rates doesn't seem to be that much (4%), it is worth noting that most schools experienced an increase in their passage rates, because overall the passage rates for the 2008 exam were the highest in 11 years.  California Western, a school in the middle of an effort to improve its exam stats, jumped from #13 to #8.

Better luck next year, King Hall?

Brian, an, ahem, King Hall student, weighs in on the overall California results below:

[brian lauter]

Last November we reported on California’s brutal 2008 bar passage rate.  Now, just when you had finally weaned yourself off of the Prozac and come out of hiding, the California Bar has released the July 2008 bar passage rates by school.  You can check out the official document here.

Don’t feel like doing all of that clicking?  Here are the highlights: 

·        Stanford (97%) gave the rest of the California schools a giant beat down with a passage rate 7% higher than the second place school.

·        USC, UCLA and Berkeley all hover at around 90%. 

·        Surprise!  Pepperdine, USF and Loyola are close behind. 

·        Davis and Hastings come in below the state average of 83.2% and get embarrassed by schools populated by students they rejected:  Cal-Western, Whittier, Santa Clara and McGeorge.

·        Western State, which you’ve probably never heard of because its not rated by U.S. News, beats Southwestern which you might have because it is. 

·        La Verne College of Law is a colossal rip-off – if you go there drop out immediately and demand a full refund.

What effect will this have on next year’s U.S. News Rankings?  Probably none, because everybody knows academic prestige is much more important than students being able to actually practice law after they graduate from law school.

What effect will this have on next year’s 1Ls?  Here’s hoping a few of them decide to weight bar passage rate a little more than U.S. News does.

and here we thought the great law school hoax is that you'll learn how practice law.

[brian lauter]

If you’re in law school, you probably know about law school debt.  What you probably didn’t know, but maybe suspected, is that you’re a victim “of an unfolding education hoax on the middle class that’s just as insidious, and nearly as sweeping, as the housing crisis.”

"Who is the purveyor of this hyperbole?" you might ask.  Well, its “the capitalist tool” herself, Kathy Kristof, writing for Forbes Magazine.  In an article entitled “The Great College Hoax” appearing in the February 2 edition of Forbes, Ms. Kristof unloads on our beloved institutions of higher learning.

First, she slams the “education industrial complex” that has “cultivated the image of college as a sure-fire path to a life of social and economic privilege.”  

Then, she moves on to law school.  Paraphrasing Professor Richard Sander of UCLA Law, she argues that law schools “lure in minority students to improve their diversity rankings without disclosing that less than half of African-Americans who enter these programs ever pass the bar,” and that law schools “goose employment statistics.”

Professor Sander and Ms. Kristof actually make a good point regarding the employment statistics.  We know law schools game employment numbers to improve their U.S. News rankings, but I wonder if any stop to think about misleading effect their “patently spurious” statistics may be having on incoming students.  As Professor Sander says, it does sound a lot like a conspiracy “tinged with consumer fraud.”

All of this should lead the average, debt-ridden law school student to one big I-can’t-believe-I-didn’t-think-of-this-sooner conclusion:  Forget a lifetime of loan payments.  Fraud, misrepresentation, unfair competition – these are your tickets to financial freedom.  Sue your school.  You might win, and if you don’t, maybe they’ll give you a couple of externship units for the effort.

how corrupt is your teaching staff?

[brian lauter]

Rankings.  You know you love them.  A new set came out last Friday and, although the usual suspects remain at the top, you’ll be happy your school isn’t up there with them this time.

These rankings, prepared by Scott Moss at Concurring Opinions, rank law schools based on alumni corruption.  As usual, Yale, Harvard and NYU all occupy spots in the top 5.  The real news here is Pepperdine’s rapid assent into the top 10, due mostly to the recent ridiculous activity of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Moss’s timing is appropriate, not just because of the Blagojevich scandal (Blago-gate?), but because the results for the November MPRE came out last week.

Last week thousands of law students all over the country found out how badly they over-studied for their profession’s ethics test.  If you scored over 115, chances are you were pretty disappointed with your studying performance.  Between 90 and 100?  Just about right.

The fact that it is reasonable, or even possible, to rank law schools by the number of corrupt public officials they have produced is cause for concern.  However, there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it.

The MPRE is kind of a joke, but few other professions even require that entrants pass an ethics test.  Heck, all doctors have to do is mumble some antiquated oath.

What’s more, before they are accepted into the bar (at least in California) law students must complete an invasive and time-consuming Moral Character Application.  And on top of that, some law schools require that students take a Professional Responsibility course even if they’ve already passed the MPRE.

So, I’m not sure what else can be done.  At this point, I think the only way to preserve the law’s good name is to make sure good lawyers put people like Gov. Blagojevich in jail for a long, long time. 

Considering the importance lawyers and law students place in rankings, though, adding an alumni corruption metric to the U.S. News rankings might help curb ethical violations as well.  Its all in your hands, Bob Morse.

us news switches print formats for second time in one year.

[cynthia foster]

According to The NY Times, US News is switching print formats from biweekly to monthly.  Just under a year ago, US News switched from weekly to biweekly, and "conceded then that the magazine had ceased to be a newsweekly competing directly with Time and Newsweek."

No doubt the company was admitting then to its now-obvious shift in focus from news reporting to consumer information reporting.  The recent rankings drama aside, US News seems to be trying to establish itself as the master printer-of-lists.

Which makes me wonder: if US News can't find a viable format for its controversial school rankings brand (and its other, less notable, information services), is it headed nowhere good fast?

race to the top: cracking the rankings mess wide open?

[cynthia foster]

For those of you interested (like us) in shedding some light on the US News rankings circus, there's a new(ish) site you should be checking out: Race to the Top.

One part blog, one part resource center, Race to the Top (or RTTTLaw, as its been calling itself, presumably with a rimshot) describes its mission as follows:

If schools can rise and fall based on the education they provide, they will have the incentive to improve, and less of an incentive to “game” the system. We might just get a race to the top in legal education. This project aims to provide some information to help make this possible.

On the site, readers can find a downloadable copy of the US News Voters Guide.  The guide is circulated by US News to "assist" professors in their crucial role in the rankings.  Professors, in what can only be described as previously a popularity contest, assign numerical scores to schools' JD programs based on their reputation in the legal community.  These scores account for 40% of a school's overall ranking, and have been the subject of some heated debates in recent months. 

Most notably, RTTTLaw seeks to inform those professors who vote each year of programs that have created new and innovative ways to add value to their students' educations.

RTTTLaw is heading this effort with its "Best Practices Survey."  The survey is designed and intended to identify law schools that are particularly adept at using the "best pratices" in legal education (as identified by this Carnegie report [.pdf]).  The results of this survey will be circulated to US News respondents, in an effort to shake up a portion of the US News rankings that has remained static for about as long as it has been around.

all is fair in love and law school rankings.

[brian lauter]

Like any self-respecting law student, I have a special place in my heart for the U.S. News rankings.  For years I’ve obsessively followed them, yearning for that elusive rankings jump, and weeping like a jilted lover when my school’s ranking was swept up by the cruel winds of fate and dropped in lonesome, desolate places.

After dedicating my best years to this emotional rollercoaster, riding it again and again until I almost enjoyed the motion sickness, I’ve grown weary.  Now, with the seasoned bitterness of a twice-divorced middle aged bald man, I get my kicks watching schools ruin the U.S. News law school rankings through clever gamesmanship.

This is a good year for me in that respect. Here are my Top Five Law School “Admissions Innovations” Of 2008:

1.      Number one isn’t really a law school admissions innovation yet, but it could be soon.  Yesterday, TaxProf Blog reported that Baylor University is “paying admitted freshman to retake the SAT and offering large financial rewards for those whose scores go up by certain levels.”

a.     How it might work:

                                                               i.      The ABA now requires schools to report a student’s highest LSAT score when they take multiple tests, and median LSAT score is an important U.S. News metric.  So, law schools could offer financial incentives to students who, in the interest of obtaining higher scores, retake the LSAT post-admission without risking any rankings damage. 

b.     How much it matters:           

                                                               i.      Median LSAT – 12.5% of a school’s total score.

2.      Alabama Law School is offering to waive applicants’ application fees and give them a $20 iTunes gift card if they apply to Alabama Law School.

a.     How it works:

                                                               i.      The more people who apply to Alabama Law, the more they can reject, which translates to a lower the acceptance rate, which is a U.S. News metric.

b.     How much it matters:

                                                               i.      Acceptance Rate – 2.5% of a school’s total score.

3.      University of Michigan Law School’s Wolverine Scholars Program admits University of Michigan undergrads who have at least a 3.8 GPA and agree not to take the LSAT

a.     How it works:

                                                               i.      There is no LSAT score to report to U.S. News which is fine, and the 3.8 GPA will boost the median GPA of Michigan’s entering class.

b.     How much it matters:

                                                               i.      Median LSAT – 12.5% of school’s total score.

                                                             ii.      Median undergrad GPA – 10% of school’s total score.

4.      Many top law schools now admit students with sub-par LSAT scores and GPAs into part-time programs, letting them into the normal, full-time programs after a semester or two.

a.     How it works:

                                                               i.      The U.S. News rankings only factor in LSAT scores and GPAs for incoming full-time students, so schools are able to admit underperforming students without affecting the important LSAT and GPA based U.S. News metrics.

b.     How much it matters:

                                                               i.      Median LSAT – 12.5% of school’s total score.

                                                             ii.      Median undergrad GPA – 10% of school’s total score.

5.      Many claim that top schools have recently become more selective with their 1L admissions, preferring instead to take large numbers of transfers.

a.     How it works:

                                                               i.      Schools can be more selective in their admissions, admitting students with higher LSAT scores and higher GPAs, while admitting transfer students later who fill out their class populations but do not count toward their U.S. News rank, but will likely pass the bar.

b.     How much it matters:

                                                               i.      Acceptance Rate – 2.5% of school’s total score.

                                                             ii.      Median LSAT – 12.5% of school’s total score.

                                                            iii.      Median undergrad GPA – 10% of school’s total score.

Me?  I've got no problem with this.  Some question the morality of using these methods, but I see no evil in gaming a flawed and disproportionately powerful system.

biglaw success more dependent on social skills than rank and gpa, says ABA

[justin gosling]

The ABA Journal just published an article focusing on an associate's law school rank and GPA in determining on-the-job success. Their conclusion: "[l]aw school rank and GPA were only moderately predictive of success."

Good news, right? Unfortunately, the study only examined associates at a large, unnamed law firm, which means that the study's conclusions may not apply outside of the BIGLAW universe. The study is also limited by the fact that it "examined the attributes of lawyers who were already 'the cream of the crop'" and the GPA differentials ranged from "top grades" to "simply good grades."

Just using a student's GPA is problematic because differences between each law school's grading curve and different levels of rigor within each institution's curriculum. I would have liked to see the study use class rank (or percentile) rather than GPA because class rank is more accurate when comparing graduates from two different law schools. With these limitations in mind, it seems the study only concluded that there was not a large difference between students that did well academically, but attended schools ranging all the way down to... 30th.

You mean that there isn't a difference between associates birthed from the same mold? Shocking.

Still, I'm glad to see that an attempt was made to evaluate on-the-job success while taking law school rank and law school performance into account.

The study pinpointed 12 factors that indicated on-the-job success better than GPA and law school rank. The authors only revealed one of the factors—participation in group hobbies and collegiate-level athletics—because of the "proprietary nature of the study."

Since we're short on exact details, it did stand out to me when one of the study's authors commented that the "ability to adapt and get along with people contribute[d] to success more than technical expertise." Makes sense, right?  One's ability to work well with others is an important indicator of success because associates are people that must work with others, not transcripts filed away in a drawer. Until we have a study that uses a larger range of schools and a better way to compare students from different schools, it looks like the mysterious 12 factor test is probably a solid indicator of future performance.

The inability to correlate GPA/rank to on-the-job performance is similar to the problem of using LSAT scores as an indication of law school success. I wonder if an enterprising individual would be able to patch together a comprehensive study evaluating on-the-job success of practicing lawyers while using class rank, law school rank, and LSAT score as the basis for the study. That would be the coup de grâce.

consumer reports: a newer, more honest rankings source?

[abony holmes]

I have to say, I love St. John's University Professor Jeff Sovern's idea of encouraging Consumer Reports to take the rankings reins from US News.

I’ve always been uncomfortable with US News' monopoly on the ratings machine, not just because of their methodology, but because they are a for-profit enterprise. The conspiracy theorist within me can't help but think a lot goes on under the table to manipulate the rankings and their methodology.

Imagine it: a dean (of a low enough ranked law school that it won’t ruffle any feathers) wishes to go a few spots up from its closest rival to increase enrollment. Because the methodology used by US News is so convoluted (and, some might say, arbitrary) the dean fudges some numbers, expels a few students, and sends a nice gift basket to the folks at US News. Viola!  The school jumps three spots in the rankings.

My poor conspiracy-prone mind would be so soothed to know that a different nationally respected publication is out there to challenge US News and keep their rankings honest. Not to mention the fact that Consumer Reports accepts no advertising money, and is a non-profit organization.

I can see where Consumer Reports would have problems ranking law schools from the perspective of consumers: they'd have to take into account hard to quantify categories like "student life" and find some way to force law schools to be accurate with their post-graduate data.

But here's the truth: With fees going up, the economy going down, and college graduates looking to law school as shelter from the storm, it would be nice to have some reliable information about which schools provide the best value for our dollar.

linx: rankadoodle dandy

[cynthia foster]

To all the rest of you trapped inside: doesn't the weather look nice through that window?

• Lieter's New Rankings Are Crap (Nuts & Boalts)
• Law School Rankings: Who Gives Away the Most Money? (Equal Justice Works)
• Preparing For Our First Ranking of Law School Part-Time Programs (Morse Code - US News)

And:

• Stanford Fair Use Team Sues Over Radio Blowhard (Legal Pad)

working hard to stay working: summer associates wise up and get to it.

[cynthia foster]

With the collapse of Heller and the looming problems at Thelen, it's a rough time to be evaluating your summer associate prospects.  Well, guys, I have some decent news for you: California is one of the best places in the country to summer.  In an annual ranking by past summer associates by The American Lawyer, three of California's firms received perfect scores for their programs, and one, Morgan Lewis, ranked in the top 10 nationally.  No other states in the U.S. had programs with perfect scores.

According to story, 2008's summer associates reported a marked increase in the uncertainty of offers, and a marked decrease in the "lightheartedness" that usually defines summer associate programs.

Partners had this to say about them:

"'They seemed a little more mature,' says Scott Brucker, head of the summer program at Philadelphia's Cozen O'Connor. 'They were really grounded—they knew what there were looking for,' agrees Michael Mooney, managing partner of this year's number one firm, Nutter McClennen & Fish in Boston."

Anything but the unemployment line, that's what.

We all know how much the average law student loves a ranking, and in these tough economic times (are you tired of hearing that yet?  FEAR!) they may be especially pertinent in your decision-making.  Good to know that the land of milk, honey, and Valencia oranges is holding it down for us.  You live in the right state, it appears.  If you didn't know that already.

You can read American Lawyer's story on the fear of unemployment that is putting summer associate noses to the grindstone, or you can check out the ranking of summer associate programs in California after the jump.