Law Commons^™

Ochoa, Big Ten Law Deans Pledge Support For Diversity Ahead Of Scotus Affirmative Action Ruling, The Indiana Lawyer

Christiana Ochoa (7/22-10/22 Acting; 11/2022-)

s the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hand down a decision that could fundamentally alter affirmative action, a group of law school deans — including Dean Christiana Ochoa of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law — has issued a statement affirming the deans’ commitment to diversity.

The group of 15 deans represent Big Ten law schools, including IU Maurer. In their statement — which IU Maurer posted to its official Facebook page — the deans say they are “joining together to affirm our commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion through legally permissible means, regardless of the outcome of …

‘Radical Turn Away’ From Admissions Tests? Deans Say Claims Of Increased Diversity May Be Unfounded, Tyler Fenwick

Christiana Ochoa (7/22-10/22 Acting; 11/2022-)

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Dean Christiana Ochoa said those who want to do away with requiring law school admission tests for diversity’s sake have it backward.

The idea that law school diversity would increase if tests like the LSAT and Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, became an optional part of the admissions process is unfounded, Ochoa said.

Instead, she said she’s worried the opposite is true — that the move would actually hurt diversity.

And she is not alone.

Ochoa was one of 60 deans to sign a letter last September pushing back against the proposed change to …

The Bar Exam And The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Need For Immediate Action, Patricia E. Salkin, Eileen Kaufman, Claudia Angelos, Sara J. Berman, Mary Lu Bilek, Carol L. Chomsky, Andrea A. Curcio, Marsha Griggs, Joan W. Howarth, Deborah Jones Merritt, Judith Welch Wegner

Scholarly Works

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted life in the United States. Schools and universities have closed throughout much of the country. Businesses have shuttered, and employees are working from home whenever possible. Cities and states are announcing lockdowns in which citizens may leave their homes only for vital errands or exercise.

Medical experts advise that at least some of these restraints will continue for 18 months or more—until a vaccine is developed, tested, and administered widely. It is possible that localities will be able to lift some of these restrictions (such as lockdowns and school closures) intermittently during those …

Back To The Future: Aba Law School Accreditation In The 21st Century And America's First Law School's Battle To Survive In The 1970s, James S. Heller, Simon F. Zagata

Library Staff Publications

In the mid-1970s, the ABA threatened to pull accreditation from the College of William & Mary’s law school. The ABA’s motives were questioned as it had never taken this step before. Would a more aggressive 21st century ABA have stripped accreditation from well-established schools like William & Mary? The reader can be the judge.

Law Schools Harm Genizaros And Other Indigenous People By Misunderstanding Aba Policy, Bill Piatt, Moises Gonzales, Katja Wolf

Faculty Articles

Law schools justifiably seek to enroll a diverse student body in order to enrich the academic experience and environment, and to provide attorneys who will serve all segments of our society. American law schools enjoy the constitutional right to maintain such diversity. Indeed, accreditation standards promulgated by the American Bar Association ("ABA") require it. The Association of American Law Schools carries a similar mandate.

In seeking to create a diverse student body, law schools offer applicants the opportunity to identify their backgrounds. There generally is no "diversity police" checking on the accuracy of the self-identification as a member of a …

Dickinson Law Approved By American Bar Association, Pamela G. Smith

Perspectives on Law School History

No abstract provided.

The Downside Of Requiring Additional Experiential Courses In Law School, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

In recent years, the bar has expressed dissatisfaction with what is considered by some to be inadequate preparation of law students to begin practicing law immediately after graduation. There are several reasons why this has become a matter of concern for the legal profession. The profession itself has undergone significant changes. Although there are a few exceptions, most law firms no longer wish to spend time training their young associates or allowing them much time to develop the skills they need. First, clients are unwilling to pay for the time a young lawyer spends in acquiring needed skills. Second, the …

Not For Free: Exploring The Collateral Costs Of Diversity In Legal Education, Spearit

Articles

This essay examines some of the institutional costs of achieving a more diverse law student body. In recent decades, there has been growing support for diversity initiatives in education, and the legal academy is no exception. Yet for most law schools, diversity remains an elusive goal, some of which is the result of problems with anticipating the needs of diverse students and being able to deliver. These are some of the unseen or hidden costs associated with achieving greater diversity. Both law schools and the legal profession remain relatively stratified by race, which is an ongoing legacy of legal education’s …

Dean's Desk: A Troubling Focus By The Aba On The Bar Exam, Austen Parrish

Austen Parrish (2014-2022)

No abstract provided.

Technology And Client Communications: Preparing Law Students And New Lawyers To Make Choices That Comply With The Ethical Duties Of Confidentiality, Competence, And Communication, Kristin J. Hazelwood

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

That the use of technology has radically changed the legal profession is beyond dispute. Through technology, lawyers can now represent clients in faraway states and countries, and they can represent even local clients through a “virtual law office.” Gone are the times in which the lawyer’s choices for communicating with clients primarily involve preparing formal business letters to convey advice, holding in-person client meetings in the office, or conducting telephone calls with clients on landlines from the confines of the lawyer’s office. Not only do lawyers have choices about how to communicate with their clients, but they also frequently choose …

The American Legal Profession In The Twenty-First Century, Stephen M. Sheppard

Faculty Articles

Lawyers in the United States work in public service, private counseling, and dispute resolution, but many also work outside of traditional legal practice. The million-member American bar, second largest in the world, grows more diverse by gender, and ethnicity and older on average. All members of this learned profession must qualify by education or examination and by proof of good character and fitness before taking an oath to serve as an attorney. Thence, there are few limitations on the form of legal practice, though many law firms require an associateship before an attorney becomes an owner of the firm. Economic …

Internships As Invisible Labor, Melissa Hart

Publications

No abstract provided.

Law School Marketing And Legal Ethics, Ben L. Trachtenberg

Faculty Publications

Law schools have misled prospective students for years about the value of legal education. In some cases, law school officials have engaged in outright deceit, knowingly spreading false information about their schools. More commonly, they have presented statistics — especially those concerning the employment outcomes of law graduates — in ways nearly guaranteed to confuse readers. These deceptions and sharp practices violate the norms of the legal profession, a profession that scrupulously regulates the advertising of legal services. The deceptions also violate ethical rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty, misrepresentation, and deceit. This article exposes how pitches aimed at …

The Price Of Legal Education, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Regulators, Mount Up, Ben L. Trachtenberg

Faculty Publications

Since I began circulating drafts of an article arguing that certain law school officials have exposed themselves to professional discipline by engaging in dishonest marketing tactics, responses have varied considerably. Everyone seems to agree, however, that law school officials should not lie in their pursuit of students. There also appears to be broad consensus that misleading (albeit not intentionally false) marketing—such as systematically skewed salary statistics—is an unfortunate phenomenon, although disagreement remains on just how serious a problem it is and what level of corrective effort is appropriate. In their recently-published response pieces, Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency (“LST”) …

Compelling Orthodoxy: Myth And Mystique In The Marketing Of Legal Education, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

This article seeks to demonstrate the negative effects of law schools’ preoccupations with enhancing their image and marketing strategy, especially as they are reflected in both scholarship and academic freedom.

The Aba, The Aall, The Aals, And The “Duplication Of Legal Publications”, Richard A. Danner

Faculty Scholarship

Between 1935 and 1940, the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the American Association of Law Libraries joined forces to work on solutions to a problem often referred to as the “duplication of legal publications.” The need for practicing attorneys and law libraries to purchase multiple and duplicative versions of published law reports and other law books was burdensome in costs, complicated the research process, and contributed to what the American Law Institute identified as the two chief defects of American law: “its uncertainty and its complexity.” This article highlights the efforts of the ABA, the …

Two And A Half Ethical Theories: Re-Examining The Foundations Of The Carnegie Report, Mark F. Kightlinger

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In the past three years, the American Bar Association, several major state bar associations, the Association of American Law Schools, the New York Times, law students, and many legal educators have called for fundamental changes in the way we educate new lawyers. Some critics have suggested that legal education faces a crisis that will be exacerbated by rising tuitions, declining enrollments, and a precipitous drop in the demand for new lawyers. Most of those calling for change have relied on the critical analysis of modem legal education presented in a 2007 report by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement …

The Ethical And Legal Basis For Student Practice In Clinical Education In The United States And Japan: A Comparative Analysis, Robert Rubinson

All Faculty Scholarship

Clinical legal education is currently undergoing a surge of interest and development in Japan. This raises numerous opportunities as well as difficulties. One of the most vexing issues concerns the scope of work a clinic student in Japan can do. This issue is particularly difficult given that in Japan there are currently no "student practice rules" so common in the United States.

The norms and rules governing what activities law students can perform in the United States might assist those interested in clinical education in Japan as they work through these issues. This article will attempt to do this. I …

Michigan's First Woman Lawyer: Sarah Killgore Wertman, Margaret A. Leary

Articles

Sarah Killgore Wertman was the first woman in the country to both graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar. Thus, she was Michigan's first woman lawyer in two senses: She was the first woman to graduate from the University of Michigan Law School, and the first woman admitted to the Michigan bar. Others preceded her in entering law school, graduating from law school, or being admitted to the bar, but she was the first to accomplish all three. Her story illustrates much about the early days of women in legal education and the practice of law, a …

Views On Multidisciplinary Practice With Particular Reference To Law And Economics, New York, And North Carolina, Sydney M. Cone Iii.

Articles & Chapters

This Article-after describing analytical gaps in the work of the ABA Commission on MDP, and after criticizing the analysis of MDP by the law and economics school and the Big Five subset thereof-sets forth, with commentary, proposals relating to MDP developed by the New York State Bar Association and the MDP Task Force of the North Carolina Bar Association. It concludes by comparing these proposals in the context of the law governing lawyers in the United States.

The Future Debate On Multidisciplinary Practice In The United States, Sydney M. Cone Iii.

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Hiram F. Stevens And The Founding Of The St. Paul College Of Law, Douglas R. Heidenreich

Faculty Scholarship

The St. Paul College of Law, one of William Mitchell College of Law's predecessor institutions, was established by five attorneys in 1900. Especially prominent among these attorneys was Hiram F. Stevens (1852-1904), who served as the first dean and was also a legislator, teacher, scholar, popular orator, and a founding member of the American Bar Association.

Two Views Of The Question: Are Law Schools Doing Their Job?, Terrance Sandalow, Robert B. Mckay

Other Publications

You have all heard the criticisms of lawyers, which I need not rehearse to this audience. Critics range from Aristotle, Jesus, Shakespeare, and Samuel Johnson to Jimmy Carter and Derek Bok; the cast of characters goes on and on. The criticism I like best, although in a way it is the most cutting of all, is what Samuel Johnson is alleged to have said about two centuries ago: "I do not like to speak ill of any man behind his back but I do believe he is a lawyer." It is always easy to bring people together, nonlawyers at least, …

Legal Education For Non-Litigators: The Role Of The Law Schools And The Practicing Bar, Gerald Korngold

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Foreign Law School Dilemma, Douglass G. Boshkoff

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Specialization, Certification, And Exclusion In The Law Profession, John W. Reed

Other Publications

This essay is the published text of an informal address delivered on April 19, 1974 in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma College of Law's Enrichment Program.

Legal Education, Henry M. Bates

Articles

Bates describes the growth of law schools and the changing nature of legal education: "The outstanding fact in legal education in this country during the past twenty-five years is the shift from the law office to the law school as the avenue of approach to the bar.... This increase in the number of institutions teaching law and in the number of students preparing for the bar in this way makes on the whole for improvement, but the ointment is not without its flies..."