Legal Education Commons^™

Retaining Diversity In The Classroom: Strategies For Maximizing The Benefits That Flow From A Diverse Student Body, Chris Chambers Goodman

Pepperdine Law Review

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether diversity is a sufficiently compelling government interest to justify an affirmative action program that considered race and ethnicity in allocating law school admission offers. The Court determined that diversity was a compelling interest, resolving the conflict in the federal circuits on that issue. In this article, Goodman argues that the courts must examine the tightness of the fit between the goal of either achieving diversity or of realizing the benefits that flow from a diverse student body, and the means used to try to accomplish either …

Externship Demographics Across Two Decades With Lessons For Future Surveys, J.P. "Sandy" Ogilvy, Sudeb Basu

Scholarly Articles

Sudeb Basu (J.D., Catholic University, 2011) and Professor J.P. “Sandy” Ogilvy (Catholic University) report on the results of a 2007-2009 national survey of externship programs at American law schools and compare many of the data points to previous surveys of externship programs, the 2007-2008 CSALE survey, and some ABA/LSAC data, to chart the growth and increasing sophistication and complexity of the pedagogy associated with legal externships. Some of the data discussed include limits on the number of externship credits or externship courses, student involvement in externships, the distribution of credits awarded for externship courses, the average number of hours of …

In Defense Of Mandatory Curves, Joshua M. Silverstein

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This article sets forth the first comprehensive defense of mandatory curves. It begins with a case study of one law school. That institution lacked formal grade normalization policies during the period of the case study. As a result, the school suffered from dramatic grade disparities. This article contains a list and statistical analysis of the most significant disparities. The statistical analysis supports the conclusion that the grade disparities were caused by differences in teacher grading philosophy, and not by student merit or any other factor.

Next, this article presents several arguments in favor of mandatory curves. The most crucial is …

In Defense Of Mandatory Curves, Joshua M. Silverstein

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article sets forth the first comprehensive defense of mandatory curves. It begins with a case study of one law school. That institution lacked formal grade normalization policies during the period of the case study. As a result, the school suffered from dramatic grade disparities. This article contains a list and statistical analysis of the most significant disparities. The statistical analysis supports the conclusion that the grade disparities were caused by differences in teacher grading philosophy, and not by student merit or any other factor.

Next, this article presents several arguments in favor of mandatory curves. The most crucial is …

Female Law Students, Gendered Self-Evaluation, And The Promise Of Positive Psychology, Dara Purvis

Faculty Scholarship

For the last several decades, studies and surveys have shown that female law students perform worse and feel worse about their experiences in law school than do male students. Hidden in average figures, however, is a subgroup of female students who thrive. Positive psychology, focusing on what traits make people happy rather than how to alleviate depression, provides novel ideas of how to improve legal education for women without making accommodations specifically targeting gender.

Symposium Introduction: Humanism Goes To Law School, Marjorie A. Silver

Touro Law Review

By now, the knowledge that law students experience more than their fair share of distress is old news. The studies about law student (and lawyer) unhappiness have been widely discussed in both academic literature and trade publications. Less well known, however, are the increasing number of programs that law schools, and individuals within those schools, have implemented to counter that distress,and to help students develop a positive professional identity,both as students and as the lawyers they are about to become.

Developing Professional Identity Through Reflective Practice, Suzanne Darrow Kleinhaus

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Volume 37, No. 1

The Weldon Times

A student-run newspaper published at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.

Editor in Chief: Max Rothschild

Layout Editor: Kate Rothschild

Editors: Suzanne Kittle, Phil Moreria

Volume 37, No. 2

The Weldon Times

A student-run newspaper published at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.

Editor in Chief: Max Rothschild

Layout Editor: Kate Rothschild

Editors: Suzanne Kittle, Phil Moreria, Alex Gorlewski

Making Irac Visible, Suzanne Darrow Kleinhaus, Nancy Chanin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

It's Not Just A Writing Problem, Suzanne Darrow Kleinhaus

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

On Legal Education And Reform: One View Formed From Diverse Perspectives, Robert J. Rhee

UF Law Faculty Publications

This article identifies two interconnected problems in legal education. First, legal education and practice are more disconnected than they should be, a reality which distinguishes law schools from other professional schools. The major flaw of legal education as the failure to produce more market-ready lawyers who have a mix of skills and knowledge to add value in a complex and challenging practice environment. Second, law school imposes large direct and opportunity costs on its students. These costs combine with the problem of a deficiency in academic training and post-graduation financing of additional training in the workplace to impose a growing …

Legal Education Comes To Nevada: The Creation Of The William S. Boyd School Of Law, Mary Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

State Of The Law School: Achieving Academic Success In Nevada, John Valery White

Scholarly Works

In the coming years, the William S. Boyd School of Law will continue to pursue its standing goal of becoming a great law school for Nevada. That project is considerably more complex today, due to significant changes taking place in the legal profession. Though our first decade's successes have created a solid foundation from which the law school can take on these challenges, the changes to the profession are rapid and many are likely long-lasting. The school's graduates face a world with a considerably tighter job market. Law schools are being asked to provide greater skills training even as the …

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2010, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

This ranking report attempts to identify the best law school home pages based exclusively- on objective criteria. The goal is to assess elements that make websites easier to use for sighted as well as visually impaired users. Most elements require no special design skills, sophisticated technology or significant expenses.

Volume 36, No. 2

The Weldon Times

A student-run newspaper published at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.

Editor in Chief: Geoff Franklin

Layout Editor: Lorne Graburn

Assistant Editors: Alex Gorlewski, Victoria Gergan, Patrick MacDonald, Max Rothschild

Do Law Schools Mistreat Women Faculty? Or, Who’S Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Dan Subotnik

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

They Do Teach That In Law School: Incorporating Best Practices Into Land Use Law, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

This article, prepared as a follow-up to Salkin & Nolon, Practically Grounded: Convergence of Land Use Pedagogy and Best Practice, 60 J.Legal Education 519 (2011), describes how practice-based assignments can supplement the traditional casebook method of instruction to meet goals and measure outcome assessments for students in the course. The article is based on my own course goals and explains how each assignment relates to individual outcome assessments.

Practically Grounded: Convergence Of Land Use Law Pedagogy And Best Practices, Patricia E. Salkin, John R. Nolan

Scholarly Works

The changing dynamics in the field of land use and sustainable community development law demand that land use law professors rethink the way in which we prepare law students to practice law in this area. This needed paradigm shift converges with the growing momentum of the best practices movement which urges law schools to dramatically revise the curricular approach to legal education, arguing that traditional models are no longer effectively serving the goal of producing competent and fully prepared new lawyers. A perfect storm is present and a unique opportunity exists through the application of many “best practices” concepts for …

Law School Gifts Keep Giving - Clinical Programs Train Students While Serving The Legal Needs Of Ordinary Nevadans, Mary Berkheiser

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Oral History Interview With Low Kee Yang: Conceptualising Smu, Kee Yang Low

Oral History Collection

The interview covered: first involvement with SMU, university education in Singapore, curriculum, CIRCLE values, private university, logo, teaching pedagogy, interview students for admissions, legal aspects, incorporation of SMU, first day of class, law school, challenges, student recruitment, law internships, Juris Doctor programme, challenges.

Biography:

Associate Professor of Law, SMU, 2000–present

Member of SMU start-up team

Professor Low Kee Yang joined the start-up team for SMU in 1998; one of his responsibilities was supervising legal matters. He served as deputy dean of the business school from 1999 to 2002 and chaired the organising committee for the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business …

Roll Over Langdell, Tell Llewellyn The News: A Brief History Of American Legal Education, Stephen R. Alton

Faculty Scholarship

The origin of this essay is a presentation the author made at the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas on December 10, 2008. This essay is derived from the author's presentation, which originally was entitled "A Brief and Highly Selective History of American Legal Education and Jurisprudence. " In this essay, the author provides an overview of the history and development of legal education in America, emphasizing the establishment and evolution of the case method of instruction in American law schools and focusing on the influence of American jurisprudence on the development of legal education in …

One Day, All Americans..: Considering A Tfa-Style Lawyer Corps, Gregory Zlotnick

Faculty Articles

This Note argues for the creation of a public interest recruiting and placement organization like Teach for America, in the tradition of Edgar and Jean Cahn's call for federally funded neighborhood legal services and TFA founder Wendy Kopp's call for the creation of a national teacher corps. Part I argues that such a recruiting and placement organization should be implemented now, in light of the constitutional and legal limitations of federally funded legal services; an excess supply of lawyers coupled with a disparity in those receiving legal services; cutbacks in public interest positions such as legal aid and public defender …

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2009, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

This brief ranking report attempts to identify the best law school home pages based entirely on objective criteria. The goal was to include elements that make websites easier to use for sighted as well as visually impaired users. Most elements require no special design skills, sophisticated technology or significant expenses

A Little More Mascara: Response To Making Up Is Hard To Do, Darren Rosenblum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Dear Adrienne and Bob:

First, thanks for including me in this written conversation. For those who don't know you both, I should say that your conversation is actually very queer. Bob, your resistance to saying you're straight means more when one can see how you present yourself. Few men in the U.S. come across as ambiguously as you do, so your refusal to claim straight privilege really means something. Adrienne, for someone who doesn't know you, your shopping-talk may seem more Kim Kardashian-consumerist than it is—I think it's more about your incessant fabulousness. Now, to connect who you are …

Japan’S Legal Education Reforms From An American Law Professor’S Perspective, Jeffrey Lubbers

Research Reports & White Papers

This paper describes and analyzes Japan’s reform of legal education. This reform that began in 2004—a new system of legal education, coupled with changes in the national bar examination and in the national legal training institute for successful exam-takers—was part of a wideranging national law reform movement in Japan. As a result, 74 universities across Japan established graduate-level “law schools,” most of which were added to pre-existing undergraduate law departments. The new law schools provide a degree equivalent to an American Juris Doctor (JD) degree. These law degrees became the main prerequisite for taking the national bar exam. The pass …

Update: Using Casemap In Legal Research And Writing (Lrw) Classes And Clinics, David I. C. Thomson

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Written “research logs” focus on the quality of the research path the student had taken, but not necessarily on the quality of the student’s thinking. CaseMap, a modern alternative to the old written research log, permits LRW teachers to enter into a student’s thinking in the critical pre-writing stage. With CaseMap, the LRW or clinical teacher can help refine the student’s legal analysis well before the student begins to write. Despite CaseMap’s limitations - namely its complexity and current incompatibility with Mac computers - this short article serves as an update of a more extensive article about using CaseMap in …

The Spirit Of The Legal Academy – For Three Years Or For Life?: Some Personal Observations, Robert T. Bockman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pathway Of Professionalism - The First Day Of Law School At The University Of Idaho, Donald L. Burnett Jr.

Articles

No abstract provided.

"The Real World": Creating A Compelling Appellate Brief Assignment Based On A Real-World Case, Elizabeth Inglehart, Martha Kanter

Faculty Working Papers

Creating an appellate brief problem that is realistic, balanced, and interesting for students to work on is one of the most challenging opportunities facing a legal analysis and writing professor. Developing such a problem is particularly important because many legal writing courses use an appellate brief problem throughout an entire law school semester, usually requiring students to write at least one, and often two, appellate briefs based on the problem, and to argue that case in a moot court. This article provides advice, drawn from the authors' experience as professor of legal analysis and writing, as to how to develop …