The Faculty Lounge

Law School Transparency Nets Employment Data From Law Schools

This was a very good year for Law School Transparency.  They managed to get NALP employment data from 32 law schools.   That's a pretty dramatic increase over prior years.  Details are here.

Suing The Law Schools, Part 83: Entering Law School Without A BA

We know that students and alums  lawyers are suing law schools for failure to provide employment information for graduates.  But here's a new one.  Morgan Crutchfield is suing Lincoln Memorial University's law school - yeah, that law school -  for negligence.  She was told that it would be no problem for her to finish her Penn State BA while she was a law student at LMU.  But it turns out that Tennessee requires individuals sitting for the bar to have completed their bachelor's degree before starting law school.   Her claim is that the school negligently allowed her to enroll in the program without a degree.  She seeks up to $750,000 in damages.  

The quirk in this case is that while Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 7 requires the bachelor's degree before starting law school, that requirement may waived at the discretion of the state's Board of Law Examiners.

I'm not sure Mr. Crutchfield has a winner on his hands.  Nonetheless, this raises an interesting question for many other law schools.  Since the ABA doesn't require law schools to condition attendance on a bachelor's degree, and since some highly respected schools even have a 6 year BA/JD program,  could every school conceivably be negligent if it fails to warn such applicants that they might not be able to sit for the Tennessee bar?  Or would only Tennessee schools be on the hook?  (Or would you look to see the number of grads heading to Volunteer State from any given state to make that determination?)  

Do other states have this bar requirement?  Do other states provide for discretionary waiver?

Svitlana Kravchenko: 1949-2012

Oregon law professor Svitlana Kravchenko passed away in recent days at the age of 62.  Professor Kravchenko was a prolific scholar and directed the law school's LLM program in environmental and natural resources law.  Stories here and here.

Visiting Faculty List: 2012-2013 Edition

It's time for us to start putting together the faculty visitors list for next year.  To get the ball rolling, if anyone has news of visits for next year, please either post them in the comments below or email them to me (JDL14@case.edu) and I will set up the list and update it regularly.  Because it's so difficult to differentiate between VAPs, podium visits and look-see visits (and who knows how the heck to define a look-see visit in any event), I'll just keep the list simple and confine it to school being visited and home institution of relevant faculty.

Professor Settles High-Profile Defamation Suit Against Widener Law

Professor Lawrence Connell has settled his defamation suit against his (now former) employer, Widener University School of Law.  According to his attorney:  "all claims amongst all parties have been resolved amicably and Professor Connell's employment with the University and Law School has been concluded."  The defamation complaint is here.

Connell had been put on leave by the law schoolas a result of student allegations that he engaged in "cursing and coarse behavior", made "racist and sexist statements" and offered hypotheticals featuring "violent, personal scenarios that demean and threaten" colleagues.   He had apparently offered hypos in which the Dean, Linda Ammons, had been a victim.

As a result of these accusations, and others, he was handed harsh sanctions including a year of unpaid leave.  Commentators like David Bernstein and William Jacobson offered severe criticism of Connell's treatment by Widener.  

Connell joined the Widener faculty in 1984.

From Prof to Prez

Pepperdine law professor Tim Perrin has been named the new president of Lubbock Christian University (where Perrin was an undergrad).  Story here.  Video here.

Didn't another Pepperdine academic recently become president of a Texas university?

Teaching Fellowship Opportunity

From an email that I received earlier this week:

Thomas Jefferson School of Law invites applications for the TJSL Teaching Fellowship, to begin in the 2012-13 academic year.  Applicants should e-mail a cover letter, resume, and other application materials to Anders Kaye, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, at anderskaye@tjsl.edu.  More information about the Fellowship and the application process can be found on our website at http://www.tjsl.edu/tjsl-faculty/faculty-fellowship/teaching-fellowship

12 More Law Schools Sued Over Employment Data

Attorneys  filed suit today against twelve law schools arguing that these schools induced students  into attending by providing deceptive employment data.      The schools are:  Albany, Brooklyn, California Western, IIT  Chicago-Kent, DePaul, Florida Coastal, Golden Gate, Hofstra,  John Marshall, University of San Francisco, Southwestern, and Widener. 

The attorneys on the cases include the two lawyers who filed the NYLS and Cooley suits - Jesse Strauss and David Anziska - as well as a third attorney, Frank Raimond.

January Surprise: SLU Law Is Moving Downtown

Dean Annette Clark announced yesterday that as of this coming August, Saint Louis University law school will be moving from midtown to downtown St. Louis.  The announcement appears to have been a surprise to many people.  The school will be taking over an 11 story, 260,000 square foot building.  It even has its own parking deck inside!  The structure was built in 1965 and was once occupied by AT&T.  

Looks like there's a lot of renovation ahead in the next 8 months!

Duncan v. ABA: No TRO or Temporary Injunction

 Round One of Lincoln Memorial University, Duncan School of Law v. American Bar Association goes to the ABA.  On January 18, 2012, District Judge Thomas A. Varlan handed down a Memorandum Opinion and Order denying Duncan's motion for a temporary restraining order and for a temporary injunction. ABA Journal Law News Now, Federal Judge Nixes Duncan Law TRO, Calls School’s Future Success in Suit Against ABA ‘Unlikely’ (Jan. 18, 2012).

Judge Varlan's opinion tracked the ABA's brief in opposition:

1. Because Duncan can appeal the decision by the Council for the Section for Legal Education and Admission to the Bar rejecting Duncan's application for provisional approval, Duncan had not exhausted its administrative remedies. Slip Op., at 14-20.
2. Duncan had a full and fair opportunity to be heard by the Council.  Slip Op., at 23-26.
3. There was substantial evidence to support the Council's findings, so it had not acted arbitrarily or abused its discretion.  Slip Op. at 21-23, 26-35.
4. The Council had not failed to follow its own rules by considering Duncan's planning, student debt loads and the experience of Duncan's Director of Lawyering Skills and Academic Success. Slip Op., at 35-36.
5. Duncan had not shown the Council had treated Duncan differently than "other similarly-situated, fully-approved law schools with lower [entering LSAT and UGPA] scores." Slip Op., at 36, 36-38).
6. Duncan had not shown that it would suffer irreparable injury. Slip Op., at 38-41.
7. An injury suffered by Duncan did not outweigh the damage from abridging the Council's First Amendment "right to communicate its views on law schools to governmental bodies and others. Slip Op. at 41-42 (quoting Zavaletta v. Am. Bar Ass'n, 721 F. Supp.96, 98 (E.D. Va. 1989).
8. Duncan's claim that the public should be protected from "dissemination of misinformation based upon an arbitrary accreditation decision" should be rejected.
   1. Duncan was unlikely to succeed on the merits of the underlying claim.
   2. The public interest claimed by Duncan was outweighed by the "public interest in having those who look to the Section’s evaluation of legal education receive prompt and accurate information." Slip Op. at 42, 41-42.

For links to supporting declaration by the ABA Consultant on Legal Education, see ABA Brief in Duncan Suit.

More later.

Dean Search Update: St. Thomas (MN)

The University of St. Thomas School of Law (MN) has announced the membership of its search committee to replace outgoing law dean Thomas Mengler.  Details here.

Rick Matasar From Dean Of New York Law To NYU

Richard Matasar, who has just left the deanship at New York Law School, has set up shop a few blocks away at NYU.  He has assumed the position of Vice President for University Enterprise Initiatives within NYU's  School of Continuing & Professional Studies.  He also has the title of Professor - which he presumably holds within the School of Continuing & Professional Studies as well.

AALS Welcomes Four New Member Schools

Texas Wesleyan, North Carolina Central, St. Thomas (MN), and Drexel became the newest members of the AALS this week.  Story here.  Kudos to all!  

(And special congrats to our Lounge founder and friend, Dan Filler!)

Did Duncan Law Dupe The New York Times Or Did David Segal Dupe His Readers?

Brian Tamanaha wonders over at Balkinization.

Dean Search Update: McGeorge

McGeorge School of Law has named a new dean:  Francis "Jay" Mootz III, from UNLV.  Announcement here.

Dean Search Update: Appalachian

Appalachian School of Law has a new dean:  Lucy McGough, a professor at LSU.  Story here.

 

Dean Search Update: Stetson

Stetson University College of Law has a new dean:  Christopher Pietruszkiewicz, currently at LSU.  Story here.

ABA Brief in Duncan Suit

As widely reported elsewhere, Duncan School of Law (Lincoln Memorial University) has sued the ABA (complaint) for denying the school provisional ABA accreditation.  Joe Hodnicki has a nice summary of the action so far in his post on the Law Librarian Blog, Provisional Accreditation Denial by the ABA:  A speculative back-story for Duncan Law School's Lawsuit.

Today (Jan. 3, 2011), the  ABA announced that it had filed a Brief in Opposition to Duncan's motion for a temporary restraining order.  The press release summarized the ABA's main argument, that Duncan was not in substantial compliance with the ABA Standards, specifically:

• Standard 203 (Strategic Planning and Assessment);
• Standards 303(a) & (c), and Interpretation 303-3 (Academic Standards and Achievement); and
• Standrad 501(b) & Interpretation 501-3 (Admission and Student Services).

The release also has links to the brief, the exhibit list for the brief and a supporting declaration by the ABA Consultant on Legal Education, Hulett H. (Bucky) Askew. 

More later.

John Farmer, Rutgers-Newark Law Dean, Gives NJ Republicans A Big Win

While his day job may be acting as dean of Rutgers-Newark School of Law, in his spare time John Farmer serves as the tie-breaker on New Jersey's bipartisan redistricting committee.  This past weekend, Farmer sided with Republicans merging two Democratic districts into one in order to trim the number of Congressional districts from 13 to 12.  The commission has 6 Democratic and 6 GOP members plus one "independent" tie-breaker selected by the 12 other members.  Farmer had been selected unanimously by the 12 partisan committee members.

Farmer, the independent member, has some experience in the political realm.  He was New Jersey's state attorney general under Governor Christine Todd Whitman and served as Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission.  He was also Acting Governor of New Jersey for 90 minutes on January 8, 2002.  

Jane Larson (1958-2011)

I am shocked and saddened to learn via Brian Leiter that Jane Larson of the University of Wisconsin's law school has passed away.  I am dismayed at how many important law professors have passed away recently.  Although I never met Professor Larson, so far as I can recall, I learned a great deal from her.  Her article on the development and decline of the tort of seduction,  "'Women Understand So Little, They Call My Good Nature `Deceit'': A Feminist Rethinking of Seduction," in the Columbia Law Review in 1993, is a fabulous article and a model of how to integrate the history of doctrine with the surrounding social values.  (Here is a link to the article on jstor.)  I think it one of the finest articles in legal history that I have ever read.  I often recommend it to people who are thinking about writing on the history of doctrine and, though it's been nearly twenty years since I first read it, I still remember how I had the sense I'd read something very fresh and exciting.  

Professor Larson's other work includes Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex (with Linda R. Hirshman, Oxford University Press, 1999).

The world of legal scholarship has lost an innovator.

Update: Here is a memoral statement from the University of Wisconsin's law school. 

Howard Wasserman has a remembrance of Jane Larson's property class here.  Northwestern Dean Dan Rodriguez has a short memorial here.  Diane Marie Amann has a memorial here.  A touching memorial is here.