Clear Admit School Guides  Become an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft personal statements that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like the 1L core, lawyering curriculum, top professors, student clubs, placement and more. Available for immediate downloadLaw Tipline We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to lawnews@clearadmit.com so we can blog it. |
March 31, 2010
In an article in its March 2010 issue, The National Jurist has ranked the University of Iowa College of Law’s library as the nation’s top law library — besting 197 other competitors.
The article, “What Makes a Great Library,” and the rankings system use the most recent ABA data and consider the law libraries based on various differently-weighed categories, including the number of available volumes and titles, the school’s number of students per librarian and the library’s total hours open. The number of volumes and titles makes up 50 percent of the score, stressing the figure’s relative importance.
Behind Iowa Law in the top five are: Yale Law School, Indiana University-Bloomington Maurer . . . → Continue Reading
March 31, 2010
With the majority of schools having released their decisions, many successful applicants will soon be facing the enviable – but often agonizing – decision of choosing between programs. Though we know that those of you in this position will already be juggling an overwhelming amount of information about the schools on your short lists, we wanted to offer a few pointers to consider as you identify and evaluate the most important facts and factors in making this decision.
1) Immerse yourself. If you have not yet visited campus, go to the school and see what you think of the environment. Be sure to attend classes, talk with students, tour the facilities, and so on. Even if you have already made the trip, . . . → Continue Reading
March 30, 2010
Aimed at more adequately preparing students for specific legal careers and concentrations, on Thursday faculty members at Emory University School of Law agreed to a set of changes to the program’s first-year curriculum.
Most notably, the curricular reform institutes a required course, Legislation and Regulation, and allows an elective to be taken in the second semester of 1L year. The newly required course introduces students to the roles of legislatures and administrative agencies in legal practice, while the elective gives students the ability to begin in a particular area of the law early.
In the press release announcing the changes, Dean David Partlett echoed the experiential learning trend that is taking shape across leading law . . . → Continue Reading
March 30, 2010
Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, the Clear Admit Law School Admissions Blog’s weekly segment on a leading U.S. law school. Today we are taking a peek into UC Berkeley School of Law’s Professional Skills Program.
Many leading U.S. law schools require their 1Ls to complete a professional skills program, though the format and scope of this program differs from institution to institution. Most offer at least one course on legal research and writing that focuses on teaching basic lawyering skills, such as choosing the most appropriate resources for the purpose of writing a memo or legal brief. Part of the reason for this instruction is to help students learn to construct clear arguments based on . . . → Continue Reading
March 29, 2010
Last week the University of Oklahoma Law Center announced that Joe Harroz will take over the deanship beginning July 1st, 2010. Harroz, who received his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma University and his J.D. from Georgetown Law, will also become a tenured faculty member at this time. Harroz has previously served as general counsel to the university, president of Graymark Health Care, and legislative director and legal counsel to Oklahoma Senator David Boren.
Harroz will replace current Dean Andy Coats, a popular dean and namesake of the college’s building. Harroz, a longtime friend of Coats, addressed how taking over the deanship in these circumstances inspires him:
“Walking into Andrew Coats Hall will remind me of two things. One, that I . . . → Continue Reading
March 29, 2010
Last week Tulane University Law School announced that David Meyer will become the program’s 22nd dean, beginning July 1.
A constitutional and family law scholar, Meyer is currently associate dean for academic affairs and a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. As a student at the University of Michigan Law School, Meyer was the editor-in-chief of the program’s Law Review. Following graduation, he clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals and for Justice Byron T. White on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Stephen Griffin, another constitutional law professor, has served as Tulane Law’s interim dean since July 2009 and said the appointment marks “a major step forward” for the law school. Tulane . . . → Continue Reading
March 26, 2010
Building off our Fridays From The Frontline post earlier, we wanted to pass along another source of law student input, as a blog interviewed four current students for their thoughts on law school’s first year.
In a post entitled, “What is the First Year of Law School Really Like?“, the blog, Policy Diary, gathered four from Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School and the University of Texas School of Law, respectively, to discuss their 1L experiences.
Within the post, the law students relayed their first-year expectations and definitions of success, study habits, strategies for engaging with peers and professors, summer hiring revelations and . . . → Continue Reading
March 26, 2010
Hi again, and welcome to this week’s edition of Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly foray into the ‘blawgosphere’ to find the latest news, opinions, and experiences of law school applicants and students. Perhaps it’s the warm weather, or perhaps it’s the end of spring break, but a number of law school bloggers have come out of hibernation this week to inform us of their recent activities and revelations.
0L Ricky Nelson has come even closer to deciding on a program to attend next fall, and has even decided not to visit the last two campuses he initially intended to tour. Meanwhile, 0L Sue-Ting announced that she has yet to receive any notifications – pointing out that . . . → Continue Reading
March 25, 2010
Columbia Law School has established a new externship program for 3Ls seeking to gain practical exposure to government legal issues through various federal agencies.
The offering, which is slated to begin in the fall, centers on field placements, a seminar and supervised research. For the field placement, law students will work at least 30 hours per week at a government agency such as the Department of Justice or the Department of Homeland Security. The seminar will largely focus on the role lawyers play in federal offices, and students will also be required to compose a research paper of at least 8,000 words on an appropriate topic.
Ellen Chapnick, the school’s dean for Social Justice Initiatives, stressed . . . → Continue Reading
March 25, 2010
Registration for the LSAC Law School Recruitment Forums is now open for the 2010 scheduled events. The forums are intended as a resource for prospective J.D. candidates hoping to learn more about the various ABA-approved law schools to which they are considering applying, as representatives from law schools across the country, as well as prelaw advisors and LSAC Candidate Services representatives, are available at the events to answer questions.
Prospective candidates in attendance are encouraged to meet with the individuals representing their target schools in order to learn more about the program’s curriculum, facilities, research and clinical programs and student body. Although attendees are advised that the representatives are not there to evaluate the candidacy of prospective applicants, some individuals may find . . . → Continue Reading
March 24, 2010
Detailed in an article in The New York Times Sunday, questions have been raised surrounding City University of New York School of Law’s plan to move to a classroom-equipped $155 million complex in Long Island City.
According to the article, the cost, at $600 per square foot, is higher than the average cost for large office space sold in Manhattan in 2009.
While some at the law school favor the move because it would raise the program’s visibility and provide a state-of-the-art facility, others are pondering the price tag. The student government in February passed a resolution demanding further information on the school’s building needs and the proposal’s cost.
Another raised concern is the location, as Professor . . . → Continue Reading
March 24, 2010
Following up on our blog post from a couple weeks ago, today we’d like to talk about being on the waitlist. While the past few weeks have seen a number of admits and rejections handed down to law school applicants, the fate of many remains uncertain. There is no reason for waitlisted candidates to lose hope, as the top programs admit a fair number of individuals throughout the spring and summer, but we know that cautious optimism does not make the wait for an answer any easier. To help those in this situation make sure that they’re doing all they can, we wanted to share a few waitlist tips:
1. Know – and follow – the . . . → Continue Reading
March 23, 2010
In a recent press release, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law announced that two $1 million grants will establish and fund a family justice center and clinic.
The monetary allocations will bring together existing programs and concentrations to provide legal services and care to victims of domestic violence. Dean Paul Schiff Berman said the collaboration should bring together “students in law, social work, nursing psychology, and criminology to work holistically on the complex web of issues surrounding family violence.”
Retired Justice O’Connor echoed Berman’s collaborative focus, saying, “Solutions for domestic violence require a comprehensive approach to connect the wealth of resources that are needed to tackle this issue — from . . . → Continue Reading
March 23, 2010
In today’s Trivia Tuesday, we’re taking a peek into Stanford Law School’s Pro Bono Program, which is run through the law school’s John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law.
Stanford’s approach to pro bono (law-related community service) is somewhat unusual, in that students complete all pro bono work on a voluntary basis. While most law schools that have a robust pro bono program, such as Penn and Columbia, require that students perform a minimum number of hours of eligible work in order to graduate, Stanford’s Levin Center devotes its considerable resources just to the students who are interested in making the most . . . → Continue Reading
March 22, 2010
Thompson Rivers University (TRU), a Canadian university in British Columbia, plans to open a new law school in September 2011, making it the country’s first new law school in 35 years.
This law school plans to offer an American-style J.D. degree program, completed in six semesters over three years. TRU recently entered a curriculum license agreement with the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary. This agreement allows the law school at TRU to adopt the curriculum at U of C for its own use, including the Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law focus. John Sparks, a member and the secretary of the TRU Counsel, calls this agreement “historic,” explaining that it not only will facilitate the founding of . . . → Continue Reading
|
Clear Admit’s Recent Posts
Discussion BoardsBelow are the five most recent posts from several discussion boards popular among applicants and students.
Top-Law-Schools.com
NonTradLaw
Admissions BlogsAggregated posts from official admissions office blogs at the leading schools. Below are the seven most recent items.
Student and Applicant BlogsAggregated posts from law school student and applicant bloggers. Below are the seven most recent items:
If you'd like us to add your blog to the feed, simply send us an email. School News BlogsStraight from the source. The latest press releases and news items streaming from the leading schools.
Law Faculty BlogsBelow are aggregated feeds from a range of law school faculty blogs.
General Topic Blogs
Subject-Specific Blogs
Concurring Opinions
Community BlogsThe five most recent entries from various sources of information for law school applicants.
Above the Law
The popular self-described "legal tabloid."
WSJ Law Blog
Wall Street Journal on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community.
|
