Adjunct Law Prof Blog

Another New Law School Belmont University

Belmont University's College of Law is expected to be the first new law school in Middle Tennessee in nearly 100 years.Classes are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2011.This school hopes to obtain ABA accreditation. Their web site provides:

In 2010, Belmont University will notify the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) that it intends to open a law school.  Initiation of the J.D. degree program is dependent upon SACS-COC approval.


In 2010-11, Belmont University College of Law will seek approval from the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners.  We hope to receive TBLE approval by the spring of 2011.  If granted, TBLE approval would permit our graduates to sit for the Tennessee bar examination.

Belmont University College of Law also will seek accreditation from the American Bar Association as soon as possible.  ABA accreditation is a two-step process.  The first step for all new law schools is provisional approval.  Under ABA rules, no new law school may be considered for accreditation until it is in its second year of operation.  It is our intention to apply for provisional approval in our second year (fall 2012), and our hope is to be provisionally accredited at the end of that academic year (spring/summer 2013).

The second-step is full approval, which requires full compliance with all ABA standards after having been provisionally approved for at least two years.  The earliest Belmont University College of Law may apply for full approval is 2015. 

Belmont University officials have met with representatives of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, and it is important to note that:

The Dean is fully informed as to the Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools by the American Bar Association. The Administration and the Dean are determined to devote all necessary resources and in other respects to take all necessary steps to present a program of legal education that will qualify for approval by the American Bar Association. The Law School makes no representation to any applicant that it will be approved by the American Bar Association prior to the graduation of any matriculating student.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Berkeley and Georgetown Law Announce Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Karen Sloan (National Law Journal) reported last weekend that law schools at UC-Berkely and Georgetown are offering to forgive law school debts for graduates who commit to work in public interest law for at least 10 years.  

Sloan reports that the programs are tied to recently enacted federal legislation designed to assist debt-laden college students:

The loan forgiveness programs at Georgetown and Berkeley are designed to complement the College Cost Reduction & Access Act — a federal program intended to help borrowers manage their student debt that went into effect in July. The federal program is especially helpful for public interest workers, because the government will forgive the loan balance after the borrower has made payments for 10 years. Loan forgiveness applies to lawyers working at nonprofit organizations, government agencies and legal aid organizations.

Under the income-based repayment portion of the new federal program, monthly loan payments are capped at about 10% of the borrower's income, which is important because public interest lawyers generally make far less than their counterparts at law firms. A survey last year by the National Association for Law Placement found that public interest attorneys can expect starting salaries of about $41,000.

Both Berkeley and Georgetown will pay the entirety of those capped monthly payments for 10 years, until the federal government forgives the debt.

The program does not offer full coverage for graduates in public interest law making high salaries.  Full coverage is available Berkeley graduates making up to $65,000 annual salary and to Georgetown graduates making up to $75,000 annual salary.  Graduates earning more receive loan assistance on a sliding scale to around $100,000 in annual salary.  Sloan further reports that the program is funded by alumni donations at Georgetown and student fees at Berkeley.  

With the economy in recession, law school costs rising and the demonstrated need for attorneys committed to public interest work as strong as ever, these loan forgiveness programs look like they can't miss.

Craig Estlinbaum

Univ. of Calif. at Hastings Law School Tuition To Top $50,000

Hastings, is of course, one of the country's finest law schools. Next year tuition will rise to above $50,000 for non-residents. Residents will pay $36,000 and some change. Hastings is a public law school. This is just too crazy. Stanford's tuition is $42,000 and change. I believe that even that is way overboard-but at least its Stanford. Unfortunately, other schools are likely to follow Hastings lead.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Hat Tip: Above The Law

New York Law Student Fails In His Challenge To Reverse His Legal Writing Grade

Keefe v. New York Law School, ___Misc. 3d___(N.Y. Co. Nov. 17, 2009), is an interesting case. A transfer student to New York Law School from Hofstra Law School was unhappy with being placed in Legal Writing II. As I understand it,his argument was that New York Law School breached an implied contract because it did not provide him with "the right program for every student" as indicated on the law school's web site. Out of the blue he argued that legal writing should be graded pass/fail because that is the way it is done at Yale Law School. The court did not have any trouble dismissing the case and finding that no implied contract existed. As the court stated:

Generally, New York State courts have permitted a student to bring a breach of implied contract action against an institution of higher education. See Radin v. Albert Einstein College of Med. Of Yeshiva Univ., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9772 at *30 (S.D.N.Y May 20, 2005). However, a student must identify specific language in the school's bulletins, circulars, catalogues and handbooks which establishes the particular "contractual" right or obligation alleged by the student in order to make out an implied contract claim. See Sweeney v. Columbia Univ., 270, AD2d 335, 336 (2d Dep't 2000); Vought v. Teacher's Coll., Columbia Univ., 127 AD2d 654, 655 (2d Dep't 1987). General statements of policy are not sufficient to create a contractual obligation. Only specific promises that are material to the student's relationship with the school can establish the existence of an implied contract. See Lloyd v. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 906, at *27-*28 (N.D.NY Jan, 26, 1999). "To state a valid claim for a breach of contract, a plaintiff must state when and how the defendant breached those specific promises. Radin, 2005 U.S. Dist LEXIS 9772, at *32.

In the case at bar, Plaintiff fails to cite any specific provision or communication from NYLS that would establish an implied contract. One cannot breach a contractual promise that was never made. Radin, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9772, at *37. Plaintiff fails to point to any document or communication that gives rise to a promise which NYLS has breached. See Chira v. Columbia Univ., 289 F. Supp.2d 47, 485, 486 (S.D.N.Y 2003); Ward v. New York Univ., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14067, at *10-*12 (S.D.NY Sept 25, 2000). Therefore the motion to dismiss the complaint is granted in its entirety.

Moreover, New York courts have repeatedly refused to interfere in the academic procedures of educational institutions and cannot and will not intervene in disputes involving an educational institution's grading system.

As the New York Court of Appeals has stated quite clearly in Susan M. v. New York Law School, 76 NY2d 241, 246-247 (1990).

As a general rule, judicial review of grading disputes would inappropriately involve the courts in the very core of academic and educational decision making. Moreover, to so involve the courts in assessing the propriety of particular grades would promote litigation by countless unsuccessful students and thus undermine the credibility of the academic determinations of educational institutions. We conclude, therefore, that, in the absence of demonstrated bad faith, arbitrariness, capriciousness, irrationality or a constitutional or statutory violation, a student's challenge to a particular grade or other academic determination relating to a genuine substantive evaluation of the student's academic capabilities is beyond the scope of judicial review.

Plaintiff is requesting this Court to intrude upon an area to which New York Courts have [*3]strongly refused to intervene. Here, Plaintiff has shown no evidence of "bad faith, arbitrariness, capriciousness, irrationality or a constitutional or statutory violation." id. NYLS clearly communicated through the student handbook that NYLS utilizes a letter grading system under which all of its students are evaluated. This Court declines to interfere with this quintessential function of an educational institution. 

And no, in case you are wondering, the plaintiff was not one of my students. However, he did get to handle a case pro se in court. How many law students can say that.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

West Puts Law Books On Kindle

West recently announced that it is releasing e-book editions of 29 of its most popular law books. The releases include the book co-authored by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia legal wordsmith Bryan Garner, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges. West is offering the titles for electronic download to be read on Amazon's Kindle e-book reader. Recently, Amazon dropped the price of the U.S. version of the Kindle by $40 to $259.

A sign of the times. Sounds like a good idea to me. Will save everyone money.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Law Schools To Cut Back Their PT Programs

Clinicians Without Enough To Do reports via Brian Leiter's Law School Reports that some schools are cutting back on their part-time programs and that this was predictable. It sure was. The law schools are not dong this because of the poor economy.  Rather, they are doing this because U.S. News now figures them into the rankings. GW is a law school that was specifically mentioned.

What a system!

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

So You Want To Be A U.S. Supreme Court Clerk

The Oct. 2009 ABA Journal has a very interesting article entitled Shedding Tiers. It describes how the job of Supreme Court Clerk is usually limited to graduates of the top 5 law schools. Justice Scalia was even quoted as such. The article, however, discusses the case of Lucas Townsend who graduate Seton Hall Law School and was hired as a law clerk to Justice Alito.

Justice Alito worked as a adjunct for years at Seton Hall before he was nominated to the Supreme Court. I wonder if Mr. Townsend was one of his students.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein 

$70,000 Per Year To Attend Law School! This is Real!

Ever wonder how much it is to attend a top ranked law school in New York? Well, Columbia charges $48,004 which does not include $1638 for health insurance or a $95.00 transcript fee.The estimated living expense is $21, 263. That comes to more than $70,000 per year. Now Columbia may be on the high side, but many schools' tuition is in the $40,000 range.

Hat Tip: Above The Law

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Facebook, Law Students and Professors

On Sept. 28, 2009, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an interesting article entitled Facebook, The New Classroom Commons?(registration required for full article).The article highlights the pros and cons of friending students on Facebook.

On the one hand, it crosses social boundries and may give students access to private information about the professor. On the other, it may give the professor an insight to student opinions about class and the subject matter being taught. As the article states:

A neighbor is busy, a colleague is tired, a long-lost friend wants to know which 80s band best describes me. A few of my students are stressed about their forthcoming internships, and another is working on her research. I know this because their Facebook postings tell me so.

Without a doubt, my Facebook page provides plenty of minutiae. But is it useful in the context of academic relationships, specifically with students? Is Facebook a new commons keeping us connected?

I for one believe there is a happy medium. Profs who use face book should set up a separate page for class work and not friend anyone but students. They can have a separate friend page for personal use.

On a different note, I have noticed that more and more profs are friending each other on face book. I think this is a good thing. It encourages communication and the exchange of ideas.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Seton Hall Law School Symposium is entitled "Securities Regulation and the Global Economic Crisis: What Does the Future Hold?"

Seton Hall Law Review is holding an interesting symposium on Oct. 30, 2009. The Symposium is entitled "Securities Regulation and the Global Economic Crisis: What Does the Future Hold?", and will take place at Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, NJ.  The event is free and open to all, and the school is offering six (6) New York CLE credits for full-day attendance.

Further information about the Symposium, a list of presenters, and a link to register can be found at http://law.shu.edu/lawreviewsymposium/. 

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

100 Blog Posts About Going To Law School

100 Blog Posts You Should Read Before Going to Law School is an interesting collection of articles written by Hannah Watson of Onlinecourses.org, a commercial web site. I reproduce their links with the hope that it may be helpful to some aspiring law students:  

Getting In

The first step to a career in law is getting accepted into law school. These posts can help increase your chances of acceptance and decide where you want to go.

1. Why Do You Want to Go to Law School?: Have you taken some time to seriously consider why it is you want to go into the law? This post addresses some of the issues in law teaching and other careers you should consider within law.
2. HOWTO: Figure Out What a Law School Is Like: Learn how to find a good match for what you want and need in a law school with help from this post.
3. Law School: Get Ready and Go: Check out this post to read about how to prepare for and choose a law school.
4. Reasons to Avoid Law School; Reasons to Still Go: This post weighs the pros and cons of attending law school helping you get a well-rounded view of things.
5. The Minimal Increase in Law School Applications: While generally, applications to grad schools increase in times of economic downturns, learn why you won’t be facing any additional competition for law school.
6. Getting Into Law School With A Low GPA: Did you not fare so well in undergrad? Find out more about how it may affect your law school applications here.
7. Quick Tip: Letters of Recommendation: You’ll need some letters of recommendation to get into school, so learn the best ways to ask for and get them.
8. Chances of Acceptance: This post will teach you how to calculate your chances of getting accepted into the schools of your choice.
9. Law Student Resume For Law School Admissions: Get a few tips on tricking out your resume for law school applications in this post.
10. Part-Time J.D. Programs: If you can’t go back to school full-time this post can help you learn more about part-time programs.
11. Three Early Steps to a Smooth Admissions Cycle: Get a better idea of what you should be doing early on when it comes to law school applications.
12. Killing Your (Essay) Babies: Here you can get some good tips on writing a better law school admissions essay.
13. Dealing with Your Past: Disclosing Criminal Issues on Law School Applications: Read this post to learn how your criminal past should be dealt with when applying for law school.
14. A Law School Professor’s Advice to an Applicant: Through this post you can get some advice from a law professor on what you should do to improve your chances of getting in and being successful.

Getting Started

These posts can help you navigate those first few months of law school with greater ease.

15. The Summer Before Law School Reading Lists: Make the most of the time you have before you’re bogged down by schoolwork to get some great preparatory work done.
16. What To Do Before Law School: This post offers some advice on how to prepare for law school before the first day.
17. Words You Should Know …BEFORE Law School: Read this blog post to find out some words you should add to your vocab.
18. Five Law School Orientation Tips (Plus Five More): Make it through law school orientation in one piece with some advice from this post.
19. Getting Ready for Law School?: This post offers a couple of interesting reads to look through before you being school.
20. The Summer Before Your First Year of Law School: Learn how you can make the most of your summer before school and what you should do to get ready in this post.
21. Pre-Law School Tips and Advice: Read through this post to get some great advice on preparing for law school.
22. 1L FAQ: Here you’ll find some common questions new students have about law school and some helpful answers.
23. Don’t Mention It: Get some advice from another law school student on everything from Facebook use to how to act in school.
24. Advice to the Class of 2012: This post is full of tips for law school students on how to spend the summer before law school, including getting in shape and not freaking out about school.

Paying for School

Law school isn’t cheap, so learn more about how you can finance your education, keep costs under control, and deal with law school debt from these posts.

25. Paying for Law School: Debt Matters: Get some good advice on managing debt from school in this post.
26. Paying Law School Loans Without a Job: What happens when you graduate from law school and can’t find a job? How do you pay back your loans? This post offers some guidance.
27. Sharp Jumps in Public Law School Tuition: Learn why you could be paying more for school if you’re just starting out.
28. Law School Loan Forgiveness: In this post you can get some tips on whether or not you’ll qualify for loan forgiveness.
29. High Cost of Law School Loans: This blog can show you some of the ramifications of law school debt.
30. Bankruptcy Doesn’t Discharge $350,000 of Law School Debt: Read this post to learn why law school debt is a serious thing– one that you can’t shake even by declaring bankruptcy.
31. Get Your Legal Legs Under You when Paying Off Law School Tuition Debt: This post can help you learn about some of the basics of paying off your debt.
32. Law School: Ways to Pay: Here you’ll learn about the variety of costs included with going to law school and some ways that you can help manage and pay them.
33. Paying for Law School: Considering the Costs: Through this post you’ll learn about ways that you can reduce the amount of law school debt you accrue.
34. The cost-benefit analysis of attending law school in the new legal marketplace: Is going to law school still worth it? Get the numbers here.
35. Too Much Student Debt = Not Fit to Join the Bar?: Law school debt may make it hard to be a lawyer if you let it go, as this post discusses.
36. New Federal Loan Programs: You may be able to qualify for some beneficial loan programs to help you attend law school. Read more here.

Getting a Job

Learn what getting a job will be like after you graduate from school with some advice and information from these posts.

37. Out-of-work lawyers try to be paralegals, secretaries: Finding a job as a lawyer is hard, and many are working in related professions as this post discusses.
38. Fall Recruiting: What Law Students Need to Consider: Learn ways to make yourself look good to recruiters in this post.
39. Law School Grads Face Tough Job Market: Job hunting isn’t easy. Learn what grads now are facing so you can prepare yourself upon graduation.
40. No Sympathy for Unemployed Lawyers: If you can’t find a job after graduation don’t expect much sympathy as this post relates.
41. Dealing with the Reality of the Legal Market: The job market for lawyers isn’t great at the moment, so learn to make the most of the opportunities that are out there with this post.
42. Work the Room Comfortably at a Conference: This post will help you learn how to network and make the most of the law conferences.
43. Start a Blog, Get a Job: Learn how starting a blog might be able to help your job prospects.
44. After Graduating Law School Is It Difficult To Find A Job?: Here you can get some insight into how difficult it is to find a job post-graduation.
45. 5 New Books Every Job Seeker Should Read: When you’re fresh on the search for a job you should read these helpful books.
46. Top Ten Job Search Engines: Learn some of the best places to look for a job after you finish school.
47. Top Tips for Legal Resumes and Cover Letters: Check out this post to learn how to create a stellar legal resume.

Getting Through Law School

If you think going to law school will be easy, think again. These posts offer guidance and tips on getting through law school while maintaining your sanity.

48. The Savvy Stylist: First Day of Law School: If you want to look professional when you head back to school get some tips on what to wear from this post.
49. What can you do with an iPhone or Kindle in law school?: Get some advice on how to make the most of your gadgets while you’re in school.
50. GTD for Law Students: Review to Relax: Here you’ll find one post out of a series on productivity tips for law students.
51. When It’s Rough, It’s Right: Learn why law school may be giving you the most when it’s the hardest from this post.
52. Dealing with Distractions: Read this article to learn how to better deal with distractions that can keep you from getting your studying done.
53. Prepare for Law School Success During Your Pre-1L Summer: This post will help you plan your summer before law school to ensure you do better once school starts.
54. Writing a Good Law Dissertation: If you plan on writing a dissertation while in law school, this post can give you some pointers on making it great.
55. Have Cognitive Enhancing Drugs Arrived at Law School?: Learn about some of the dangers of taking cognitive enhancing drugs that might seem like a quick fix from this post.
56. Enlightenment: This post offers some great and sometimes humorous advice on going to law school without regrets.
57. Supplements, Oh My Supplements!: Here you’ll find advice on supplementing your readings for better grades in your courses.
58. How To Reduce Your Stress In Law School: Law school can be a stressful place but you can learn to minimize its effects with help from this post.
59. Stretch Before Finals: This post will give you a step-by-step guide to planning your study schedule.

Your Education

Make sure you’re getting most out of your law education by taking a look at these posts.

60. Do Lawyers Need Accounting Training?: Could it help your career to learn a little more about accounting while you’re in school? Learn more here.
61. The Pedagogical Goals of Law School Classes: This post addresses many of the things that first year law students find frustrating or confusing about school.
62. Should Law Firms Have To Do Law Schools’ Jobs?: Here you can learn more about the things that your law school education may be excluding.
63. Law Student Learning Styles: Read this summary of a study on the way law school students learn.
64. Welcome to the Future: Time for Law School 4.0: Find out how law school can change and adapt in the future and the ways they’re failing today.
65. Something They Didn’t Teach at Law School: Learn why you might want to pick up a new language while in law school.
66. Laptops in the Classroom: Learning Tool or Time Waster?: Many law school students bring their laptops to class. Find out whether they’ll be a good note-taking tool or just a distraction.
67. Applying First Year Law Classes to Real Life: While a big part of the material you learn in first year law school may not actually be applied in the courtroom, this post can help you make use of it nonetheless.
68. What Did You Learn in Law School?: Find out what you may or may not be actually learning while you’re in law school.

Law Students

Get some advice and guidance from those who’ve gone before you by reading these posts by law school students past and present.

69. How I Got Through Law School: This mom shares her insights on how she made it through law school in one piece here.
70. Best and Worst of First Year: This older student shares thoughts on some of the ups and downs of being a first year law student.
71. Being a Law Student: Share your concerns about law school with this blogger.
72. Slaying the Law School Myth: There are a lot of myths about going to law school and entering the law profession. This blog post attempts to dispel some of them.
73. Best Law School Advice Ever: Here you’ll get some whimsical advice on getting through law school.
74. Technology Helps Blind Law Student Pursue Dream: Get some inspiration from another student who has overcome a lot of obstacles to make it to school.
75. When Do I Stop Feeling Dumb?: If you’re worried about feeling dumb in law school you’re not alone. Learn if it ever gets better from this post.
76. Imposter syndrome, redux: Those who are older and just now heading to law school can commiserate with this older student’s experiences.
77. It’s All a Matter of Perspective: Get a little perspective and even a laugh from this post about the difficulties of law school.
78. Looking Back on Law School: Learn about this particular student’s experiences in law school, including things she thought she would accomplish and how she thought school would change her.
79. This Is the Song That Never Ends: Your work in law school may be just like the song that never ends, as this post discusses.

Test Taking

There are a couple of big tests you’ll have to take in order to become a lawyer in most states, and you can get some advice on how to do the best you can on them with these posts.

80. What to Do When the Bar is Over: Finally taking the bar can feel like a big relief but can leave you wondering what to do next. This post offers some suggestions.
81. The Secret Weapon on the Bar Exam: Get advice on a secret weapon that can help you perform better on the bar.
82. How To Study Effectively For The Bar Exam: If you’re unsure how to best study for the bar this post will give you some advice.
83. How To Take A Dual Bar Exam: Does your profession require more than one bar exam? Learn how to study for both at once in this post.
84. Bar Review a Second Time: Learn what you should do if you fail the bar and have to retake it through this post.
85. Are Bar Review Courses Necessary?: Should you set aside money to pay for a bar review course? This post offers some advice.
86. Bar Exam Advice: Get some basic advice on taking the bar exam from this post.
87. LSAT Preparation: Before you can think about taking the bar you have to take the LSAT. Learn how to prepare from this site.
88. What’s a Good LSAT Score?: If you’re not sure what you should be aiming for you can find out more from this post’s guide.
89. How to Set LSAT Goals With Your GPA and School’s Entering Class Profile: This post will help you figure out what kind of LSAT score you should be getting.
90. A Modest Proposal: Is There a "Best" Way to Study for the LSAT?: Get some pointers on finding the ideal ways to study for the LSAT from this post.
91. Talking LSAT Prep with Steve Schwartz: This professional LSAT tutor shares his advice on the ways to ace the LSAT.

Law and Lawyers

These posts address a range of issues related to the law profession, working in law and deciding on a career path.

92. Five Ways Millenials Can Prepare to Change the Legal Industry: This post will give you some inspiration on how you might just make a big splash in the legal profession when you start your career.
93. It Wasn’t Like This On Law and Order: Get some insight into what it’s really like to be an Assistant DA– as this blogger points out it’s sure not like on TV.
94. The Question: Inevitably your friends and family will ask you what kind of law you’re going to practice. What will your answer be? This blog addresses the infamous question and how you can come to an answer.
95. Tips for Finding Career Alternatives: If law doesn’t work out what will you do? This post offers some alternatives for work.
96. Coming to Terms with Working Life: Making the transition from school to working life can be hard, as this post addresses.
97. Everyone Seems to Know But Me: Feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t know what they want to do after graduation? This blogger shares your pain.
98. Finally My Paralegal Experience Pays Off: Those who’ve had lots of experience working as a paralegal, oft maligned in law school, can see how it might finally come in handy with this post.
99. Would You Do It All Again?: This post offers the answers of present-day lawyers as to whether or not they’d go through law school again.
100. Law Students Can Network with Lawyers: Learn about this social networking site that can put students in touch with valuable contacts.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Law Schools of The Future

Welcome To The Future: Law School 4.0 is an interesting American Lawyer Daily article.   The author runs a collaborative web site, which has I understand it, puts lawyers together to come up with solutions to certain problems. In any event, the authors vision of future law schools is that they would look more like business schools. As the author states:\

•    I have found the business school case method, based on actual facts and problem solving by practitioners, to be a much richer learning experience than law school cases. A number of law faculty have been trying to develop practitioner-centric cases for law, and I would hope that half of instruction will shift to this approach over the next five years.

•    Like business school students, law students should generally not go straight from college. For far too many students, law school is simply the path of least resistance, a continuation of school as the most familiar and comfortable environment. Again, most business school students work before business school, which gives them a much more practical grounding.

•    Law schools should engage more adjunct faculty, which would reduce costs and give students a more pragmatic grounding in practice. It is unimaginable that someone would teach medical school without a deep legacy and ongoing practice of seeing patients. I can’t imagine that anyone would seriously argue that law school training is on par with modern medical training.   

I’m sure these ideas represent no more than 5 percent of what’s possible, so let’s try a simple experiment in “can-do” lawyering:

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Univ. of Calif. Profs To Walkout Over Furloughs

As it has been reported, the Univ. of California is requiring its employees to take between 11 to 26 furlough days -- amounting to a salary reduction of 4 to 10 percent. The Faculty Lounge has an excellent September 5, 2009 story about this plan which it correctly describes as a pay cut-plain and simple. It reports that many professors are planning to walk out on the first day of classes-but it is unclear whether this will effect any scheduled courses.

The Univ. of California is, of course, a public institution. In California, public employees have a limited right to strike. Is this a strike? If classes will be canceled-perhaps. More fundamentally, this planned protest may be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement-which in some jurisdictions might provide cause for the job action to be enjoined.

On the other hand, the furlough plan itself may be a violation of the CBA which probably contains set wage rates. Perhaps, the furlough plan itself is subject to being enjoined. One also has to look at some recent case law enjoining pay reductions under the Contract Clause of the Constitution. Adjunct Prof Blog covered a very recent case from Maryland concerning that exact issue here.

Now, in all candor I have not seen the CBA and I do not practice in California. However, it seems to me that these are important issues that have been left out of the equation.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Smart Phone Text Books

You had to know it would be coming. There has been alot of discussion about e text books. In the law school environment, they could be very helpful. Full text of statutes and cases could be available with a click. Now, some college texts are available on an Apple iphone. A September 5, 2009 article in the New York Times about this is available here.

I fully support the use of technology in the class room. I have been a user of Smart Phones since they came out and currently use a Blackberry. However, the screen of a phone is just too small. While it is better than nothing, I do not think it is realistic. Besides, given the time it takes to download and turn pages, it may not be much of a time saver.

Amazon's Kindle seems like a much better alternative.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Irvine Law School

Irvine By Erwin is an interesting August 2009 ABA Journal article. Its about California's latest law school-Univ of Calif at Irving which just opened its doors. The article explains that the goal of this school is to become a top tier law school. To that end, the school hired a famous Dean and devoted 20% of its faculty to clinics. Remarkably, its first year class of 65 students will all attend on a scholarship.
Now, that is not as great as it first appears because the school is not yet accredited by the ABA.
Will it be the next Stanford?? I think we are going to have to wait and see.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein   

Fordham Law School Bans Reed Smith From On Campus Interviews For 5 Years

Here is a new one. A Law School bars a major law firm from recruiting on campus. Think that is unusual-particularly in these tough times-well it is and that is exactly what Fordham did. A National Law Journal story about this is available here. So why did Fordham do this? Because it pulled out from interviewing after the students already registered to be interviewed. The Dean felt this was unprofessional.
What I do not understand is what would the school prefer? For the firm to keep the interview slot and just go through the motions?? And more importantly, what about the students?? Who is being punished by this action??

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Western State College of Law and Florida A & M Obtain ABA Accredition

Details here. (registration required)

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Tuition Rises 15% Or More At Several Public Law Schools; Avg. Public Tuition $16,836 Per Year

The August 3, 2009 ABA Journal Blog reported that several public law schools have raised their tuition by 15% or more. The article describes some of the increases as follows:

Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, raising tuition 24.5 percent for in-state students, bringing the annual total to nearly $25,000.

• The University of Iowa College of Law, raising tuition 20 percent for in-state residents and 13 percent for out-of-state students.

• The University of Colorado School of Law, raising in-state tuition by 16 percent for first-year students, 20 percent for 2Ls and 12 percent for 3Ls.

• The University of Texas School of Law, raising tuition 16 percent for in-state students and 11 percent for out-of-state students.

• The University of Minnesota Law School, raising tuition by 15 percent for in-state first-year students and almost 8 percent for out-of-state students as well as in-state 2Ls and 3Ls.

Figures on overall tuition increases aren’t available yet. For the 2008-09 school year, the average increase in public school tuition was 9 percent for in-state students and 7 percent for out-of-state students, according to the story. The average annual tuition for in-state public law school students was $16,836.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Reasons NOT To Go To Law School

H. Luiz Presents posted an interesting story entitled Top 8 Reasons Not To Go To Law School. They are:
1. FINANCIAL SUICIDE
2. IF YOU’RE A CREATIVE PERSON, FORGET IT
3. THE “BREAKUP” RATE IS NEARLY 80%
4. THE BAR EXAM IS BRUTAL
5. TOP JOBS ARE HARD TO COME BY
6. INSANE HOURS
7. LAW PROFESSORS ARE A-HOLES
8. HARASSMENT BY FRIENDS SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE

This posting was picked up by Legal Blog Watch.

I actually think there is alot of truth to this posting. It should make prospective law students stop and think before they apply to law school. However, this posting is only part of the story. Sure, law school is hard work, there are many bad professors and it is hard to land a good job. On the other hand, it exposes you to a whole new way of thinking, you get to work with some really smart people and you get to help some people (your clients). If your good, you have the opportunity to make good money and work in nice offices. The legal issues are also very interesting. 

Mitchell H. Rubinstein& FAMILY SEEKING LEGAL ADVICE

Recession and Law Schools

Recession Crimps Plans For New Law Schools is an interesting June 1, 2009 article from the National Law Journal. It is about the effect the economy is having on planned new law schools. As you can imagine, the effect is not good. As the article states:

A slowdown in contributions, coupled with state budget cuts, has clipped the wings of fledging institutions nationwide. Nearly a dozen new law schools have been in the works during the past year. Given the economic climate, some institutions that had planned to open law schools in 2010 are considering pushing back those start dates. Others are scaling back building plans and fundraising. At the University of New Haven in Connecticut and St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., proposals to start law schools could be tabled indefinitely.

"The only challenge we've had is the economy," said Tim Johnson, vice president of institutional advancement at Louisiana College in Pineville, La., which is re-evaluating whether to delay the opening date of its new law school by one year. "When things level off and begin to go back up, it'll make things easier. But it's been the biggest hurdle."

At Louisiana College, a private Southern Baptist institution, officials will re-evaluate their law school's 2010 opening date unless they raise at least $7 million during the next six to eight weeks, Johnson said. If that initial goal is met, the college could begin recruiting a founding dean, administrators and faculty members. Much depends on whether donors meet their commitments. "A lot of them are waiting and seeing what the economy is doing," he said.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein