The First Casualty of the Annual Law School Rankings War is not Truth: On "sober assessments" in Dean Offices

The first casualty may be turnover in dean's offices. UConn law dean Jeremy Paul made a valiant attempt to explain why his School of Law has continued its decline from #52 a few years ago to #62 in the US News Law School Rankings after the release of this year's rankings report. Now ATL's Elie Mystal is wondering if Dean Paul is the first casualty of the 2012 rankings.

Dear Members of the Law School Community:

As has just been announced, Peter Nicholls and I have agreed that next year will be my last as Dean of the Law School.

...

I have established outstanding leadership teams on both the academic and development sides of our enterprise. I would have enjoyed working with them to help the Law School advance further, and thus this decision is not without personal regret.

Institutional leadership, however, is by definition about more than individual satisfaction. After a sober assessment in recent weeks, and following discussions with many members of the community, I have concluded that the Law School is ready for new leadership.

(Emphasis added.)

Quoting from Dean Paul's message. For the complete text as well as commentary, see Is This Dean the First 2012 Casualty of the U.S. News Law School Rankings? on ATL. For a quote from Dean Paul upon release of this year's rankings, see ATL's Early Reactions to the U.S. News Rankings: Deans and the Excuses They Make. [JH]