Law School Academic Support Blog

New Perspectives

Raise your hand if you told your child to do something, they ignored you, and then 2 days later they thought someone else was brilliant for telling them the same thing (go ahead, raising your hand can be therapeutic).  Raise your hand if you provided a piece of advice to a law student, they didn't fully buy in, and then they "discovered" the same piece of advice later that semester from someone else. 

Most of us probably don't have another hand to hold up, so I will stop there.  I don't think ignoring our advice is malicious or failing to trust the speaker.  Sometimes, people need more persuasion to make changes.  Sometimes, a different way of conveying the same information helps people.  Either way, new or different perspectives help.

New or different perspectives help ASPers as well.  The regional ASP conferences are starting with registrations and calls for proposals.  I encourage everyone to think of a proposal and submit at least 1 this year.  You are doing amazing things in the classroom and individually with students.  Share that with the rest of us.  I understand many people worry they aren't doing unique things.  First, don't sell yourself short because you are creating unique experiences for students.  Also,  you may be able to provide a perspective others haven't seen or explain a different way to teach something that would help others.  Our community continually improves as we share ideas, activities, perspectives, and challenges together.  You can help contribute to that progress.  

We tell our students to stretch beyond their comfort zone.  I encourage many in ASP to stretch as well.  It will help you and many of us improve student experiences.

(Steven Foster)

NECASP Request for Proposals

Request for Proposals: Presentations and Scholarly “Works in Progress”

New England Consortium of Academic Support Professionals (NECASP) Conference December 10, 2021, 10am-3pm ET via Zoom

Hosted by the University of Massachusetts School of Law – Dartmouth (Zoom link to follow)

NECASP will be holding its annual one-day conference online this December. Our topic this year
is “Fostering and Maintaining Inclusive Communities.” We will gather online to share and explore ideas with ASP colleagues on issues surrounding the expansive role of ASP in promoting diversity and inclusion that includes, inter alia, retention efforts, designing embedded programming that creates inclusive communities, programming for various socio-economic backgrounds, bar support for diverse student bodies, and fostering diversity in different regional locations. We welcome a broad range of proposals – from presenters in the New England Region and beyond – and at various stages of completion – from idea to fruition. Please note that we may ask you to co-present with other ASP

colleagues depending on the number of proposals selected. If you wish to present, the proposal process is as follows:

1. Submit your proposal by November 1, 2021, via email to Amy Vaughan-Thomas at [email protected]

2. Proposals may be submitted as a Word document or as a PDF

3. Proposals must include the following:

   1. Name and title of presenter

   2. Law School

   3. Address, email address, and telephone number for presenter

   4. Title

   5. If a scholarly work in progress, an abstract no more than 500 words

   6. Media or computer presentation needs

 

If you have any questions about your proposal, please do not hesitate to contact one of us, and we look forward to seeing you at our conference!

Director of Bar Support at McGeorge School of Law

The University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (McGeorge) is seeking applicants for a position as Director of Bar Support (“Director”). The Director of Bar Support enjoys faculty status and will hold the title of Professor of Law, Legal Practice, with a rank of assistant, associate, or full professor, commensurate with experience. Professors of Law, Legal Practice, of all ranks, have voting rights, faculty governance responsibilities, and sabbatical opportunities. Although not a tenure-track position, it is designed to lead to a long-term contract that, if successfully completed, culminates in an indefinite contract with no term limits and with job- security similar to a tenured position.

The Director is responsible for running the comprehensive bar support program offered to students in their third or fourth years at McGeorge and after graduation during the study period. Depending on the availability of support from other faculty, the Director also may teach a course in our legal research, writing and lawyering skills program and/or a doctrinal course.  During the academic year, the Director teaches and oversees adjunct professors teaching the Practical Analysis, Strategies, & Skills (PASS) program. The PASS I course focuses primarily on the skills necessary to write successful bar exam essay and performance test answers and effectively answer Multistate Bar Exam questions. PASS II is an online, asynchronous course that uses commercial bar exam program materials to teach substantive law as tested on the bar exam. The Director also oversees and teaches in the Bar Exam Attack Track (BEAT) and Extra Feedback programs for recent graduates preparing for the bar exam, orchestrating and providing feedback on weekly practice exams, reviewing commercial course progress, and counseling graduates individually.   

Other responsibilities include:

·      Tracking individual and aggregate graduate bar performance for internal review and ABA reporting purposes;

·      Communicating regularly with the Dean of Students and Dean of Academic Affairs regarding at-risk students and graduates and their progress;

·      Teaching or co-teaching summer and winter BEAT programs;

·      Meeting with students and graduates individually to counsel them regarding effective bar exam preparation;

·      Maintaining regular communication with graduates throughout the post-graduate bar study period, including through social media platforms;

·      Maintaining relationships with the major commercial bar review program providers and using those forums to monitor graduates’ progress throughout the bar preparation period, intervening promptly when a graduate begins to fall significantly behind;

·      Collaborating with and providing support for adjunct faculty teaching in the bar program;

·      Keeping abreast of substantive updates and format changes to the California Bar Exam;

·      Striving continuously to find ways to improve the bar support program;

·      Researching and implementing the most current best practices for bar support;

·      Working collaboratively with the Director of Academic Support to ensure consistent messaging and strategies across a student’s law school career.

 

 

We seek applications from exceptional candidates who hold a JD from an ABA-accredited law school, have attained a license to practice law, and who have both post-JD legal work experience and at least two years of experience providing academic/Bar support to law students or playing a similar role at a U.S. law school.

Minimum Qualifications

·      Holds a Juris-Doctor (J.D.) degree.

·      Has at least three years of post-J.D. legal experience.

·      Has at least two years of experience teaching, providing bar or academic support, or in similar role in a law school.

·      Holds membership in a state bar association.

Preferred Qualifications

·      Has prior experience directing a bar support program at a U.S. law school.

·      Has prior experience working with students to prepare for the California Bar exam.

·      Possesses extraordinary interpersonal skills.

·      Communicates effectively.

·      Maintains professional composure and demeanor at all times.

·      Promotes vision, mission, and core values of McGeorge School of Law.

Founded in 1924, McGeorge is an ABA-accredited law school located in Sacramento, California, and an integral part of the University of the Pacific, which also has campuses in Stockton and San Francisco. The McGeorge faculty is accomplished and engaging. The law school is a wonderful community with friendly people, a vibrant intellectual culture, and a beautiful campus. Our programs in international law, advocacy and dispute resolution, and government lawyering are innovative and well known. Most relevant to this position, McGeorge is one of two law schools on the West Coast to require four semesters of legal writing, one of six law schools to require at least two capstone experiences (clinics, externships, competition teams), and one of about 90 law schools to have a required, first-year professionalism course. In recent years, the law school’s academic attrition rate has been low, and its bar pass rate has been high.

In addition, McGeorge’s location in Sacramento, the capital of California, offers the opportunity to be part of a close-knit legal and policy-making community in a diverse and growing city with a vibrant cultural scene and well-regarded farm-to-fork movement.

McGeorge is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or protected veteran status. The McGeorge faculty unanimously committed itself to undertake the work to transform itself into an anti-racist law school.  Applicants who share that vision, and particularly those who would enhance the racial and ethnic diversity of the faculty, are strongly urged to apply.

To be considered, applications must be submitted through the Pacific HR Portal at the following link: https://pacific.peopleadmin.com/postings/20709. Application materials will not be accepted via mail or email. If you have questions, please contact Professor Omar Dajani, who chairs our Faculty Recruitment Committee, at [email protected].

Gestalt

I was a social psychology major as an undergraduate and I remember studying the psychological theory of gestalt, which is defined as “something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts.”[1] Basically, if I had known about outlining back in those days, I would have written the rule as: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As bar exam results trickle in from parts near and far, I think it worth revisiting this idea with both students and colleagues.

To students who have passed the bar, I would say, “Wonderful! Remember, there is more to you than this one credential. As an attorney, you will bring your whole self to the table and that will always be more than the sum of your parts.” To the students who have not passed the bar this time, I might say the same thing. I do not want to be dismissive of how meaningful this one credential is for them after a three (or four) year journey that has already been fraught with confidence crushing moments. I don’t want to toss out, “oh well, maybe next time” either because right now, I think these students may see “next time” as a craggy mountain to climb without any safety gear in truly inclement weather.  I also know that social media means that students will know about their classmates’ successes almost immediately and silence will be interpreted as failure. Literally. There really is no good answer other than “I’m sorry. How are you doing?”

I also worry about my colleagues who have poured every ounce of what they have into students to help them pass the bar (regardless of whether the students were willing vessels or not) and now have someone else’s success or failure be determinative of their worth. Is this how we value professionals?

When a football team loses a game, media outlets tend to blame everyone on the team-not just the quarterback or coaches, but the team as a whole: offense, defense, big guys, little guys. Even when one player makes an egregious error, the sportscasters tend to find additional reasons for the loss-even the weather or altitude can be roped in. When the team wins, the press is similarly wide in praise, as seen here by today’s Boston Globe after the Patriots won a home game yesterday, “[e]veryone went home happy Sunday. Mac Jones got his first 300-yard game and hit a 46-yard deep ball. Damien Harris rushed for 100 yards. Eleven players made a catch, and five different players got in the end zone. The defense created two interceptions…Smiles all around.”[2] And remember, these guys probably each get paid more than all the ASP folks at a regional conference combined.

So, when bar results are good, ASP folks are part of the overall winning team with smiles all around. But when bar results are not what we are hoping for, why do our ASP colleagues not get the same level of camaraderie? Why aren’t we always a team at that moment also? ASP folks, and particularly those who do bar exclusively, need to be given the grace of gestalt. So I say to you, regardless of the bar results at your school, you are more than the sum of your parts. As an ASP professional, you bring your whole self to the table and you are mighty.  

Judging someone’s competency or job security based on the performance of other people at a task that is not entirely knowable is something that is far above our pay grade.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestalt

[2] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/24/sports/who-cares-that-its-jets-patriots-needed-this-ego-boost/

Assistant or Associate Director at Chapman

Chapman University is seeking an Assistant or Associate Director of Academic Achievement.  The posting is here.  The description is copied below.

The Assistant/Associate Director of Academic Achievement will have the responsibility of working with the Director of Academic Achievement (“Director”) and the Executive Director of Academic Achievement and Bar Preparation (“Executive Director”) to implement a holistic, comprehensive program of academic support and bar preparation that encompasses law students’ entire academic experience at the Law School, from Orientation through the Bar Exam. The Academic Achievement Program helps students develop the skills necessary for success in law school, on the bar exam, and ultimately into practice, and consists of teaching courses and workshops, as well as working individually with students. This is a full-time, year-round (12 month) administrative position.

Responsibilities

WORKSHOPS/COURSES/CLASSES: 1. In conjunction with the Director, conduct workshops/classes in the Academic Support Program and Orientation. 2. Teach courses covering both skills and substance as assigned by the Executive Director and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, provide feedback for coursework, and prepare for class. Course load will include up to one fall semester course and one spring semester course per academic year. 3. Assist the Director in implementing the Academic Fellows program, including coordinating fellow selection and conducting trainings for the fellows. INDIVIDUALIZED WORK WITH STUDENTS, DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT, OTHER DUTIES: 4. Work with students to: help students problem solve issues regarding legal analysis, stress and time management, class preparation and participation, and exam preparation and performance; diagnose writing and analysis problems affecting academic performance by identifying the misunderstanding or habit that causes the student to engage in ineffective writing or analysis; and prescribe solutions that identify what steps the students can take to improve academic performance; 5. Meet in-person regularly with students who are at-risk, on probation, or otherwise having academic difficulty, require written assignments of them, and provide thorough written feedback on such practice exams in terms of both structure and substance (copies of which feedback should be retained to develop data on student challenges for reporting to the Director); 6. Work with Director to identify students of greatest need. Conduct outreach to and prioritize direct services to those students. 7. Track various types of data to assess student progress including but not limited to student engagement, what the student worked on in individual meetings, and assess growth. Regularly review data and student progress with Director and develop strategies to improve student outcomes. 8. Develop a culture among 1L students and 2L students of regularly writing practice exams before taking actual exams, and supplying such practice exams and thorough written feedback on such practice exams in terms of both structure and substance; and 9. Assist the Executive Director with the Bar Preparation Program as he or she directs. SUMMER DUTIES (generally from graduation in May through August) ASSIST IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL BAR PREP PROGRAM/REVISE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM: 10. Participate in critiquing essays as part of the Supplemental Bar Prep Program, in the number and type the Executive Director shall direct; and 11. Assist in revising segments and components of the Supplemental Bar Prep Program at the direction of the Executive Director. 12. Revise and improve, as needed, the various programs and processes identified in “academic year responsibilities” (Items 1-9) above at the direction of- and in consultation with- the Director. 13. Engage in professional development and continue developing understanding and implementation of best practices in academic success. Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications
- All candidates must have a Juris Doctor with a high level of academic achievement from an ABA-accredited law school; must be a member in good standing of any bar in the United States. – At the Assistant level: (A) A minimum of three (3) years’ post law-school experience, including legal practice, judicial clerkship, teaching in higher education, or any combination thereof. (B) Must demonstrate transferable knowledge and skills if recent employment is not directly related to this position. – At the Associate Level: (A) A minimum of three (3) years’ post-law school experience, including legal practice, judicial clerkship, teaching in higher education, or any combination thereof, with no less than two (2) post-law school years engaged in conducting Law School Academic Support and Bar Preparation services, teaching law students, or holding a position in an ABA-accredited law school that provides knowledge and skills that are transferable to conducting Academic Support and Bar Preparation Programs for law students. (B) Must demonstrate transferable knowledge and skills if recent employment is not directly related to this position. Also required for all candidates: – Significant knowledge of the substantive law tested on California Bar Examination. – Ability to engage and motivate students individually and in small and large groups. – Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately. – Demonstrate excellent judgment and professionalism at all times. – Excellent problem-solving and organizational skills; ability to prioritize multiple and competing demands and complete duties in a timely manner. – Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills to convey complex legal concepts and teach effective study skills and strategies for academic achievement and bar exam success to a diverse population of students. – Ability to perform successfully and with composure and tact in a demanding environment. – Ability to be discrete and maintain confidentiality at all times, handling student information and sensitive matters while complying with FERPA regulations. – Ability to support a diverse population of students, develop a good rapport with students, and engage students in candid discussions about various aspects of their academic performance and bar exam preparation.

Desired Qualifications
- Membership in the California Bar. – Passing the bar exam on the first attempt. – Experience in classroom and individualized one-on-one teaching of legal writing, legal analysis, essay writing, performance exams, and multiple choice skills as applied to Law School and to the Bar Exam. – Strong analytical skills and experience collecting data and using information to guide informed decision-making.

Special Instructions to Applicants
Please submit proof of membership in a state bar along with your resume, cover letter, and law school transcript(s). Applicants for Staff and Administrator positions must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Chapman University does not sponsor applicants for Staff and Administrator positions for work visas. The offer of employment is contingent upon satisfactory completion and outcomes of a criminal background screening, and returning to the Office of Human Resources a signed original acceptance of the Chapman University Agreement to Arbitrate.

WCCASP Registration

Southwestern Law School is pleased to host the 2021 West Coast Consortium of Academic Support Professionals (WCCASP) Conference on Friday, Nov. 5th, 2021 from 10:00am-5:00pm PST. The conference will be held virtually, via Zoom. Conference registration is NOW OPEN! You can register for this free conference here. WCCASP 2021 Registration

Now in its 10th year, the WCCASP Conference provides a thought-provoking and stimulating forum for academic and bar support educators of all experience levels to share practical ideas and best practices that advance teaching and learning.  This year’s theme is “Success in the New Norm: Academic and Bar Support Edition,” and we have assembled thoughtful and targeted presentations from educators throughout the country to share their expertise in bar prep and academic support in our new environment.

Making Explicit the Implicit -- Take the Road Less Traveled

Poet Robert Frost writes:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

                           

                     - The Road Not Taken

 

With midterm exams over (or soon to be complete), students have a choice, a road to choose, a path to navigate. Indeed, regardless of one's exam results, much is to be learned.  

 

However, if you, dear student, are like me at all, I was (and still am) fearfully afraid of my professors. That's the road most of us take.

 

But there's another road one might take.  

 

It's  a road, as the poet suggests, that can make all of the difference. And it's not too late for you to take that road.  Reach out to your professors, indeed, seek them out.  Ask them to walk through your midterm exams with you, personally or in a small group.  Listen to them, converse with them, share your thoughts as you worked through your midterm exams, and let the conversation enrich you as you learn what you did that was outstanding (and why) along with concrete ways to improve (and how).

 

In particular, ask them to read through the question with you.  Most of the time, I find, that when people underperform on exams, it's because they knew too much but, in the rush of the moment, they wrote too hastily before they had properly read, identified, and analyzed the precise questions and issues raised.  It's as though we are primed to spill as much ink as possible in the hopes of making something stick.  But, much as in the practice of law, our best work happens when we take the time to deeply read, to curiously think through, and methodically organize our responses.  

 

In short, the way to improve is to learn and the only way to learn is to take the road less traveled, the road that opens up ourselves to challenges, that feels risky (and is), that feels lonely (and is), and that is not necessarily pleasant (it isn't).  However, it's a road that, in hindsight, you'll be mighty glad that you took. And, as a suggestion, grab a friend, go as a team, prepare together, share together and learn together.  Wishing you the best in your learning travels!  (Scott Johns).

 

Hitting the Wall

In the musical Hamilton, Eliza tries to persuade her husband, Alexander, to take a break, “Take a break…Run away with us for the summer. Let's go upstate…There's a lake I know…In a nearby park. I'd love to go.”[1]  Alexander refuses to go and, no spoilers beyond this, it doesn’t end well.

Two weeks ago, on the first Monday in October, I asked my undergraduates why this time of year was so important, and one student said, “It’s spooky season.” I was trying to get at the Supreme Court getting back to work (on what very well may a spooky season of cases), but it is also, as ASP folks know, that scary time of year when our 1Ls hit a wall. I’ve stockpiled candy (easy this time of year), tissues, and some advice.

We all know that 1Ls have a moment of crisis when they lose their altruism about helping the world with their law degree and become caught up in a smaller world of grades, midterms, legal writing assignments, outlining, and the overwhelmingness of just showing up for class. Students lose sight of why they even came to law school to begin with. Surely, masochism wasn’t the reason mentioned in their application personal statements. Sometimes, students need to be reminded of their initial reasons for being a lawyer. A gentle reminder might be enough for some students. It never hurts to tell them that no one really comes to law school to be a law student, they come to become a lawyer. Being a law student is temporary. And while it seems counterintuitive to advise taking a break, that is the advice I often give them at this point in the semester.

This may be a perfect time for a student to take a small break (hours, not days). Midterms are over, legal writing is less intense (for the moment) and they have been doing the reading, briefing, and outlining for long enough that it isn’t all consuming. Honestly, if Boston was a drag queen, this time of year would be its death drop in terms of the weather and natural beauty. Soon enough, everything will ramp up again and often with larger consequences, but at this very moment, a few hours spent away from law school is doable.

To that end, I have “prescribed” a drive to a beach town about 40 minutes north of here with saltwater taffy, a giant rocky sea wall that is both walkable and climbable, and just sitting at the edge of the ocean and getting perspective. Need something closer? Walk down to the aquarium, smell the ocean, and watch the harbor seals frolic in the outdoor (free!) exhibit. Even closer? Walk the Freedom Trail (it is right outside the doors to our law school). Really, anything can be a break; the only rules are no books, no laptop, and no regrets. Time spent rebuilding yourself is priming the pump for students (and faculty). The investment will pay off.

So be on the lookout for students hitting the wall. Be their Eliza. I would always prefer my students took a break than get broken.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] © Lin-Manuel Miranda

How The Results of a New Study Analyzing First Time Bar Passage on The UBE Will Change My Messaging to Students and my Approach to Teaching Bar Prep Curriculum

How The Results of a New Study Analyzing First Time Bar Passage on The UBE Will Change My Messaging to Students and my Approach to Teaching Bar Prep Curriculum.

As Academic Support Professionals, we are always striving to find the best way to reach each student in our classes.  We cull through textbooks, outside materials, attend conferences and ask questions of colleagues to find best practices and integrate as much of what we think increases bar pass potential into our lectures.  Recently, the New York State Board of Law Examiners (NYSBLE) commissioned a study to find the key metrics for first time and second time bar passage success.  The report, ANALYZING FIRST-TIME BAR EXAM PASSAGE ON THE UBE IN NEW YORK STATE:  Insights From a Study of First Time and Second Time Bar Exam Candidates, captured data over two years (2016-2018) and was released May 19, 2021.  While the study does not capture any data from the ongoing pandemic, it does give insight into key factors we should all incorporate into our curriculum to increase bar passage success. 

While New York is a UBE jurisdiction, and the jurisdiction I am in (Texas) just became a UBE jurisdiction in February 2021, I believe the results transcend testing standards and will prove useful to all in the Academic Support space.  The results of the study found the following six metrics have the most positive impact on bar passage success:

1. Hours put in—the rule of 400! I always tell my students to aim for 500 because 400 is the bare minimum necessary and many students need more than the bare minimum. 
2. Time management and messaging to those around the candidate—I tell my students in our first conference period that they will need to turn the volume of any outside distractions down to 0 when it comes to bar prep. Of course, many of my students cannot, as they have families, work obligations, etc.  But I message early and often that will need to tell their partners/support team the following: “I will be underground during bar prep.  This will be a grueling and relentless process and I will be unavailable for [chores/pet duty/heavy parenting/bill paying/dinner making/grocery gathering/car tending/socializing/full time working] and I need you to understand I will come back up and be 100% available after I take the bar, but this is an investment in our future together, so I need your grace and space right now.” 
3. Managing the clock—we talk about this a lot in class and spend a lot of time practicing the habit of managing the clock. The report calls out the MEE and the MBE as areas of time management concern, but I personally think the MPT is where clock management is hardest and where additional practice can prime the candidate for success to beat the clock.  I ask my students to find time to practice eight MPT’s during commercial bar prep.  I am aware that many of their peers in the commercial bar exam prep courses will not spend as much time practicing and may even tell others it is not worth the time.  I always caution against listening to this advice.  In my jurisdiction, it could be the difference between passing or failing.  Therefore, I tell my students to find the time to practice two each in the four types of tested subjects (objective, persuasive, letter writing and wildcard) before they take the bar exam.
4. Journal participation—the report talks about not having enough data to know if journals tend to pull better writers who usually have higher class rank and therefore perform better on the bar exam, or if the additional exposure to writing and editing that being on a journal entails helps prepare them for the bar. I tend to the think it is both!  I certainly see that students who have journal experience come to my class with more robust writing skills, although by the end of the course, I would say journal and non-journal students are equally situated with writing skills, probably because of all the writing we do in class.
5. Reducing financial anxiety—debt and employment. Horrifyingly, the NYBLE study quotes a student who describes being so stressed from food and housing insecurity during bar prep that the candidate could not devote the hours necessary to study and did not pass on the first attempt[1].  Institutionally, I hope our universities are taking measures to reach students who cannot take bar loans but need resources to devote to studying.  With the new ABA Standard 316 requiring 75% of law graduates pass the bar exam within two years of graduation, I would hope that our institutions are looking at ways to ease the financial struggles of the bar prep experience.  Doing so will go a long way towards decreasing the financial anxiety during bar review.  That in turn should increase bar exam passage and help generate positive feelings towards the law school.
6. Completing elective courses in bar topic classes does not correlate to bar passage—only two classes are mentioned as having a positive impact on first time bar passage and those courses are Evidence and Limited Liability Companies and Corporations. I think it is fair to say that those courses should be highlighted in our curriculum to ensure our students have a robust understanding of the material.

These metrics will certainly be used in ASP programs across the country to shore up areas of weakness and concentrate on areas of strength.  One metric the study touched on briefly but only identified as having some positive beneficial impact to second time test takers is assessment of learning style.  Specifically, the study noted that second time test takers often change the approach to studying to better suit their personal learning style, and that the change, while not always having significant positive effect, does somewhat correlate to increased scores (even if the increase is not enough to achieve a passing score).[2] 

I find the mention of increase scores for second time test takers as they adapt studying to suit their best study styles fascinating, and I think we can use that to gain even more improvement in test scores for both first time and second time bar takers.  Law school, academic support programs, and commercial bar preparation courses all tend to teach in a style that benefits left brain thinkers (lectures, outlines, Socratic method while sitting in place) which promotes linear thinking.  That type of teaching is at odds with the way right brained thinkers learn best (tactile/kinesthetic, need to move, talking it out, main ideas first then fill in with details).  In A Primer on Learning Styles: Reaching Every Student, 25 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 139 (2001), M.H. Sam Jacobson posits that many lower performing law students tend to be right brain learners and therefore might not understand the best approach to succeed in law school right away.[3]  They then fall to the bottom of the class, and at my institution, these students make up the vast majority of those in our academic support classes.  I think an opportunity exists to explore our curriculum and see if we can make adaptive changes to more fully capture these students who will make excellent attorneys but need a different style of teaching to fully engage their brain with the material.

As an adjunct working in this space since Spring 2020, many of the key factors listed as success metrics are topics I discuss with my students in one-on-one conferences.  But I have only given cursory thought to the idea of different learning styles when preparing my lectures.  Since teaching in this space, I have encountered a few students who have disclosed they are eligible for accommodations because of learning differences and a few students who I suspected may have learning differences but who never disclosed.  Learning differences highlight how important it is as an instructor to find the modality that will reach that specific student with that particular learning difference.  

At my institution, much of our Academic Support curriculum relies on commercially produced videos that the students watch, outlines they can fill in while watching the videos, then lectures by me with the aid of a PowerPoint.  And while these approaches include oral/aural/visual learning styles, it does not really help those who need a big picture, top-down approach.  I am going to think about ways to take the big picture and break down the building blocks into more manageable pieces so that I can represent the material with more illustrations, pictures, and charts, and promote the benefit of handmade flashcards for rule memorization.  Those tools are all proven to be useful to the visual-spatial right brain learner.  In the one-on-one conferences I do with each student, I am going to spend more time taking a learning style inventory in our first conference.  I will ask up front--how would you describe your learning style?  What helps you learn best?  Listening to a lecture?  Reading text in a book? Looking at illustrations, pictures, and charts of materials?  Thinking about the whole picture?  Thinking about how to build it from the bottom up?  Asking each student to think about their learning style and then using that data, combined with how they are progressing in the class on the metrics I score them on, will help me advise them how to study in the last conference we have at the end of the semester. Once I have completed that assessment and collected the data, I will be better positioned to advise my students for success with the commercial bar prep programs.  Are you a left brained type of learner?  Great!  The commercial bar prep courses will probably be just fine for you.  Follow their guide for studying to a T and you will likely be well positioned to pass the bar on the first attempt.  Are you a right brained type of learner?  Great too!  Just know that the material and guidance given by the commercial bar prep programs will likely need to be adapted by you (or you and me) to fit your learning style best.   And it is okay to take the commercial bar prep course material and adapt it to a style that suits your needs.  You do not have to follow BARBRI or other commercial bar prep program completely to find success and pass the bar on the first attempt.   I think if we all keep in mind the impact of different learning styles and the need to adapt to a learning style that fits each of our student’s needs, we may see incremental to substantial improvement in first time bar passage rates. 

(Kathryn Shotwell, Guest Blogger)

 

References: 

1. THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS (NYBOLE) AND ACCESSLEX INSTITUTE, Analyzing First-Time Bar Exam Passage on the UBE in New York State: Insights From a Study of First Time and Second Time Bar Exam Candidates, May 19, 2021.
2. American Bar Association Standard 316. BAR PASSAGE At least 75 percent of a law school’s graduates in a calendar year who sat for a bar examination must have passed a bar examination administered within two years of their date of graduation. (2020-2021)
3. M.H. Sam Jacobson, A Primer on Learning Styles: Reaching Every Student, 25 SEATTLEU. L. REV. 139 (2001).

 

[1] THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS (NYBOLE) AND ACCESSLEX INSTITUTE, Analyzing First-Time Bar Exam Passage on the UBE in New York State: Insights From a Study of First Time and Second Time Bar Exam Candidates, May 19, 2021, pg 41

[2] THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS (NYBOLE) AND ACCESSLEX INSTITUTE, Analyzing First-Time Bar Exam Passage on the UBE in New York State: Insights From a Study of First Time and Second Time Bar Exam Candidates, May 19, 2021,  pg 23-24

[3] M.H. Sam Jacobson, A Primer on Learning Styles: Reaching Every Student, 25 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 139 (2001), pg 142: “Professors can help their students achieve their full potentials by teaching to the diverse learning styles in the classroom. Teaching to diverse learning styles helps students in two significant ways. First, students will be more successful in mastering their coursework if they are better able to absorb, process, and retain information. Second, students will be more successful in mastering their coursework if they learn how they learn best.”

Assistant Director, Academic Success Program at UNLV

Job Description

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas invites applications for Assistant Director, Academic Success Program, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law [R0127006].  Link here.

 

PROFILE of the UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1957, UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution comprised of approximately 31,000 students and more than 3,900 faculty and staff. To date, UNLV has conferred more than 136,000 degrees, producing more than 120,000 alumni around the world. UNLV   is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as an R1 research university with very high research activity. The university is committed to recruiting and retaining top students and faculty, educating the region's diversifying population and workforce, driving economic activity through increased research and community partnerships, and creating an academic health center for Southern Nevada that includes the launch of a new UNLV School of Medicine.  UNLV is located on a 332-acre main campus and two satellite campuses in Southern Nevada.  For more information, visit us online at: http://www.unlv.edu

 

COMMITMENT to DIVERSITY

The successful candidate will demonstrate support for diversity, equity and inclusiveness as well as participate in maintaining a respectful, positive work environment.

 

ROLE of the POSITION

The position exists to provide support for the Academic Success Program. Reporting to the Director of the Academic Success Program, the Assistant Director meets weekly with current students to assist them with their legal studies, monitors and trains student mentors, assists in curriculum and program development for the bar passage and first-year programs, counsels current students and alumni on bar passage issues, and conducts seminars and workshops. Evening and weekend work is sometimes required.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires a Juris Doctor from an ABA-approved law school and membership in a state bar and 1 ~ 3 years of related professional experience. Membership in the state bar of Nevada is preferred. Credentials must be obtained prior to the start of employment.

 

The Assistant Director of the Academic Success Program must have excellent oral and written communication skills with strong attention to detail, excellent writing and editing abilities, sound legal skills and knowledge, an affinity for counseling and mentoring students, interpersonal skills, public speaking skills, critical reasoning skills, and excellent time management and organization skills. Solid working knowledge of computer systems and software applications such as PeopleSoft, word processing, spreadsheets, and database management is also desired. This position requires the ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships within a diverse environment and the ability to work well as a member of a team and independently. Prior academic support experience or teaching experience (i.e. Legal writing or comparable teaching experience in writing and analytical skills training) is preferred.

 

SALARY RANGE

Salary competitive with those at similarly situated institutions. Position is contingent upon funding. 

 

APPLICATION DETAILS

Submit a letter of interest, a detailed resume listing qualifications and experience, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of at least three professional references who may be contacted. Applicants should fully describe their qualifications and experience, with specific reference to each of the minimum and preferred qualifications because this is the information on which the initial review of materials will be based.

 

Although this position will remain open until filled, review of candidates’ materials will begin on October 25, 2021, and best consideration will be gained for materials submitted prior to that date. Materials should be addressed to Sydney Lisy, Search Committee Chair, and are to be submitted online as we do not accept emailed materials. For assistance with the application process, please contact UNLV Human Resources at (702) 895-3504 or [email protected].

Tenure Track Positions at Widener

Widener Law Commonwealth welcomes applications to join our faculty. We are seeking entry-level and pre-tenure lateral faculty to fill two tenure track positions in the 2022-2023 academic year. Our specific needs are to be determined, so we encourage all interested applicants to apply. Interest areas include, but are not limited to: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Legal Methods, and Academic Support. We are also interested in our upper-level course areas, including, but not limited to, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility, and Wills and Trusts. The school may hire faculty in any subject area or category based on a candidate’s overall strength.

Established in 1989, Widener Law Commonwealth is an independently accredited law school within Widener University. Located in Harrisburg, PA, the law school’s location in the capital of Pennsylvania provides impactful experiences for both our faculty and students. The law school is situated in one of the fastest growing areas of the state. Harrisburg provides many cultural amenities and outstanding access to outdoor activities. Additionally, it provides a reasonable cost of living and a strong job market.

 

WLC is a dynamic community of teachers and scholars. We pride ourselves on our dedication to our students, our engagement with teaching, and our scholarly impact. Many of our scholars are actively engaged in law reform efforts at both the state and federal level.

 

The law school is committed to fostering an environment in which faculty, staff, and students from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and personal experiences are welcomed and can thrive. Faculty and staff are active participants in our work to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion. We welcome applications from persons of color, people with disabilities, veterans, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other members of historically disadvantaged groups.

 

We are looking for candidates with strong academic backgrounds, commitment to excellence in teaching, and demonstrated potential to be productive scholars. Candidates must possess at least a JD degree or its equivalent.

 

Please submit a cover letter, CV, and list of three references to the appointments committee at [email protected]. Please contact Professor Jill Family, Appointments Committee Chair, ([email protected]) with any questions. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and we encourage applications by November 1.

Making Trouble - Good Trouble

It's the aftermath of the first day of the AASE (Association of Academic Support Educators) Third Bi-Annual Diversity Conference, hosted by CUNY Law.  Unfortunately, my notes are a mess, much like life I suppose.  

But I managed to jot down some key thoughts from speakers and participants that pierced my heart today, leading me to reflect deeply on what I, personally and professionally, must do next, must be next.  

So here's some of what grabbed my heart from today's conference. It's just one person's view.  And I realize I left out much. But, in case you weren't able to participate today, I share with the hope that what we learn together in community might truly be life-changing for so many of our students, left behind and hidden.

• Be willing to and make the invisible visible.
• Generosity of spirit.
• Ask questions about the learning environment, culture, the institution.
• Who's here? Who's not here? Who's rules? Who created them?
• Be a sponge - absorb.
• Be curious, especially about who's uncomfortable.  
• Reach out to student groups. Don't wait for them to reach out to you. Be the instigator.
• Build rapport and relationships.
• Grow in humility.
• Social Identify Mapping: A Tool - Use it! Share it!  Practice it! Live it!
• Humble ourselves.  
• Be willing to lose control so the others might grow and learn.
• What's your definition of academic freedom? Who is it for? What does it serve? How does it help or hinder our students and their learning?
• Are you living mission statements or mission? Truly?  Really?
• Why so hard to talk about race?  What are you waiting for?
• Crown Act - creating and crafting successful curricular ways to teach learning, build DEI, and grow in respect and appreciation for others.
• A few possible communication principles for living, learning, and growing, together: "Vegas---Wall Street---weather.com"
• There's more to academics than academics - much more.
• Pandemic Education - What worked? What didn't? What will you continue? Who did it work for? Who didn't it work for? How were you changed by it? How will you let what you learn positively impact your teaching and your students?
• Don't be afraid to let your students see you, know you.
• Create space for expression, for belonging.
• Ask more questions.
• Make Good Trouble--Yes, Be a Trouble-Maker!

Finally, thank you to the organizers and leaders of this conference - Professors Yolonda Sewell and Haley Meade - and all of the participants, speakers, and sponsors for giving so much of themselves to us for others. And thank you to Dean Hayat (CUNY Law) for your opening remarks and Dr. Spates (Kent State) for your keynote address. Truly inspirational. (S. Johns).

Bar Exam Pass Rates and Academic Support

Maya Angelou wrote “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”  One of my favorite songs right now is Bleed the Same by Mandisa where she conveys a similar message.  I believe the message from both of them would apply to the current discussion surrounding factors impacting bar passage rates. 

Most of you are aware Rory Bahadur wrote a series of articles examining the relationship between certain factors and bar passage rates.  He specifically questions whether FIU’s emergence as the leader in Florida’s bar pass rate is significantly impacted by factors such as involuntary attrition, incoming transfers, and incoming credentials.  An oversimplification of his conclusion is that these factors have a major impact on Florida’s bar pass rankings.  His 3 articles are on SSRN here:

1. Blinded by Science? A reexamination of the Bar Ninja and Silver Bullet Bar Program Cryptics
2. Reexamining Relative Bar Performance as a Function of Non-Linearity, Heteroscedasticity, and a New Independent Variable
3. Quantifying the Impact of Matriculant Credentials & Academic Attrition Rates on Bar Exam Success at Individual Schools

FIU’s academic support team, which includes one of our editors Louis Schulze, responded last weekend in a series of blog posts.  You can read the posts here:

1. Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny
2. Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny, Part 2

Louis’ response questions the statistical methods used in the previous articles and posits that FIU’s new Academic Support program made a statistically significant effect on bar passage rates.  Rory responded to the posts with a message on the ASP listsev/google group.  You should be able to access his message within that group. 

Rory and Louis are engaged in a relevant and important discussion for ASP.  I encourage everyone to read the articles and posts.  AccessLex also published a brief post addressing this topic and one of Rory’s articles.  The AccessLex authors state they are conducting  a couple projects that will provide even more insight.

The academic debate surrounding this topic is necessary, but we should also recognize the reason why the debate is important and sometimes personal.  While they disagree, both Rory and Louis are passionate about helping ASPers and students.  They both cite the lack of tenure for ASPers as a major concern.  They both argue for more resources for Academic Support.  Knowing them both, I truly believe they are trying to do what is best for both ASP and students.

As long as we are trying to figure out what helps students succeed, I do want this discussion to continue in an academic manner.  One of my major concerns is when schools/Deans evaluate whether ASPers are effective based primarily on bar pass rates.  Bar pass rates are an easy number to stamp on a department, almost treating bar pass numbers as wins and losses.  Media and other entities fuel that perception with articles about who had the highest bar pass rate in the state.  FIU’s success has brought national attention from the ABA journal and other legal news sources.  Deans around the country, especially ones in Florida, do specifically ask, “why isn’t [insert school] having the success of FIU?  Are our people doing their job correctly?”  Those outside ASP want to know, what is the secret sauce?

I also want the discussion to continue to demonstrate the impact ASP has on students.  Both Louis/Raul and Rory presented at regional and national ASP conferences about best practices in teaching.  Many of us agree that law school education and pedagogy needs improving.  Most of us agree that better teaching would improve student learning and that we should use scientifically proven methods to teach students.  We would also agree that improved student learning should have an impact on student success and bar performance.  I want to know what everyone else does, including Louis and Raul, to lead to improved student performance.  I especially want to read studies that quantify the impact of Academic Support and/or specific Academic Support programs.  Anecdotally, we know we have an impact on individual lives.  That impact matters, and should be measurable. 

Promoting ASP is important to the majority of us.  We need ongoing projects to measure what works and how we can all improve our students’ chances to pass the bar exam.  I know we are all striving to promote each other and help students.   I hope we can continue to do that.

(Steven Foster)

Baseball is a Rules Based System

Have I mentioned that I live in walking distance of Boston's Fenway Park? I live in the town just slightly west of Boston. Last night there was a baseball game at Fenway. It was an important one to Red Sox fans. Have I mentioned that I am not, proximity aside, a member of Red Sox nation? However, the Red Sox beat my team to get to this game, so since I am an adult, I decided that I am now a fan…of the team the Red Sox are playing (there are no adults in baseball, or was that crying? Either way). Yet, I live with Red Sox fans, so we were watching the game. For a very, very long time. Because it ended in the 13^th inning. I guess folks with tickets got their money worth, but they do close the beer stands after the 7^th inning which means that when this game finally became interesting to me most people down the street were either happily sober or wishing they weren’t.

You are wondering, what is the legal teaching connection? Glad you asked. Here is our fact pattern: it was the top of the 13^th inning and the Tampa Bay (not devil anymore) Rays were batting. There was a player on first base and one out, when Kevin Kiermayer came to bat and Kiermayer hit a “rocket” to the wall. Then, “[t]he ball hit the wall, struck Red Sox outfielder Hunter Renfroe in the right thigh and hopped into the Boston bullpen.”[1]The runner on first ran; Kiermayer ran. The runner on first crossed homeplate and the Red Sox fans in attendance, now long cut off from beer, were despondent. For a moment. The umpires conferred and ruled it was a double, so the runner on first could only get to third base and the run the Rays had “scored” was erased. This is the run that would have broken the 4-4 tie in the 13^th inning. Red Sox nation rejoiced. I glowered a bit.

This is where the rules of baseball come in-as they do in every game-but since there are fewer playoff games occurring than on usual nights -we were paying attention. The rule and its application were explained by Major League Baseball umpires this way: “It's item 20 in the manual, which is, balls deflected out of play, which is in reference to official baseball Rule 5.06(b)(4)(H) [which] says, ‘If a fair ball not in flight is deflected by a fielder and goes out of play, the award is two bases from the time of the pitch. Once that ball hit the wall, it was no longer in flight. Now the ball bounces off the wall and is deflected out of play off of a fielder. That’s just a ground-rule double.”[2]

The legal education angle here is that this seems to be a strict liability rule-it doesn’t matter if the ball accidentally or intentionally got put out of play. The way I plan to use this in class this week is to ask students to go through all the possible intents: willful, reckless, negligent, etc. and ask how each could have been proven in that moment. I'll poke at the idea of whether Renfroe had intentionally pushed the ball out of play to save the game knowing that his intent didn’t actually matter and wouldn’t be examined. Would he be a hero or a scofflaw for engaging the rules that way? I’ll tap the professional responsibility issue of whether the rules act as a shield or a weapon when you are player. I’ll ask why Major League Baseball tends to use strict liability rules. You can’t stop the game to have a trial, but they do have so many camera angles at every position on the field that they send off multiple videos to a third party for confirmation. I’ll also show the video of the 2013 World Series where a call by an umpire awarded the St. Louis Cardinals a run, and therefore the game, and ultimately the series, against the Red Sox for contrast…and laugh.[3]

Go Yankees!

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-ground-rule-double-in-13th-inning-explained

[2] Id.

[3] https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1826398-was-obstruction-the-right-call-to-make-on-wild-last-play-of-game-3

Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny, Part Two

In our previous post we discussed the Blinded by Science series’ essential thesis, that other factors at FIU Law, other than teaching the science of learning, impact its bar pass rate.  By demonstrating numerous methodological flaws in the series' analysis, we suggested that Blinded by Science's conclusions about transfers and attrition are faulty. 

In this post, however, we do something probably unexpected:  We agree with Blinded by Science.  

Here is what we mean....

-------

To investigate its central theme (other impacts on FIU Law’s bar passage), the series digs deep into the pile of ABA Form 509 records; it uses extravagant mathematical methods; it examines university records, details listserv quotes, and exposes personal emails.  All to prove what?  All to prove the unremarkable proposition that FIU Law’s higher-than-expected bar pass rate involves causal factors other than the science of learning. 

We absolutely agree. 

In fact, we agree that transfers and attrition impact bar passage.  In our forthcoming paper, we will detail the study we (Ruiz) conducted that suggests that transfers and attrition do have a weak but statistically significant impact on bar passage. (We further detail how Blinded by Science’s  methodological flaws led to an overstatement of that impact.)

But here is what Blinded by Science got wrong:  Delta.

In mathematics, “delta” means “change.”  The general idea is that if a change in a dependent variable, such as bar passage rate, is due to the influence of an independent variable, such as the number of transferred or academically dismissed students, there must be change in the independent variable to account for the change in the dependent variable.  In other words, if the transfer/ attrition theory helps explain the 2015 increase in the bar pass rate, the transfers and attrition numbers must have changed between 2014 and 2015.  If so, we would see, say, five transfers in the 2014 bar exam cohort, and twenty in the 2015 group; and we would further see five students attritted in the 2014 bar exam cohort and twenty in the 2015 cohort.  Thus, if the transfer/ attrition theory is valid, the bar pass rate increase had to coincide with a statistically significant change in the transfer and attrition numbers between those two years.

But no meaningful change occurred. 

With an exception that we will rebut, The Blinded by Science articles did not look at this.  The Blinded by Science articles’ only focus was on explaining, by looking solely at the cohorts from 2015-2018, the other factors involved in FIU Law’s pass rates during that period, after the initial increase.  But the articles do nothing to explain what happened between 2014 and 2015. 

So, why is it that the bar pass rates changed, increasing almost 11 points from 2014 to 2015, even though the number of transfers and academic dismissals did not (and despite the fact that the statewide pass average dropped four points)?  Our contention all along has been only that academic support contributed to that change. 

Our claim is that, together with the contributions noted above and a number of other initiatives designed to support student success, which we address in the article, academic support simply leveraged potential that already was there in the first place.  Although we have never claimed to be the cause of the bar pass rate increase, we unflinchingly believe that we contributed to it … and that other ASPs can and do, too. 

And that is why the Blinded by Science articles are so problematic.  By arguing so forcefully, and personally, that we FIU Law Bar Ninja/ Silver Bullet charlatans could not possibly have impacted the school’s bar pass rate, Blinded by Science unintentionally articulated an intense doubt about whether academic support can be a real factor in bar passage.  That suggestion undermines the purpose of our previous writings, which was to provide evidence that a well-resourced ASP, given latitude to do the work it needs to do, can tangibly contribute to bar passage.  Our point was not to say, as the author contends, that any ASP unable to produce these results is doing something wrong.  To the contrary, our point was to say that because ASPs in American law schools are almost never adequately resourced, empowered to use effective methods, or given adequate conditions of employment, law schools are preventing them from realizing their potential and needlessly blocking their own students’ success. 

We worry that, instead of interpreting FIU Law’s success as an indication of ASP as a worthy investment, law schools crediting the Blinded by Science series’ analysis of the transfer/ attrition theory will simply choose to fail out more students.  We worry that if law schools credit Blinded by Science’s Bar Ninja/ Silver Bullet theory, they will employ very few academic and bar support instructors, expect them to be Ninjas, and then put responsibility for bar passage solely upon these one or two untenured, unsupported, and pedagogically restricted ASP professionals.  

Our forthcoming article will demonstrate that we never claimed that the science of learning was the sole cause of our bar pass rate or to being Bar Ninja’s possessing silver bullets.  We will demonstrate that by attributing comments of others to us, citing quotes without actually citing quotes, and ignoring numerous statements we made actually denying the sole causation/ Ninja theories, Blinded by Science, et al. weaved a picture that just is not true. 

But, even more importantly, we will double-down on one contention we know to be true:  Academic support matters, and law schools should finally, after three decades, fully embrace the methods ASP faculty have championed for years.

[Louis Schulze & Raul Ruiz, FIU Law]

Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny

In August of 2020, an author published Blinded by Science? A Reexamination of the Bar Ninja and Silver Bullet Bar Program Cryptids.  The first of three articles analyzing FIU Law’s Academic Excellence Program ("AEP") and its methods, Blinded by Science contended that:  (1) transfers and attritions, and not teaching students the science of learning, constituted a significant cause of FIU Law's bar pass rate; and (2) the AEP overstated the impact of our academic support measures upon those rates. 

After many months of remaining silent as we prepare a more extensive rebuttal, the recent release of a third article prompts us to address the matter, if only in this truncated fashion.  Our conclusion, which we articulate in the second post, will surprise the reader.

-------

Continue reading

Ready to make some "Good and Necessary Trouble?"

Don't miss AASE's 2021 Bi-Annual Diversity Conference!

The deadline to register is October 11th!

https://associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/events/2021-diversity-conference/

The Magic Formula of Legal Writing

When you Google “magic formula,” you get a series of articles all referring to the “Magic Formula of Investing” which is based on a book written by Columbia University Professor Joel Greenblatt[1]. That formula is often defined on websites as, “… a simple, rules-based system designed to bring high returns within reach of the average investor.”[2]

The first set of 1L legal writing memos were due over the weekend. For our students, it was a closed objective memo involving essentially two issues, three cases, and one overarching statutory rule. I must have discussed and drawn the chart that accompanies my magic formula for legal writing easily twenty times in just the past week, in person on a 3x5 post-it note, or over Zoom. I have shared my formula possibly thousands of times over the years. I would describe it as a rules-based system designed to bring good analysis within the reach of the average legal writer.

This is the “magic formula” that I share with my students:

1. Start with a Rule. A well-synthesized, complete rule is the key to everything. Everything unspools from your rule. It shapes and orders your discussion of the cases and your analysis of the facts. The rule divides your small legal world into essentially yes and no. Some cases will fall on the yes side of the rule while others will be nos.
2. Your rule may come from more than one source. Cases, statutes, regulations etc. may all be relevant.
3. Do your research. You need to use cases on both sides of the rule divide.
4. Talk about cases in the past tense-they have no value but historical value. Precedent is about the past and how it shapes the decisions that will be made in the future (stare decisis).
5. Use the Facts, Holding, Reasoning (FHR) method of using cases in your writing. For example: In Claus, where a senior citizen was struck by a reindeer, the court held that the sleigh driver was not liable because plaintiff’s decedent was walking on the reindeer path. The court reasoned that "grandma" assumed the risk of walking on the path, and while the driver had less than ideal lighting conditions, a pedestrian on the path was not a foreseeable event. I know-I haven’t even decorated for Halloween yet and here I am putting a winter earworm in your head. I’m almost sorry.
6. While this is somewhat formulaic writing, you can control your narrative. We all teach this, but possibly in different ways. Here is where the chart below comes in handy. In paragraphs where you are explaining the law in your writing, think of this as the space where you place cases on a spectrum created by dividing your world by the rule (this would be E paragraphs in CREAC, and the first part of the A in IRAC). You should place your cases (using the FHR format) on this “spectrum” and then when doing your analysis later on (or soon thereafter in IRAC), put the facts of your current “case” on the spectrum as well. The place where I put the circle is where the facts in front of you go-this is the sweet spot-the facts are not a slam dunk “yes” like case 1, but better than case 2--while still staying on the side of the rule you want to be on. The court cases closer to yours are your positive analogies because the facts are more similar, and you distinguish the cases on the far side of the rule. You only create this “distance” by having a full spectrum. The key here is that you, as the writer, get to lay out the spectrum.

Honestly, this is probably old news to most of you. But on the off chance that this rules-based system brings good analysis within reach of the students you are working with, I feel it was worth putting out there.  Some might say there is no magic in legal writing, but as for me and grandpa, we believe.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1]https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxla3JvbmVkZXNpZ258Z3g6MmI0OTZjZTI1OTNhZTMwNw

[2] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/magic-formula-investing.asp#the-bottom-line

Tenure Track Positions at CUNY

The City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law seeks highly-qualified candidates for two tenure- track faculty appointments to begin in Fall 2022.

CUNY School of Law is a national leader in progressive legal education: we are ranked first in the country for public interest law and first in the country for clinical programs. CUNY is one of the most diverse law schools in the nation.

Our mission at CUNY School of Law is two-fold: training public interest attorneys to practice law in the service of human needs; and providing access to the profession for members of historically underrepresented communities. The Law School advances that dual mission through an innovative curriculum that brings together the highest caliber of clinical training with traditional doctrinal legal education to train lawyers prepared to serve the public interest. The basic premise of the Law School's program is that theory and abstract knowledge cannot be separated from practice, practical skill, professional experience and the social, cultural, and economic context of law. The curriculum therefore integrates practical experience, professional responsibility, theoretical perspective, and lawyering skills with doctrinal study at every level. The Law School faculty and administration are committed to providing academic and bar support to all students.

Performs teaching, research, and guidance duties at the CUNY School of Law in area(s) of expertise. Responsibilities may include supervising students in legal practice or related activities. Shares responsibility for committee and department assignments including administrative, supervisory, and other functions.

The principal responsibility will be to teach in the Law School’s Academic Support and Bar Support Programs, and to assist the Academic Dean in designing, implementing, and assessing these programs. All faculty at CUNY are expected to teach outside their programs on a rotating basis to help meet curricular needs. Faculty teaching in the Academic Support and Bar Support Programs are also expected to teach outside of these programs on a rotating basis, based on interest and in furtherance of the Law School’s curricular needs, as planned with the Academic Dean. Current curricular needs include constitutional law, criminal law, and evidence. The rotation may include teaching our first-year Lawyering course.

All faculty are expected to teach in either the day and evening programs on a rotating basis. Teaching the Law School’s Core Doctrine bar support course may involve teaching regularly in the evenings.

CUNY School of Law’s Academic Support and Bar Support Programs
CUNY has a fully-integrated Academic Support Program going back more than 26 years. The two faculty members will work with day and evening students as they develop the doctrinal, academic, study, and other skills necessary for success in law school, on the bar exam, and in practice. This may entail teaching weekly first- or second-year skills sessions; teaching academic support sections of required doctrinal courses; working with students individually or in small groups; training and supervising teaching assistants; teaching bar electives and other bar support courses, and providing feedback to other faculty about practice problems and exams. There is also the possibility of teaching during the summer in the Summer Law Institute (a two-week intensive introduction to law study) and the Pre-Law Program (a mandatory orientation program for all entering students) for additional compensation. In keeping with CUNY's integrated approach to academic support and bar support, these two faculty members will also help develop faculty workshops on pedagogy and serve as a resource to faculty in areas of skills-based teaching and testing.

QUALIFICATIONS

J.D., L.L.B., or Ph.D. in a law-related discipline. Also required are demonstrated or promised evidence of significant success as a faculty member; interest in productive scholarship or law-related work; ability to teach successfully; and ability to cooperate with others for the good of the institution.

a) Admission to bar practice
b) Social justice lawyering experience and an ability to bring this experience to their teaching
c) Demonstrated commitment to working in and building an anti-racist learning environment
d) Experience in a law school academic support program or other relevant teaching experience
e) Demonstrated commitment to the public interest and access missions of CUNY School of Law
f) Demonstrated commitment to the role of an integrated academic and bar support program in a law school curriculum
g) Experience in programming or individual tutoring and/or mentoring students with respect to bar readiness
h) Experience with respect to adult learning processes
i) Demonstrated commitment to excellent teaching (ability to teach in both a classroom and individual and small group settings)
j) Demonstrated ability to work with a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff
k) Availability and willingness to teach in the day and evening programs on a rotating basis
l) Availability and willingness to teach outside the Academic Support and Bar Support Programs on a rotating basis (i.e., first-year lawyering seminar or other parts of the curriculum) as needed
m) Commitment to scholarly engagement
n) Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others and to share responsibility for joint projects, assignments, and service requirements.

COMPENSATION

CUNY offers faculty a competitive compensation and benefits package covering health insurance, pension and retirement benefits, paid parental leave, and savings programs. We also provide mentoring and support for research, scholarship, and publication as part of our commitment to ongoing faculty professional development.

Law School Assistant Professor: $76,444 - $113,544 Law School Associate Professor: $89,452 - $138,859

HOW TO APPLY

From our job posting system, select "Apply Now", create or log in to a user account, and provide the requested information. If you are viewing this posting from outside our system, access the employment page on our web site and search for this vacancy using the Job ID or Title.

Candidates should provide a CV/resume and statement of scholarly interests.

CLOSING DATE

Applications will be accepted through February 15, 2022 and will be considered on a rolling basis.

Assistant Director of Academic Achievement at Oklahoma City University

Oklahoma City University School of Law seeks experienced, diverse, and innovative candidates for three separate positions: an Assistant Director of Academic Achievement, an Assistant Director of Law Student Services, and a Director of Student Success.

The Assistant Director of Academic Achievement will help train a diverse population of law students for the rigor of law school, the bar exam, and the practice of law with academic workshops and individual coaching.  The Assistant Director will primarily provide one-on-one instruction for first and second-year students and will assist in the bar preparation program. This is a staff position. Candidates must have a J.D. degree, a law license in the United States, and a minimum of six months of experience in the areas of academic advising, academic support, teaching (adjunct instruction accepted), and/or one-on-one instruction in an ABA accredited law school.  A suitable combination of education and experience may be substituted for minimum requirements.  

The Assistant Director of Law Student Services will support students as an additional office counselor to support the Director of Student Success and the Director of Career Development & Student Programming. They will work closely with both Directors to support the goals and objectives of the Student Success Program, career and professional development programming and resources, and student programming.

The Director of Student Success will be responsible for the overall facilitation of the Student Success program including the development, planning, implementation and assessment of student transition, engagement, and retention from admission to graduation.  The Student Success Position collaborates with a variety of faculty, staff, and student positions and departments to increase student success and retention.

A JD degree from an ABA accredited law school for the Assistant Director of Law Student Services and Director of Student Success is preferred. A suitable combination of education and experience may be substituted for minimum requirements.  Successful candidates will begin as soon as possible but no later than January, 2022.  The deadline for applications is November 15, 2021, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the positions may be filled before the application deadline.

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