Novalawcity

Views on tenure & the memorandum on torture written by John C. Yoo in 2003

The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the interaction of the memo with the role of tenure and quotes many views from the legal academy. Chronicle.

CA Swears in Lawyers from Online Law School

The completely online Concord Law School's four new attorneys are featured in the National Law Journal discussion of the school, online legal education, and its critics. NLJ

Debating Laptops in the Classroom

Inside Higher Ed published an in depth examination of the recent effort of Chicago Law to inhibit internet access in class. Also a forthcoming article by Prof. Yamamoto of South Texas College of Law examines the issues and concludes by "urging law school professors to review why laptops are allowed in their classrooms..." 

Supreme Court Clinics Give Law Students a Heady Taste of Lawyering at the Highest Level

A number of US schools, including Yale, Stanford, Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law and University of Texas School of Law, have established Supreme Court Clinics.  These clinics allow second- and third-year students the experience of working on litigation before the Supreme Court.  The students produce petitions for certiorari as well as amicus briefs and merits briefs.  They gain from exposure to the experienced Supreme Court litigators who typically run the clinics, and their work brings them to the attention of potential employers.  Links to information about a few of the clinics: University of Texas at Austin, Stanford Law School and Yale Law School

The Man Behind the US News Rankings

The ABA Journal looks at the law school rankings created by Bob Morse. Article

LL.M. Guide

Looking for the latest LLM programs? The best single website is the LLM Guide.

Dress scruffily at law school?

A recent paper addresses the issues of law school attire, and calls for a dress code. Article

'Online Nation Report'

Sloan-C produced a very nice report on trends in Online Learning. This 'Online Nation Report' includes stats on attitudes and factors in this area. I found perceptions of online degrees particularly interesting, as many more faculty are reporting that online degrees are seen as equivalent to traditional degrees than was true just a couple of years ago. Given the increase in online LLM & Master's Degrees (including two at Nova Law) this is a positive development.

Exam tips round-up

With exams now less than a month away, law students' thoughts are likely turning to exams--especially 1Ls, who are facing them for the first time.  If you want some quick suggestions for productive study sessions and how to deal with taking law school exams, the posts below are a good place to start.

The Ross-Blakley Law Library blog links several articles by law professors with exam tips and strategies.

Lawsagna rounds up previous posts about studying and exam taking.

The Law School Academic Support blog lists some "practice makes perfect" tips for getting the most out of practice exam questions.

 

Pessimism Breeds Success?

Apparently, people who are pessimistic get better law school grades and find more success in legal careers. Article.