clinicians with not enough to do

Clinic Grades : Who Cares About Validity? Just Make Them High

Over on the clinic listserv, Chris Lasch, our colleague who will be teaching a criminal clinic at  Suffolk this year, posted this intriguing question:

Folks, I'm interested to learn what efforts clinicians have been making to conform assessment and grading to the suggestions of Chapter 7 of "Best Practices."
Specifically, I'm interested in finding clinicians who believe they have assessment mechanisms that meet the requirements of "validity" (mechanism actually tests what it purports to test) and "reliability" (mechanism is sufficiently objective that it provides consistent results across students and is not so subjective as to allow for fudging or "halo" effect).
Alternatively, I'd be interested to hear from people who are just darned happy about how they do assessment and might tell me I'm overthinking this problem.

As usual, folks have already posted some very helpful responses and I wanted to join the conversation to suggest that yes, Chris, I am darned happy about how I assess and you are overthinking the problem.  We should not worry about validity or reliability.  As I have argued in a prior list serve posting on the subject of grading, we should only worry about how we can give every student an A.  And if I have your attention, please join me in the jump.

Seeking Articles on Issues of concern to disenfranchised groups

The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority Issues is soliciting articles for upcoming volumes. Our publication is committed to raising the awareness of those individuals in our society who traditionally have been voiceless. The Scholar furthers legal discourse on issues that concern race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender, and sexual identity, as well as other countless groups in our society. Accordingly, we will consider any article that focuses on a legal issue of concern to disenfranchised groups.

We are currently looking for articles to begin editing on June 29, 2009.  Accordingly, we would need to have a version to review by June 17.  Any author extended an offer would be published by August 3, 2009.  Additional information regarding The Scholar may be found at The Scholar's website. 

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.  Elizabeth Kaigh, Executive Articles Editor, The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority Issues, elizabethkaigh@gmail.com.

JOB: Seeking ED of the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women

If you are a proven leader in the field of domestic violence and are looking
for an exciting new opportunity, the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women
invites you to become a candidate for the position of Executive Director.
On the eve of celebrating our 30th anniversary, the NJCBW rests on a strong
foundation with 28 member agencies in 21 counties across the state and over
100 years of collective staff experience in the field of domestic violence.
A leader in the evolving issues in the field, the NJCBW has an active voice
within the state and a substantial record of accomplishment in such key
areas as advocacy; training, standard setting and diversity offered through
such innovative entities as the NJCBW Domestic Violence Education and
Training Institute; the Domestic Violence Specialist Certification; and the
Diversity Outreach Project.

The successful candidate will both preserve the best of what has been
achieved and lead the NJCBW with a new vision for what is possible.
Reporting directly to the Board of Trustees. The Executive Director is the
principal resource to the Board, the NJCBW staff, domestic violence
programs, and all relevant governmental and community organizations. The
Executive Director provides visionary leadership and, in collaboration with
the Associate Director, also directs the activities of the Coalition Office
and staff. As the chief spokesperson for the NJCBW, the Executive Director
must be a strong advocate who effectively communicates its mission and
garners support to achieve the goals and objectives of the NJCBW.

Applications will be considered as they are received and will be welcomed
until a successful candidate has been identified. Please send your
applications to Judith Hain at: Judith.Hain@gmail.com and/or mail to Judith
Hain, 8901 Montgomery Ave., Wyndmoor, Pa. 19038 to be considered for this
position.

The salary will be competitive and commensurate with the qualifications and
experience of the successful candidate. The anticipated start date is
negotiable.

The NJCBW is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People of color and from other
marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Sweeping Accreditation Review May Prompt ‘Sea Change’ in Law School Evals

Law Schools  Posted Jun 3, 2009, 09:57 am CDT

By James Podgers

For months, the ABA's law school accrediting body has quietly been working on a comprehensive review of its often-controversial standards governing legal education.

But as word spreads about the scope of the review by the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, some new proposals are sure to cause a stir.

So what's most likely to spark debate?

The most significant change in the Standards for Approval of Law Schools is likely to be a move away from evaluating law schools on the basis of criteria that measure “input”—such things as faculty size, budget and physical plant. Instead, the Legal Education Section would evaluate law schools more heavily on the basis of “outcome” measures.

The essential difference is that outcome measures would focus on what students actually take away from their educational experience at a particular law school rather than what the school teaches, and how, explained E. Christopher Johnson Jr.

Johnson was one of three members of the Accreditation Standards Review Committee of the ABA’s Legal Education Section who gave a status report on the committee’s work at a program held in Chicago on Friday during the 35th ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility.

Johnson, who directs the graduate program in law and finance at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Auburn Hills, Mich., and the other committee members participating in the panel said the shift in focus from input measures to outcome measures could have a major effect on how the Legal Education Section evaluates law schools.

“It is a sea change to tell law schools you should focus more on outcomes as measures,” said committee member Steven C. Bahls, the president of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. He chairs the outcome assessment subcommittee.

The accreditation standards contain a provision providing that they undergo a comprehensive review every five years. The most recent review was initiated in 2003 and completed in 2006. The U.S. Department of Education also urges accrediting agencies to review their standards on a regular basis.

The Department of Education recognizes the Legal Education Section as the official accrediting agency for law schools in the United States. Currently, 200 law schools have been accredited by the section.

Other key issues the Standards Review Committee will look at include “security of position” for law school professors and other teachers, which will encompass the tenure structure. The committee also will consider ways to make the law school accreditation and review process more transparent.

read the rest here

http://www.abajournal.com/weekly/review_of_accreditation_standards_likely_to_bring_sea_change_to_how_law_sch

SSRN: See One, Do One, Teach One

"See One, Do One, Teach One: Dissecting the Use of Medical Education?s Signature Pedagogy in the Law School Curriculum" 

Georgia State Univeristy Law Review, Forthcoming
Wake Forest Univ. Legal Studies Paper No. 1380079

CHRISTINE NERO COUGHLIN, Wake Forest University - School of Law
Email: coughlcn@wfu.edu
LISA MCELROY, Drexel University - Earle Mack School of Law
Email: lisa.t.mcelroy@drexel.edu
SANDY PATRICK, Lewis & Clark Law School
Email: patrick@lclark.edu

With the recent publication of the Best Practices in Legal Education,(1) and the Carnegie Report on the Advancement of Teaching,(2) law professors today have an opportunity to adopt pedagogies that have been successfully used in other professional disciplines that, like law, integrate skills and theory. In this article, we focus specifically on the ?see one, do one, teach one? approach used in medical education because medical students and law students develop early professional reasoning skills in parallel ways.(3)

This article dissects medical education?s signature pedagogy by focusing on the use of simulation and samples, active learning exercises, and peer teaching opportunities as a corollary to using visualization, application, and demonstration in the medical context. The article guides legal educators through the process of implementing the methodology. This article concludes that utilizing the ?see one, do one, teach one? methodology facilitates student engagement with course material on a deeper analytical level, by providing context for the students, and allowing students to internalize and transfer that knowledge.(4) Accordingly, borrowing the signature ?see one, do one, teach one? pedagogy from medical education will ultimately help students better bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law.

(1) ROY STUCKEY AND OTHERS, BEST PRACTICES FOR LEGAL EDUCATION (2007).
(2) WILLIAM M. SULLIVAN, ANNE COLBY, JUDITH WELCH WEGNER, LLOYD BOND & LEE S. SHULMAN, EDUCATING LAWYERS: PREPARATION FOR THE PROFESSION OF LAW (2007).
(3) See Stefan H. Krieger, The Development of Legal Reasoning Skills in Law Students: An Empirical Study, 56 J. LEGAL EDUC. 332, 351-53 (2006).
(4) Carol McCrehan Parker, Writing Through the Curriculum: Why Law Schools Need It and How to Achieve It, 76 NEB. L. REV. 561, 583-84 (1997).

MASCULINITIES AND THE LAW

The Feminism and Legal Theory Project is pleased to announce its next upcoming workshop, "Masculinities and the Law,"on September 11-12, 2009.  This workshop will explore the relevance of masculinities studies to feminist legal theory and activism. We have long struggled, both within and without the academy, to understand how law defines the feminine by articulating, constructing, and regulating women and the female body. Similarly, and more broadly, feminisms have focused on the place of gender in the construction of social relations that too often fail to protect the interests of women. This work notwithstanding, the place of masculinity has received relatively little attention. We hope to facilitate social and cultural resistance to assertions of hyper-masculinity, particularly those that arise in response to feminism itself.

 

Attached are the schedule of speakers and the registration form for the conference.Download Registration Form masculinities Download FLT-Masculinities2009schedule

 

Best,

 

Celeste Bocchicchio

Feminism and Legal Theory Project

Emory University School of Law

SSRN: Rediscovering the Lawyer School

"Rediscovering the Lawyer School: Curriculum Reform in Wisconsin" 

Wisconsin International Law Journal, Vol. 24, 2006-07
Univ. of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1074

KEITH A. FINDLEY, University of Wisconsin Law School
Email: kafindle@facstaff.wisc.edu

From America's inception through the Civil War, legal education was entirely practice-oriented; it was based not on academic study at a university, but consisted almost exclusively of apprenticeship with a practicing lawyer. As the study of law moved from apprenticeships in law firms to university-based law schools, the method of study became more theoretical. After the 1870s, Langdell's case method became the dominant model of studying and teaching the law. Gradually, law schools became more abstract and theoretical, and less grounded in the practice of law. Increasingly, practicing lawyers and judges complained that law schools were not preparing law students who were ready for the practice of law in terms of either the skills or the values necessary for effective practice. This article explores the history of legal education, the calls for greater relevance, and the ways law schools such as the University of Wisconsin can reform their curricula to respond to these concerns.

The Black Hole of Summer "Vacation"

The Chronicle of Higher Education's Daily Report Summer Schedules For assistant professors, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the tenure clock does not stop By DAVID D. PERLMUTTER For nonacademics, summer "break" is probably one of the least understood elements of our profession. I once had a neighbor who would regularly tease me, "You guys get the whole summer off. Wish I had such a sweet deal!" No amount of enumeration of research projects, summer teaching, or service commitments could convince him that I was not getting a free ride at the taxpayers' expense. But many professors, especially early on in their careers, have trouble valuing summer as well. When you are a graduate student, your schedule for June, July, and August is often dictated by others: courses you need to take or perhaps teach; conventions for networking or job hunting; exams to study for; dissertations to plug away at; and so on. But as an assistant professor, you face an array of options, and it is sometimes hard to choose among them or best exploit the ones you have selected. The most important thing to keep in mind about summer while you're on the tenure track is that the promotion-and-tenure clock does not stop. In fact, whether you are at a community college or a high-powered research university, deciding what work to do over the summer and completing it efficiently may be crucial determinants of your ascent up the career ladder. Before we begin a list of proscriptions and prescriptions for a P&T-friendly summer we must deal with the main existential issue of the so-called break — money versus productivity, especially for those in research universities. I have seen, and heard of, many an assistant professor start June with grand intentions to both teach summer classes and finish articles, crunch big data sets, and even write books. Then suddenly, it's the middle of August, the research took a back seat to teaching, and it's time to prepare for the fall semester. Certainly the monetary payoff of summer teaching may be too attractive to turn down, especially in these times. If you can juggle an intensive summer-class schedule with your research obligations, great. But for many young scholars, the extra cash can be a career deflater in the long run if it obstructs the scholarly work that would put them over the finish line. Now, we can review the summer dos and don'ts. Don't overcommit. The first step in a productive P&T summer is to avoid becoming hypnotized by the alluring vastness of a quarter of a year spent with many fewer daily commitments. Summer can fly by while you are working on that big book project as much as it did in the halcyon days of sleepaway camp when you were a tweenager. So don't be overambitious about the goals you set and the projects you undertake. What is your top priority? Is it writing a book, producing several research articles, prepping for new courses, completing a major service project, or reorganizing your files or your lab?

Mark Aaronson's (Hastings) op-ed: "Empathy Pains"

Tthe San Francisco Daily Journal, a local legal newspaper which also has an LA edition, published  Mark's  op-ed on empathy and judgment last week.   Our own Stanley Fish.

Download Empathy Pains-MA

Public-interest sector getting a little crowded

Law graduates who trained for public-interest jobs must compete with deferred associates.

Karen Sloan

June 1, 2009

Sending incoming associates into temporary public-interest jobs — with a healthy stipend to cover their costs of living — is intended to be a fiscally smart and compassionate way for law firms to handle an overabundance of young attorneys in this dismal economy.

But some recent law school graduates who have spent years preparing for public-interest careers worry that law firms are hurting their job prospects by flooding the already competitive public-interest job market. They say they resent the suggestion that deferred law firm associates can step into a public-service role without, in many cases, having worked with indigent clients in law school clinics or completed internships with nonprofit legal organizations.

"Deferred associates are getting congratulated for going to public-interest organizations in the final hour and being so generous, while the people who were planning on working at these organizations throughout law school and have demonstrated a commitment are forgotten again by the legal establishment," said Jane Fox, 28, who will graduate from Brooklyn Law School in New York City in early June. She is looking for a public defender position or other public-interest work in New York.

For people like Allison Standard, 24, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law who is searching for a public-interest job, the uncertainty over what the law firm deferral programs mean for hiring is unsettling. "The hard part is that there is no easy solution to this," Standard said. "You can't blame the organizations for taking the free labor. But people who intended on public-interest careers have been working throughout law school to build a path to these jobs, and they might get passed over."

read the rest here

Cleaning up the office

The Chronicle of Higher Education's Daily Report

Cleaning Up

With summer comes the time for an associate professor to organize her office, and this time she really means it

By ANDREA KOVALESKY

It is 2008, during a break between quarters, and once again I have announced to the administrative staffers in my department that I am really going to clean up my office this quarter. They smile obligingly at my good intentions, but I know what they are thinking.

I have been at this university for more than 17 years, during which I have amassed numerous piles of this and that. When our campus moved to its permanent location, in 2000 (an opportunity to start anew), I remember seeing all of the boxes outside my new office and feeling overwhelmed: How had I accumulated so much stuff? And how would I even begin to unpack and organize it? The staff members then (the same ones as now) saw my frustration and got me started.

But now they know me too well, and I am on my own. Yet I think I am more highly motivated this time. One of our university's beloved professors suddenly died last quarter, and I have seen staff members gradually clean out her office. Knowing how much time that effort is taking, and how much more organized she was than me, I suspect that when my time comes, the staff might just do a limited burn of my office and be done with it. Another motivation: My office is starting to rival the condition of the office next to mine, although its occupant keeps the mess hidden behind eternally drawn shades.

So with a lighter teaching load this quarter, I set out. First I made a list, identifying only 26 areas in my office that needed some attention. Then, as any good teacher would, I developed my outcomes. Which tasks, once accomplished, would have the biggest impact? I decided to tackle a bookcase that I had brought in years ago to handle some of the overgrowth, and then to conquer the file drawers, since doing so would provide me with space to move items off of the floor.

The bookcase looked easy, as it didn't have any books on it. I guessed that 30 minutes would be all the time I would need to clear it out. But as I would soon learn, my estimates were never even half-right. In this first venture I also began to realize how the times have changed. On top of the bookcase I had 20 videos from a movie class that I occasionally teach. I now have those videos in DVD format, too, sometimes two or three copies of each. I decided to box up the videos "just in case I need them" and moved my DVD's to the top of the bookcase, creating free space in their prior locations. That domino strategy energized me, and I went on to organize graduate-student reports and general whatnot. It felt good to see the trash can fill up with 2001 film catalogs.

But then I came across Guilt Box No. 1, which contained a manuscript I had written many, many years ago. It had been rejected by publishers, at which point I had put it on the shelf "for later." One side of my head gruffly said, "You don't need this guilt. This is a topic you no longer care about. You would need to do a whole updated lit review. Toss it." But the other side countered with, "What a great manuscript that was! What did those reviewers know, anyway?" It wasn't easy, but ultimately I ran to the shredder down the hall and threw my guilt away before I could change my mind.

With that first task completed, I looked at my overflowing trash can and then around my office. No one but me would notice a difference, and even I had to look hard to do so. But this was only day No. 1. I had 25 more cleaning sessions to go and I was envisioning the aura of proper feng shui that would one day envelop my office.

One year later.It is the break between quarters and, once again, I have announced to staff members in my department that I am really going to clean my office. I had gotten all the way to the fourth task on last year's list when other things quietly shoved the rest of the list aside. I even lost the list.  

CLEA NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE

The May, 2009 CLEA Newsletter has been published and is posted on the CLEA Website at http://www.cleaweb.org under the section CLEA Newsletters.  The CLEA Board has made the decision to no longer send out hard copies of the newsletter due to cost and environmental considerations.

Professor Larry R. Spain
Texas Tech University School of Law
1802 Hartford Avenue
Lubbock, Texas  79409-0004
(806) 742-3787 x227
(806) 742-4199 FAX
larry.spain@ttu.edu

Fulbright Scholar Program for US Faculty and Professionals

The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering 74 lecturing, research or combined lecturing/research awards in law, including 6 Fulbright Distinguished Chairs.

Even better, faculty and professionals in law also can apply for one of the 144 “All Discipline” awards open to all fields.

The application deadline is August 1, 2009. U.S. citizenship is required. For a full listing of all Fulbright programs and other eligibility requirements, please visit our website at www.cies.org or send a request for materials to scholars@cies.iie.org. For a detailed listing of Fulbright opportunities in law, please consult our website at: http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2010/discipline/LAW29.htm

JOBS: OSI International Justice

POSITION AVAILABLE

LEGAL OFFICER – INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE

FOCUS: INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

LOCATION: THE HAGUE

Seeking a lawyer with at least five years’ legal practice experience, including particular experience with the International Criminal Court, and/or with other international and hybrid courts; knowledge of justice institutions within Africa, preferred.

The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Open societies are characterized by the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; market economies in which business and government are separate; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities! .

The Open Society Justice Initiative, an operational program of the Open Society Institute (OSI) <http://www.soros.org/> , pursues law reform activities grounded in the protection of human rights, and contributes to the development of legal capacity for open societies worldwide. The Justice Initiative combines litigation, legal advocacy, technical assistance, and the dissemination of knowledge to secure advances in the following priority areas: anticorruption, equality and citizenship, freedom of information and expression, international justice, and national criminal justice. Its offices are in Abuja, Brussels, Budapest, London, New York, and Washington DC.

 In the area of International Justice, the Justice Initiative undertakes projects that strengthen international and hybrid courts established to secure accountability for international crimes. In some instances, it works to strengthen the capacity of national courts to prosecute these crimes, particularly in contexts where an international tribunal has been established. For example, the program has been involved in developing the capacity of Rwandan courts to take over genocide cases that cannot be prosecuted before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

 Based in The Hague, The Netherlands, the Legal Officer works under the supervision of the Senior Legal Officer, International Justice, in all assigned tasks focused principally on the  International Criminal Court (ICC).

 Responsibilities

Legal Advocacy and Analysis

·          Develop and maintain professional relationships with all organs of the ICC, as well as relevant media, diplomatic personnel and non governmental organizations;

·          Liaise with the Assembly of States Parties Hague working group on ICC cooperation;

·          Participate in ICC-NGO meetings and Assembly of States Parties functions;

·          Foster ICC contacts with NGOs in situation countries and other countries/regions where ICC activity is underway or likely;

·          Develop and maintain strong relationships and partnerships with civil society, government and inter-governmental actors in these countries/regions, including the African Union;

·          Provide ongoing analysis of, and research, draft and participate in outreach to disseminate, reports on ICC-related issues, including complementarity, witness proofing, victim and witness protection, immunity for cooperating witnesses, relationships with NGOs and governments.

Call for Papers: Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law

The Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law, the legal publication of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, is currently seeking submissions from students, professors, and practitioners.  The Journal publishes full-length articles, book reviews, and shorter commentaries on a wide range of affordable housing and community and economic development issues.  

 The Fall 2009 issue will focus on “Housing and Community Development in the Economic Crisis.”  Submissions of papers or proposals for papers should be e-mailed to   Paulette Williams at pwillia8@utk.edu no later than June 15, 2009.