clinicians with not enough to do

58,000 Minutes, or Three Birds with One Stone

from Ken Gallant:

Many of us teach at law schools which have recently undergone, or will soon undergo, the septennial American Bar Association accreditation process.

 I’m sure that many of you have had to read the ABA Self-Evaluation Questionnaire, given to all law schools as part of this process.   When I did, I was brought up short by Question III (6):

 Describe how the law school ensures successful completion of not fewer than 58,000 minutes of instruction time . . .

 You may have had the same immediate reaction that I did:  “58,000 minutes?  Who can even count that high anymore?”

But then I began to realize that this is serious, and I wondered:  if our Dean was required to take an oath, could he swear that each and every one of our graduates got 58,000 minutes or more of actual education?  I know that I could not swear such an oath.

 So I began to think about how law schools can do this, and I soon realized that this issue is related to another problem raised by ABA rules that we have been discussing for years:  Class attendance policies.  I know that these have been a pain for a lot of us—they certainly have been for me.  All the distributing and collecting of attendance sheets, students signing for each other when one misses class—you know the drill.

 Yet upon reflection, I think we can address these two issues together.  Through the wonders of modern technology, we can set things up so that we are in compliance with both these ABA standards.  Here’s what I propose:

 For all students entering Fall 2010 and thereafter, all ABA accredited law schools should require implantation of a radio receiver/microchip on the side of each student’s skull at the beginning of law school.  No school will grant a diploma until the microchip registers over 58,000 minutes in proximity to a radio beacon which each faculty member will turn on in every classroom only when class is in session.

 This way, we get the 58,000 minutes, plus, we have by definition ensured regular attendance under ABA Standards.  Two birds with one stone.

 There are naturally a few technical complexities.  Our computer guru told us a few years ago that we couldn’t really limit wireless computing capability to classrooms—radio signals go through walls.  Therefore, educational institutions would probably need to line all of the classroom walls and doors with a nano-sheet of lead particles, to prevent students from activating their chips by sitting in the hallway outside of class.

 Removal of the microchip and handing it to another student to get credit for a class one doesn’t attend will be an honor code violation requiring immediate expulsion of both students.  We need to lobby Congress to ensure that cutting off the side of your skull to do the same thing will be specifically excluded from coverage under national health care reform.

 Sounds great, doesn’t it?  And we can do it all with currently available technology!  After all, it is even today illegal to be a cat wandering the streets of Little Rock without an implanted microchip.

 But wait, there’s even more goodness coming down the pike soon. 

 Note that the ABA Standard requires not just 58,000 minutes, but “successful completion of not fewer than 58,000 minutes of instruction time.”  How do we judge “successful” completion of each minute? 

 I’ll bet that a lot of law schools—including mine—are out of compliance with this part of the standard.  Right now, I have only one tool for judging success of each minute for each student, and it’s rather blunt—I can wake up anyone who seems to be falling asleep.  But I’ll bet that many of you were like me in law school—able to zone out into a trance without appearing to the teacher to be asleep.  So I’m not utterly convinced that I can swear to the successful completion of each minute by each student, even when they are present.

 Never fear though.  Technology will soon provide us with an answer even for this:  Within about 5 years, microchips will be available (at a reasonable cost) that can record the presence of higher brain functions.  Any student whose brain wave function is not sufficiently close to other students’ brain wave functions will obviously not be concentrating on the subject matter, and will not get credit for each minute in which her/his brain wave function does not match.  Research has shown that brain-wave shapes cannot be faked, no matter how good the student is at lying in words.

 This will require a slight expansion of the implanted device, to allow for radio transmission of the brain wave function.  It will also require a significant expansion of computing power on law school networks, as our servers will be doing real time analysis of dozens of brain waves in each large class.

 Once we can determine that all students are actually concentrating on learning the subject we will know that they are successfully completely each and every one of the 58,000 minutes of the law school course.  Thus we know we will be teaching effectively.  Then we can give up on all sorts of assessment nonsense such as visiting each others’ classes and student evals of teaching.

 There’s the third bird.

 Along with ABA accreditation, what more could anyone want?

Kenneth S. Gallant
Professor of Law
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
William H. Bowen School of Law
1201 McMath Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72202-5142 USA
phone 1-501-324-9912
fax 1-501-324-9911
[email protected]

SSRN: Teaching Creativity

 "'The Play of Those Who Have Not Yet Heard of Games': Creativity, Compliance, and the 'Good Enough' Law Teacher" 

Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, Vol. 6, 2009

MARY R. FALK, Brooklyn Law School
Email: [email protected]

If there is creative thinking out there in the law offices and courts of our country, it is present not, in the main, because law school does a good job of teaching that skill. Not surprisingly, employers of new law graduates believe we could be doing a better job of turning out creative thinkers. These are problems that I have been thinking about and writing about these past 15 years - all the while teaching students in their first year to toe the intellectual line and then trying to convince them as upper-class students to think new thoughts about the law.

Recently, I’ve been led to consider these issues in a different light. That light is cast for me by the work of developmental psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott. Although he founded no school or movement of his own, Donald Winnicott was one of the past century’s most influential psychoanalysts, both as a theorist and as a practitioner. When I first began to read Winnicott, two major and related themes in his work interested me particularly: first, his notion of “good enough” caregiving and second, his understanding of the role of play in the lives of infants and adults, the relationship of play to creativity, and the consequences of the absence of play. This essay is an attempt to see what as a lawyer, law teacher and, more particularly, as a writing teacher, I might usefully take from Winnicott the theorist, the professional, and the writer.

SSRN: Teaching Transactional Lawyers

"What Law Schools Should Teach Future Transactional Lawyers: Perspectives from Practice" 

UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 09-17

MICHAEL WORONOFF, Proskauer Rose LLP, University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law
Email: [email protected]

Since at least the 1980’s, law schools have been chided for doing a poor job at teaching skills. This criticism has been accompanied by pressure to increase their emphasis on skills training. The pressure increased with the publication of the McCrate Report in 1992, and then again with the publication of the Carnegie Report in 2007. But is the underlying premise correct? This article is an edited version of my remarks given at the 2009 mid-year meeting of the AALS Conference on Business Associates. In those remarks, I respond to the questions 'Are law schools teaching students adequate transactional skills?' and 'From the standpoint of preparing students for a transactional practice, what would you like to see law schools change?' To answer these questions, I first describe different categories of knowledge a successful lawyer should have, and examine what people mean when they refer to skills. I then discuss which of these categories of knowledge law schools can and should teach, and which should be left to law firms (based on the comparative advantages of each). Finally, after noting that the heavy focus of law school critics on skills training mask some more significant issues, I share my thoughts on how law schools can change to better prepare students for a transactional practice.

Clothes Make the Man: a prof's guide

PrawfsBlawg

Posted by Bennett Capers on August 20, 2009 at 08:44 AM | Permalink

We’ve all heard the expression “clothes make the man.”  But do clothes also make the professor?  Especially if the professor looks young enough to be a student, or is female, or a person of color, or LGBT, or some combination of the above?  And am I the only one, at the start of yet another school year, thinking about this?

read the rest here

News from the Section on Women in Legal Education

Dear Colleagues:

 

I hope you had a pleasant summer and are enjoying the start of the new school year.

 

I write on behalf of the AALS Section on Women in Legal Education to bring several things to your attention:

 

1.  Job Listings (professorships, dean searches, fellowships, director positions, etc.):  In an upcoming Section newsletter, we will include a list of job openings in the legal academy.  Given that our newsletter reaches a significant, talented, and diverse academic group, schools will be well-served by having their hiring needs listed in our newsletter.  If your school has any relevant openings or if you know on any openings (at your Alma Mater, for example), please forward the information to Professor Pamela Edwards at [email protected].

 

2.  Scholarship:  The AALS Section on Women in Legal Education is preparing a list of recent scholarship by our members for inclusion in our annual section newsletter.  If you have an article that was published between October 2008 and now (or will be forthcoming by the end of 2009) that you would like to have included, please send complete title, volume, journal, page and year information to Nancy Levit at UMKC School of Law at [email protected] by October 1, 2009.

 

3.  Conferences:  The editors of our Section newsletter series are seeking information about upcoming conferences that may be of interest to our members.  If you are participating in a conference or have details concerning one that you believe we should include, please contact Professor JoEllen Lind at [email protected].

 

4.  Mentoring:  The AALS Section on Women in Legal Education website (which will be launched within the next few months) will have a section devoted to women who have volunteered to serve as mentors for other faculty members.  If you are willing to serve as a mentor, please complete the attached information sheet, and e-mail the completed document to Colleen Medill at the University of  Nebraska ([email protected]).  Colleen will collect the information and enter it in a format to be made available to Section members.  Section members who are seeking a mentor will be able to use the web page to identify and contact prospective mentors directly using the mentor’s e-mail address. Download WILE Mentoring Call

 

5.  Attached Paper Calls:  The AALS Section on Women in Legal Education made a call for papers and paper proposals last month.  The call, which remains open for several more weeks, is attached.  Also attached (as part of the same document) is call for papers for a Juvenile Justice program.Download Call for Papers for AALS email

 

6.  Listserv Use:  Our old listserv has had a few failures of late when members have tried to send things through it.  The AALS, through our new website (which will be launched soon), has provided a new Women in Legal Education Section listserv that is much more extensive than the listserv previously used.  This new listserv reaches every single section member.  Because this listserv is so inclusive, the AALS has asked that we use this listserv prudently to avoid overwhelming members with multiple communications.  Therefore, if I am asked by Section members or others to forward something to the Section membership through the listserv, I might hold the information I am being asked to send for a few days to see if I have other things that need to be sent along with it, so that I can be careful not to send too many mass e-mails.  To that end, if you anticipate asking me to forward something to our Section listserv, please get it to me sooner than you need it to be sent.

 

I hope you have had a productive and enjoyable summer, and I wish you a good fall semester.

Best regards,

Elizabeth Nowicki, Chair, AALS Section on Women in Legal Education

Visiting Professor,

Boston University School of Law, 2009-2010

View my research on my SSRN Author page:
http://ssrn.com/author=333340

Best Value Law Schools

TaxProf Blog

The National Jurist has released its ranking of the Best Value Law Schools in the September 2009 issue:

The National Jurist identified 65 law schools that carry a low price tag and are able to prepare their students incredibly well for today's competitive job market. In determining what makes a law school a "best value," we first looked at tuition, considering only public schools with an in-state tuition less than $25,000, and private schools with an annual tuition that comes in under $30,000.  We then narrowed the playing field again by including only schools that had an employment rate of at least 85% and a school bar psasage rate that was higher than their state average. We then ranked schools, giving greatest weight to tuition, followed closely by employment statistics. [Click on chart to enlarge.]

     click here for the chart    

Calling Someone Homosexual Is Not Defamation Per Se, Judge Rules in Suit by Anna Nicole Smith Lawyer

Mark Hamblett
New York Law Journal

A statement that someone is a homosexual is not defamation per se in New York state, a federal judge has ruled.

Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin said in a ruling Wednesday that a "veritable sea change in attitudes about homosexuality" has led him to conclude that today the New York Court of Appeals would not hold that calling someone a homosexual was defamation per se.

However, the judge also said that statements asserting homosexual conduct might be found by a jury to be defamatory in Stern v. Cosby, 07 Civ. 8536.

The suit was brought by Howard K. Stern, the lawyer and former lover of tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith, who died in 2007 after being found unconscious in a Florida hotel room. An autopsy revealed that Smith died from an accidental prescription and over-the-counter drug overdose. In March, Stern and two doctors were charged in California with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith.

Stern claims television journalist Rita Cosby defamed him at several points in her book "Blond Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death."

Stern said the book contains 19 defamatory statements, including the false suggestion that he had engaged in sex with Larry Birkhead, the man who was ultimately determined to be the father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, who was born in 2006.

Ruling on Cosby's motion for summary judgment, Chin allowed 11 allegedly defamatory statements to go to trial, including the Stern/Birkhead sex statement and another claim that Smith had a videotape of the men having sex and watched it repeatedly.

Additional statements Chin kept in the lawsuit in his 58-page ruling were that Smith's son, Daniel, said Stern "pimped" Smith to other men for money; that Stern "pimped" her at least 50 times a year, sometimes after drugging her; that Stern perjured himself in a Florida proceeding by claiming he was the father of Dannielynn; that he extorted Birkhead; and that people felt Stern was a threat to the life of Smith, thought he was involved in her death, and had a financial motive to kill her.

Chin first rejected the claim by Cosby that Stern was libel-proof. He then turned to the issue of defamation per se.

The New York Court of Appeals has held there are four classes of statements that constitute defamation per se: accusations that the plaintiff committed a serious crime, statements that "tend to injure another in his or her trade, business or profession," accusations that the plaintiff has a "loathsome disease," or statements that impute "unchastity to a woman."

But the state's high court has never confronted the issue of whether homosexuality would qualify, so Chin was faced with the task of predicting how the Court would rule. Several factors convinced him that it would not consider such statements defamation per se.

First, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision invalidating laws criminalizing homosexual conduct in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003).

"[T]o the extent that courts previously relied on the criminality of homosexual conduct in holding that a statement imputing homosexuality subjects a person to contempt and ridicule ... Lawrence has foreclosed such reliance," Chin said.

"Second, in 2009, the 'current of contemporary public opinion' does not support the notion that New Yorkers view gays and lesbians as shameful or odious," he said, citing the movement to legalize gay marriage and a poll showing that gay marriage is favored by 51 percent of New Yorkers and there was a two-thirds majority in favor of civil unions.

"Finally, the New York Court of Appeals has not, in its most recent opinion touching on social attitudes toward homosexuality, given any indication that it perceives widespread disapproval of homosexuality in New York," he said.

In Hernandez v. Robles, 7 N.Y. 3d 338 (2006), he said, while the Court rejected the claim that the "New York Constitution compels recognition of same-sex marriage," the Court's plurality opinion "clearly recognized, however, that social attitudes toward gay and lesbian New Yorkers had changed dramatically in the past few years" and "the New York legislature could permit same-sex marriage if it chose to."

Chin's ruling on homosexuality runs counter to an opinion by one of his Southern District colleagues as well as state Appellate Division rulings.

Southern District Judge Colleen McMahon last year ruled the other way in Gallo v. Alitalia-Linee Aeree Italiane-Societa Per Azioni, 585 Supp. 2d 520, writing that her decision "is based on the fact that the prejudice gays and lesbians experience is real and sufficiently widespread so that it would be premature to declare victory."

As to the "several" Appellate Division cases holding imputation of homosexuality to be defamatory per se, Chin said, "The rulings of intermediary appellate courts are 'helpful indicators of how the state's highest court would rule,' but they are not binding on me."

Still, Chin said that while the statements that Stern and Birkhead had had sex and that Smith watched their actions on tape were not defamatory per se, they "are nonetheless susceptible to a defamatory meaning."

"A reasonable jury could find that engaging in oral sex at a party is shameful or contemptible, and the fact that this conduct may not be illegal does not alter this conclusion," he said.

Chin went on to cite "substantial evidence" that would allow a jury to find that Cosby acted with actual malice: Two sources accused her of "trying to get them to say untrue things, and two deny what she attributed to them entirely."

He added that Cosby relied on sources who were "obviously biased against Stern, and the record also contains evidence that Cosby tried to bribe two other sources."

The judge said he found Cosby's actions "extremely troubling."

Cosby's publisher, Hachette Book Group USA, Inc., was granted summary judgment because Chin found insufficient evidence of actual malice.

Douglass B. Maynard of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld represents Hatchette. "We are pleased that Judge Chin dismissed the case against Hachette and reaffirmed a book publisher's right to rely on the reputation and experience of its authors," Maynard said in a statement.

L. Lin Wood of Bryan Cave in Atlanta, who represents Stern, called Wednesday's ruling a "major victory."

"I've been involved in defamation practice for a number of years and while I represent both plaintiffs and defendants, I am well aware of the difficulty facing a public figure plaintiff in getting his or her case to a jury and beyond summary judgment," Wood said. "Here, Judge Chin has allowed Mr. Stern to proceed to a jury trial on 11 of the 19 statements initially listed in the complaint. That's a major win for Howard K. Stern."

Elizabeth A. McNamara of Davis Wright Tremaine represents Cosby. In a statement, McNamara said, "We are gratified that the judge dismissed so many of the statements at issue and has fundamentally narrowed the case. As to the remaining statements, we are fully confident that a jury will dismiss them as well once it hears all the evidence surrounding Howard K. Stern's life with Anna Nicole Smith."

Access to Justice Symposium, University of Maine School of Law, October 2, 2009

The University of Maine School of Law is hosting the first Maine Access to Justice Symposium, an event co-sponsored by the Maine Justice Action Group (JAG).  JAG is an organization of leaders from the bench, the bar, state government, and legal services providers, committed to the continuing provision of quality legal aid for low-income Mainers.  The one-day Symposium, entitled "Expanding Justice in Maine: Upstream Solutions to Downstream Problems," will be held on October 2, 2009, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, on the University of Southern Maine campus in Portland. 

 

Our keynote speaker is Professor Peter Edelman of the Georgetown University Law Center, who has been a national leader on access to justice issues for more than forty years and who currently chairs the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission.  Other presenters include Professor Susan Bryant of CUNY Law School and Camille Holmes Wood of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, who will jointly present on "Bringing Racial and Cultural Equity to Access to Justice Initiatives."  The Symposium will feature workshops with interdisciplinary panels examining innovative upstream initiatives through medical-legal partnerships, foreclosure diversion, affordable housing, and outreach to low-wage workers. 

 

To obtain more information about or to register for the Symposium,  or to download a brochure, please visit the Symposium website:

www.mainelaw.maine.edu/news/conferences/justice. 

NYT: Students Fret as Big Law Jobs Vanish

not much news here

August 26, 2009, 7:32 am

This fall, law students are competing for half as many openings at big firms as they were last year in what is shaping up to be the most wrenching job search season in over 50 years, The New York Times’s Gerry Shih reports.

For students now, the promise of the big law firm career — and its paychecks — is slipping through their fingers, forcing them to look at lesser firms in smaller markets as well as opportunities in government or with public interest groups, law school faculty and students say.

The frenzy has even pushed the nation’s top firms, a tradition-bound coterie, into discussing how to reform the recruitment process with an earnestness that would have been unthinkable just years ago.

Even if the economy is beginning to pick up, the legal profession has been pummeled over the last year, with some firms closing and survivors often asking associates to take leaves of absence.

How bad is it? Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the juggernaut of New York, has slashed its hiring by more than half. For the first time in 136 years, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, a respected Philadelphia firm, has canceled its recruiting entirely. Global firms like DLA Piper and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have postponed recruiting for several months to see if the market improves.

At Yale, students accustomed to being wooed by Big Law’s glittering names — like Baker & McKenzie; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy; and White & Case — were stunned when those firms canceled interviews in New Haven this month.

New York University, Georgetown, Northwestern and other top universities confirm that interviews are down by a third to a half compared with a year ago, while lower-ranked schools are suffering more. What is more, when interviews finish in a few weeks, even fewer offers will be extended, said Howard L. Ellin, the chairman of global hiring at Skadden, Arps, because many firms are interviewing students for slots they may not fill.

After he lost his job as a television reporter two years ago, Derek Fanciullo considered law school, thinking it was a historically sure bet. He took out “a ferocious amount of debt,” he said — $210,000, to be exact — and enrolled last September in the School of Law at New York University.

“It was thought to be this green pasture of stability, a more comfortable life,” said Mr. Fanciullo, who had heard that 90 percent of N.Y.U. law graduates land jobs at firms, and counted on that to repay his loans. “It was almost written in stone that you’ll end up in a law firm, almost like a birthright.”

With the cost of law school skyrocketing over the years, the implicit arrangement between students and the most expensive and prestigious schools has only strengthened: the student takes on hefty debt to pay tuition, and the school issues the golden ticket to a job at a high-paying firm — if that’s what the student wants.

“Students came in with a certain sense of what the compact was going to be,” said Irene Dorzback, the assistant dean for career services at the New York University School of Law. But with the system crumbling in recent months, Ms. Dorzback said, “people are now accepting this notion of a lost year.”

Seeking Submissions for The Learning Curve

The Learning Curve is a newsletter reporting on issues and ideas for the AALS Section on Academic Support and the general law school academic support community.

 

For this issue, we would appreciate submissions that are 500 to 2,000 words on your choice of topics related to Academic Support and/or Legal Education.  We are especially interested in what you are doing at your law school, but we also welcome submissions that address current research, new ideas, and topics of general interest.  Articles that refer to other material should be lightly footnoted.

 

The submission deadline for this issue will be Friday, September 18th. 

 

Please send your submissions, or any questions you may have regarding the submission process, to [email protected],(516) 463-4008, or to [email protected], (480) 727-8727.

 

We delighted to be editing this issue of the Learning Curve and we very much look forward to reading your work.

 

Sincerely,

 

Hillary Burgess, Assistant Professor of Academic Support, Hofstra School of Law Corie

Lynn Rosen, Permanent Instructor in Law and Director of Academic Support, Arizona State University

Call for submissions: GAJE Newsletter

from  Melanie Reddy on behalf of Street Law(South Africa)

I write to call for submission of the next GAJE newsletter by 2 October 2009.  The editor relies on materials from members on their activities, publications, events and any other information of interest to the general membership.

The newsletter appears every two months, and the next newsletter is scheduled to appear on 15 October 2009.

Please submit to the attention of the Editor at [email protected]. (Please do not click on the reply button of this message but rather use the  address above).

We encourage people to submit material for publication in the newslette in a format similar to the following example - please keep your material within  about 10 lines:

100 Blog Posts You Should Read Before Going to Law School

We posted an article that we thought you and your readers might be interested in having a look at, "100 Blog Posts You Should Read Before Going to Law School" (http://www.onlinecourses.org/2009/08/24/100-blog-posts-you-should-read-before-going-to-law-school/).  I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in this list.

Half of Blawgs Fail in First Year

Launch a legal blog today and there is a pretty good chance you will not still be blogging a year from now -- maybe not even four months from now. That is the conclusion -- admittedly unscientific -- arrived at by Mark Herrmann at the blog Drug and Device Law after considering the life expectancy of a newborn legal blog.

read the rest here

Call for Papers: Association of the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities Annual Conference

from Poverty Law by Ezra Rosser

The Association of the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities Annual Conference will take place March 19-20, 2010 at Brown University.  The submission system in response to the call for papers (see above link) is here and the deadline is Oct. 15, 2009.  The year I went there were a number of poverty related panels.

 

The Association of the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities Annual Conference will take place March 19-20, 2010 at Brown University.  The submission system in response to the call for papers (see above link) is here and the deadline is Oct. 15, 2009.  The year I went there were a number of poverty related panels.

 

blogs in legal education

Legal Writing Prof Blog

Blogging is the "new scholarship," some say. (But some say they are "bad.") Others say, "A blog is a blog." At any rate, if you like blogs by law professors or blogs about different topics in legal education, you will enjoy browsing the catalog of blogs compiled by Colin Miller at the Evidence Prof Blog. Blogs and bloggers listed by their school affiliations:

• School names A through M
• School names N through Z

More Students Taking the LSAT

from Law School Headlines by admin

An April study of prospective law students revealed a leading motive for attending law school: the failing economy.

The study, administrated by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, reported that 40 percent of the 1,040 students who took the February 2009 Law School Admission Test were motivated by today’s economic crisis to apply to law school. In addition, the registration for the Kaplan-administered LSATs has increased by more that 20 percent during the past year.

Since 2006, the University’s School of Law has seen the number of applicants rise by 113, with 2008’s enrollment around 531 students. The law school’s LL.M, or Master of Laws, class of 2010 will be the largest since the program’s initiation two years ago. The law school building itself can hold no more than its current students, so increased applications would mean more discretion when reviewing new applicants.

The survey highlighted many economic reasons why students would decide to go to law school now. Sixty-seven percent of survey participants said the high earning power of a law degree substantially affected their decision to pursue an education in the field.

Others found law school as a “save haven” from the grueling reality of the job market. Sandy Weintraub, president of the Student Bar Association and School of Law representative on the ASUO, doesn’t see law school as a type of escape. “Law school is far from easy, and is extremely time-consuming,” he said, “It’s more of a place to build your knowledge than to hide from the job market.”

TERMINOLOGY AND MEANING: Experiential & Learning & Context-based & Lawyering Role & Structured Supervsion &….. « Best Practices for Legal Education

TERMINOLOGY AND MEANING: Experiential & Learning & Context-based & Lawyering Role & Structured Supervsion &….. « Best Practices for Legal Education

TERMINOLOGY AND MEANING: Experiential & Learning & Context-based & Lawyering Role & Structured Supervsion &…..
Posted on August 22, 2009 by Mary Lynch

I think we are at a point in the legal education reform movement, where terminology to identify the complementary but distinguishable kinds of “Experiences” and kinds of “Learning” seems important.(Deborah Maranville, Russell Engler, Sue Kay and I are working on a piece which analyzes some of this….)

For purposes of the lists some of us are in the process of creating to identify schools which are mandating experiential learning, I think it would be helpful to discuss our terminology. In my mind, I divide or group the categories by four (4) factors (with sub-factors within):

1) the amount of STRUCTURE & SUPERVISION OF THE LEARNING

2) the use of CONTEXT-BASED APPROACHES – if students are learning by methods which involve the CONTEXT of what
real lawyers do

3) the use of LIVE or SIMULATED experience; and

4) whether the live experience is one which involves the student
actually ASSUMING a LAWYER’S ROLE, a legal-related role or observing or reflecting on a lawyer’s role


In using these 4 FACTORS, I see a continuum of ways to define courses. This way of looking at the curriculum offerings takes the courses out of more traditional categories. So for example,

1. TRADITIONAL SOCRATIC-LECTURE & SOME DISCUSSION COURSES: focuses on the “structured supervised TEACHING” (and ostensibly LEARNING) but students don’t’ necessarily “EXPERIENCE” any learning in “CONTEXT” and certainly don’t do anything close to “LIVE LAWYERING “ This is the tradition which Carnegie found incomplete and Best Practices challenged schools to grow out of.

2. CONTEXT-BASED COURSES: the Primary focus is the STRUCTURED LAWYERING EXPERIENCE – many “skills courses” fall into this category but more and more courses are infusing this context of having students DO WHAT LAWYERS DO as part of the class and assess them on this. These courses generally do not involve “live” experiences. The Simulation is the Hallmark of “context-based” learning.

3. EXPERIENCE BASED COURSES : The PRIMARY FOCUS is to have students engage in law related or “perspective” related real world experiences as part of the course. The students do not assume the role of the lawyer, there is some but not a large amount of structured supervision. Most pro bono projects, some traditional courses, some clinics (street law?) and some externships (systemic critique & reflection opportunities) fall into this model.

4) APPRENTICESHIP COURSES – STRUCTURED SUPERVISED
LEARING in the LIVE CONTEXT of what real lawyers do and the students ASSUME A LAWYER’S ROLE” (Traditional Inhouse clinics and externships).

What do you think? Does this capture it? What is bothersome about this
grouping? Would you suggest alternative categories? And where do theoretical, interdisciplinary and cultural perspective courses fit in?

I’d love to hear thoughts!

STAY dry if you are on the East coast,
Mary

RIP Senator Kennedy . . .

The liberal lion passes on the eve of an epic battle over health care, his defining issue

The Associated Press

Aug. 26, 2009 |

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.

For nearly a half-century in the Senate, Kennedy was a steadfast champion of the working class and the poor, a powerful voice on health care, civil rights, and war and peace. To the American public, though, he was best known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political family, the eulogist of a clan shattered again and again by tragedy.

His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all."

Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, when his brother John was president, and served longer than all but two senators in history. Over the decades, he put his imprint on every major piece of social legislation to clear the Congress.

His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged -- perhaps doomed -- in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick, an auto accident that left a young woman dead.

Kennedy -- known to family, friends and foes simply as Ted -- ended his quest for the presidency in 1980 with a stirring valedictory that echoed across the decades: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

The third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent surgery and a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.

His death late Tuesday comes just weeks after that of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver on Aug. 11.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy's son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said his father had defied the predictions of doctors by surviving more than a year with his fight against brain cancer.

The younger Kennedy said that gave family members a surprise blessing, as they were able to spend more time with the senator and to tell him how much he had meant to their lives.

The younger Kennedy said his father's legacy was built largely in the Senate.

"He has authored more pieces of major legislation than any other United States senator," Patrick Kennedy said in the interview. "He is the penultimate senator. I don't need to exaggerate when I talk about my father. That's the amazing thing. He breaks all the records himself."

Excerpts from Kennedy speeches:

For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

-- Addressing Democratic National Convention, August 2008.

My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

--Eulogy for Robert F. Kennedy, June 1968.

With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay.

-- Endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, January 2008.

The more our feelings diverge, the more deeply felt they are, the greater is our obligation to grant the sincerity and essential decency of our fellow citizens on the other side. ...

In short, I hope for an America where neither "fundamentalist" nor "humanist" will be a dirty word, but a fair description of the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own souls.

I hope for an America where no president, no public official, no individual will ever be deemed a greater or lesser American because of religious doubt -- or religious belief.

I hope for an America where the power of faith will always burn brightly, but where no modern inquisition of any kind will ever light the fires of fear, coercion, or angry division.

I hope for an America where we can all contend freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both democracy and diversity.

-- Speech on "Truth and Tolerance in America," Oct. 3, 1983, Lynchburg, Va.

Although my doctors informed me that I suffered a cerebral concussion, as well as shock, I do not seek to escape responsibility for my actions by placing the blame either on the physical and emotional trauma brought on by the accident, or on anyone else. I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not report the accident to the police immediately. ...

It has been seven years since my first election to the Senate. You and I share many memories -- some of them have been glorious, some have been very sad. The opportunity to work with you and serve Massachusetts has made my life worthwhile.

And so I ask you tonight, the people of Massachusetts, to think this through with me. In facing this decision (whether to resign), I seek your advice and opinion. In making it, I seek your prayers -- for this is a decision that I will have finally to make on my own.

-- Statement to the People of Massachusetts on Chappaquiddick, July 25, 1969.

The great adventures which our opponents offer is a voyage into the past. Progress is our heritage, not theirs. What is right for us as Democrats is also the right way for Democrats to win.

The commitment I seek is not to outworn views but to old values that will never wear out. Programs may sometimes become obsolete, but the ideal of fairness always endures. Circumstances may change, but the work of compassion must continue. It is surely correct that we cannot solve problems by throwing money at them, but it is also correct that we dare not throw out our national problems onto a scrap heap of inattention and indifference. The poor may be out of political fashion, but they are not without human needs. The middle class may be angry, but they have not lost the dream that all Americans can advance together.

The demand of our people in 1980 is not for smaller government or bigger government but for better government. Some say that government is always bad and that spending for basic social programs is the root of our economic evils. But we reply: The present inflation and recession cost our economy 200 billion dollars a year. We reply: Inflation and unemployment are the biggest spenders of all.

-- Address to the Democratic National Convention, August 1980.

I was down at the White House this afternoon with some suggestions for the State of the Union address, but all I got from him was, "Are you still using that greasy kid stuff on your hair?"

-- Joking about his relationship with President John F. Kennedy shortly after joining the Senate.

Anti-choice (and nutty) Michele Bachmann (R-MN): No government control over my body!

This is too good. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), an anti-choicer who wants to give eggs rights, was on Sean Hannity's radio show last week talking about health care reform. Check it out:

"That's why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress," said Bachmann, "and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions."

Ahem.

Workshop on Diversity in Law School Leadership

Dear Colleagues: On September 25-26, 2009, Seattle University School of Law, through its Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT), will hold the 2nd Biennial Workshop on Promoting Diversity in Law School Leadership. The Workshop will be of particular interest to those who are considering seeking a deanship or other leadership positions within the legal academy. The program is designed to assist you in: • Determining whether you want to be a dean and finding the right time and place to pursue a deanship; • Understanding the nuts and bolts of the dean's role; • Preparing yourself to be a successful dean candidate; • Learning how to negotiate the terms of your appointment and ensure a successful transition to the decanal role; and • Determining what other forms of university and law school leadership roles may be right for you. The Workshop may also be of interest to those on search committees involved in active searches to fill decanal positions. You’ll find a draft of the workshop schedule below, and registration, hotel, and other information may be accessed through the following link: http://www.law.seattleu.edu/Centers_and_Institutes/Korematsu_Center/Deanship_Workshop.xml We hope you will join us for this highly interactive and engaging two-day workshop. *** Some scholarships are available to support attendance at the workshop. Requests for support should be submitted to Robert Chang, [email protected]; (t) 206.398.4025; (f) 206.398.4036 ***Please note that the deadline to get the discounted rate at the conference hotel is August 24. Best, Tayyab Tayyab Mahmud, Ph.D., J.D. Professor of Law Director, Center for Global Justice SEATTLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 901 12th Avenue, Sullivan Hall PO Box 222000 Seattle, WA 98122-1090 Tel: 206-398-4148 Fax: 206-398-4036 E-mail: [email protected] Publications available at: http://ssrn.com/author=796854

JOBS: U. Wyoming criminal prosecution clinic

 

 

The University of Wyoming College of Law invites applications for two full-time faculty positions. The positions will be tenured or tenure-track with duties commencing in the fall of 2010. One position will split duties between directing the College's criminal prosecution clinic and teaching in one or more areas of distinction. With respect to this position, the College is particularly interested in faculty members anchored in criminal practice, trial and appellate advocacy and skills courses. We welcome applications from entry-level and experienced clinicians and teachers. The other position is contemplated at a senior, endowed chair level. Curricular interests for this position are flexible. Candidates must have excellent academic credentials and demonstrate the potential for outstanding teaching and scholarship (or in the case of senior-level positions, a demonstrated record of outstanding teaching and scholarship). We encourage applications from candidates who would enhance the diversity of our faculty. Contact: Professor James Delaney, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, University of Wyoming College of Law, Dept. 3035, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071 ([email protected]).

Iowa law school accused of age discrimination in faculty hiring

Leigh Jones August 20, 2009

A Michigan attorney has hit the University of Iowa College of Law with a discrimination lawsuit charging that the school passed him over for a faculty job in favor of younger contenders. Filed in the U.S. District Court in Davenport, Iowa, the lawsuit alleges that although the chairman of the school's faculty appointments committee told plaintiff Donald Dobkin that he had an impressive academic and professional record, the school did not grant him an interview. Instead, Dobkin asserts, it offered the job to two other candidates, both under 40 and both less qualified. Dobkin was 55 when he applied for the job in August 2008. The lawsuit alleges that the school has not hired any professors under age 40 in 10 years.

.....................read the whole article here

His attorney, Stephen T. Fieweger of Katz, Huntoon & Fieweger in Moline, Ill., said that Dobkin's situation was "endemic" to law schools, which he said traditionally favor younger scholars over seasoned practitioners in their hiring processes. "Who would you rather have teaching future lawyers?" he said.

CLINICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE - new papers

Table of Contents Ten Years of Academic Clinics in Poland: Achievements and Challenges Jacek Kowalewski, Warsaw University - Faculty of Law and Public Administration Public Interest Litigation: Insights from Theory and Practice Scott Cummings, University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law Deborah Rhode, Stanford Law School Of Victims, Villains and Fairy Godmothers: Regnant Tales of Predatory Lending Carolyn Grose, William Mitchell College of Law The Clinical Year Stephen Ellmann, New York Law School ABSTRACTS AFTER THE   JUMP

L.A. Times: UCI Law has status, not tradition

By Mike Anton

August 21, 2009

In a challenging fundraising climate, the first new public law school in California in more than a generation begins classes Monday at UC Irvine with 61 top-flight students, a highly regarded faculty and the goal of becoming a model for an innovative legal education emphasizing hands-on experience and public service.

It has been less than two years since the school's founding dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, was hired, fired and rehired by UCI Chancellor Michael Drake during a weeklong fiasco that focused attention on Chemerinsky's outspoken liberal politics and whether conservative critics had quietly lobbied for his ouster. The resulting national uproar over the sanctity of academic freedom threatened to derail the law school.

Today, the episode seems relegated to the distant past as the school receives high marks even before its doors open. It also fulfills a decades-long dream of Orange County's legal and business leaders -- notably Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren, a major donor -- for a public law school at UCI.

Brian Leiter, a University of Chicago law professor and author of an influential blog on legal education, said that, based on the quality of its faculty and the entrance exam scores of its first class, UCI should be ranked among the nation's top 20 law schools, status that typically takes a new school decades to achieve.

"It's quite unusual. But this is an unusual situation," Leiter said. "This is the University of California, after all, which is a big selling point. They've recruited the right kind of people from the right kind of places. And the fact that someone of Erwin's stature is the dean obviously helps."

So does free tuition.

With a $20-million donation from Bren, UCI was able to provide full scholarships to its entire inaugural class. The offer led to a flood of applicants -- unusual for an untested school in a profession in which pedigree counts. That allowed UCI to be highly selective in admissions, further burnishing its image. At roughly $100,000 per student, the scholarships amounted to a $6-million gamble that paid off, Leiter said.

"What first caught my attention was the free tuition," said Adam Brauner, 23, an Alaska native who applied to UCI after he was already accepted by several law schools, including Columbia, New York University, UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago.

Brauner's parents paid his way through Georgetown University, where he earned an economics degree. Law school, however, would be coming out of his pocket. Although he is unsure what kind of legal career he wants, Brauner knows that not having huge student loans to repay will give him a freedom of choice few law school graduates can afford.

Still, the free tuition wasn't the deciding factor, he said. Most important was the unheard-of three-to-one student-faculty ratio that the inaugural class will enjoy and the chance to shape the school's future through such things as the establishment of its first law journal.

"It's a lot of responsibility for the first class. It's intimidating," he said. "But it's comfortable, too, because we know the faculty is going to go for it -- they have their reputations on the line. The incentives are aligned for everyone to give 150% and make this a success."

In all, the school has raised $27 million, including $2 million for an environmental law clinic from a donor who asked to remain anonymous. The goal is for the school to grow to 600 students and be self-supported by tuition. But until that happens, millions more will need to be raised amid the deepest recession in decades.

"The economy is the question mark over the whole enterprise," said Leiter, who said he believes that job cuts at law firms nationwide may lead to some law schools closing. "There's nothing certain here."

That is, nothing except the direction Chemerinsky intends to take UCI's school.

"The traditional model of law schools is to teach students how to think like lawyers. They do a terrific job of teaching how to read cases and form legal arguments," Chemerinsky said. "But they don't do a good job teaching how graduates will use that thinking in an actual legal practice. We want to teach the theory of law as well as the craft."

When he graduated from law school in 1978, Chemerinsky was confident that his diploma would open the door to nearly any opportunity. He was equally certain he hadn't received a good legal education.

That the school was Harvard might surprise some. That the candid constitutional scholar and civil rights attorney would ruffle the ivy on the nation's oldest law school should come as no surprise.

"The law faculty wanted the best students they could get and then have nothing to do with them after they arrived," said Chemerinsky, a professor at USC Law School for 21 years before moving to Duke University in 2004. "Teaching is the most important thing we do."

Like other law schools, UCI will teach contracts and torts. But first-year students will be required to put these lessons into practice by doing intake interviews for the Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the local public defender's office.

"I've always wanted to pursue social justice and public service," said Acrivi Coromelas, 27, who worked as a high school English teacher before being accepted at UCI. "One of the focal points of the school will be how to create a more just society by becoming a lawyer. . . . And the very hands-on experience they will provide meets my goals."

Students will also be required to take a course on what to expect from the legal profession: the psychology and sociology of attorneys and how the economics of billable hours at law firms shapes one's career. There is also a required course on nuts-and-bolts investigation and interview techniques, skills most newly minted attorneys learn on the job.

"It's a common complaint that we get in the legal profession that new graduates get book learning but don't know where the courthouse is," said U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Guilford.

The Orange County jurist, a Republican appointee of then-President George W. Bush, is among those who have worked for years to start a law school at UCI. Despite their ideological differences, Guilford has been a steadfast supporter of Chemerinsky, who in 2005 was named one of the top "legal thinkers in America" by Legal Affairs magazine.

Both share working-class backgrounds, and for both, education was paramount. Guilford, a bus driver's son, graduated from UCLA; Chemerinsky grew up on Chicago's South Side, where his father was an auto mechanic and later managed a home improvement store.

"Even before we're out of the chute, UCI is breaking into the list of prestigious schools. . . . That's due to the great work of our dean and his reputation," Guilford said. "He's starting out without the restraints of 100 years of tradition. He can create something entirely new."

The opportunity to be a pioneer enticed many of the new faculty and administrators to leave established careers at other law schools and come to UCI.

"Traditions are lovely things, but a lot of traditions get in the way of change," said Charles Cannon, assistant dean of development and external affairs, who jumped from UCLA Law School, where he held the same position. "My profile is the same as all of us who came here. . . . The chance to do something different at an elite institution. . . . It's only going to happen once in our lifetimes."

[email protected]

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

An Unfit Judge

 

August 21, 2009

Editorial

 

Judge Sharon Keller, the Texas appellate court judge who closed the clerk’s office before a death row inmate could file a last-minute appeal, is fighting to keep her job. At a hearing on Wednesday, she said in a crowded courtroom that if she had it to do again, she would do the same thing. That testimony is further proof of why Judge Keller needs to be removed from the bench.

On Sept. 25, 2007, Michael Richard’s lawyers called the court clerk’s office to say they were running late in delivering the papers for his appeal. The Supreme Court had unexpectedly issued an order in another death penalty case that they believed provided grounds for putting off his execution. When the request to keep the office open reached Judge Keller, she insisted it would close promptly at 5 p.m. The appeal was not filed, and Mr. Richard was executed hours later.

Judge Keller is now facing five counts of judicial misconduct and a possible recommendation that the state judicial system remove her from the bench.

In court this week, Judge Keller lashed out at the condemned man’s lawyers, blaming them for the controversy. She argued that Mr. Richard could still have filed his appeal by seeking out another judge, but that misses the point. She did not follow appropriate procedures. And clearly, under any interpretation of the rules, given that a life lay in the balance, the clerk’s office should have stayed open.

Judge Keller’s profound lack of appreciation for the seriousness of taking a life — and the obligations it places on the state — is similar to the disturbing dissent that Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas delivered this week in the Troy Davis case. They suggested there was no constitutional problem with executing a man who could prove he was innocent.

We believe the death penalty is in all cases wrong. But people who support it should still insist that it be carried out only after a prisoner has been given every reasonable chance to make his case. Judge Keller’s callous indifference in a case where the stakes could not have been higher makes her unfit for office.

William Pincus Award Nominations

 

The Awards Committee for the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education is now accepting nominations through 12:00 p.m. EST, Friday, October 16, 2009, for the 2009 William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Clinical Legal Education. The Award, which the Section presents at the January AALS annual meeting, honors one or more individuals or institutions of clinical legal education for his/her/their/its (1) service, (2) scholarship, (3) program design and implementation, or (4) other activity beneficial to clinical education or to the advancement of justice.

Is Your School on the List (and if not, should it be?)

Hello all,

Several weeks ago there was a discussion thread that listed institutions requiring either a clinic or pro bono service as a requirement for graduation.  I too have been actively compiling a similar list (attached) of schools and programs for inclusion on the Center for Excellence in Law Teaching's (CELT) website which will be soon released by Albany Law School.  While I have excluded foreign law schools, I believe that I have included details on a few more programs than were mentioned previously.

My goal is to provide an accurate and comprehensive resource for information on experiential programs at U.S. law schools. Please check to see if your school has been included on this list.  I would greatly appreciate any additions that could be provided.

 

Download Law School Experiential Requirements

Sincerely,

Justin Myers, Esq.

Special Assistant for
Academic Instruction and Research

Albany Law School

80 New Scotland Ave.

Albany, NY 12208

Save the date! Northern California Clinicians' Conference - 2/27

Save the date!  The Northern California Clinicians' Conference will be held at UC Hastings College of the Law on Saturday, February 27, 2010.

Registration will be available soon. Once registration is open, we will let you know via the listserve. Should you have any questions, please contact Gail Silverstein at [email protected]. 

JOBS: Case Western Reserve

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center invites applications from entry-level and lateral candidates for at least one tenure-track or tenured faculty position teaching in the Civil Litigation and Mediation Clinic beginning in the 2010-2011 academic year.

 For tenure-track candidates, we seek individuals with distinguished academic records and at least 3 years of relevant practice experience (which can include practice in a clinical setting).  The successful candidate preferably will have two years of teaching experience, as well as a strong commitment to clinical legal education and teaching.  Areas of focus for this clinic will be defined, in part, by the interest of faculty joining our program.  To be eligible for a tenured appointment, the candidate must have prior law school teaching experience and a distinguished record of scholarship and contributions to the profession consistent with the law school's established guidelines for tenure. 

The Milton A. Kramer Law clinic Center currently includes the Civil Litigation and Mediation Clinic, Community Development Clinic, Criminal Justice Clinic and Health Law Clinic.  The Clinic Center has eight faculty who co-teach in teams of two.  Case Western Reserve University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and encourages nominations of and applications from women and minority candidates.  Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter to Professor Michael Scharf, Chair of Appointments Committee, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106.

 Laura E. McNally - Associate Professor of Law  Health Law Clinic

Call for Papers, Panels, and Presentations -- Global Legal Skills Conference V in Monterrey, Mexico!

Legal Writing Prof Blog

The fifth Global Legal Skills Conference will be held in Monterrey, Mexico on February 25-27, 2010 at the Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey.  This is most important conference for law professors and others concerned about international legal education, and especially Legal English and skills education.

The Call for Papers, Panels, and Presentations is now open.  Proposals are being accepted until September 25, 2009. 

You can click here to see a seven-minute video about the conference (and why you should attend).

In addition to the regular program, a Spanish-language track of programming will be available for professors, lawyers, and law students.  (If you speak Spanish as a second language, this is also a good opportunity for you to come and improve your Legal Spanish.)

The conference will be amazing.  Don't miss it.

learning names

Legal Writing Prof Blog

learning names

The fall semester is beginning, and if you're like me, you are getting ready to meet a lot of new students. The experts tell us that learning our students' names is one of the best ways to improve faculty-student and student-student interactions. How do you learn names? Here are some suggestions:

• Does your school produce a facebook (the old-fashioned kind, a pamphlet with pictures of members of the incoming class)? Photocopy the pictures of the students you will be teaching and tape them on your seating chart beside their names.
• Maybe your school has a Facebook (the new-fashioned kind), whether generated by the school itself or by the students. If you aren't afraid to read the students' comments, join the group, and get to know them. (For example, you might be able to disabuse them of the notion that not having a class until 10 a.m. Wednesday does not mean that it's okay to go drinking on Tuesday night.)
• Bring a fistful of markers to class, and distribute a sheet of cardstock to each student. Instruct students to fold the cardstock in half lengthwise, making a nameplate. Pass the markers around and ask students to write their names--large and legible. Mine have liked this idea so much they've taken their nameplates to other classes.
• Call roll the first day and ask every student (yes, even those named Smith) to pronounce his or her name (this keeps students with unusual names from feeling they are singled out). Write your own phonetic transcription for the non-Smith names on your roster.
• Devise some classroom games to break the ice and get students (and the professor) to interview each other. For example, create a "scavenger hunt" sheet that asks for not-very-private information such as "Enjoys riding bicycles," "Wore braces in the 5th grade," "Speaks French fluently," "Has bungeed-jumped and lived to tell about it." Fill up the sheet with these traits and activities (including something about yourself that students would not easily guess), give a copy to each student, and give them 10 minutes to interview and find people to match to each category.
• In a smaller class, put students in pairs or triads, and give them five minutes to talk and develop an introduction of their teammates, which they will then present to the class.
• After 2-3 days of class, test your memory of their names--out loud, in the room. "Mr. Fields? Am I right? And next to you, that's Ms. Warrick?" Yes, you are putting yourself on the spot, but you are also connecting with them. If you miss a name, ask classmates to give you a hint.
• Ask students to fill out a questionnaire the first day, and ask them to include something they really want you to know about them. When you're holding your first conference with a student, review his or her questionnaire and find a way to refer to that tidbit.

What are your favorite ways to learn students' names? Tell us in the comments.

(cmb)

Clinical Writers and Clinical Design Workshops

Dear Colleagues:

You are invited to participate in the Clinical Writers and Clinical Design Workshops that will precede this fall's Midwest Clinical Law Teachers Conference.  The Clinical Writers Workshop will give clinicians with scholarly works-in-progress an opportunity to discuss their work and brainstorm ideas for further development with clinicians who are writing on related topics.  The Clinical Design Workshop will give clinicians who are developing new clinics, or substantially modifying existing ones, an opportunity to discuss their plans and brainstorm ideas with other clinicians who are engaged in the clinical design process.  These workshops will be held from 2-5 PM on Friday, October 9, 2009 at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan.  Participation in these workshops is included in the registration fee for the Midwest Clinical Law Teachers Conference.  The Conference itself will begin at 5:30 PM that same day, and will continue through the morning of Sunday, October 11.

Clinical law teachers who wish to participate in one of these workshops should register for the Conference and send a one-page description of their work-in-progress to David Moss ([email protected]) by Friday, September 4, 2009.  The Conference registration form is available online at http://law.wayne.edu/pdf/onebookonecommunity.pdf.  Workshop participants will be placed in small groups of approximately four clinicians, with an experienced clinical professor to facilitate discussion and generate additional ideas.  Participants will be expected to submit a more detailed description or draft of their work-in-progress by Friday, October 2, 2009, and to read their colleagues' works-in-progress prior to attending the Conference.  If you have questions, or want additional information regarding these workshops, contact David Moss ([email protected].)

 

Regards, 

 

David Moss

Director of Clinical Education

Wayne State University Law School

471 West Palmer Street

Detroit, MI 48202

Phone:  313-577-3970

Fax:  313-577-9379

Email:  [email protected]

Call for Papers: Metaphor and Narrative

Fall 2010 < J. ALWD (Vol. 7) < Metaphor & Narrative

 

The Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (J. ALWD) invites

submission of articles for its Fall 2010 Metaphor & Narrative issue. In this

issue, J. ALWD plans to publish articles examining the use of metaphor and

narrative in all aspects of legal persuasion and argumentation, with a

particular emphasis on the interpretation and composition of legal texts. In

other words, we are looking for (1) articles that discuss the effects on the

law-making process of metaphoric concepts (for example, frameworks, models,

images, symbols) and narrative elements (plot, character, conflict, setting,

and so on) and (2) articles that propose effective methods for lawyers and

judges to use these processes to persuade and to reach understanding.

Questions about potential articles are welcome and should be directed to

[email protected].

 

The deadline for submission of articles for the Fall 2010 issue is September

15, 2009. Article selection will be completed by November 15, 2009. The

Journal is published annually, thanks to the support of West, which prints

the Journal, and ALWD, which distributes the Journal by mail to some 3,500

practicing lawyers and judges; law school libraries, deans, and professors;

and others interested in the field of legal writing. The Journal is

currently available electronically on the ALWD website

(http://www.alwd.org/jalwd.html), Westlaw, SSRN, HeinOnLine, and H.W. Wilson

Company, and will be available soon through several additional electronic

sources.

 

There is a little give in the September 15 deadline; please contact one of

us for information if you think you will need a short extension.

Linda Berger & Ian Gallacher

Co-Editors

 

Linda L. Berger

Professor of Law

Mercer University School of Law

1021 Georgia Ave.

Macon, GA 31207

[email protected]

478-301-2191

 

Ian Gallacher

Associate Professor of Law

Director, Legal Communication and Research

Syracuse University College of Law

Syracuse, NY 13244

(315) 443-4105

[email protected]

CLEA Newsletter Time Again -- Submit your news!

As a new school year approaches, it is time to submit information for the CLEA Newsletter.  The first issue of the CLEA Newsletter for this academic school year will be published in mid-September. The deadline for receipt of items to be included in this issue is September 9.  This would be an opportune time to introduce new clinicians or new clinical programs/projects at your school.  However, all information of interest to CLEA members and the clinical community is welcome including, but not limited to:

 

*     Conference or Workshop Announcements

 

*     Committee Reports, projects and activities

 

*     Reports of significant activities, news and accomplishments from individual clinical programs

 

*     Honors, Awards, Promotions or moves to new schools

 

*     Recent Publications

 

*     Any other news and information of interest to clinicians, including photographs

 

*     Position announcements [However, as previously announced, you may also post position announcements on the CLEA Website, http://www.cleaweb.org. You may also continue to submit job listings to me if you wish them to be included in the CLEA Newsletter.  The CLEA Newsletter is now only published in an electronic format and posted on     the CLEA Website].

 

  Information to be included in the Newsletter may be emailed, faxed or mailed to me at the contact information below. Thanks for your assistance. 

-Larry

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
[email protected]

Washington Post: try this on students who doubt role plays

Thanks to Vanessa Merton for this article on the utility of role-plays:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081602250.html?sid=ST2009081602301

For Security Trainees, a Threat Theater

For the actors, it's a living. For the officers, it's a test of nerve.

Video

Threat Theater: Acting Crazy to Protect President Obama and Other VIPs

Psychotherapist Barry Spodak loves to act. He creates schizophrenic, bipolar and paranoid characters to help law enforcement agents assess threats on the lives of presidents, supreme court justices and other VIPs.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

By Laura Blumenfeld

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 17, 2009

Five minutes before his job interview, John Fisher parks at Ace Fire Extinguisher Services in College Park, his window open and his stomach jumpy. He is nibbling on spoonfuls of cottage cheese when shouts erupt from the car next to his.

Fisher believes what he is seeing is real.

"Gun! He has a gun!" a man with a Secret Service earpiece yells, riffling through the glove compartment.

"It's my brother's gun!" a man in a black ski cap growls. "I didn't know I had a gun!"

Fisher's eyes pop. He slides down in his seat, cranking his window closed.

"Hands behind your back," says the man from the Secret Service, ratcheting his handcuffs.

"Man," says Fisher, wiping a spray of white flecks from his chin. He crosses the street to his job interview. "Did I pull up to the wrong spot."

Unwittingly, Fisher had driven into the climactic scene in a secret world of shadow theatrics. The man in the ski cap is a stage actor; the agent with the earpiece is a Secret Service recruit.

Every day, as Washingtonians go about their overt lives, the FBI, CIA, Capitol Police, Secret Service and U.S. Marshals Service stage covert dramas in and around the capital where they train. Officials say the scenarios help agents and officers integrate the intellectual, physical and emotional aspects of classroom instruction. Most exercises are performed inside restricted compounds. But they also unfold in public parks, suburban golf clubs and downtown transit stations.

Curtain up on threat theater -- a growing, clandestine art form. Joseph Persichini, Jr., assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, says, "What better way to adapt agents or analysts to cultural idiosyncrasies than role play?"

For the public, there are rare, startling peeks: At a Holiday Inn, a boy in water wings steps out of his seventh floor room into a stampede of federal agents; at a Bowie retirement home, an elderly woman panics as a role-player collapses, believing his seizure is real; at a county museum, a father sweeps his daughter into his arms, running for the exit, while a raving, bearded man resists arrest.

"The goal is to make the training realistic and relevant," CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf says.

read the rest here

JOBS: Fellow at Fordham

CLINICAL TEACHING FELLOWSHIP
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS PROGRAM

Fordham Law is accepting applications for a Clinical Teaching Fellow to work closely with Professor Beth Schwartz, Director of Professional Skills, to improve the coordination and integration of our program of experiential education with the larger curriculum.  Our Law School is committed to educating the "complete lawyer," offering a wide variety of courses in which students learn practical and professional skills, including our nationally recognized Clinical Education Program, an extensive Externship (field placement) Program, and a diverse array of simulation and other skills oriented courses as well as rich extra curricular opportunities for developing lawyering skills, such as Moot Court, the Dispute Resolution Society, and the Brendan Moore Trial Advocates and through a number of student-run organizations operating within Fordham’s outstanding Public Interest Resource Center.   

The Fellow’s primary areas of responsibility will include coordination of the Externship Program,
with the opportunity to teach a seminar in that area.  The Fellow also will work with our Fundamental
Lawyering Skills Program, in which students learn the skills of interviewing, client counseling, and
negotiation and will participate in broader planning and curricular development.

We seek an attorney with a minimum of three years of experience who is interested in pursuing a career in clinical teaching.  Experience with clinical legal education, as a student and/or teacher is highly desired, as is familiarity with public service and public interest legal practice
in New York.    

This is a two-year, full time, non-renewable faculty appointment.  The fellow will be eligible for
research support, and other career development opportunities.   

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.   

Please send your resume and a letter of interest to:

Ms. Gayleem J. Aguilar
Legal Assistant
Fordham University School of Law
Clinical Education Program
33 W. 60th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10023
(212) 636-6342

JOBS: LSU

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER seeks to hire faculty members to teach in the LSU Law Clinic. 

Clinical areas of particular interest to us are juvenile justice and general civil practice,
but we welcome applications from clinicians interested in other practice areas. 
The Law Center particularly welcomes applications from candidates who will enhance the diversity of
its faculty.  Applicants should have superior academic credentials and publications or promise of productivity
 in scholarship. 

Contact:  William R. Corbett, Chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee, LSU Law Center,
 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. 

The LSU Law Center is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer.

Robert Lancaster
Director of Clinical Programs and
J. Noland and Janice D. Singletary Professor of Professional Practice at the
Louisiana State University Law Center, and
Secretary, Board of Governors of the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT)
Visit LSU Law Center at: http://www.law.lsu.edu/
Visit SALT at: http://www.saltlaw.org/

LSU LAW CLINIC
PO Box 25080
Baton Rouge, LA 70894
225-578-8262
225-578-6018 (Fax)

Pro Bono in Professional Schools

I’m passing along the Taproot Foundation’s newly published white paper entitled Pro Bono: An Emerging Trend in American Professional Schools

 The paper demonstrates a growing interest in cultivating a pro bono ethic within professional schools by exploring the origin and evolution of this ethic, highlighting case studies and best practices, studying roles and dynamics of students and faculty, and discussing opportunities to allocate greater resources toward future initiatives.

 I encourage you to share it with your colleagues at other professional schools who may be interested.  Also, they may be coming to you for guidance on developing pro bono/public service programs.  You may also find it helpful for generating ideas about collaborative multi-disciplinary clinics and other public service projects.    

 Melanie Kushnir

Assistant Staff Counsel

ABA Center for Pro Bono

 T:  (312) 988-5775 F:  (312) 988-5483

[email protected]

www.abaprobono.org

JOBS: Two at Touro

Job Announcement

Director, Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic

 

The Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center of Touro College seeks applicants for the position of Director of a new Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic which will open in the Spring 2010 semester.  The position will start during the Fall 2009 semester to permit the Director to plan and establish the Clinic’s operation.  The position is a Clinical Faculty appointment on an initial renewable annual contract. The position is funded for two years, with continuation dependant upon renewed funding. 

 

The Mortgage Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Clinic will represent Long Island clients seeking bankruptcy protection and low to moderate income clients seeking to save a home from foreclosure.  The Clinic Director will supervise up to ten (10) students each semester who will represent clients in these cases and in negotiations with  lenders before the commencement of foreclosure proceedings.  The Director will also teach a weekly seminar  and may also teach an additional substantive course, available to all students, on Mortgages or Bankruptcy.  The seminar will focus on the substantive law and procedures entailed in the clinic’s work and the lawyering skills needed to successfully represent clients in these matters.  

Additional responsibilities may include:

• Providing instruction and guidance on ethical and professional standards for law practice
• Developing the syllabus and teaching materials for the weekly seminar with the assistance of the Director of the Clinics
• Developing cooperative relationships with community agencies and the pro bono programs of the local bar associations
• Community education in areas of the Clinic’s activities
• Developing and participating in CLE programs
• Coordinating with agencies in Touro’s Public Advocacy Center, a cooperative project with 13 pro bono organizations, housed at the Law Center

 

Minimum qualifications include a J.D. or L.L.M. from an accredited law school, admission to the New York State Bar or eligibility for admission, at least 5 years experience in bankruptcy practice or law practice related to mortgages or real estate financing, and interest in teaching and mentoring students.  The ideal candidate will have experience in clinical teaching or supervising lawyers and involvement in community education.  Salary is commensurate with experience. 

 

To apply send a cover letter, resume, writing sample and the names of 3 references to:

Prof. Marianne Artusio  at [email protected] or

Prof. Marianne Artusio

Office of Clinical Programs

Touro Law Center

225 Eastview Drive

Central Islip, New York 11722

 

Electronic submission is preferred.  Potential candidates with questions regarding the position itself, their qualifications, or any related matter are encouraged to contact Prof. Marianne Artusio, at [email protected] or 631-761-7090.

Job Announcement

Director, Veterans and Servicemembers Rights Clinic

 

The Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center of Touro College seeks applicants for the position of Director of a new Veterans and Servicemembers Rights Clinic, which will open in the Spring 2010 semester.  The position will start during the Fall 2009 semester to permit the Director to plan the Clinic’s operation.  The position is a Clinical Faculty appointment on an initial renewable annual contract. The position is funded for two years, with continuation dependant upon renewed funding. 

 

The Veterans and Servicemembers Rights Clinic will represent veterans and servicemembers in civil claims such as regaining employment after deployment under the Uniformed Service Members Employment and Re-employment Act (USERA), obtaining relief available to civil defendants under the Servicemembers Relief Act (SMRA), expunging criminal records, housing and employment discrimination, obtaining accommodation for disabilities under federal and state laws, military discharge review and upgrade proceedings and representing veterans in minor criminal matters. 

 

The Clinic Director will supervise up to ten (10) students, teach a weekly clinic seminar  and may also teach an additional substantive course, available to all students. The seminar will focus on the substantive law and procedures involved in the clinic’s work and the lawyering skills needed to successfully represent clients in these matters.  

 

Additional responsibilities will include:

• Providing instruction and guidance on ethical and professional standards for law practice
• Developing the syllabus and teaching materials for the weekly seminar with the assistance of the Director of the Clinics
• Developing cooperative relationships with community agencies, veterans organizations and the pro bono programs of the local bar associations
• Community education in areas of the Clinic’s activities
• Developing and participating in CLE programs
• Coordinating with agencies in Touro’s Public Advocacy Center, a cooperative project with 13 pro bono organizations, housed at the Law Center

 

Minimum qualifications include a J.D. or L.L.M. from an accredited law school, admission to the New York State Bar or eligibility for admission, at least 5 years law practice experience preferably on behalf of veterans or servicemembers, and interest in teaching and mentoring students.  The ideal candidate will have experience in clinical teaching or supervising lawyers and involvement in community education.  Salary is commensurate with experience. 

 

To apply send a cover letter, resume, writing sample and the names of 3 references to:

Prof. Marianne Artusio  at [email protected] or

Prof. Marianne Artusio

Office of Clinical Programs

Touro Law Center

225 Eastview Drive

Central Islip, New York 11722

 

Electronic submission is preferred.  Potential candidates with questions regarding the position itself, their qualifications, or any related matter are encouraged to contact Prof. Marianne Artusio, at [email protected].

 

Touro Law Center is an equal opportunity employer.

Conference: Empirical research for clinicians

Penn Law and the AALS Committee on Lawyering in the Public Interest, Bellow Scholars Group Announce:

Empirical Research Workshop: Program (Tentative Schedule) INTRODUCTION TO EMPIRICAL RESEARCH University of Pennsylvania Law School Gittis Center for Clinical Legal Studies and The Association of American Law Schools, Bellow Scholars Group*

 October 2 & 3, 2009 Levy Conference Center Penn Law Philadelphia, PA.

MORE HERE

 

Warning to Students: Man Faces 6 Months in Jail for Courtroom Yawn

Drowsy spectators in one suburban Chicago courtroom might want to stifle their yawns from now on.

Clifton Williams, 33, of Richton Park, is facing six months in jail for making what court documents call a yawn-like sound in Will County Judge Daniel Rozak's court last month.

The yawn happened as Williams' cousin, Jason Mayfield, was being sentenced for a drug charge on July 23.

Rozak found Williams in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. However, Rozak could free Williams after a status hearing Thursday, if Williams apologizes and the judge accepts. By then, Williams will have served 21 days.

Witnesses disagree about whether Williams' yawn was out of line.

Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County state's attorney's office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom at the time told him that what came out of Williams' mouth could hardly be called a "yawn."

"This was a very loud, boisterous, deliberate attempt on the part of this individual to disrupt the proceedings and show disrespect to the court," Pelkie said. "It was not a guy who involuntarily yawned. This guy was making a statement -- a very loud statement -- in court."

Mayfield disagreed, saying it was "not an outrageous yawn." Williams has written his family to say that he can't believe he's in jail "for nothing."

A message left for Rozak Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Six months is the maximum sentence judges can give for criminal contempt without a jury trial.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

When Students Cry

Brian Taylor

 

Brian Taylor

By Kent Lehnhof

I suspect that most college professors, even those in the early stages of their careers, have caused at least a couple of students to cry. The thing is, we rarely see it when it happens. Our students sob late at night, when they reach the end of their ropes, or at the close of the semester, when they receive their final grades. On occasion, though, we witness the waterworks.

It's never fun.

My first time came as an A.B.D. instructor. I was teaching a large undergraduate course and had just returned term papers. A student came to me, upset that her final grade had dropped from an A- to a B+. Unsure of my own authority, I sought refuge in formality. "This kind of thing happens all the time," I told myself, "you've just got to play it out and get it over with." I dutifully assumed the role of the rigorous professor, holding fast to high academic standards, and relegated my student to the role of the grade-grubber, pampered by privilege and unable to accept her work for what it was. For 10 minutes, I moved us smoothly through the script, everything playing out pro forma.

Then her lower lip started trembling. That wasn't in the script. Neither were the body-racking sobs that came next. Not knowing what to do, I did nothing. I just waited in embarrassed silence, as if she were experiencing momentary stage fright and simply needed time to collect herself before we could continue our performance.

But the script had been blown up. Her raw emotion had exposed the artificiality of the little drama I'd been trying to direct. Those sobs were an eruption of humanity in what was supposed to be an impersonal interaction. They took us out of our assigned roles and compelled me to respond authentically instead of objectively.

In the end, I did not change her grade. But I did change my outlook. Subsequently, I made a concerted effort to care. Rather than hiding behind grading rubrics and course syllabi, I sought to deal with student concerns particularly and compassionately, trying to react in the way that would best promote the student's intellectual development.

A Gay Gatesgate? (tip of the nib to Above the Law for that one)

By Pepin Andrew Tuma

Sunday, August 9, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/  

Last month, I was arrested for criticizing the police and threatened for being gay. It happened not in China or Iran but right here in Northwest Washington.

The ensuing media attention has been disorienting and unsettling. Friends have counseled me to stay silent, fearing I will face retaliation. But my conscience requires me to speak out. Most victims of unconstitutional arrests are not lawyers (as I am) or respected Harvard professors (as Henry Louis Gates is). Their arrests don't attract our attention. They should.

The facts of my experience are shocking enough. I was walking with two friends, and we were -- ironically -- discussing the Gates arrest. We noted how so-called "disorderly conduct" arrests operate as a troubling pretext to arrest anyone police officers feel like arresting.

As if on cue, we walked past five or six Metropolitan Police Department cars engaged in what appeared to be a simple traffic stop.

Excessive law enforcement -- whether toward Gates or a citizen on U Street -- is one reason I am sometimes wary of police motives. I regret I took my conversation with my friends too far when I chanted, "I hate the police, I hate the police," loud enough for the officers to hear. In retrospect, this was neither respectful nor smart. But I never could have imagined the reaction it triggered.

 

One officer, who has been identified as James Culp, charged across the street, yelling, "Who do you think you are?" and "Who do you think you're talking to?" Within moments, he had shoved me against an electric utility box, handcuffed me and placed me under arrest, later charging me with disorderly conduct.

Then, as he led me to a cruiser, out of earshot of my friends, he added contemptuously: "Just shut up, faggot."

I am in fact a gay man. And because I have been involved in civil rights work, I know my rights, and I calmly asserted them. I asked why I was being detained. I explained that, as a lawyer, I knew it was not a crime to offer a public opinion about the police. But the troubling police conduct did not end there. Other officers have acted to bolster Culp's fabricated version of the incident. One of his superiors attempted to induce witnesses to attest that I resisted arrest when I had not. Another superior falsely wrote to Internal Affairs that I confirmed that Culp had advised me to move along before arresting me; he did not. It appears that officers simply lied over and over to cover up an unconstitutional arrest.

It is certainly Kafkaesque to be wrongfully arrested for disorderly conduct while discussing that very subject. Gates's arrest has touched off a debate about police misuse of disorderly conduct charges, an abuse that is particularly acute here. The city has a longstanding problem with police abuse of "disorderly conduct" arrests, and it knows it. A 2003 report concluded that the District's disorderly conduct arrest rate was two to four times the rate nationwide. In 2000 alone, D.C. police made 10,600 disorderly conduct arrests -- more than one in every five arrests made and nearly twice the number in the next largest category.

My behavior was juvenile, but nothing I did was illegal. I never cursed; no crowd of bystanders formed; I was not drunk. Because I am innocent, and importantly -- because I understand the legal system and can defend myself -- I am confident my name will be cleared and the charges dismissed.

But that's not really the point. The police, with the awesome power of the state behind them, have a duty not to overreact to people like me who act imprudently, even rudely, but are not breaking any law. Yet, that overreaction seems to occur in the District far too often.

I appreciate both Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier's quick decision to have the incident investigated and the work of the vast majority of city police officers who are committed to "protect and serve." But difficult questions persist: What if I weren't a white, gay, prosperous attorney? Would the media care about this? How many unjustified arrests go unwitnessed and unreported every week?

We needed to have this conversation about police culture long before Gates's arrest. We must agree to stop the routine, arbitrary misuse of police discretion and the invidious tendency among some officers to protect their own. From this conversation must come real legal and cultural change. With these issues at the heart of our constitutional freedom, it is a problem we cannot afford to ignore.

Editor's note: In response to a call from The Post, a police spokeswoman said that Pepin Tuma's complaint is being investigated and that she was unable to comment further.

Picking a Law School? There's an App for That

Choosing among law schools just got a little bit more convenient for any potential law student with an iPhone. There is now an iPhone application that ranks the 100 best law schools in the United States and provides capsule profiles of each of the ranked schools.

The app, the Law School 100, is from LawTV Inc., the same company that publishes The Law School 100 on the Web. (This is a company started by Stan Chess, the lawyer I once dubbed "the king of legal domains" for his extensive network of legal Web sites.)

The app includes every ABA-accredited law school, according to its description. The top 100 law schools are listed in their ranking order. The second 100 are listed in alphabetical order. For each school, the app includes:

• The school name (with the usage preferred by the school) and ranking.
• The mailing address, phone number, Web site and e-mail address.
• Accreditation status (full or provisional) and whether the school is public or private.
• Total numbers of students and faculty members.
• Annual tuition.
• Degrees offered.
• Religious affiliation, if any.

Even for aspiring law students, the app won't blow their budget. The cost is just 99 cents.

Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on August 10, 2009 at 03:15 PM 

Doug Kmiec: Ambassador to Malta

Kmiec Heading to Malta

With a unanimous Aug. 7 Senate confirmation vote behind him, conservative legal scholar Douglas Kmiec is now officially the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Malta. The prolific legal commentator and former Reagan Justice Department official will be on leave from his current teaching position at Pepperdine University School of Law.

Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean off the coast of Sicily whose official religion is Catholicism, is a good fit for the former dean of Catholic University School of Law and before that a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

But politically Kmiec might seem like an odd appointment in an Obama Administration -- except for the fact that he famously endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential campaign last year. As he said in an interview with BLT here last March, he reached the decision after "a long period of prayer and discernment." Even though Kmiec is a stong opponent of abortion, Kmiec said at the time he was impressed with Obama's openness to different points of view. Kmiec took a lot of heat from conservatives and Catholic officials for his support of Obama. 

"The confirmation process is long and thorough, as it must be," said Kmiec in a statement posted on the Pepperdine Web site. "Nevertheless, like any examination - and I have both taken and given more than my share - it is satisfying to have it concluded and concluded so well. I know in going to this ancient place of beauty and antiquity where there is history at every turn, that I will be representing the sovereignty of the United States. The fidelity one owes to country and countrymen make that humbling indeed. With the high esteem in which our president and secretary of state are held abroad, it is a particularly good moment to be taking up this responsibility. I embrace it."

With a unanimous Aug. 7 Senate confirmation vote behind him, conservative legal scholar Douglas Kmiec is now officially the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Malta. The prolific legal commentator and former Reagan Justice Department official will be on leave from his current teaching position at Pepperdine University School of Law.

Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean off the coast of Sicily whose official religion is Catholicism, is a good fit for the former dean of Catholic University School of Law and before that a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

But politically Kmiec might seem like an odd appointment in an Obama Administration -- except for the fact that he famously endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential campaign last year. As he said in an interview with BLT here last March, he reached the decision after "a long period of prayer and discernment." Even though Kmiec is a stong opponent of abortion, Kmiec said at the time he was impressed with Obama's openness to different points of view. Kmiec took a lot of heat from conservatives and Catholic officials for his support of Obama. 

"The confirmation process is long and thorough, as it must be," said Kmiec in a statement posted on the Pepperdine Web site. "Nevertheless, like any examination - and I have both taken and given more than my share - it is satisfying to have it concluded and concluded so well. I know in going to this ancient place of beauty and antiquity where there is history at every turn, that I will be representing the sovereignty of the United States. The fidelity one owes to country and countrymen make that humbling indeed. With the high esteem in which our president and secretary of state are held abroad, it is a particularly good moment to be taking up this responsibility. I embrace it."

Dean Rivkin on school exclusion

"Legal Advocacy and Education Reform: Litigating School Exclusion" 

Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 75, No. 265, 2008
NYLS Clinical Research Institute Paper No. 07/08-28
University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 68

DEAN HILL RIVKIN, University of Tennessee College of Law
Email: [email protected]

School exclusion has existed as a dark side of public education since the creation of America's public schools. Several cases in the United States Supreme Court memorably invalidated State and school system efforts to deny equal educational opportunities to marginalized school children and youth. In these cases, the over-riding multiple values of education were poignantly articulated in the majority decisions.

School exclusion has stubbornly persisted. It takes many forms. This article surveys the most prominent pathways to school exclusion, highlighting what has been called the "School-To-Prison-Pipeline." Various legal challenges are also evaluated. The pros and cons of litigating school exclusion cases are also assessed.

JOBS: Associate Dean for Skills Programs University of Alabama School of Law

 

The University of Alabama School of Law seeks candidates for the Associate Dean for Skills Programs, a tenure-track faculty position. Candidates must have a J.D. from an ABA accredited law school, possess an excellent academic record, and have experience teaching in a clinical program in an ABA accredited law school or substantial equivalent practice experience. Prior experience as a clinical program administrator is strongly preferred, but not required. The Associate Dean for Skills Programs directs all of the School of Law's clinical course offerings, works closely with the faculty members and staff who supervise the School of Law's various legal clinics, supervises and oversees certain non-clinical skills programs, such as the Legal Writing program, and reports administratively directly to the Dean of the Law School.

Alabama has made substantial progress under a Strategic Plan, building upon a tradition of academic excellence, and today ranks among the nation's strongest public institutions. Alabama has a strong commitment to clinical legal education including newly built dedicated space in a state-of-the art building that houses the Clinical Program's various programs and staff in an integrated space. Continued enhancement of the School of Law's clinical offerings and programs comprises part of the Strategic Plan. Clinical programs include the areas of criminal law, civil law, domestic violence law, mediation, elder law, capital defense and community development. The Law School also has a significant externship program. Alabama offers a creative, energetic person excellent opportunities to build upon and expand its clinical program offerings. Salary is competitive with excellent benefits and academic support. Initial academic rank will be determined by the applicant's background and qualifications. Candidates must either be licensed to practice in Alabama or become licensed as soon after accepting the position as is reasonably possible.

    Please send nominations or apply by sending a resume and references to Professor Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr., Faculty Appointments Committee Chair, Box 870382, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0382. Applications will be reviewed beginning September 1, 2009 and will continue until the position is filled.

The University of Alabama is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Women, people of color, veterans, persons with challenges (whether or not recognized under the ADA), and sexual minorities are encouraged to apply. Requests for reasonable accommodation during the application and/or interview process should be made to Assistant Dean Noah Funderburg, Box 870382, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0382, (205) 348-4508.

Writing good cover letters for your article submissions

Legal Writing Prof Blog

This one comes to us via our very good friend Raymond Ward at the (new) legal writer blog.  The original post is from Concurring Opinions which does a great job compiling advice from various academics as well as providing sample cover letters.  Among the advice is this:

Basics. Obviously, submissions must indicate author’s name and contact information (mailing address, phone, email) and article title. Unless submitted in an electronic format that transmits this information, the cover letter is the place.

Word Count. Many journals request stating the piece’s word count, including footnotes. In addition, many journals since 2005 have express word count limits or preferences, and request cover letter explanations for approaching or exceeding the guidance.

Brevity. Keep it short, usually a single page of three paragraphs, never more than two, and then only if justified by background research and context otherwise not evident from the piece.

Main Point. State the piece’s thesis, explain its uniqueness and importance.

Prior Work. Reference your prior works, when relevant, not necessarily journal prestige, although not holding this back when relevant. (Those without prior publications may need to explain a bit more why they are pursuing scholarship, perhaps even referencing relevant credentials.)

You. Mention brief biographical data only if relevant to the piece, such as your role in the relevant discourse (or the foregoing caveat for new scholars).

Style. The cover letter should be thoughtful and sober.  You can try to entertain, but beware that attempted humor can backfire. Above all, avoid gimmicks, including strong sales pitches, exaggerated statements of importance or things unrelated to the piece.

Read the rest of the original advice column here.

Poverty Law Syllabi

from Poverty Law by Ezra Rosser

This is another post to essentially migrate postings from the old blog to the new poverty law blog.  Below are poverty law syllabi that may be of use in preparation for next semester:

• My own syllabus for 2007 can be found  here, Law and Poverty Syllabus Fall 2009 _Rosser.
• Poverty Law Course Materials – University of St. Thomas and University of Minnesota Schools of Law; taught by Lawrence McDonough andMonica Bogucki, both of the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis.
  • NOTE: this is a VERY good, up-to-date, website and the course materials (which incorporate a “book club”) seem very interesting.
• UCLA Poverty Law and Social Welfare 2001, Syllabus Here.
• UCLA Law and the Poor, Spring 2003, Syllabus Here.
• University of Washington, Spring 2006, Syllabus Here; taught by Sara Ainsworth.
• Northeastern, Summer 2003, Syllabus Here; taught by Wally Holohan and Jim Rowan.

 

This is another post to essentially migrate postings from the old blog to the new poverty law blog.  Below are poverty law syllabi that may be of use in preparation for next semester:

• My own syllabus for 2007 can be found  here, Law and Poverty Syllabus Fall 2009 _Rosser.
• Poverty Law Course Materials – University of St. Thomas and University of Minnesota Schools of Law; taught by Lawrence McDonough andMonica Bogucki, both of the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis.
  • NOTE: this is a VERY good, up-to-date, website and the course materials (which incorporate a “book club”) seem very interesting.
• UCLA Poverty Law and Social Welfare 2001, Syllabus Here.
• UCLA Law and the Poor, Spring 2003, Syllabus Here.
• University of Washington, Spring 2006, Syllabus Here; taught by Sara Ainsworth.
• Northeastern, Summer 2003, Syllabus Here; taught by Wally Holohan and Jim Rowan.

 

LatCrit Conference - Washington, DC

The Fourteenth Annual LatCrit Conference will be held at American University Washington College of Law Oct. 1-4, 2009. The theme is Outsiders Inside: Critical Outsider Theory and Praxis in the Policymaking of the New American Regime.

The preliminary conference schedule has now been posted.

LatCrit/SALT Junior Faculty Development Workshop: The Seventh Annual Junior Faculty Development Workshop, sponsored jointly with the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT), will begin at 9:00 am, Thursday, Oct. 1, and continue through Friday morning.

The registration deadline is Sept. 14, 2009. (Registration is still possible after that, but rates are higher.)