Category Archives: Legal Education

Nov 8
2014
3:36 PM

Bar passage rates down across the country

barpassage

While we are still awaiting results of the July 2014 California bar exam (due for release November 21, 2014), results from other states have been pouring in over the last several weeks and the numbers don’t look good. Passage rates are down by double digits in 4 states and by more than 5% in an additional 13. A Pepperdine law professor has examined a few of the possible causes, but the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) places the blame (PDF) squarely on poor bar taker performance.

[JML]

Apr 16
2014
9:00 AM
Feb 22
2014
11:06 AM

Have you ever had a law prof use TV or film to illustrate a concept? – News

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Image from Shutterstock.

On a recent snowy Friday when only five students could make it to class, Appalachian School of Law professor Paula Marie Young decided that she would screen a long excerpt from the the film The Negotiator.

“It illustrates so many concepts I discuss in my courses,” Young wrote at her blog, The Red Velvet Lawyer. Young teaches certified civil mediation and dispute resolution.
There’s also a TV series Young likes for this purpose: “I could create an entire course based on the negotiation tactics Francis Underwood uses in House of Cards,” she wrote in a short subsequent post. “My idea. Don’t steal it, please.”

Using a fictional dramas to teach law students isn’t unheard of: A William & Mary law professor created a textbook and class titled: The Wire: Crime, Law and Policy, based on the HBO television show. But how often is it really done?

So this week, we’d like to ask you: Have you ever had a law prof use TV or film to illustrate a concept? If so, which program or movie? If you have your own ideas about films or TV shows that lawyers or law students could learn a thing or two from, share that as well. (But be sensitive to your fellow readers—and moderators—and include spoiler warnings if you want to discuss the just-released season of House of Cards.)

via Have you ever had a law prof use TV or film to illustrate a concept? – News. (ABA Journal)

[JML]

Feb 11
2014
8:04 PM

ABA May Soon Allow Paid Student Externships

An ABA panel recommends that Interpretation 305-3 of ABA Standard 305 be revised to allow law students to receive both academic credit and financial compensation for internship and externship placements. The ABA Law Student Division has advocated on behalf of the change. The ABA’s Council of the Section on Legal Education will still have to vote to approve the change.
Source: ABA Moves Toward Allowing Paid Student Externships
[JML]