Law School: Three Years Or Just Two?

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

5 Non-Obvious Things To Do When You Start Law School

 
In law school, time is your most precious commodity. It is hard enough to make time to exercise and stay in touch. And everyone has opinions on what you should and shouldn’t do. “Don’t write case briefs.” “Pre-write your exam answers.” “Attend review sessions.” It can be pretty overwhelming. Of course, most advice refers to what happens in the classroom. Unfortunately, it can be those surprises, like a laptop crashing or flu bug, that causes you to really fall behind.
Alison Monahan, founder of The Girl’s Guide to Law School, recently shared five areas where you can save time, money, and heartache. Here is her checklist:
1) Back Up Your Laptop: If your computer is corrupted, you could lose everything – outlines, notes, papers: you name it! Monahan suggests backing up your files on Dropbox, though she also copies her files to an external hard drive.
2) Compile Your Work History: Remember that summer when you waited tables at Red Lobster? Can you recall their address and phone number? And what was the name of your supervisor? Guess what: you’ll need to supply this information when you submit your bar application. Get it down now. If you can’t find some information, consider requesting your credit report.
3) Exercise Regularly: Sure, you can commit to running three miles a day. But who’s going to hold you to it? When it comes time to choose between hitting a book or a bag, you’ll probably choose school. Eventually, your health will suffer. That’s why you should enroll in a league or pay gym feels. The key is turning it into a routine, with a specific time and place.
4) Get Away From The Library Sometimes: Familiarity breeds contempt. It saps your spark. It leaves you blocked, sluggish, and bored. You need stimulation…and new surroundings can provide that. Monahan recommends a coffee house or another library, but even your kitchen table will do.
5) Don’t Sign Up For a Bar Class: You’re a first year. You don’t even know what you don’t know. And the bar is three years away. Focus on learning how to interpret and abridge first.
Source: Above The Law

7938512268_e0d7f86d0a_zLaw School Job Fallout Hits New Low Law

 
Rising costs and declining enrollments. No, law schools aren’t immune to the pressures buffeting most businesses. Like most organizations, they’re closely examining one line item to fix their financial shortfall: Professor salaries.
It has been a long time coming. Originally, law schools raised tuition to cover increasing demands and costs. According to the non-profit group Law School Transparency, tuition at private and public law schools have risen by 2.5 and 5.3 times over their 1985 costs, respectively. More recently, schools have addressed their dwindling coffers by lopping part-time faculty and support staff off the payroll. Now, deans realize that cutting fixed costs like full-time faculty must be included in any turnaround effort.
And why not? According to a 2012-2013 salary survey by the Society of American Law Teachers, median salaries for law professors at institutions like Rutgers University and The University of Iowa range from $180,000-$190,000. Of course, this equation neglects tenure. While tenure provides steady pay and protection from layoffs and retaliation, it also hinders schools from adjusting faculty size and compensation to tackle decreasing revenues.
Now, The American Bar Association is stepping into the mix. According to Fortune, the ABA has made two proposals that would change how tenure is defined:
“One version would allow schools to adopt their own policies to protect academic freedom while maintaining a “competent” full-time faculty. An alternative proposal allows schools to offer a less strict version of traditional academic tenure to full-timers.”
Of course, professors are only part of the problem. Kent Syverud, dean of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, recently noted to an ABA task force that deans should also be included in cost cutting, adding that “The whole problem of costs probably would go away tomorrow if our salaries were halved.” He may be right. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA) recently reported that the median salary for a law school dean is $294,100…with the dean of the New England Law School earning $867,000 annually according to The Boston Globe.
Of course, tenure itself is no danger. It will always be a carrot to attract and retain star educators. Still, it may be time to re-evaluate this sacred cow in light of changing conditions. In the words of James Moliterno, a Washington and Lee law professor and author of The American Legal Profession in Crisis, “We have to make law school economically feasible. The academic world is one of the last to adjust to market forces.”
Source: Fortune

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