The Latest Breaking News from Law School

UC Berkeley Law School to withdraw from U.S. News & World Report rankings

LOS ANGELES — The University of California, Berkeley Law School announced Thursday it would withdraw from U.S. News & World Report's closely watched evaluations of higher education institutions, saying the ratings' methodology penalizes schools that encourage public service and low costs.

Los Angeles Times · Nov 17, 2022

Some Thoughts on Elite-Law-School Bias in Clerkship Hiring

Does the bias exist? Is it a good thing? What does it mean for law students at lower-ranked schools? What does mean about me?

Reason · Nov 15, 2022

Kim Kardashian says she used Blac Chyna defamation trial to prepare for law school

The reality star passed the ‘baby bar’ law exam in December 2021

The Independent UK · Nov 10, 2022

David Lat on the Yale Law School Free Speech Issues (Including the Boycott)

David Lat (Original Jurisdiction) has a characteristically detailed and thoughtful article on the issue. The article links to Judge James Ho's article (based on his speech) in which he explains his thinking behind his boycott of clerk applicants from future Yale Law School classes; and it also links to Judge…

Reason · Oct 24, 2022

About That Yale Law School Statement on Its Commitment to Free Speech…

I was a bit perplexed that in defending YLS's commitment to free speech, Dean Gerken noted that "the faculty revised our disciplinary code and adopted a policy prohibiting surreptitious recordings that mirrors policies that the University of Chicago and other peer institutions have put in place to encourage the free…

Reason · Oct 17, 2022

Shifting the Hoverton Window

As a general matter, lawyers tend to be conservative. Not in the sense that they are right-of-center. Indeed, lawyers skew left. Rather, attorneys favor stability: support ideas they know, approved by people they trust, that are communicated through established channels. That preference for the status quo can be altered in…

Reason · Oct 13, 2022

A Paradoxical Defense of Berkeley Law School

Two 2019 alumni of Berkeley Law School, Nir Maoz and Olivia Wittels, are concerned that the recent attention given to the "no speakers who support Israel's existence" rule adopted by nine student groups at the law school is giving people a false impression of the school. Jewish and Zionist students…

Reason · Oct 13, 2022

Yale Law School Dean's "Message to Our Alumni on Free Speech"

Just released today: Dear members of our alumni community: Yale Law School is dedicated to building a vibrant intellectual environment where ideas flourish. To foster free speech and engagement, we emphasize the core values of professionalism, integrity, and respect. These foundational values guide everything we do. Over the last six…

Reason · Oct 12, 2022

Yale Law School, Judge Ho, Neutrals, and Secondary Boycotts

Even when there's good reason to criticize universities, we should keep the students out of our battles.

Reason · Oct 12, 2022

U.C. Berkeley School of Law Faculty Statement in Support of Jewish Law Students

Given David Bernstein's and my posts here on this controversy, I thought I'd pass along this statement from various UC Berkeley Law School faculty members, which was released late last week: We hereby endorse the principle of free and open speech at the law school. This includes the fundamental principle…

Reason · Oct 10, 2022