 PAPER CHASE / Law School News |
| JURIST >> PAPER CHASE >> Law School News |
| Law school and legal education news from JURIST's Paper Chase... |
Post-9/11 policy means fewer foreign law students Adam Henry Leading today's law school news, the Legal Intelligencer reports that post-9/11 changes in US immigration policy have caused a decline in the number of foreign applicants, and thus foreign matriculants, to many US law schools. The changes include a new requirement of FBI security approval for all student visa applications, regardless of their country of origin. Dean Robert Reinstein of Temple University's James E. Beasley School of Law decries the changes, arguing that the first-hand experiences of foreign LLM students who return to their home countries "produces tremendous good will for America." Read the Intelligencer's full story here. In other law school news, Yale Law School reports that Professor Lea Brilmayer testified Wednesday before a Senate Subcommittee hearing on same-sex marriage, called "Judicial Activism vs. Democracy: What Are the National Implications of the Massachusetts Goodridge Decision and the Judicial Invalidation of Traditional Marriage Laws?" In Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Court held that the denial of marriage benefits to same-sex couples violates the state constitution. And although the court affirmed its deference to the legislature on social issues and stayed its judgment to permit remedial legislative action, the court has nevertheless been charged by many opponents with unlawful judicial activism. Professor Brilmayer confined her testimony, available from Yale here [PDF], to the decision's choice-of-law ramifications. She concluded that under the Full Faith and Credit Clause and its jurisprudence, there is no need for a constitutional amendment to define marriage. Lastly today, a second item concerning the Bay State's courts. Harvard Law School's Record reports that trial has begun in the Cambridge District Court in a case initiated as a simple eviction action by two third-year students. Student-attorneys in Harvard's Legal Aid Bureau rarely see thier cases reach jury trials, but state law permits them to continue their advocacy in court so long as supervised by a licensed attorney. Student Susan Rohol raves about the "true ownership of the case" that the system has afforded her. Read the Record's full story here. 5:54 PM | | link to this post | latest Law School News
Report: race and gender affect law school experiences Adam Henry Leading today's law school news is a report on recent research by professors at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law indicating that race and gender significantly affect students' law school experiences. Professors Nancy Dowd and Kenneth Nunn surveyed students at their home law school and recently published their findings in an article [PDF] for the University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy. According to the title of the article, "Diversity Matters," but there persists an "inequality in educational experience of minorities and women in legal education." Results of the Florida study echo in part those of a Harvard study, reported earlier for Paper Chase, that indicate persistent gender disparities in classroom experiences. In other law school news, the LA Times reports today that Professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Catherine Fisk, spouses as well as colleagues at the University of Southern California Law School, are leaving USC to take faculty positions at the Duke University School of Law. Duke Dean Katharine Bartlett praises Chemerinsky as "a first-rate constitutional law scholar" and "highly visible public intellectual," and Fink as "an emerging leader in ... employment law." The Times has more on the scholars and their move here. Elsewhere, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports that students at the University of Connecticut School of Law are protesting proposed changes to first-year research and writing courses that could replace devoted writing instructors with professors from the "doctrinal faculty" who teach other courses. In a letter to the faculty, the school's Student Bar Association argues that the current division of responsibilities benefits both faculty and students, and a change could give doctrinal faculty members too great a responsibility over first-year grades. Read the Tribune's full report on the matter here. Finally, still more from the moot court front. Teams from the George Mason University School of Law swept first and second places in the 2004 National Security Law Moot Court Competition held last weekend. George Mason has more here. Meanwhile, a team from the Capital University Law School took home first place in the Mardi Gras Invitational National Sports Law Competition held earlier in February, for the school's second win in the past three tournaments. Capital has the full story here. Paper Chase's Law School News promises continued coverage from this front, as several major moot court competitions are still ongoing. 6:17 PM | | link to this post | latest Law School News
Veterans' group files brief supporting Solomon Amendment Adam Henry Leading today's law school news, the Daily Bruin reports on an amicus brief recently filed by the UCLAW Veterans Society in support of the controversial Solomon Amendment. The organization's brief, co-authored by counterpart organizations at the College of William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law and the Washburn University School of Law, argues that the preservation of on-campus military recruiting is vital to both veteran students and the military. Oral arguments in the case for which the brief was filed will be heard by the Third Circuit Court of Appeal in May. Read Paper Chase's first report on the veterans' brief here. In other law school news, Yale Law School announces today that Professor Bruce Ackerman has received the Insignia of Commander of the French Order of Merit from the Republic of France. The prestigious award, given at the discretion of the French President, honors Ackerman's prolific and preeminent scholarship in politics, history, and constitutional law. Yale's press release includes remarks [PDF] by Professor Ackerman upon his receipt of the award. Finally, more from the moot court front. A team from Boston College Law School took first place at the J. Braxton Craven Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition on Saturday. In ripped-from-the-headlines fashion, the competition took as its topic the installment of a Ten Commandments display in a county courthouse. BC has more on its winning team here, and the Craven website offers briefs from all the participating teams here. Elsewhere this past weekend, a team from the Wake Forest University School of Law topped 23 others for top honors in the Domenick L. Gabrielli National Family Law Moot Court Competition [PDF]. Wake Forest has more on its winners here. 6:16 PM | | link to this post | latest Law School News
Venture capital firm eyes Phoenix for newest law school Adam Henry Leading today's law school news, the Arizona Republic reports on plans to create a new, for-profit law school in downtown Phoenix. Chicago-based Sterling Capital Partners, which already owns a suitable old downtown building, has pitched the idea to mostly receptive city officials. Sterling, as reported earlier for JURIST's Paper Chase, purchased Jacksonville's Florida Coastal School of Law in January, and now seems to be making good on its ambitions of opening a chain of non-profit law schools nationwide. In other law school news, the first results are trickling in from moot court competitions around the country. On Friday, a team from the Western New England College School of Law bested a field of 32 teams to win the 14th annual National First Amendment Moot Court Competition. The topic of the competition was the constitutionality of a hypothetical judicial gag order. More from the First Amendment Center, sponsor of the competition, here. 5:31 PM | | link to this post | latest Law School News Comments by Haloscan |
