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45% of Law Students Cheat

Following up on my post earlier this month, Cheating Scandal Erupts at Syracuse Following Biden's Graduation Speech: in this week's National Law Journal: Cheating 2.0:  New Twists on a Venerable Temptation are Confronted by Law Schools, by Leigh Jones:

About 45% of law school students have engaged in some form of cheating at least once in the previous year, according to a survey published in 2006 by Rutgers University professor Donald McCabe. …

Every law school has problems with cheating and plagiarism, said Florida Coastal Vice Dean Terri Davlantes. "It's just a matter of catching those cheaters. We do our best to detect cheating opportunities," she said. The school last fall expelled a first-year student who ran an advertisement offering to pay someone to write a paper for him.

The ABA, which accredits law schools, does not specifically address academic integrity or student ethics in its standards for accreditation. All but two of the law schools accredited by the ABA have devised their own academic conduct and integrity rules, according to a 2006 report by the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism. The others rely on the policies of the universities to which they belong. … In general, law schools rely on the intense competition among students to motivate them to report other cheaters and uphold their honor codes. But strong bonds among class members and a resistance to tattle can undercut that motivation.


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