Derek Muller (Notre Dame) has a Substack, “Law School Docket.” He posts a legal education roundup weekly. His “Legal education news of the week (12/1)” notes:
Law school applicants are up 22% year over year, and 55% over two years ago as of November 29. Causes are varied, but a softening economy, stagflation, political interest, limited opportunities in government, easier means of securing a higher LSAT score, and the like assuredly help this boomlet. Will law schools continue to admit students using a 2005-era model, or move beyond it? We’ll get our first glimpse soon, after the ABA releases its entering class of 2025 data.
“Munger, Tolles & Olson Shortens Summer Associate Program to Allow More Flexibility”, from Law.com:
“Munger, Tolles & Olson is cutting down the length of its summer associate program, in hopes that a shorter timeframe will allow law students more flexibility to gravitate to the firm.
Instead of the typical seven- to 10-week-long summer associate program, Munger Tolles will extend offers for a truncated, four- to six-week summer job in the latter half of the summer. The idea is that students will spend the first half of their season doing public service or public interest work, but they are free to do what they please. And that could include working for a competitor.”
There is some advantage to this; but it also depends on (1) competitors offering symmetrical opportunities and (2) the 1L market’s interaction with the 2L summer market.
From Reuters, “Judge orders readmission of law student who posted ‘Jews must be abolished’”:
“A federal judge has ordered the University of Florida to reinstate a law student it expelled for making controversial statements about race and religion, including a post on X that said “Jews must be abolished by any means necessary.”
Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee granted a preliminary injunction on Monday requiring plaintiff Preston Damsky be readmitted to the Gainesville law school for now, finding that the school had not shown his statements online and in academic papers were true threats of violence and that the expulsion likely violated his free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.”
Concord Monitor, “UNH law school dean Megan Carpenter to step down at end of December.”
Harvard Crimson, “HLS Visiting Professor Takes Plea Deal For Firing Pellet Gun Near Brookline Synagogue”
Paul Caron posted a note about the law school applicant numbers. I added Derek’s post partly to call attention to his Substack (which is free) and partly to observe that applicants do not necessarily translate into enrolled students, and enrolled students do not necessarily translate into graduates who find full-time employment as lawyers or other legal professionals. A strong 2026 for applicants raises concerns about what may happen in 2029.
