Author: Kevin R Johnson
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Commentary: White Supremacy and Zionism at UCLA’s Medical School
Sherene Razack, a Distinguished Professor (the University of California’s highest rank for a professor) and the Penny Kanner Endowed Chair in the Department of Gender Studies at UCLA, is an interdisciplinary critical race and feminist scholar. Lots going on at UCLA. I found this Razack commentary, which “examines the connections between white supremacist politics and Zionist…
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Law School with the Most Supreme Court Alumni
Microsoft Copilot generated the following — not surprising — response: “Law School with the Most Supreme Court Alumni Harvard Law School has produced the most U.S. Supreme Court justices, with 19 alumni who have served on the Court judicialshop.com. Historical record According to data compiled from the Federal Judicial Center, Harvard Law School leads all U.S. law…
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Texas A&M System removes courses on LGBTQ, ethnic studies and climate change from core offerings
The Texas A&M system has removed courses on LGBTQ literature, ethnic studies, and climate change from core offerings.More than 200 courses, including those on LGBTQ literature, cultural studies and climate change, will no longer count toward core degree requirements at 11 Texas A&M universities. Will these types of changes come to other universities and law…
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A New (Conservative) Law School? Whatever the ABA Standards
Earlier this week, the University of Austin announced (“Save the Constitution. Ditch the ABA.”) at its Constitution Day event an $11 million gift to build the university’s law program and endow the chair who will lead it. In an essay, UATX’s general counsel Adam Biggs, explained the kind of law school that it intends to…
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Happy Constitution Day!
I received this message today: Dear ACS Supporter, Today, September 17, is Constitution Day—a time to celebrate our nation’s founding document and reflect on the responsibilities we share in sustaining our democracy. In that spirit, the American Constitution Society is proud to announce The Oath Project, a nonpartisan civic initiative inviting people across the country to…
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UCLA chancellor rebukes law school event with 9/11 ‘mastermind’ attorney; organizers push back
From the left coast? The Los Angeles Times reports on an interesting turn of events in these turbulent times. On September 11, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk in a statement distanced the university from a law school symposium about the 9/11 (here is the webpage for the event) “that faced criticism for including a lawyer for…
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Law School Student Loan Programs: A Good Idea?
Rebecca Carballo for Politico report on how some universities and law schools are responding to limits on federal student loans. Some law school, including the University of Kansas and Washington University in St. Louis are now lending directly to their students. Is this a good idea?
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DEI refuses to die?
Food for thought. Kenin M. Spivak for The Blaze writes that “[a]lthough the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws dating back to 1866 prohibit nearly all racial preferences, most Americans oppose these preferences, and Donald Trump was elected vowing to eliminate DEI — progressives won’t give up. Their race-obsessed thinking reduces…
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Best Law Schools for Hot Dogs
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Microsoft Copilot generated the following response to “Best Law Schools for Hot Dogs”: “If you’re looking for a law school with a `hot dog’ theme or a tradition tied to one, the George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the standout choice. GW Law has a well‑known alumni‑driven tradition called From Hot…
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Best Law School Curriculum
Microsoft Copilot generated this response to my question about the best law school curriculums: “If by `best overall curriculum’ you mean the law school that offers the broadest, most flexible, and most comprehensive legal education, many legal academics and practitioners would point to Harvard Law School. Harvard offers more than 400 courses, extensive clinical programs,…
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Study: “When Demands Equal Distress: An Updated Understanding of Lawyer Mental Health and Well-being”
From an ABA Press release: “The American Bar Association, through its Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs (CoLAP), and Krill Strategies, a Pittsburgh-based legal advisory firm, released a new nationwide study on lawyer mental health and burnout that updates a 10-year old benchmark and reveals substantial distress, burnout and risky alcohol use within the legal sector. . . . Approximately one-fifth…
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Justice and Education Departments Alleged That Admissions Practices at UC Berkeley School of Law Unlawfully Favored African American Applicants and Discriminated Against White and Asian Candidates
Reuters reports that the U.S. Justice and Education Departments alleged that admissions practices at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law unlawfully favored African American applicants and discriminated against white and Asian candidates. The U.S. Department of Justice press release on the investigation state that “The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (DOJ) and…
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National Jurist: Top law schools for human rights law
The National Jurist has listed law schools that have “earned a place on [its] Human Rights Law Honor Roll, recognized for the strength of their programs. Following the list, you’ll find the latest developments and news from human rights law programs at these various law schools.” Click the link above to get the low down.
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Article: Disbarment Disparities: How Law School Prestige Affects Disbarment Rates
Michael Conklin (Texas A&M), Christopher Houston (Angelo State) & Gayle Randall (Angelo State), Disbarment Disparities: How Law School Prestige Affects Disbarment Rates, 21 J. Bus. & Tech. L. 1 (2026): “This study examines the relationship between law school ranking and attorney disbarment rate. Drawing on a noveldataset comprising over 12,000 bar passers across eight law schools over a ten-year…
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Law.Com: ABA Council Repeals Diversity Standard Amid Uncertainty About the Organization’s Future as a Law School Accreditor
Christine Charnosky for Law.com (subscription required) reports that “[t]he American Bar Association’s Accreditation Council repealed its standard that governs diversity and inclusion requirements in law school admissions during a special session held Tuesday, following an arduous review of Standard 206.” Click here for the Reuter’s report on he Council’s action. It appears that the Council’s…
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Above the Law: Law Reviews And AI Detection, A Letter To Law Review Editors: Law reviews potentially rejecting submissions because the journals detect AI is problematic for a variety of reasons
AI seems to be everywhere all the time. This post on Above the Law by LawProBlawg is a letter to a law review editor: “Bottom line: I have a problem with AI detection software being used if that policy a) is not disclosed, b) produces false positives for human writing, and the author has no…
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Inside Higher Education: “AI Tends to Mark Students’ Essays Higher Than Humans, Study Shows”
From Inside Higher Education: “[R]esearch, published in the journal Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, found that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT `do not reliably reproduce human judgement in the marking of extended written work.’ . . . In all but one case [out of 50], the AI models typically returned higher average marks than…
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Are Many Universities Truly Experiencing a Budget Crisis?
I am not sure whether there is a growing budget crisis at many universities or not. In my experience, university leaders frequently claim to be suffering a budget crisis in order to justify desired spending cuts. Is the contemporary moment different? International students have declined dramatically. The Trump administration has slowed down and cut research…
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Women and People of Color as Deans: The Other Side of the Glass Cliff
Over the last few months, I have been mining the AALS Rosenblatt’s Deans Database for posts on the AALS TaxProf Blog. This recent article sheds light on the experiences of women and people of color serving as law deans. The Other Side of the Glass Cliff by Angela Onwuachi-Willig and Kellye Testy is in a…
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The University Campus as a Borderlands? Transnational Campus Borderlands by Khaled A. Beydoun & Sheldon Evans
Many universities rely heavily on revenues from international students. The faculty dismissals at Illinois Institute of Technology was justified by the decline in international students. In recent years, law schools expanded international student programs as the J.D. market tightened. With that in mind, I found this article of great interest: Transnational Campus Borderlands by Khaled…
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How to Excel on Law School Essay Exams: A Guide for Students by Orin S. Kerr
More sage advice for law students. How to Excel on Law School Essay Exams: A Guide for Students by Orin S. Kerr Abstract This Essay offers guidance on how law students can earn high grades on law school essay exams. It starts with the goals law professors have when writing exams, which then frames what counts…
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Law.com: ‘At Best Bizarre’: FIU Faculty Balk at Former Trump Aide’s Appointment as Law Dean
As reported last month on the TaxProf blog, the Florida International law faculty may have some misgivings about the new dean and the selection process. Christine Charnosky for Law.Com (subscription required) provides the latest available details. “Former Trump lawyer Daniel Z. Epstein was appointed interim dean of FIU Law despite a search committee’s decision not…
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Dean Opening: City University of New York School of Law
Call for applications. The City University of New York (CUNY) seeks a mission-oriented, engaged, and highly collaborative leader with a deep commitment to social justice and the public interest for the position of Dean of its School of Law. CUNY School of Law’s unique dual mission is to educate lawyers in the service of human needs and…
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The Bluebook: An Insider’s Perspective
The Blue Book and blue booking is a gift that keeps on giving law professors. M. Burke Craighead (Law Clerk, Hon. Chad Readler, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit), The Bluebook: An Insider’s Perspective, 124 Mich. L. Rev. 1145 (2026) offers perspectives on the latest edition of the Blue Book: “This Review provides an insider’s…
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Inside Duke’s 1-person pre-law advising office
Ella Moore for The Chronicle writes that “Although law school admissions have rapidly changed in recent years, the structure of Duke’s Office of Pre-Law Advising — among the first of its kind in the United States — has not. Since the office’s establishment in 1969, only one person has filled the role of pre-law adviser…