Author: Kevin R Johnson
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Big Gift Brightens Graduation of Indiana University Maurer School of Law Class of 2026
Big news from Indiana University Maurer School of Law: “Each of the 154 JD students in the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Class of 2026 who are graduating this May will receive a $10,000 gift from anonymous donors, the school announced today—an unprecedented investment in the next generation of legal professionals. In total, the
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March Madness Final Four All Have Stellar Law Schools
I hope that I am not taking the AALS TaxProf Blog down a dangerous (or meaningless?) path. But everyone is talking about the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which was finalized yesterday. The final four — Michigan, University of Connecticut, Arizona, and Illinois. All are great public universities with great law schools! An interesting
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Bar Exam Results by State
July 2025 Bar Exam Bar passage rates of law school graduates have been used to measure the quality of law schools. Bar passage rates, however, vary by the state. The table on this page from the National Conference for Bar Examiners lists percentage pass rates for the July 2025 bar exam as reported by each
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National Jurist: Top law schools for trial advocacy
Top law schools for trial advocacy National Jurist lists the following law schools as earning a place on itsr Trial Advocacy Honor Roll: School Name Honor Roll Albany Law School B+ American University A Arizona State University A- Brigham Young University B+ Cardozo School of Law A+ Case Western Reserve U. A- Chapman Fowler School
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Above the Law: The Law Schools That Are Working The Hardest To Expand The Pipeline To The Legal Profession
Above the Law brought another ranking of law schools to my attention — and attempting to measure something important at that. According to preLaw magazine, the are the law schools on the Justice & Opportunity Honor Roll earned A grades for their efforts to expand access to legal education (listed in alphabetical order): Click here to see the rest
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From the Bookshelves (Chapter 1): How Generative AI Can Harm Higher Education, With Special Emphasis on Legal Education
How Generative AI Can Harm Higher Education, With Special Emphasis on Legal Education by Scott Fruehwald Abstract Generative AI has the potential to do catastrophic harm to higher education. This is because learning is a biological process that requires years and years of effortful labor. Anything that disrupts this labor will severely damage an individual’s
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The Top Law Schools for Tacos
AI has been big lately on the TaxProf (and every other) blog. See, e.g., here; here; here. In my endless search for law school rankings on a number of different fronts, I decided to pursue one that was truly important to me. I asked Chat GPT “what are the best law schools for tacos?” Here
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Can ABA Accreditations Be Done by AI?
The accreditation process of the American Bar Association (ABA) Accreditation Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is extensive, time-consuming, and costly. Figuring out how to correctly report various items is not always easy. The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) plays a role in the accreditation process. An AALS reporter is appointed
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Making meetings matter: Six strategies for campus leaders
In my experience, some, perhaps many, law faculty members do not look forward to faculty meetings. I have a joint appointment with another unit on campus and, when I served as chair, felt that some faculty members also were not keen on faculty meetings. One thing that I can say, faculty will fill whatever time
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Selections from Princeton Review Categories of “Best Law Schools for 2025”
I wanted to highlight a partial list of the Princeton Review Categories of “Best Law Schools for 2025” Ranking Lists and #1 Schools on the Lists Everyone loves rankings. And there is one for everyone. Look for a “significant” ranking of the top 5 law schools in one category next week.
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Major Changes Reshape Law Schools: A New Era?
JD Journal has a piece that got me thinking. It contends that U.S. law schools “are entering one of the most transformative periods in recent memory. In 2026, legal education is being reshaped by leadership turnover, shifting accreditation standards, changes to student loan policies, and the introduction of a redesigned bar exam.” The result is
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PreLaw Weekly (National Jurist): Top law schools for social justice
PreLaw Weekly (National Jurist): Top law schools for social justice: As explained by National Jurist, “[w]hen law school students choose to focus on social justice, their decisions shape what they study and influence how they intend to use their law degrees. Students examine how laws, courts and institutions may either decrease or reinforce inequality, who
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Above the Law: “Law school tells students that prestigious jobs are open if they’re loyal to Trump, and that GPA isn’t much of a factor.”
Here is an Above the Law story that caught my eye: “Law school tells students that prestigious jobs are open if they’re loyal to Trump, and that GPA isn’t much of a factor.” I am sure that the story title has got you thinking. Check it out.
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Should University’s (and Law Schools) Notify Students of Immigration Enforcement Operations on Campus?
UC Berkeley recently announced that it will send out email notifications when U.S. immigration enforcement activity is confirmed on campus. This practice is in compliance with California’s Sending Alerts to Families in Education Act, which requires the UC system to notify students when immigration enforcement activity is present on campus. The bill was passed last September.
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Penn Law Students Host Rights Training For ICE Encounters
Students at some law schools are attempting to help vulnerable of the community in these times. Many law schools have immigration clinics but some students are doing something more. For example, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School student groups (Penn Law Immigrant Rights’ Project, Immigration and Asylum Law Club, and International Refugee Assistance Project) recently
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PreLaw Weekly (National Jurist): Top law schools for international law
Here the PreLaw Weekly top 10 law schools for international law. School Name Honor Roll Albany Law School B+ Berkeley Law A+ Boston University A- Brigham Young University A Cardozo School of Law A+ Case Western Reserve U. A+ DePaul University A Florida International University B+ Fordham University A+ George Washington University A-
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Dan Rodriguez: ABA accreditation reform: Who are the real stakeholders?
The future of American Bar Association accreditation of law schools is uncertain. Dan Rodriguez in this piece on his Substack looks at the stakeholders in accreditation reform in the wake of the Council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar ’s recent rescission of its diversity standard in the face
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A Law School Class on the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein?
Although he is long gone, Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct has gripped the nation for many months. What about a law school course focusing on the legal issues surrounding his criminal activities? There certainly are enough legal issues to cover in a course. Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on federal sex trafficking charges and is currently
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Top 25 Law Schools by Tuition
Public Legal has a list of law schools by tuition. Here are the top 25 (tuition and room and board): 1 Columbia University NY $85,368 $31,554 2 Cornell University NY $84,722 $32,952 3 U. of Southern California CA $84,034 $32,298 4 New York University NY $83,952 $36,094 5 Georgetown University DC $83,576 $33,905 6 U.
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Should Law Schools Ban IPhones etc. from Classrooms?
Earlier this is month, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill (House Bill 4141) into law to ban cell phones in K-12 classrooms. In the 2026-27 school year, the bill will ban students from using any “wireless communications device” on school grounds during instructional time. School boards have discretion to implement additional restrictions. A few years
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Princeton Review: Best Law School Professors
The Princeton Review’s 2025 Best Law School rankings for appear below. The best professor rankings are based on law student ratings of their professors’ teaching abilities and their accessibility outside the classroom. 1 University of Virginia – School of Law, 923 Full-Time Enrollment 2 Duke University – School of Law, 682 Full-Time Enrollment 3 Vanderbilt University –
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As immigration operations continue, legal education is a form of self-defense
I have blogged before about the possible impacts on law schools and universities of the controversy over the Trump administration’s fervent dedication to immigration enforcement. This article (and here) triggered more general thoughts about education about the law in our current immigration climate. It begins: “As ICE continues crackdown in Minnesota, legal education is a
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Derek Mueller: The law school JD transfer market is drying up–why?
As a former dean who worried about the downward trend in J.D. transfer applications, I read Derek Mueller’s analysis (“The law school JD transfer market is drying up–why?”) with great interest. His brief explanation of the factors explaining the dip over several years: The rankings calculus has changed. Stronger demand among applicants. Lower demand among
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Juris Education’s Top 10 Law Schools for Family Law
Harvard Law School #1 Columbia Law School #2 DePaul University College of Law #3 Indiana University Maurer School of Law #4 NYU School of Law #5 University of Michigan Law School #6 Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University #7 Drake University Law School #8 Emory University School of Law #9 University of