Author: Michael Madison
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“Another One?”
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where I am a faculty member, has announced the launch of a new student-edited law journal: the “University of Pittsburgh Journal of Health Law and Policy.” I have some comments about student-edited law reviews generally, below the jump.
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Does the JD Pay Off Financially?
Following TaxProf Blog posts by Paul Caron and Sloan Speck summarizing new research as to the financial worthiness of the JD degree, summarized in a recent report from the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research [PEER] Center at American University. I read TaxProf Blog only intermittently; I learned about the new research via a LinkedIn post
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Ups and Downs of Law School Applications
Over on LinkedIn, Mike Spivey, CEO of Spivey Consulting and a familiar name in the world of law school admissions consulting, wrote last Friday that overall applicants in this cycle are up +10.6% at this point, roughly (as he writes) 90% done with the cycle, compared to being up +33% early in the cycle. He
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SALLD Statement on Role of Academic Law Library Directors
The Society of Academic Law Library Directors (SALLD) has published a “Statement on the Role, Qualifications, and Institutional Protections of Academic Law Library Directors” in response to events at Yale Law School, which I posted about here. From the Statement:
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The Opportunity Ahead
Assembling some disparate pieces of the legal education story in a single place: Students’ diminished ability to rely on federal student loans will affect the number of students enrolling and their ability to afford legal education in unknown ways. Derek Muller (Notre Dame) is an excellent resource on this topic. In the not-too-distant future, the
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Jacob Rooksby Announced as Richmond Law Dean
This just in, from the University of Richmond: Jacob Rooksby, who currently serves as dean of Gonzaga University School of Law, will become the new dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, effective July 1. “Dean Rooksby brings a strong record of leadership and innovation and a depth of experience as an administrator,
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Dorna Moini: The Legal Profession Has a 1-2 Year Window
Dorna Moini, Lecturer in Law at USC Gould School of Law, teaching the “Legal Innovations Lab” there, and CEO of Gavel, a legaltech company, on Substack: “The legal profession has a 1–2 year window. Most lawyers will miss it. AI won’t replace lawyers, but one lawyer with AI will.” If you want to know what’s
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Pittsburgh Tax Review Call for Papers
Pittsburgh Tax Review Call for Papers: AI and Teaching Taxation Fall 2026 Special Issue In its first issue of its 24th volume, the Pittsburgh Tax Review will publish a series of contributions examining the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the teaching of taxation. This issue aims to explore and evaluate how AI systems are
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AI and Lawyers: A View From Europe
Tobias Mark Jensen, “Futuristic Lawyer” on Substack, “AI Is Killing the Need for Lawyers, But Increasing the Demand for Legal Thinkers: My honest advice for people considering studying law.” Most importantly, and the point I wish to get across here is that the core skill which the legal education system rewards today – the ability
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The Trend Away From Lawyers’ Serving Organizational Clients
Jordan Furlong on Substack, “The coming revival of the PeopleLaw sector: Generative AI will inadvertently reduce the legal profession’s disproportionate focus on organizational clients — and could end up redirecting lawyers to meet the legal needs of everyday people.” This is a typically Furlong-esque thoughtful speculation about the legal profession, lawyers, and (implicitly, in this
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Abramowitz on Lawyer Value in an AI World
No scan of legal futurology is complete without keeping up with Zack Abramowitz, a lawyer, entrepreneur, investor, and advisor who posts essays and podcasts about legaltech at “Legally Disrupted” on Substack and at “Killer Whale Strategies.” His writing and speaking can come across as “over the top,” especially in the context of the legal profession’s
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Automating Legal Education
Continuing with my relying on Substack for many of the most interesting and up-to-date takes on the future of legal education, Dave Hoffman (Penn) writes: I have had approximately 5,000 conversations about the essay in the last week or so, with partners, associates, faculty colleagues and students. No one feels good about what it portends.
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Stanford Law Hires ED for AI Initiative
“Stanford Law School has appointed Irene Liu as the executive director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative, co-chaired by Nathaniel Persily, the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, and Professor of Law Julian Nyarko. The AI Initiative advances interdisciplinary research, teaching, and engagement with industry leaders and policymakers. It brings together faculty,
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The Undergraduates Take Notice
Law blogs usually take notice when the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or Bloomberg News write about the state of legal education. It is less common to take notice when undergraduate journalists do. Here is a story from the Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh’s student-produced newspaper, that combines interest in “application numbers
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After Lawyers?
If you work largely in front of a computer screen, will you have a job in two years? Will you have the career that you have now, or that you imagine for yourself? More below the jump.
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The New Places of Legal Expertise in an AI World
I’ve written a number of posts here about how Generative AI is making its way into law teaching and legal scholarship. This post has to do with legal expertise as such, as the “destination” of professors’ effort. We are legal experts, helping to produce expertise and to train more experts. How is Generative AI changing
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Law Schools Come, Law Schools Go?
Reading about the possibility that a third law school may open in Utah reminded me that I have had multiple conversations over the last three years or so with law faculty and deans in different states (not Utah, and not all in the same state) that share a theme. I paraphrase: “We’re overbuilt. Relative to
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Yale Law School Terminates Library Director
From Law.com (Feb. 4, 2026): Yale Law School has terminated its library director, Femi Cadmus, allegedly due to poor morale within the library and just weeks after she filed a complaint with the Office of Institutional Equity & Accessibility over a previously conducted review of the law library. The complete story appears here. More below
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AI Resources for Law Professors
Having written several posts here at TaxProf Blog about Generative AI in the hands of law professors, I am reminded to note that the AALS announced a new AI-themed partnership with West Academic. As usual, I have a comment, after the jump. But first:
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UC Law San Francisco Name Change Upheld
From the ABA Journal (not paywalled), reporting something spotted at Law.com (paywalled): The California Supreme Court let stand without comment [on January 28] a ruling to rebrand the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, erasing the connection to its founder who has been linked to the massacre of the indigenous Yuki people
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Rodriguez on Priorities in Legal Education
Dan Rodriguez (Northwestern Law, where he is the former Dean; and a former president of AALS) has a new essay up at Substack, titled “Law Schools’ Attention Spans Remain Short.” An excerpt follows, and (below the fold) a brief comment from me. He begins: “NYTimes Elizabeth Olson, who has been writing about law schools for
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Critiquing AI-Generated Legal Scholarship
My posts on law professors’ using Generative AI to compose law review articles (first one here, second one here) continue to generate interesting responses. Which, of course, is part of my goal: I blog to learn. Today’s addition: Michael L. Smith (Oklahoma Law), “Generative AI and the Purpose of Legal Scholarship” (forthcoming, U. Mass. L.
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AI-Generated Legal Scholarship
I ask, and sometimes I receive. In a recent post, I wondered aloud: Could ChatGPT or any of its rivals (in any of their variations, write a publishable work of legal scholarship? What further questions would the answer (yes? no?) raise? Perhaps that’s been done? The asking? The writing? The submitting? The publishing? I now
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Kent Syverud’s Legacy
Kent Syverud, currently chancellor and president of Syracuse University and previously law dean at Vanderbilt (1997 to 2005) and Washington University (2005 to 2012), has been named president of the University of Michigan. Congratulations to him and to Michigan. I write to share a note about his legacy. More below the jump.