Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Legal Ed News
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Lawsuit Against Northwestern Law School Dismissed
The lawsuit again Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alleging anti-white discrimination in faculty hiring has been dismissed. Karen Sloan from Reuters has the details: Northwestern University’s law school has persuaded a federal judge in Chicago to reject claims by a conservative group that the school discriminates against white men in faculty hiring. U.S. District…
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Columbia Board of Trustees Announces Jennifer L. Mnookin as the University’s Next President
Dr. Mnookin is a legal scholar who served as the dean of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law before arriving at Wisconsin to lead its flagship state university in 2022.The official press release can be found here.
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48 Hours in the Life of Paul Clement
48 hours in the life of famed Supreme Court litigator Paul Clement
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NY Times: Interest in Law School Is Surging. Federal Student Loan Changes and AI Make the Payoff Less Certain.
The number of applicants has risen more than 40 percent over the last two years, despite new limits on student loans and uncertainty over how artificial intelligence will affect legal work.
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Self-Care for Law Professors –“Care Corner” (A Series): REST!
One of my fellow bloggers on the ImmigrationProf blog, Kit Johnson, has started a regular feature called “Care Center” for self-care for immigration law professors. It is hard to think of many more stressful areas of law today than immigration law. I get stressed out from just keeping up with current developments. See, e.g., here.…
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ALI Elects Wallace Jefferson President
The American Law Institute announces that Wallace B. Jefferson, former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court has been elected its new President. President-elect Jefferson served on the Court from 2001-2013, and as Chief Justice from 2004 until the end of his tenure. He will assume office at the end of ALI’s annual meeting, succeeding,…
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Principles for Lawyer Independence
Retired Judges Shira A. Scheindlin and John Jones III are leading an effort to develop principles to secure the independence of the legal profession from outside sources, especially from governmental pressure They seek endorsement from lawyers across the land. You can find the principles HERE. They explain their efforts in today’s NYTimes.
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1L Realities
JD Next issues an extensive White Paper based on nationwide survey of law students who completed their first semester in December 2025. Demographic analysis, gaps between student expectations and reality, and practical advice for law students are just a few of the nuggets within.
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Loss of a Legend
Barbara Aronstein Black, the first woman to lead an Ivy League Law School has died at 92. Her career, briefly detailed in this NYTimes obituary below, is a story of resilience, talent and perspicacity. Her admiring colleagues, devoted students and legal education generally have lost a leader. May her memory be blessed and her pathbreaking…
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Nova Announces Law Dean
Olympia Duhart has been appointed Dean of Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. Professor Duhart previously served as Interim Dean.
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Muller: Impact of the Law School Applicant Surge on Discount Rates, Class Sizes, and 50th & 25th Percentile LSATs & UGPAs
Derek Muller analyzes the impact of the surge in law school applicants on discount rates, class sizes, median & 25th percentile LSATs & UGPAs on all 197 law schools
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Death of Tax Prof Stephen Utz (UConn)
UConn Today, In Memoriam: UConn Law Professor Emeritus Stephen Utz: Stephen Utz, Roger Sherman Professor of Law Emeritus at the UConn School of Law and a beloved teacher and scholar, passed away peacefully on December 9 after a long illness. His nearly 40-year career at the law school left an enduring mark on generations of students and faculty,…
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Not So Practice-Ready
Washington University Professor Robert Kuehn shares via SSRN his work in the Clinical Legal Association Newsletter reporting on the results of a recent 2024-25 survey of 4,000 judges and 4,400 practicing attorneys undertaken by the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform. Roughly half believe that law schools still are not preparing students adequately for…
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Full-Time JD Study in Charlotte
Following its merger with Queens University, Elon University plans to bring full time law school back to Charlotte, currently the largest major U.S. city without such a program. See details here.
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Student Groups ask ABA Council to Review Recruiting Timelines
More coverage related to the dramatic changes in law student recruitment timelines. Julianne Hill, 18 Law Student Groups Ask ABA Legal Ed Council to Protest Recruiting Timelines, ABA Journal, January 7, 2026. Leaders of 18 student organizations from top law schools wrote the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the…
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Why States Shouldn’t Abandon National Law School Accreditation
Last week, Kellye Testy and I wrote an op-ed for The National Law Review. In the op-ed, we explain why the fracturing of national accreditation would not be in the public’s interest, and would be problematic for states, law schools, law students, and the profession. [P]iecemeal or overlapping regulation would raise costs for law schools,…
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The 25 Most Influential People in Legal Education (2026)
The 25 Most Influential People in Legal Education (2026), based on a survey of law school deans
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July 2025 California Bar Exam Results
The California State Bar has released school-by-school data on the July 2025 California bar exam. Here are the results for first time test takers for the 18 California ABA-accredited law schools, along with each school’s U.S. News ranking (California and overall)
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2026 Preview for Law Schools
Karen Sloan has a nice overview story for Reuters outlining some of the changes and pressures facing law schools in the new year. Find it here . Of particular interest is Santa Clara’s decision to award $16,000 scholarships to students to bring them all below the $50,000 cap that the Trump Administration has imposed on…
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50% Through the Fall 2026 Law School Admissions Season: Applicants Are Up 20% From Last Year (49% From 2024)
50% through the fall 2026 law school admissions season, applicants are up 20% from last year (49% from 2024)
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Law Firms and Private Equity Overseas
Law.com has done it again with an insightful recap of several powerful moves by private equity players to invest in small and mid-sized law firms outside the U.S. eventually, perhaps, paving the way for financial investors to capture Big Law. Law schools ignore these changes at our peril. Check the story out here: https://www.law.com/2025/12/31/5-private-equity-plays-that-are-rewiring-international-law-firm-financing/?kw=5+Private+Equity+Plays+That+Are+Rewiring+International+Law+Firm+Financing&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=newsroomupdate&utm_content=20251231&utm_term=law&oly_enc_id=6899F7393967D1A&slreturn=20251231103355
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Awards for Patricia Williams
My breathtakingly talented Northeastern colleague, Particia WIlliams, will receive not one, but two awards at this year’s AALS annual meeting. The Section on Minority Groups will present her with its Impact Legacy Award and the Section on Women in Legal Education will justly recognize her, along with NYU’s Peggy Cooper Davis, with its Ruth Bader…
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A Dozen Ways That Bar Licensure Could Change in 2026
From the ABA Journal: After a year marked by a disastrous attempt by California to launch its own bar exam and a call from the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform to change law licensure requirements, 2026 could deliver even more changes. The ABA Journal spoke with several bar exam experts; these are 12 of their predictions…
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2026 Deborah L. Rhode Award
Joanna Grossman, Ellen K. Solender Endowed Chair in Women and the Law, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, and Kimberly Mutcherson, Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, have been recognized with the 2026 Deborah L. Rhode Award. This award honors the contributions, service, and…