Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Legal Ed News
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Colleges (and Law Schools) Await Looming IRS Guidance on Race and Admissions
Bloomberg Tax, Colleges Await Looming IRS Guidance on Race and Admissions: Private colleges and universities with programs aimed to benefit racial minorities are girding themselves for new rules governing their tax-exempt status after a year of increased scrutiny by President Donald Trump. The administration, which plans to issue guidance in the next year, has cracked down on what it
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Kentucky Appoints New Law Dean
University of Kentucky Provost Robert S. DiPaola announced on Friday he has named Judge Greg Van Tatenhove as the new dean of UK’s J. David Rosenberg College of Law, pending Board of Trustees approval. Official announcement can be found here.
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AccessLex’s New Directory for Private Lending Options
Building on last week’s post, more coverage on AccessLex Institute’s new “directory of private education loan options to help law students navigate lenders and their loan stipulations.” The AccessLex Private Loan Exchange, a new nonprofit-curated resource, was developed in response to feedback from financial aid administrators, according to a Feb. 26 press release, and it offers information
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Opposition to Proposal to Speed Up Process for New ABA Accreditation Standards
From the ABA Journal: Deans at 11 law schools have argued the council for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar should not approve a proposal that would speed up the process of revising or creating new accreditation standards. Currently, as specified by Rule 55, the ABA is allowed to weigh
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AccessLex Helps Law Students Who Have Maximized Federal Loans to Secure Private Loans
Law.com, AccessLex Launches Tool to Help Law Students Navigate Private Lending: With new student loan caps coming into place on July 1, AccessLex Institute launched the AccessLex Private Loan Exchange to assist law schools and students with private lending, the organization announced Thursday (press release). The administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed last summer,
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ABA EDGES TOWARD AXING DIVERSITY REQUIREMENT
Having already suspended its accreditation rule requiring law schools to demonstrate a commitment to diversity in admissions, student recruitment and programming, the ABA Council took the next step in potentially eliminating the rule altogether when the Council voted, pending a notice and comment period, to suspend the rule through August 2027.. Final decision is expected
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Wayne State Names Richard Bierschbach Its 14th President
Bierschbach served as dean of Wayne State Law School for eight years before being named interim president. See full article here. Bierschbach received his bachelor’s degree in history (summa cum laude) from the University of Michigan (1994) and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School (1997), where he won the Daniel H. Grady Prize
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West Virginia Extends Search for Dean
After the final finalist wrapped up their campus visit in December, Interim Provost Paul Kreider told the Board of Governors that he anticipated that a selection would come in January 2026 and expressed that “the search has been very successful.” That timeline has now shifted. In his most recent update, Kreider announced the search will
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Kentucky Names Law Dean Finalists
The finalists for the position are: Michael Higdon, associate dean for academic affairs and law professor at the University of Tennessee; Mary Graw Leary, law professor at The Catholic University of America; Milena Sterio, law professor at Cleveland State University; Gregory Van Tatenhove, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Kentucky. Read more here.
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Rodriguez: Law School Deans and Agentic AI
Daniel B. Rodriguez (Northwestern), Law School Deans as Cheerleaders, and the Delicate Marketing Dance, Part I: The Case of Agentic AI: Times in the AI world are changing, and fast. The latest iterations of AI are described as “agentic.” Tech companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic are developing tools that are notably autonomous, able to engage in
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New ABA Rule on Representing Clients with Decision-Making Limitations
On Feb. 9, ABA Adopted New Ethics Rules aimed at modernizing how attorneys are expected to represent clients with decision making limitations. Syracuse Distinguished Professor of Law, Nina Kohn, who played a key leadership role in achieving needed reforms, writes about some of the changes in Forbes and outlines, with Charlie Sabatino, the improved approach
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AALS Legal Education News Digest – Week Ending 2/13
In case you missed it on AALS LENS, per Austen Parrish’s post today on the AALS Legal Education News Digests. AALS Legal Education News Digest – Week Ending February 13, 2025AALS Legal Education Blogs Digest – Week Ending February 13, 2025 While many of the stories are also being covered here in daily TaxProf Blog
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Accelerated JD/MBA Redux
Contrary to one of my earlier posts, I have learned that Southwestern Law School and the Drucker School of Management have been operating an accelerated JD/MBA program in Los Angeles since 2010. The National Jurist covered the announcement here. This information suggests the the brand new, similar program, at USC is the second such program
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Weekly Digests and Law School Moves and Hires
Just a reminder that recent law school faculty moves and hires can be found as part of the AALS weekly Legal Education News Digest. Also check out the AALS Legal Education Blogs Digest and AALS LENS. AALS has the following information about how to subscribe and how to share news and updates with the editors
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NextGen Bar Exam: What’s Changing and How to Prepare
In case you missed it, an overview of the upcoming changes with the NextGen Bar Exam in The National Jurist. The NextGen Bar Exam refines rather than replaces the UBE model. It will continue to test core legal knowledge, while implementing new structures and a stated goal of better integration of analysis and skills. But
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Danielle M. Conway on Academic Freedom
AALS has posted Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and 2026 AALS President Danielle M. Conway‘s presidential remarks from the 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. From Dean Conway’s remarks setting out this year’s theme on AALS LENS: I believe a principle upon which we can agree is that academic freedom is oxygen for knowledge work
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Journal of Legal Education Symposium at New York Law School
In case you missed it on AALS LENS: For more than 75 years, the Journal of Legal Education (JLE) has played an essential role in chronicling the development of legal education in the United States. New York Law School (NYLS) hosted a symposium on October 8, 2025, where scholars presented their views on some of
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Leiter: Will AI Soon Cause a Massive Contraction in Law Schools?
Brian Leiter (Chicago), AI Developer Warns the AI Jobs Apocalypse Is Closer Than We Realize: [A]n excerpt [from Matt Shumer (CEO, Otherside AI), Something Big Is Happening]: [O]n February 5th, two major AI labs released new models on the same day: GPT-5.3 Codex from OpenAI, and Opus 4.6 from Anthropic (the makers of Claude, one
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Andrew Granato Joins University of Texas Tax Faculty
Andrew Granato (J.D. 2024, Yale; JD-PhD 2026 (Financial Economics), Yale):
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67% Through the Fall 2026 Law School Admissions Season: Applicants Are Up 19% From Last Year (42% From 2024)
We are now 67% of the way through Fall 2026 law school admissions season. The number of law school applicants reported by LSAC is up 18.9% compared to last year at this time. 186 of the 196 law schools are experiencing an increase in applications. Applications are up +30% or more at 91 law schools. Applicants are
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Magill named EVP and Dean of Georgetown Law
M. Elizabeth Magill, the former dean of Stanford Law School, provost of the University of Virginia and president of the University of Pennsylvania, has been named the executive vice president and dean of Georgetown Law. Magill will begin her role as the school’s 17th dean on Aug. 1, 2026. She succeeds Interim Executive Vice President
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Fast Track JD/MBA at USC
USC announces first accelerated JD/MBA program on the West Coast. Students can earn both degrees in only three years, and applications are now being accepted for Fall 2026. See press release here. Speed to graduation seems to be taking hold elsewhere as well as the Mass Board of Higher Ed voted this past Tuesday to
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LSAC Ends Remote Testing Option
As reported earlier today, LSAC has ended the ability to take the LSAT remotely in response to cheating allegations. From Law.com: The Law School Admission Council announced Wednesday that the Law School Admission Test will move to in-center-only testing in response to concerns over widespread cheating on the exam. Starting with the August LSAT, “we
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Journal of Legal Education Releases Special Issue on Restorative Justice
In case you missed it on AALS LENS: The most recently released issue (73-4) of the Journal of Legal Education is based on a symposium initiated by the National Center on Restorative Justice (NCORJ) at Vermont Law and Graduate School. The issue illuminates how to include restorative justice in law school curricula and institutional offerings. This collection
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AALS Legal Education News Digest – Week Ending 2/6
In case you missed it on AALS LENS: Since 2015, AALS has kept the legal academy and supporters informed with a weekly Legal Education News Digest and Blogs Digest. These digests track important developments in legal education, the legal profession, and higher education. They also highlight new programs, collaborations between schools, milestones, faculty accomplishments, awards,