Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Legal Education
-
Law Grads Settle Class Action Related to California Bar Exam
As reported by Karen Sloan in Reuters: A testing company involved in California’s bungled February 2025 bar exam has reached a preliminary class action settlement with test takers who sued, according to a federal court filing on Monday. Attorneys for the seven plaintiffs did not disclose the terms of the proposed settlement but said they…
-
Most Improved Law Schools for Employment
On the heels of the rankings of the “Top Law Schools for Technology Law,” (see Kevin Johnson’s post last week), the National Jurist recently released their analysis of most improved law schools for employment comparing the employment rates of the Classes of 2012-2014 with the Classes of 2023-2025. For students, one question towers above almost…
-
More on the AALS Task Force on Regulation of American Legal Education
Just over a week ago, AALS announced the formation of a National Task Force on the Regulation of American Legal Education. Over the last week there’s been coverage and commentary in several places, including Julianne Hill, Association of American Law Schools Creates New Task Force on Legal Education Regulation, ABA Journal, August 12, 2026; Daniel…
-
From the Bookshelves: An AI Policy Primer for Students by Matthew Sag
AI for the law masses! An AI Policy Primer for Students by Matthew Sag “This is a policy primer on AI that I wrote for my students at Emory Law, specifically for a course on “Current Topics in the Law and Policy of AI” in 2026, but it may be of general interest. The first…
-
Departing Deans – Listed Alphabetically by School (4)
I previously posted about data (here, here, here, here, here, and here) in AALS Rosenblatt’s Deans Database. It is early in the new school year but here who we know are leaving deanships. Law School Name California (San Francisco)–University of California College of the Law, San Francisco Faigman, David Florida State University College of LawWill be moving to the FSU law…
-
Pepperdine Tax Policy Workshop Series (Fall 2026)
Here is Deanna Newton‘s lineup for the Fall 2026 Pepperdine Tax Policy Workshop Series: If you would like to attend any of the workshops (and join our post-workshop lunch), please contact Deanna Newton. Prior Pepperdine Tax Policy Workshops:
-
Law School Dean Writes Book For Teenagers and Parents: ‘Furious George’
ABA Journal, Dean of Purdue Global Law School Creates Illustrated Book About ‘Furious George’: What happens when a curious little monkey named George gets mad after a man in a yellow suit leaves him to fend for himself? He becomes “Furious George,” an incensed primate with a bow tie who commits arson and auto theft…
-
College Presidents Who Quit Before the End Of Their Terms Must Pay Back Part Of Their Salaries; What About Deans?
Following up on my previous post, Law School Dean Tenure Shrinks to 2.8 Years Due to Financial Constraints and Strained Relationships With University Administration: Chronicle of Higher Education, In Utah, Presidents Who Quit Early Must Pay: It’s tough to hang on to a good college president these days. That’s why many institutions dangle lucrative deferred-compensation packages to entice their…
-
Book of the Week
Daron Acemoglu, Nobel prize winner, and author of the renowned, Why Nations Fail adds to his formidable body of work, this new title, What Happened to Liberal Democracy, exploring how liberalism failed to adapt to its ascendancy as the world’s dominant political philosophy and thus may have inadvertently sewed the seeds of its own decline.…
-
Best Law Schools for Aspiring Law Professors
Here is what Microsoft 365 Copilot generates for “Best Law Schools for Aspiring Law Professors”: “If your goal is to become a law professor, attending a top-tier law school can significantly boost your academic career by providing rigorous training, influential networks, and access to research resources americanprofessionguide.com. Top Law Schools for Professors Based on U.S. News rankings and scholarly impact…
-
Does Legal Education Ignore Class?
In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education essay, Jon A. Shields (Claremont McKenna, Dept. Govt.) and Corey Tazzara (Scripps Coll., Dept. Hist.) ask whether universities teach about social class. Their answer: largely no, especially compared to universities’ curricular attention to race and gender. What are Shields and Tazzara’s findings, and how might they apply to legal…
-
“A Pink Private Jet, Luxury Homes, and a Growing Legal Battle: The Fall of an Immigration ‘Lawyer of Miracles’”
I thought that this story about immigration lawyer discipline might be of more general interest. Put it in the “Believe it or Not” category. Or a cautionary tale of professional irresponsibility Here is the story: “A Pink Private Jet, Luxury Homes, and a Growing Legal Battle: The Fall of an Immigration ‘Lawyer of Miracles’” “A…
-
Book of the Day: Real Skills for Real Life: A DBT Guide to Navigating Stress, Emotions, and Relationships
NPR brought to my attention book by Shireen Rizvi and Jesse Finkelstein, co-authors of Real Skills for Real Life: A DBT Guide to Navigating Stress, Emotions, and Relationships. On NPR, Rizvi shared techniques from the book called TIP, which stands for temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing and paired muscle relaxation. She says these four skills can help in…
-
A Changing Bench
President Trump announced today his intention to nominate Lee Rudofsky, now a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. If confirmed, Judge Rudofsky would create the first U.S. Court of Appeals with a majority of active judges appointed by President Trump. Judge Rudofsky…
-
Feds Move Against Diversity Scholarships
The U.S. government, via the Department of Labor, has long worked with the State of Minnesota to maintain a Website called CarrerOneStop, which, among other things, allows students to find a variety of available scholarship all in one place. Now, as reported in the Washington Post, the Federal Government is moving to end its relationship…
-
LSAC on the NALP Class of 2025 Report
In a cautionary fashion, James Leipold for the Law School Admission Council writes that “the employment outcomes for the law school class of 2025 tell a nuanced story, as the National Association for Law Placement (NALP)’s recent analysis of this data in its annual Selected Findings (PDF) report makes clear. One the one hand, the overall employment…
-
Supreme Court Clerk Feeder Law Schools
The following law schools had the most Supreme Court clerks in recent years. Courtesy of David Lat. I learned of the Lat study from Linked In. See here.
-
Teaching Tidbit of the Week: Fears and Nightmares for Our Fall 2026 Classes
Next week, as you may know, I will once again be a full-time law professor after serving as a dean for twelve years, eight at my current home, McGeorge, and four at the Bowen Law School in Arkansas. I am as excited as I am nervous, and, to implement a recommendation from a dear friend,…
-
Deep Thinking about AI Literacy-Related Outcomes
Drs. Veronika Hackl, Alexandra Elena Müller, Maximilian Sailer (Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, University of Passau, Passau, Germany), The AI literacy heptagon: A structured approach to AI literacy in higher education, Computers and Education: Articial Intelligence 10 (2026). Abstract The integrative literature review addresses the conceptualization and implementation of AI Literacy (AIL) in Higher Education (HE) by examining recent…
-
National Jurist Top Law Schools for Technology Law
Ranking School Name Center Clinic Journal A+ American University X X X A+ Case Western Reserve U. X X X A+ DePaul University X X X A+ Georgetown University X X X A+ Santa Clara Law X X X A+ Seattle University X X X A+ SMU Dedman School of Law X X X A+…
-
RIP: Russell Weaver, Executive Director of SEALS and Professor of Law
Russell Weaver, Executive Director of Southeastern Association of American Law Schools (SEALS) and Professor of Law at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law SEALS Announcement | August 12, 2026It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that the SEALS Board shares the news of the passing of Russell Weaver, Executive Director of SEALS and…
-
Pathways to Law Teaching Regional Workshops
A number of law schools have recently hosted regional workshops in preparation for the virtual Faculty Recruitment Conference that will be on held September 16-18, 2026 (during which participating schools will hold interviews with candidates). The Pathways to Law Teaching Regional Workshops, were hosted this year in six different regional markets or areas, including: (1) the…
-
Rodriguez: Ambiguities in the Duke Law Admissions Letter
On August 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division issued a formal findings letter accusing Duke University School of Law of intentionally discriminating based on race in its admissions practices (see Kevin Johnson’s post from last week). Daniel Rodriguez has this analysis on his substack, where he identifies problems and ambiguities in the letter. A brief excerpt:…
-
AALS Announces National Task Force on the Regulation of American Legal Education
Washington, DC (August 11, 2026) — The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) today announced the formation of a National Task Force on the Regulation of American Legal Education, a distinguished group of judges, legal educators, lawyers, and higher education leaders who will examine the future of law school accreditation and pathways to bar admission in…
-
ClioCon and Legal Education
ClioCon, a legaltech confab that is (I am told) a or even “the” must-attend annual industry conference, has added a “legal education” segment to its schedule this year. It’s an “Academic Summit,” as if the gathering is a pinnacle of some sort or a gathering of the educational elite. The “Academic Summit” takes place in…