Paul L. Caron
Dean
Pepperdine Caruso
School of Law
Miscellaneous
-
Chodosh Named Leader of National Constitution Center
“The National Constitution Center today announced that its Board of Trustees has appointed Hiram E. Chodosh, President Emeritus of Claremont McKenna College, as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. One of higher education’s most accomplished institutional leaders, Chodosh brings a proven record of building and strengthening educational and legal institutions, mobilizing extraordinary philanthropic support,…
-
LSAT Format to Change in August 2027
As announced from LSAC earlier this week. From the National Jurist: Prelaw students preparing for the LSAT should know that a significant format change is coming in August 2027. However, according to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), the skills tested, question types, scoring scale and meaning of scores will remain unchanged. The biggest takeaway…
-
AAU Legal Action Over ICE’s New CPT Interpretation
On Monday, the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and others filed a lawsuit challenging ICE’s changes to curricular practical training (CPT) for international students. The changes have significant impact on international students. You can find prior coverage on TaxProfBlog (noting “new rules restricting curricular practical training, new H1-B fee…
-
Call for Proposals: New Ideas for (Manageable!) Learning Exercises
A new call for proposals from the Journal of Legal Education for a panel at the 2027 AALS Annual Meeting in New York. Proposals should be submitted to jlesubmissions@aals.org by noon (EDT) on Monday, October 26. The details are below and the next page. This interactive program at the 2027 AALS Annual Meeting sponsored by the Journal of Legal Education will…
-
Proposed New Non-Lawyer Legal Aid Program in California
This week the Board of Trustees of the California State Bar approved a recommendation to the California Supreme Court to establish a statewide Community Justice Worker Program. The proposal, if approved by the Court, would authorize trained nonlawyers to provide limited legal assistance to California residents under the supervision of approved legal aid organizations. From…
-
2027 AALS Annual Meeting – Discussion Groups and Registration
Registration for the 2027 AALS Annual Meeting in New York is open. Those that register before November 18 can take advantage of early bird rates. There’s also still time left to submit an abstract to participate in discussion groups at the meeting. You can find more details here. From AALS: “There’s still time left to submit…
-
Four-Year Visa Cap Blocked
Of note to law schools (particularly with SJD programs, joint degree programs or part-time options), earlier this week a federal district judge issued an injunction halting a Department of Homeland Security regulation related to “duration of status.” The DHS regulation sought to eliminate the traditional “duration of status” policy—which allows students to stay until they complete…
-
Stand up for Science: America’s Compact for Higher Education
In October 2025, the Department of Education sent an initial nine-page letter to prominent research universities seeking to have universities sign a “Compact.” In August 2026, Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued an updated National Call to Action. In response to these acts by the Trump Administration, last week Stand Up for Science announced the release…
-
Scholars at Risk: Free to Think 2026 Report
The Free to Think 2026 report published by Scholars at Risk on September 15, 2026, documents 382 attacks on higher education communities across 59 countries and territories between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The report discusses escalating pressures on higher education in the United States. From the report’s section on the United States:…
-
Law Dean Gets Tattoo
Well now that’s some dean commitment…. From a local news story: A deal is a deal. That’s the way Elon University School of Law Dean Zak Kramer saw it after making a pact with the class of 2025. Earlier in the semester, he promised that if the law students as a class achieved an overall…
-
More on Recent ABA House of Delegates Actions
In addition to several resolutions related to the ABA Council and law school accreditation, the ABA House of Delegates adopted a range of resolutions this week. From an ABA announcement: The American Bar Association House of Delegates adopted more than 40 policy matters on a wide variety of issues including the independence of the legal…
-
Department of Education Letter to Universities
On Monday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent an open letter to Universities that repeats themes from the Trump administration’s 2025 highly problematic higher ed compact. From the New York Times: The Trump administration is making another push to persuade university leaders to address policies that it says have eroded trust with the American public, sending…
-
Shared Responsibility for the Future of Legal Education
AALS President Danielle Conway recently gave remarks at an international conference hosted by the Association of Korean Law Schools (AKLS) and others in Seoul Korea. The remarks focused on the future of legal education, bar exam licensing, and the rule of law. When we look at the rule of law through the lens of legal…
-
Report Released Detailing Problems with February 2025 California Bar Exam
Last week, the legislatively mandated audit of the problems of the February 2025 California Bar Exam was released. You can find the report here. And here’s coverage from Julianne Hill at the ABA Journal: A rushed timeline, poor planning, contract failures and a host of questionable decisions—including the use of generative artificial intelligence to help…
-
Staying Updated on Legal Education News (AALS Lens Now)
Just a reminder. In addition to this blog, you can stay updated on the latest legal education news as well as higher education news through AALS Lens Now (a weekly digest). You can find the latest July digest here. Subscribing can be done easily too (from this link). And, of course, it’s worth checking out…
-
Continued Growth in Legal Sector
From Karen Sloan of Reuters: The U.S. legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, pushing legal employment to an all-time high for the third straight month, according to figures released on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Karen Sloan, US Legal Sector Jobs Continued to Climb in June, July 2,…
-
The World Cup: Soccer, Law, and Judging
It’s a bad look, in my own self-interested opinion, for TaxProf Blog to have nothing to contribute to the global phenomenon that is the World Cup finals of 2026, especially when the United States men’s team is performing exceptionally well and is very much in the center of the action, and not simply as co-host…
-
Rural Justice, Legal Deserts, and Alternative Pathways in New Mexico
Last week, justices on the New Mexico Supreme Court justices presented the state’s “Rural Justice and Modernizing the Legal Profession in New Mexico” report. You can find the report here. More details from Law.com: Two New Mexico Supreme Court justices are exploring ways to address legal deserts within the state, including a skills-based assessment initiative.…
-
The Orientation Speech That I May Never Give
A couple of weeks ago, Austen Parrish posted a link to Joe Andrew’s recent Forbes piece, “What Law School Grads Need To Know Now: The Second To Last Generation?” Joe Andrew was the founding global chair of Dentons. I’m coming back to that piece because I want to highlight a couple of things that Austen’s…
-
Forbes: What Law School Grads Need To Know Now
A piece in Forbes by Joseph Andrew (former Global Chairman of Dentons) on how AI is changing the legal profession and the skills junior lawyers will need. The introduction is a bit odd — not sure any law schools “focus on academics or celebrity alumni” as graduation speakers, many schools are “meeting the moment,” and…
-
Law Jobs: Historic High for US Legal Jobs; NALP Podcast
Lots happening in the legal market. An interesting piece by Karen Sloan on the historic high of legal markets jobs in May suggesting “that the rapid adoption of legal AI tools has not yet impacted staffing, even as experts predict it may in the near future.” From Reuters: The U.S. legal sector posted another historic…
-
States Sue Over Grad Student Loan Limits
Perhaps of interest to those following the impact of the new loan legislation. Last week, Inside Higher Ed described new litigation brought by 25 states (you can find the lawsuit’s complaint at this link). The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration issued a final rule that unlawfully narrowed the pre-existing federal definition of a professional…
-
UNC Law Appoints New Dean
Adding to a recent post on law school dean appointments and reappointments, Andy Hessick has been named dean of the UNC Law (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). From the announcement: Andy Hessick, who has served as interim dean of UNC School of Law since September 2025, has accepted the role on a permanent basis, effective…
-
Educational Series Focused on Safeguarding Professional Independence
Thanks to Jim Greif for a nice story in AALS Lens on the recently concluded AALS webinar series on professional independence and the legal profession. The six webinars were organized by seven law schools, and the recordings for all six sessions in the series can be found on the AALS website and YouTube Channel. Here is…
-
Political Pressure and Attacks on Medical Schools
The political interference in medical schools is similar to some of the political attacks on law schools. An article from Insider Higher Ed from yesterday questions whether “bowing to political pressure” will “hurt the future of public health, research and higher education.” “I’m not aware of there ever being such a wholesale attack on medical…