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Measuring Merit: The Shultz-Zedeck Research on Law School Admissions
No full textLaw schools profess a commitment to racial diversity both for the educational benefits diversity confers and for its contribution to the profession. But they admit students based on standards that, while not discriminatory in a legal sense, undeniably favor white applicants. Today the question of who belongs in any given law school, or law school at all, turns almost exclusively on an applicant’s score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Law schools are not blind to the racial impact that accompanies this narrow measure of merit. But rather than taking a hard look at whether legal educators have adequately, or accurately, identified what qualities best qualify students for law school, the admissions process largely relies on affirmative action to ameliorate the current process\u27s negative effects. That approach is imperfect for a whole host of reasons, not least of which is that affirmative action’s legal use in higher education may be about to end. Should race-conscious admissions practices be banned, every law school that truly values diversity will have to explore race-neutral means of achieving it. The good news is that research conducted by Marjorie Shultz and Sheldon Zedeck suggests that this is possible - that qualities relevant to effective lawyering can be defined and predicted without recreating the LSAT\u27s disparate impact. This essay describes that research and the promise that it holds for improved, race-neutral, admissions processes
Enrollment by Gender and Degrees Awarded, 1963-2013
No full textThis source includes data on first year and total enrollment by gender, and the number and type of degrees awarded by ABA-approved law schools in the academic year beginning in 1963 to 2013
Law School Tuition, 1985-2013
No full textThis source includes data on the average and median tuition at ABA-approved law schools, by school type, for the years 1985 to 2013
First Year Enrollment by Gender and Race/Ethnicity, 2009-2013
No full textThis source includes data on first year enrollment by gender and race/ethnicity at ABA-approved law schools for the academic years beginning in 2009 to 2013
Don\u27t Crimp the Pipe, or Dam the River, at the Law School Door
No full textThese researchers review a history of pipeline programs and retell personal experiences related to participation in these programs. The researchers examine impactful college pipeline programs such as Talent Search and Upward Bound focused on elements that make them successful. These programs are built to ensure not only academic success but promotes an environment of emotional and cultural success as well. Often, diverse students will face unique challenges once they get to law school and programs need to prepare students for that eventuality. Gomez and colleagues also advocate for a 3+3 accelerated BA/JD degree
Measuring the Racial Unevenness of Law School
No full textIn Measuring the Racial Unevenness of Law School, Jonathan Feingold and Doug Souza introduce and analyze the concept of racial unevenness, which refers to the particularized burdens an individual encounters as a result of her race. These burdens, which often arise because an individual falls outside of the racial norm, manifest across a spectrum. At one end lie obvious forms of overt and invidious racial discrimination. At the other end, racial unevenness arises from environmental factors and institutional culture independent from any identifiable perpetrator. As the authors detail, race-dependent burdens can arise in institutions and communities that expressly promote racial diversity and condemn overt racial discrimination; good intentions are no panacea to racial unevenness
Bar Passage: GPA and LSAT, Not Bar Reviews
No full textProbit regressions of bar passage on law GPA, undergraduate GPA (uGPA) and LSAT show GPA to have a very strong relation, LSAT a weaker one, and uGPA not to have any relation. 1L and upperclass GPA both have strong predictive power, favoring an interpretation of significant learning in small and elective courses compared to the mandated large ones of the first year. Linear regressions of GPA on uGPA and LSAT show a noisy relation to exist only for first-time bar exam takers, none for 2nd time takers. Analysis of bar review courses does not show the choice among them to have consequence. Possible interpretations favor legal education over innate skill and the training in legal analysis over memorization
Law School Faculty and Staff by Ethnicity and Gender, 2013
No full textThis source includes data on the ethnicity and gender of faculty and staff at ABA-approved law schools in the 2013-14 academic year
Law Firm Competency Models & Student Professional Success: Building on a Foundation of Professional Formation/Professionalism
No full textBoth law students and law schools have an opportunity created by the convergence of (1) significant employment market changes for law graduates, (2) sharp declines in law school applications, (3) increased applicant attention to each school’s employment outcomes, (4) law firm development of competency models to assess associate development, and (5) the high probability of accreditation changes emphasizing each student’s competency to represent clients and participate ethically in the profession. A law student who understands legal employer competency models can differentiate him or herself from other graduates by using the three years of law school to develop (and to create supporting evidence to demonstrate) specific competencies beyond just knowledge of doctrinal law, legal analysis, and some written and oral communication skills. Indiana law professor Bill Henderson notes that “there is a glut in the market for entry level law graduates. Further, virtually all lack the skills needed to differentiate themselves . . . .”
In Part I below, this essay analyzes all available empirical research on the values, virtues, capacities and skills in law firm competency models that define the competencies of the most effective and successful lawyers. Part II examines empirical evidence on the competencies that clients evaluate. Part III evaluates the competencies that make the most difference in fast-track associate and partnership promotions. These data and analyses lead to several bold propositions developed in Part IV:
1. Law students and legal educators should identify and understand the values, virtues, capacities and skills (the competencies) of highly effective and successful lawyers in different types of practice (one major example is law firm competency models analyzed below in Part I);
2. Each student should use all three years of experiences both inside and outside of law school (including the required and elective curriculum, extracurricular activities, and paid or pro bono work experiences) to develop and be able to demonstrate evidence of the competencies that legal employers and clients want in the student’s area of employment interest;
3. Law schools should develop a competency-based curriculum that helps each student develop and be able to demonstrate the competencies that legal employers and clients want; and
4. Both law students and law schools should understand that the values, virtues, capacities and skills of professional formation (professionalism) are the foundation for excellence at all of the competencies of an effective and successful lawyer
Hispanic Enrollment, 2010-2013
No full textThis source includes data on Hispanic enrollment, of any race, by class year at ABA-approved law schools for the academic years beginning in 2010 to 2013