Despite disappointment over the decision to close the 139-year-old law school, leaders in the Indiana legal profession said they could not have done anything to change the outcome. Selecting students, hiring faculty, developing curriculum and maintaining finances are all internal workings of a law school.
After the Tennessee Commission of Higher Education rejected the transfer plans between Valparaiso Law School and Middle Tennessee State University, the northwest Indiana institution had no other options. Although the decision to close may not have surprised many, especially since the university had been upfront about the troubles the legal education program was having, it was still an emotional blow.
The American Bar Association House of Delegates’ adoption of three resolutions is characterized as bringing the “most fundamental changes” to the accreditation process in several decades.
Starting with the fall semester 2018, Northern Illinois University College of Law will charge one flat tuition rate to all students regardless of whether they are residents of the state or not.
The closing of 4-year-old Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne, and the revelation that 138-year-old Valparaiso University Law School faced an uncertain future, made law school troubles the top legal news story of 2017, as determined by the staff of Indiana Lawyer. Changes on the federal and state bench also were among the year’s top stories.
With the closing of Indiana Tech School of Law and an uncertain future for Valparaiso University School of Law, experts say there are no easy answers for the pressures facing legal education.
Roughly four months after Indiana Tech closed its law school, the American Bar Association is poised to withdraw provisional accreditation of the legal education program.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush said she was worried and concerned about slumping bar exam scores. She echoed the apprehension of many about the quality of students being admitted to law schools and she noted the format of the test itself may be impacting the results.
A bulk of the books from the law library at the defunct Indiana Tech Law School are finding a new home at Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, while other volumes are going elsewhere.
A few months before law schools around the country begin a new academic year, the number of people applying for admission has slipped, with the greatest decline coming from applicants posting the highest LSAT scores.
As the law school’s last class graduates, its website has been taken down andstudents begin to transfer to other programs.
Waiting for graduation ceremonies to begin Saturday morning, Philip Davis summed up his place in the university’s history — at age 60, he is the oldest student who has ever graduated and ever will graduate from Indiana Tech Law School.
Although deans consistently disparage the annual rankings, the U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 Best Law Schools may have given Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law reason to cheer.
From law school troubles to new court initiatives, take a look back at the top stories in Indiana Lawyer this year.
New information released from the American Bar Association underscores the differences between Indiana’s law schools.
While those who have studied trends in legal education differ on whether Indiana Tech will be one in a string of closures, they agree that the first priority must be the students.
Indiana Tech Law School's closure is the first time in the collective memory of the American Bar Association that a law school has closed without transferring its assets.
A lawyer retained by a faculty member at Indiana Tech Law School is questioning the university’s explanation for closing the school.
The decision by the Indiana Tech board of trustees to close the university’s law school came after law school dean Charles Cercone repeatedly argued the institution could become viable if it remained open.
One law school faculty member is describing Indiana Tech’s decision to close its law school as sudden, abrupt and shocking, and indicated that legal action may be coming.