For nearly 40 years, Donald Smith of Riley Bennett Egloff LLP has played on an Indianapolis lawyers’ softball league. Smith hopes to bring together other young law students for the 2020 season to keep the softball league’s longevity alive.
Idealism may be common among students at all law schools across the country, but the celebration of IU McKinney’s 125th anniversary was an occasion to spotlight what many see as the sustained conviction of the graduates to make the world better.
Following the appeals process, the overall pass rate for the July 2019 Indiana bar exam has risen to 3 percentage points to 65%, a repeat of the pre- and post-appeal pass rates for the July 2018 exam.
With champagne and cake, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law celebrated its 125th anniversary Tuesday evening, recognizing the institution’s accomplishments as well as its alumni and faculty.
Preliminary results released Monday for the July 2019 bar exam indicate the overall pass rate likely will remain between 60 and 65 percent even as the rate for repeat takers could hit a historical low of 20 percent.
Recent law school graduates have been surprised to discover that finding work actually takes work, according to results of a survey released Monday. However, other recent surveys have found employment increasing overall for newly minted lawyers.
It might be hard to believe, but this month brings the start of our third and final year of law school at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. The readers of this column have loyally been with us since the spring semester of our 1L year, and we have grown so much through writing on a variety of topics that we explored and encountered during our time as students of the law. In this column, we will reflect on our time in law school and set goals for our year to come. We plan to make it the best one yet.
Ever since the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law began accepting GRE scores in lieu of the LSAT in 2016, the list of law schools that consider applicants who submit only Graduate Record Exam results is growing. So are the other innovative ways law schools in Indiana and elsewhere are measuring the likely success of potential students.
As classes begin for the 2018-2019 academic year, all Indiana law schools are marking historical milestones.
Three weeks into the six-week long Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program, ICLEO fellow Jasmine Lovelace felt like she was already immersed in law school, especially with her 100-plus-page reading assignments. The soon-to-be Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law student was one of 23 applicants from across the state selected to participate in the 2019 ICLEO summer preparatory institute, hosted at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington.
Even while the total number of entry-level law firm jobs is still below the pre-recession peak, the employment stats for the 2018 law school graduates improved, primarily because the smaller size of last year’s class meant fewer new lawyers were looking for work.
The writing sample traditionally given at the end of the LSAT, when candidates are usually mentally fatigued and no longer able to legibly scribble their thoughts, could draw new attention from law schools as the entrance exam switches to a digital format. The test will go all-digital beginning in September.
Half of the 24,000 registered to take the Law School Admission Test on Monday will not be required to use a pencil. The exam, which is a major hurdle to getting accepted into law school, is going digital.
During my initial campus visits to Indiana law schools, I encountered several students who manifested the stressors of their academic environment in a number of ways. Some had turned to alcohol and other drugs, sometimes resulting in serious consequences such as DUI arrests and academic probation. Others demonstrated noticeable signs and symptoms of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression.
The folks who “keep the trains running on time” at the Notre Dame Law School have a special affinity for Dean Nell Jessup Newton. The staff hosted an informal afternoon reception on the last Wednesday in May to recognize and thank her for her leadership as she prepares to step down as dean at the end of June.
A new partnership has formed between Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Indiana Legal Services and New Leaf New Life to launch an Expungement Help Desk in Bloomington this fall.
As the newest group of Indiana attorneys raised their right hands and took their admission oaths May 14, they were reminded that just as they needed to achieve this success, they will continue throughout their careers to need a little help from their friends.
A recent survey of young Florida attorneys found that roughly 58 percent say the practice of law has become “less desirable” to them as their years in practice have increased. But facing difficulties doesn’t mean the next generation of Indiana lawyers are preparing to switch careers. Rather, they say the struggles they encountered, though painful at the time, have improved their skills as client advocates.
John Copeland Nagle, Notre Dame Law School’s John N. Matthews Professor of Law, died Saturday following a brief illness. He was 58.
Law schools must now have 75 percent of their graduates pass the bar exam within two years of completing their J.D. degrees after a twice-defeated accreditation standard was approved Friday by the American Bar Association. Opponents worry the change will hurt efforts to diversify the legal profession.