law clinics – Overlawyered

Higher education roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 09:47:23 +0000

“If this becomes the new normal… the intellectual thugs will take over many campuses….A minority of faculty are cowing a majority in the same way that a minority of students are cowing the majority.” Why Charles Murray is pessimistic following the Middlebury attack [AEI] Frank Bruni on the Middlebury events and “the dangerous safety of college” [New York Times]
“Faculty and students need to be free to express ideas and viewpoints rather than be penalized for their politics.” [letter from group of Wellesley alumnae]
Finally! Federal government in January opened door for universities to relax some of their IRB (institutional review board) scrutiny of human-subjects research in low-risk areas not involving medical intervention [Richard Shweder and Richard Nisbett, Chronicle of Higher Education, related Institutional Review Blog] Update: some annotations/corrections from Michelle Meyer;
“Colorado student expelled for raping his girlfriend, even though both he and his girlfriend both deny the charge.” [Robby Soave/Reason on CSU-Pueblo case, via (and described by) Radley Balko] “End federal micromanagement of college discipline under Title IX” [Hans Bader/CEI, and related] “Maybe I’m drunk, but this doesn’t seem fair” [The Safest Space on “both were drunk, he got charged” poster]
What, no taxpayer dollars to pursue favored legal causes? North Carolina proposal would bar public universities from representing lawsuit clients [Caron/TaxProf]
I hadn’t followed the “New Civics” movement. It sounds pretty bad [George Leef, Martin Center]

Tags: colleges and universities, law clinics, science and scientists, Title IX

Higher education roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Upcoming film on Hudson Farm case

Walter Olson — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 12:47:02 +0000

The group Save Farm Families is doing a nonfiction film (link to trailer) about the Hudson Farm case, in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper group, backed by a University of Maryland environmental law clinic, sued an Eastern Shore chicken farming family on charges a judge later threw out as unfounded. More at my local policy blog Free State Notes.

Tags: agriculture and farming, law clinics, Maryland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Upcoming film on Hudson Farm case is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Law schools roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 04:05:17 +0000

“California AG files claim against school that hired its own students to boost employment numbers” — not a story about a law school, but it might have been [John Steele]
Hardly anyone took the constitutional challenge to ObamaCare seriously, at least it seems not at Yale [David Bernstein, Volokh; and speaking of law school ideology my book Schools for Misrule makes a great holiday gift]
Clinical legal education: “shift from service clinics to impact clinics is partly driven by clinicians’ search for status within the academy” [Margaret Drew and Andrew Morriss, SSRN]
Shorten law school to two years? [NYT “DealBook” on Obama comments, Jim Dedman, Abnormal Use] “UVM, Vermont Law School consider joint degree” [Burlington Free Press]
As “Old Media” shrinks, shouldn’t the number of law reviews do so too? [Gerard Magliocca]
Lighter regulation of UK law schools, and more pathways to practice? [John Flood]
Cleveland State law profs say “Satanic” $666 pay hike was retaliation for union activities [TaxProf]

Tags: law clinics, law schools, Vermont, Yale

Law schools roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Schools for Misrule excerpt: how the Ford Foundation reshaped law schools

Walter Olson — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 11:55:40 +0000

As much as any other institution, the Ford Foundation has shaped the modern American law school, having provided key backing for developments such as clinical legal education, public interest law, identity-based legal studies, and transnational law. Whether you agree or disagree with Ford’s ideological thrust — and as a libertarian, I regularly disagree — it’s a pretty remarkable set of accomplishments. I give an overview and brief history in this new article for the Capital Research Center’s Foundation Watch, adapted from my book Schools for Misrule. (cross-posted from Cato at Liberty; welcome readers from George Leef, NRO)

More: some essays on Ford’s crucial support during the formative period of public interest litigation [Steven Schindler, more, Scott Kohler]

Tags: Ford Foundation, international human rights, law clinics, law schools, Schools for Misrule

Schools for Misrule excerpt: how the Ford Foundation reshaped law schools is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Waterkeeper Alliance won’t appeal Hudson Farm defeat

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:14:56 +0000

After a thorough scolding by the judge — to say nothing of some of us on the commentary side — the celebrity-friendly environmentalist group is cutting its losses. [DelmarvaNow] An official with the University of Maryland’s environmental law clinic defends the school’s stand here.

Tags: environment, law clinics, Maryland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Waterkeeper Alliance won’t appeal Hudson Farm defeat is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system