Big Lawl and the death of the UCSD merger.

I'm sorry to report California Western and UCSD will not be merging. They put talks on "pause" until UCSD can figure out their financial situation, whatever it might be. If I had to speculate, UCSD probably wants more than Cal West is willing to contribute financially. That's just my guess though. It's really a disservice to San Diego not to have a public University of California law school.

Here is the message from the Dean:

Dear members of the California Western community:

Over many months I have brought you periodic reports on the work of the joint faculty committee exploring the proposed affiliation between UC San Diego and our law school. Later today we will announce a pause in those talks, to allow our colleagues at UC San Diego to contend with the very serious budget crisis they face.

Below is the text of the statement from UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and CWSL Board Chair Kenneth L. Greenman that the two schools will jointly release this afternoon.

I am encouraged by the many great ideas generated by members of our California Western family. The committee’s work – including consideration of the questions and suggestions you brought to their attention – demonstrates the many benefits of the proposed affiliation for both institutions and our region.

Both sides remain committed to working together and exploring new opportunities for collaboration. It is my sincere wish that discussions between our two institutions resume quickly, so that the momentum gained over the past many months is not lost.

Please feel free to talk with Dean Seibel or me if you have questions or concerns. If you hear from a member of the media, please direct them to Communications Director Pam Hardy at (619) 515-1545.

A pause in talks is in no way a pause in the many things we do to fulfill our mission. My heartfelt thanks to each of you for your patience, interest, and all you do to make California Western what law school ought to be.

Sincerely,
Dean Steven R. Smith


Local Educational Institutions Pause Discussions Regarding Establishment of
UC San Diego School of Law

April 6, 2011 - Since January 2010, a committee of faculty, administrative and board representatives from UC San Diego and California Western School of Law has met to explore the possibility of a combination between the two schools, resulting in a UC San Diego School of Law. The State of California currently faces an unprecedented budget crisis with serious implications for the UC system and UC San Diego in particular. As a consequence, UC San Diego and California Western have agreed to a pause in discussions.

UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox thanked the committee members for their work. “Their time and valuable work over these past 15 months helped us see the tremendous benefits of this idea for both institutions and our region. California Western’s strengths made the concept of an affiliation appealing, but the state’s changing fiscal picture makes this opportunity difficult to pursue at this time.”

California Western Board of Trustees Chair Kenneth L. Greenman echoed Fox’s thanks. “These discussions identified new possibilities for interdisciplinary work which meet the needs of our region’s innovation economy and contribute to economic growth and competitiveness. Given the enormous benefits of this combination, we look forward to a time when formal talks can resume.”

In the meantime, the two institutions remain committed to current collaborations – including dual and joint degree programs, speaker series, and the Community Law Project – and to exploring further opportunities to capitalize on the strengths of both.

###

About UC San Diego
Founded in 1960, the University of California, San Diego is ranked the best value public university in California by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and the 7th best public university in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Named the “hottest” institution to study science by Newsweek, UC San Diego is one of the nation’s most accomplished research universities, widely acknowledged for its local impact, national influence and global reach. For more information, please visit www.ucsd.edu.

About California Western School of Law
California Western School of Law is the independent, ABA/AALS-accredited San Diego law school that advances multi-dimensional lawyering by educating lawyers-to-be as creative problem solvers and principled advocates who frame the practice of law as a helping, collaborative profession. Please visit www.cwsl.edu for more information.

Here is a good argument for merging:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/apr/10/we-must-pursue-a-ucsd-law-school/

We must pursue a UCSD law school
BY JOHN G. DAVIES
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED APRIL 10, 2011 AT MIDNIGHT, UPDATED APRIL 8, 2011 AT 3:50 P.M.

Although I understand why UC San Diego and California Western School of Law are “pausing” discussions about combining to form a UC San Diego school of law, there may be a better course of action.

Long-term projects are typically conceived and developed through economic boom times and bad times. Because they are long-term, it makes more sense to proceed anyway, at least until a final decision is pending. Consider the opportunity that might slip away.

Just 50 years old – young by major university standards – the University of California San Diego rivals some of our nation’s most prestigious universities and is listed among the top 10 public research universities in the nation.

Yet one thing would make this research powerhouse even greater. A law school at UC San Diego would offer substantial benefits for the university, the UC system and the region as a whole.

That is the appeal of the innovative proposal to merge an existing, accredited, financially sound law school into the university with zero startup or construction costs.

While the current budget crisis affecting the state and UC system elevates the question of how UC San Diego can add a law school, UC leadership recognizes that they have to do business differently. Christopher Edley, dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, cited online education as one approach to save money while expanding access.

Similarly, I have long believed this unique idea for creating a UC San Diego law school is a highly innovative and appropriate response to “the new normal” of challenged budgets.

Why a UC San Diego law school?

Very few public universities have achieved or sustained greatness without offering professional legal education. And most outstanding law schools reside within public universities. That is why four of the major research campuses in the UC system have established law schools, and why the San Diego campus should also do so.

As an attorney and a former regent of the University of California, I know that the benefits of a university-affiliated law school are significant.

Universities broaden minds by fostering multidisciplinary collaboration between numerous areas of inquiry on one campus. That is one reason that UC San Diego has added several new schools over its 50-year life span, including the Medical School, Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies, Jacobs School of Engineering, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Rady School of Management.

Top faculty talent is attracted to a university that offers the full range of academic disciplines and fosters collaboration between them. UC San Diego is recognized systemwide for their emphasis on cross-departmental research.

One discipline – law – has traditionally lagged behind the development of new scientific breakthroughs in terms of creating policies and regulations. This places innovators at a disadvantage since law is a critical component of all new knowledge. A school of law as part of San Diego’s internationally renowned research institution will further strengthen the cross-disciplinary collaboration that can answer novel legal and ethical questions as they arise.

We live in a world increasingly defined by information, technology and globalism. Academic research today will shape our society in unimaginable ways tomorrow. Such research is rife with legal, social and policy issues. Graduates of universities that offer legal education will lead, while those from universities that lack legal education will play catch-up.

Can UC San Diego afford this?

Launching a new law school presents daunting challenges. It would cost on the order of $100 million and take several years under the very best of circumstances. Today and for the foreseeable future, that is a non-starter. However, California and UC San Diego have an opportunity to add a public law school in a very different way, i.e., incorporating an established law school (California Western School of Law) into UC San Diego.

Can we afford not to seize this opportunity? Simply put, tough economic times are no excuse for great institutions to forego opportunities to become even greater.

A UC San Diego law school would enjoy a unique focus. This would be a law school focused on research that defines the future. It would graduate practitioners and researchers who understand the social and policy implications of innovation. Such a school would benefit the region’s most promising economic sectors, including biotechnology, telecommunications, nanotechnology, health care, oceanography and international relations.

In my opinion, pausing could be a mistake. In the long view, tough times are no excuse to forego great opportunities. Tough times just demand greater certainty about the benefits.

Therefore, even in this extraordinarily difficult time, the opportunity to realize such a significant addition to the state of California, the University of California and San Diego at no cost must continue to be pursued.

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Big Lawl:
http://thepeoplestherapist.com/2011/04/13/not-worth-it/

This guy likens working in Big Law to stepping into the ring with Mike Tyson. I've never really aspired to fight Mike Tyson, or get into a big law firm and lose my soul, but given the opportunity I might try big law. At least I have some training for it. I'm hoping my experience clerking helps me land a decent job.

Finals are approaching. I really hate this time of year. The December finals never bother me too much because I know I'm just in the middle of the year and it's cold outside anyway. Spring in San Diego crushes me. All I want to do is go to the beach. Studying outside Pappaleccos in the sunshine is fine though. I caught myself starring out the window at the ocean and point loma for about 10 minutes.



Back to work. :(

USD admitted students day and Cal Western tuition

USD admitted students day:

My youngest brother was in town for the USD admitted student's day. He has a 177 LSAT and pretty good undergrad grades so he has better options but wanted to check out the campus anyway. The admitted students program comes with a +1, so my brother invited me to see "that other law school" in San Diego.

I was really impressed with their admitted students day. The campus is gorgeous. The law school facilities are awesome. I have a few friends there and the atmosphere is much more laid back than California Western. I think this is due to the incredible academic attrition rate Cal West maintains. It makes the 1Ls wound up super tight at Cal West and I think the attitude permeates to the school as a whole. This is my only real complaint about California Western.Back to USD.

My biggest problem I had with the USD admitted students program came from career services and the students they selected to speak. The career services woman basically promised the admitted students the opportunity to practice at a big law firm anywhere in the country. This notion is totally absurd. The recent graduates they lined up to speak graduated in the top 5% or 10% and landed themselves big law jobs, but this is definitely not what the average USD graduate can expect.

The funniest part was the amount they bashed California Western. Each time someone spoke about California Western they prefaced the statement with "California Western is a wonderful school, but __(something awful about California Western)___". They never said anything inaccurate. I found it funny because they spent an awful lot of time campaigning against Cal West as if we were hot on their heals in the rankings or something. We did recently demolish them in bar passage though, so maybe that had something to do with it.

The best part about the admitted students day was the lunch. They put together a very nice meal and sat potential students with faculty members. I sat with professor Kelly and asked a few questions about the school. He's a really nice man. My brother walked around the room and talked to various professors and the administration about scholarship retention (which is 60%, but not everyone has the same stipulations on their scholarships so this number might be deceiving).

The students are much more relaxed, and the campus is really awesome. USD is a good school.

--

California Western's Tuition

California Western's tuition is pretty much par for the course for law schools, public and private. Law school is expensive. You can pay for it with scholarships, grants, and federal student loans. Student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. If you land a public interest career you can sign up for loan forgiveness. After working for 10 years your loans go away to make up for the pay hit you're taking to perform a service valuable to society. You can also use income based repayment, so you're not dumping 2k/month into paying off your loans or something large when you're starting salary is small.

Law school is not cheap. Do not go to law school if you want to "make a bunch of money" or whatever. There are much easier ways to get rich in California.

California Western will provide you with the skills to become a good attorney. There are a lot of practice oriented classes, including STEPPS which is a legal research and writing program developed to mimmic a law firm. These classes set California Western apart from other schools who focus on legal theory. California Western will also prepare you for the bar with free BarBri courses, part of the reason we demolished USD in the last Bar examination.

Cheers!

UCSD merger update, scholarly writing, and internship

I went to the townhall meeting to find out more about the UCSD-Cal Western merger. The status seems to have downgraded from an issue of "when" the merger will happen to "if" the merger will happen. The whole situation appears pretty disheartening for current students and alumni.

The townhall speakers didn't have much in the way of substance. When asked about the greatest impediment to the merger they cited economic issues but didn't elaborate. A further point of concern stems from UCSD refusing to grant degrees to students they didn't have a hand in educating. This would mean the alumni base and the current students at Cal Western will not longer have a law school to call their own. No retroactive degrees and no reissued degrees means having to explain to clients why you have a J.D. from a non-existent school.

I think this probably damages UCSD if they merge with California Western. It means they will effectively alienate the alumni base, which is quite significant in San Diego. They will hamstring their ability to solicit donations from such a wide group of professionals.

Another audience member asked about the internal politics of California Western and the merger. Dean Smith characterized Cal Western as a much more fluid and nimble bureaucracy than UCSD and hinted they couldn't reach an agreement with the UCSD panel to even get to a stage with a written proposal.

I really hope California Western merges with UCSD in the next year. If it doesn't happen then, I suspect the project will lose momentum and die.

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My scholarly writing is moving along ok. I'm taking notes and writing at the same time. Most of the writing isn't formal or for the paper but to help me remember why I took notes the way I did.

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I'm now a volunteer legal intern for the in-house counsel for the San Diego Zoo. My internship is really fun. I'm working one Friday a week and I really like the people I get to work with. I'm hoping they start giving me a little more responsibility as time goes on.

UCSD merger, grades, and new job

Dear students,

Last year we convened a student town hall meeting to share with you the news that California Western was entering talks with UC San Diego about a possible affiliation. The committee comprised of faculty members and administrative representatives from the two schools continues to meet.

On Tuesday, February 8, you are invited to a student town hall meeting to get an update on those talks, hear directly from members of the faculty committee and me about the process, and offer your questions, concerns and ideas.

While you should not expect any earth-shattering announcements, please feel free to bring your questions for the leaders of the committee and for me.

Student Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
12:15 p.m. - 1:05 p.m.
Lecture Hall 1

I hope to see you there.

Steve Smith,
Dean

Good news: the merger isn't dead. Bad news: nothing "earth-shattering" means there probably isn't anything concrete. Either way, its exciting to see the proposal is still in the works. I'll go to the town hall meeting and make a post after.

--
I got my grades back. I actually did pretty well in Professional Responsibility. I thought I tanked it but reading and some MPRE practice problems helped.

I started working an internship. I don't do anything terribly important because I just started with this new group, but I'm hoping I can talk the boss into letting me take on more responsibility. She's a California Western Alumna and so far seems pretty cool.

New Internship

I started a new internship. Because I worked today like a responsible adult, I missed out on meeting Dave Grohl of Nirvanva/ Foo Fighters and a birthday party.

:(

So whatever happened to the possible UCSD merger?

http://lawschoolproposal.ucsd.edu/news.php

There hasn't been a new post or update since June of last year. Perhaps it is quietly dying.

Almost a calendar year went by since California Western hosted a meeting in the 350 building to announce the possibility of a merger with UCSD. The administration offered a rough timeline with results by summer of 2010 or by January of the next year.

The past two editions of the school news paper (released twice/ year) explored the possibility of merging with UCSD. The latest edition conspicuously lacked any mention of UCSD or the possibility of merger. The new edition should come out soon, but with dead silence on the website and not even a peep about the merger from the administration in almost a year I think the smart money is on the death of this idea.

This is a shame because the proposal was a good idea. It didn't add more lawyers and mutually benefitted UCSD and Cal Western.

If I'm wrong please correct me and I'll edit in a fix at the end.

Thomas Jefferson (and law schools in general) get reamed by the NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html

“Enron-type accounting standards have become the norm,” says William Henderson of Indiana University

This article lit up the screens of every laptop in one of my classes as students passed it around on gchat. I notice these things because I sit in the back of the class and can see everything. (I don't bring a computer either, otherwise I'll sit on gchat or whatever and I may as well have stayed up in my underpants)

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Law schools love statistics. From top to bottom, law schools release shady and overly rosey reports about employment and salaries to entice potential law students into taking out non-dischargeable student loans. Are the law schools really to blame, especially a lower ranked school like TJ? Probably not.

Law schools receive more and better students by climbing the USNWR ranks (I'm not entirely sure why this weird system is worshipped the way it is, but it is the world we live in). Schools climb the ranking system, in part, by reporting high employment and high salaries from graduates. This creates a powerful incentive to 'cook the books' to win out. So, if a school wants to keep matriculating students, they have to cheat to compete. Tearing TJ a new one in the NYT probably won't bring the accountability necessary to change this system. To barrow from popular Law and Order actor Ice-T,

"Don't hate the player; hate the game."

The ABA needs to stop the way law schools game the USNWR rankings by cracking down on enron style cheating on the part of law schools to fix this type of problem. Maybe they should change the game and release their own rankings of ABA approved law schools each year.