The LACBA Student Lounge Blog

End of the Recession: Paying the Price

In addition to the California budget, the Bay Area’s initiative to increase city, county, and state revenues will likely help remedy the crisis.  Like all solutions, however, the plans have downsides. 

The California budget, for example, received as much opposition as it did support.  Some of the greatest opposition came from the proposals to release prisoners and reduce environmental regulations. 

By April 2010, San Francisco will, furthermore, install parking meters in Golden Gate Park for the first time.  The Park is one of the most popular sites for tourists and locals.  The initiative, will, therefore, make it more difficult to enjoy the Park by motor vehicle. 

Oakland’s pay-and-display parking kiosks additionally present challenges to bicyclists.  The kiosks, which replaced traditional parking meters, require motorists to pay their own fees and ensure they cannot benefit from additional time left on a meter.  While this technology increases city revenue, the elimination of parking meters duly eliminates posts bicyclists rely on to lock their bicycles. 

The increasing fares implemented on public transportation this summer, furthermore, present an especially great burden on summer law students with unpaid internships.  These same students are also facing significant tuition increases.  Some argue the end of the recession is near.  With these budget crisis remedies, however, law students may have a different opinion.   

LA Lakers and Ethnic Equality: Dreams Come True

As evidenced by Proposition 8, sexual orientation-based equality in California is still an unfulfilled dream.  California and Los Angeles (LA) are, however, making strides towards ethnic-based equality. 

On June 14, 2009, the childhood dreams of fifteen individuals came true, as the LA Lakers won the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.  Whereas the first LA Lakers championship team in 1972 featured solely Americans, this year’s team consisted of four foreign born players.

With the victory, Sasha Vujacic became the third player born in Slovenia to win an NBA championship.  Pau Gasol, additionally, became the first player born in Spain, Sun Yue became the first ethnic Chinese player, and Didier Ilunga-Mbenga became the first Belgian national to either play in or win an NBA championship.  Jordan Farmar, an American born Laker, is, furthermore, the NBA’s only current Jewish player.  As one of the most internationally well represented champions in NBA history, the Lakers, therefore, support the findings of recent studies, which suggest ethnic diversity does not negatively impact a team’s winning percentage. 

Ethnic diversity and success in California and LA, furthermore, extend beyond the sports world.  The U.S. News & World Report's Law School Diversity Index ranks law schools based on ethnic diversity.  Out of 200 accredited law schools, the Index’s top twenty-five ranked schools include twelve from California.  Amongst these twelve schools are four of the five accredited law schools in LA County: the University of Southern California (7), Loyola Marymount University (9), Southwestern Law School (17), and the University of California, LA (19). 

Although LA is well known as the home of Hollywood, some still remember the city for the 1992 LA Riots and the ensuing ethnic divide.  Earlier this month, people again filled the streets of LA.  This time, however, people of all ethnic backgrounds celebrated the Lakers’ win, together.  The 2009 NBA champions and Diversity Index’s rankings are, therefore, hopefully a sign ethnic-based equality in the United States, or at least in LA, is now more of a reality than a dream. 

 

California Budget Crisis: On a Budget

The UC system, like most statewide systems, will suffer from increasing budget cuts.  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is predicting a budget cut of $765 million to the UC system, which already took a budget cut of $115 million earlier this year.  Yet, the UC system continues to build up increasing expenses.

UC Merced, the tenth and youngest UC campus, recently graduated its first four-year class.  According to the Fresno Bee, the University originally planned a modest $100,000 budget for the 500-student ceremony.  However, upon retaining Ms. Michelle Obama as its keynote speaker and without obtaining additional funding sources, the University committed to a $700,000 budget.

The UC Board of Regents additionally approved the appointments and corresponding salaries for its two newest chancellors.  According to UC Davis, the Board approved a salary of $400,000 for Linda Katehi, incoming chancellor at UC Davis, and $450,000 for Susan Desmond-Hellmann, incoming chancellor at UCSF.  Katehi’s predecessor currently earns $315,000, while Desmond-Hellmann’s predecessor currently earns $402,200.

Finally, the UC system’s fifth law school, Irvine, enters its inaugural academic year in August 2009.  The law schools at UC Davis and UC Berkeley also simultaneously continue multi-million dollar expansion projects, which the Board already delayed due to the budget cuts earlier this year.  Thus, the additional potential budget cuts will likely limit these three initiatives, further increase tuition, and continue to impact California law students.

LACBA Supports PILF Auction at Whittier Law School

In support of the 18th Annual WPILF Auction, LACBA donated a 2009 LACBA Membership and a CLE Plus Membership valued at up to $425.00. According to a letter sent to LACBA, the Whittier PILF auction raised $30,000 and is expecting a matching grant of $10,000.

The auction proceeds will provide grants to students interning in public interest law positions throughout the community. These students will engage in providing services focused on children's rights, domestic violence, mental health issues, fair-housing issues, and criminal justice.

Transfering After 1L: Letters of Recomendation

Virtually every 1L thinks about it. Some 0Ls even factor it in when making admission decisions. Some reasons why you might decide to transfer:

You rocked 1L and, frankly, you can scale to a higher ranking school.
You aren't thrilled about the weather in _________.
You'd like to be further away or closer to home.
You found a better deal ($$$).
You're just not feeling the culture at your law school.
You think you can get a better education somewhere else.
You can make it at a school that offers better career resources.
Etc.

Now, you're going to take the dive and go through the administrative process of transferring. You need a letter or letters of recommendation from a law professor at your current school. But why would a law professor want you to transfer? An interesting post at the Law School Academic Support Blog on how at least one law professor thinks about writing letters of recommendation for transferring law students.

Graduation Fairs: Loyola Law School

Necessary evils of graduating: exit interviews, diploma frames and getting sized for those funny hats.

LACBA will be at at the Loyola Law School graduation fair today. If you're at Loyola, stop by and say hello.

Don't forget, when you're admitted to the California State bar, your first year of attorney membership with LACBA is free. When you pass the bar, call LACBA Member Services to take advantage of your free year of LACBA membership.

LACBA Member Services: (213) 896-6560.

Southwestern Law School Intros Two New JD Programs

Southwestern Law School has established two new JD programs in cooperation with California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH): a joint J.D./M.A. Program, and a 3+3 Program through which students can earn their B.A. and J.D. degrees in six years. The Joint J.D./M.A. Program enables graduate students to complete a J.D. degree at Southwestern while concurrently earning an M.A. degree in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from CSUDH. The 3+3 Option Program allows selected CSUDH students who meet program requirements to enter law school at Southwestern after completing just three years of undergraduate study at CSUDH.

More information on these new Southwestern Law School programs here.

Public Comments Requested: "Proposed Guidelines for Accredited Law School Rules"

The California State Bar has requested public comments on their Proposed Guidelines for Accredited Law School Rules.

One of the more interesting proposed changes allows CA accredited law schools to offer academic credit for bar exam review or preparation course work. There are many other proposed changes to the guidelines.

Details about the changes and how to comment on the changes here. Comment deadline: February 16.

Law School Dean Deficit

There is a very strong need for law school deans throughout the country. At least 27 law school are trying to fill the number one seat.

According to a National Law Journal Article:

That's because law school deanships, once highly sought after, are now high-stress jobs, thanks in part to the economy. With fundraising plummeting, donors in short supply and state budgets being slashed, law school deans are finding themselves up to their necks in stress. Many have quit in the past year to go back to teaching, which still pays fairly well and has far fewer headaches.

The 27 law schools who are now searching for a new dean:

University of Arkansas at Little Rock
William H. Bowen School of Law
Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Case Western Reserve Law School
Duquesne University School of Law
Elon University School of Law
Florida International University College of Law
Golden Gate University School of Law
Harvard Law School
University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
University of Miami School of Law
University of Maryland School of Law
University of Montana School of Law
University of Nebraska College of Law
University of New Mexico School of Law
Northern Illinois University College of Law
University of Notre Dame Law School
Rutgers School of Law—Newark
South Texas College of Law
St. John's University School of Law
Texas Tech University School of Law
Tulane University Law School
University of Washington School of Law
University of Wyoming College of Law
Whittier Law School
College of William & Mary Marshall-WytheSchool of Law

UC Hastings Law Makes Cuts: Tuition Increase Planned

With state budget cuts rampant, UC Hastings College of Law is preparing for an even greater budget crunch. To prepare for any future cuts in state funding, the law school is foregoing some raises and is scaling back on hiring. Department heads at the law school were also asked to trim their operating budgets by 5%. Granted, the state of California is enduring a historical budget crisis, what's so unique about Hastings law?

According to a LawJobs.com article:

Unlike other University of California (UC) law schools, Hastings is a separate line item on the state budget, and negotiates with legislators independently of the UC system, said Hastings Dean Nell Newton. On her most recent trip to Sacramento, she added, one of the legislators told her that she can expect more cuts this fiscal year. She doesn't want to be caught off guard well into the academic year.

And the $6,000,000 question: Will this trickle down to law students at Hastings? Although Dean Newton has stated that the law school is trying to avoid further hikes in tuition throughout 2009-2010, a 13% increase has already been planned.

More on this story at LawJobs.com.