Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

Pass/fail grading?

Some law schools (including some that didn't have real grades to start with) have switched officially to pass/fail as classes move online; others have not.   Law professor Jonathan Adler (Case Western) argues against switching to P/F, while Noah Zatz (UCLA) argues in favor.  My own view is that it probably depends on the school and the course, and that there is no "one size fits all" answer.  (An example:  I can imagine a school switching a course to P/F for all students if the instructor falls ill for several weeks; or a school might allow students afflicted with illness or caregiving responsibilities to switch to P/F as needed.)  I will note that the economic fallout from the pandemic will almost certainly affect law firm hiring significantly, meaning that actual grades will be more important for students than before (again, how important will depend on the school, but we know from the Great Recession of 2008 that all schools will be affected, even if to differing degrees).    Mandatory P/F may hurt some students if they are competing against students from schools that continued to grade.

UPDATE:  I'm told that many students at Harvard Law School objected when the Dean announced they were switching to P/F.

Teaching online

A short video guide from law professor Seth Oranburg (Duquesne).

UCLA chapter of NLG is an embarrassment to the NLG

The UCLA Federalist Society had the temerity to invite Professor Doriane Lambert Coleman from Duke Law School, a former competitive female athlete who has written carefully and thoughtfully about the complex issues raised by the participation of trans women in female sports (see, e.g., this article).  The UCLA Law School chapter of the NLG decided to disrupt the event, apparently wholly unaware of the NLG's traditional staunch support for academic freedom, most famously during the Mcarthy era, but continuing to the present.   As the former faculty advisor to the NLG chapter at the University of Texas, I decided to point out their betrayal of NLG principles on Twitter; I was then derided as a "neoliberal white man" by these law students (and then subjected to a bizarre defamatory outburst by one Stephano Medina, who also turns out to be a UCLA 3L and not, as I had thought, a creepy teenage boy in his mother's basement).  What an embarrassment.

All U.S. law schools have now moved to online instruction...

...so reports Blog Emperor Caron.

92% of law school have moved to remote teaching due to coronavirus

Blog Emperor Caron has the details.

Coronavirus comes to Yeshiva University and (maybe) its Cardozo Law School

MOVING TO FRONT FROM MARCH 4--SEVERAL UPDATES 

Message to the Yeshiva and Cardozo community here.

UPDATE:  New York Law School taking precautions as well.

ANOTHER:  Promising news out of Cardozo, from the Dean; an excerpt:

There are still no known cases of the Coronavirus in the Cardozo community.

The Manhattan attorney who tested positive for the virus has improved and is in stable condition. Likewise, his son, the undergraduate YU student from the Washington Heights campus who tested positive, has also improved. The son’s roommate and another student, who were considered at risk because of very close proximity, have been tested and the results were negative.

We continue to be in touch with the Cardozo student who has self-quarantined and continues to be symptom free and in good spirits. That person’s last exposure to the attorney who tested positive was 14 days ago. The Health Department tested her late last night, and we are awaiting the results.

SOME GOOD NEWS AT CARDOZO (MARCH 6):  The student in self-quarantine has tested negative for the new coronavirus.

Concordia Law in Idaho to become part of Concordia University in Minnesota...

...after the original parent campus in Oregon closes.

Technology and lawyer's work

Article here, including interesting obserevations from Dean Jennifer Mnookin (UCLA).

Law review EICs at the top 16 law schools are all currently women

A conference in their honor was recently held in Washington, DC.  (Top 16, by the way, is a far more sensible demarcation than "top 14," which designates nothing of significance in the real world.)

Judge erases 200K+ in student loan debt for 2004 law school graduate

Interesting story.