Is LSAT Test Preparation In Your Future?

Comparing LSAT Test Prep Companies: Which One is Right For You? is a new podcast from Law School Podcaster to help you consider some of the test preparation options available. To help you figure out the best approach to studying and preparation for the LSAT, we have interviewed the various test preparation companies to hear what they have to offer.

In this show, we hear directly from the folks at the following test prep providers:

* Atlas LSAT Test Prep
* Knewton
* Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
* Blueprint LSAT Preparation
* The Princeton Review
* PowerScore Test Preparation

They discuss the different types of courses they offer, from traditional classroom courses, private tutoring and online courses. Each company will have the opportunity to explain how they are unique and what makes them stand out. Listen and learn what option is best for you.

Talk About Bridging the Gap Between Law School Education and Legal Employers' Needs

It's pretty much a safe bet that most law school applicants and students don't want to hear a legal employer equate their three year law school education, with oh... say... a Pontiac. But one general counsel of a large company put it just that way recently and that is the question posed by the title of a recent NALP (National Association for Law Placement)article, Has Legal Education Gone the Way of the Auto Industry?

The article, from the NALP 2010 Bulletin, reports on a December 14, 2009 panel of legal industry experts gathered in New York City "to continue the public conversation about changes that are happening in the legal industry." The Roundtable Discussion took place among a mix of law firm partners and associates, law school deans and NALP professionals. (NALP is probably best known to law students as the organization that provides the industry guidelines that govern on-campus interviewing (OCI) by legal employers at law schools around the country).

Highlights from the Roundtable discussions include the following:

•A back and forth about how the law school curriculum may need to change in response to changes in the economy and the industry and the role of law firms in training young lawyers.

•Philip Bradley, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Duane Reade, pointed to the gap between what law schools think they're doing and what the law firms think they're buying." Bradley continued, "For the law schools to continue to churn out people in sort of the academic vein without bridging that gap makes you somewhat akin to the car companies -- you're manufacturing something that nobody wants." He called on law schools to come into the modern world and "bridge the gap" because "the luxury of practicing law for three years to learn how to practice law -- which was what it was when [he] came out of law school -- isn't there today."

•A discussion focused on lawyer training and development both in law school and through the practice of law. Law firm and law school participants recognized that law schools do a good job of teaching the essential skill of "thinking like a lawyer," but also that law schools have to find better ways to teach a wide range of professional skills, loosely categorized by Dean William Treanor of Fordham University School of Law, as "the craft of lawyering skills"(these include clinical skills for both litigation and transactional practices, professionalism, business and quantitative skills, ethics, sense of service, problem solving skills group and teamwork skills and an awareness of emotional intelligence).

•A discussion of integrating more "experiential learning into the curriculum," without raising the cost of a legal education "by including more widespread use of internships and by providing more opportunities for specialization within the curriculum." This will require greater collaboration between law firm lawyers and law schools.

•The group drew insight from information about the "Canadian articling process, a year-long training program required by the provincial licensing authority in Canada that accomplishes many of the goals clients and firms in the U.S. say they want."

•There was discussion of law firms transitioning away from lock step advancement by law school class to "levels-based" advancement and compensation schemes. "Profitability is going to depend more on ... organizational capital in the future, as opposed to individual rainmaker capital."

•Bradley suggested that law firms take a "short-term view of things" when they "skinny back on the professional development programs [at law firms] in times of economic distress." He pointed to in-house counsels' frustration at law firm partners focused too much on "profits per equity partner" rather than investing in the in-demand group of people that they'll be pulling through the system."

To hear from the Executive Director of NALP, Jim Leipold, on what changes in the legal industry mean for law school applicants and students, tune into the Law School Podcaster episode "The Current Economic Environment ."

Promoting Women in the Law

There's a great resource available to law students and it's also helpful and inspiring for those considering or applying to law school. Ms. JD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded by law students four years ago to reinforce and expand the representation of women in law school and the legal profession. Ms. JD offers a wide range of content -- through it's website, ms-jd.org, blog, a student organization at 70 law schools around the country called the NWLSO (National Women's Law Student Organization), a national conference, scholarships, fellowships and lots more.

The Ms. JD blog has something for everyone! Blog posts include topics like “Advice on Taking the Bar Exam” and “How to Get a Clerkship” to “Balancing Acts: Your Career and Personal Life" and “Choosing A Career and Landing a Job".”

A few of the things to note from Ms. JD:

* Ms. JD Scholarship: Every summer Ms. JD funds summer stipends for two female law students dedicated to public interest work. Past recipients have used their stipends to intern at the ICC in the Hague, the JAG Corps, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Equal Justice Foundation.

* Ms. JD Fellowship: Ms. JD is launching the Leadership Fellows program. In conjunction with the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession's Margaret Brent Award, Ms. JD will match 20 high-achieving female law students with mentors from among the Commission's alumnae of commissioners and award winners. The one-year program is designed to foster a commitment to excellence in a new generation of women attorneys, inspired by the generation of trailblazers who paved the way for their success.

Law School Podcaster is teaming up with Ms. JD to share more news and information that will benefit law school applicants and students.

Keep listening and stay tuned for more!

Law School Application Update: Up, Up, and Away!

The law school application season is just beginning to wind down, and the application numbers coming in are up, up and away. Applications are up at many schools, but the "away" award goes to Cornell Law School -- reporting a 52% increase over applications filed last year. Cornell Law School's Dean of Admissions, Richard Geiger, told the University’s paper he was as mystified as anyone. “The increase is probably the result of a number of things working together,” Geiger told the Cornell Daily Sun. “What I can’t explain is why it’s 50 percent and not 20 percent.”

A 20 percent increase is more consistent with trends nationwide. The number of people who took the LSAT climbed 20 percent in October 2009, reaching an all-time high of 60,746. The New York Times recently reported that many other schools have reported substantial increases in applications over last year. "Washington University in St. Louis has had a 19 percent year-to-date increase in applications to its college of law. At the University of San Francisco School of Law, applications are up 35 percent over last year, and at the University of Iowa’s College of Law, applications are up 39 percent." According to the New York Times, "applications to the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University have risen 54 percent this year, an increase that might be related to its rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings to 23 in 2009, from 36 the year before."

Richard Geiger, Cornell's Dean of Admissions, cannot point to any obvious reason for the increase in applications. He told the New York Times, “I’m a little thrown off by the fact that our increase is much bigger than expected. There’s nothing big we’re doing to explain that kind of increase.” Cornell's U.S. News & World Report Ranking has remained relatively stable.

Dean Geiger said that the 52 percent increase in applications means that “we’ll be a little more cautious in making decisions.” He explained that “the increase in applications will make us scrutinize things a little more carefully since we don’t fully understand what this is all about.”

What does this mean for applicants? Well, increased competition, most likely. The Cornell University newspaper reports that the law school "does not plan to increase its enrollment cap and remains committed to continue as 'a small, intimate collegial law school.'”

For applicants still waiting to hear from Cornell, that's not good news. Like most law schools, Cornell accepts students on a rolling basis, and many have already received their acceptance letters. Future law school applicants might want to make note of that for next year. Law school admissions deans around the country have been guests on Law School Podcaster shows and they tell us this over and over -- with rolling admissions, getting a law school application in early is key.

Cornell Law School Dean of Admissions Richard Geiger will be a guest on an upcoming Law School Podcaster segment, "Getting In Off the Wait List."

Latest Logic Game Challenge!

Our friends at Atlas LSAT have posted the most recent Logic Game Challenge #20 and invite our listeners to join in:
IPA Beer

A bartender is organizing a taste test of the newest IPA beer selections. Exactly seven different varieties of beer will be tasted – Long Lake, Moon Rune, Newtonbury, Olenguard, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, and Roundabout – one at a time and consecutively.

No other beers are to be tasted. The bartender must adhere to the following rules:
• Olenguard must be the third beer tasted.
• There is exactly one beer tasted between Newtonbury and Quest.
• Either Long Lake or Pumpkin Pale is the fifth beer tasted.
• Either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Roundabout or Moon Rune is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both.

1. Which one of the following could represent the order in which the beers are tasted, from first to last?

(A) Long Lake, Newtonbury, Olenguard, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, Roundabout, Moon Rune
(B) Long Lake, Moon Rune, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, Roundabout
(C) Long Lake, Quest, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Roundabout, Pumpkin Pale, Moon Rune
(D) Long Lake, Newtonbury, Moon Rune, Quest, Pumpkin Pale, Olenguard, Roundabout
(E) Long Lake, Quest, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Pumpkin Pale, Roundabout, Moon Rune

2. Which one of the following must be true?

(A) Long Lake must be the first beer tasted.
(B) Moon Rune must be the last beer tasted.
(C) Pumpkin Pale must be the fifth beer tasted.
(D) Either Newtonbury or Quest must be tasted fourth.
(E) Either Long Lake or Pumpkin Pale must be tasted first.

3. If Roundabout is tasted first, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Moon Rune.
(B) Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Long Lake.
(C) Moon Rune is the second beer tasted.
(D) Newtonbury is the sixth beer tasted.
(E) Quest is the sixth beer tasted.

4. Each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

(A) Pumpkin Pale is tasted second.
(B) Moon Rune is the first beer tasted.
(C) Moon Rune is the seventh beer tasted.
(D) Roundabout is tasted second.
(E) Roundabout is tasted seventh.

5. If Newtonbury is tasted at some point after Pumpkin Pale, which one of the following could be true?
(A) Long Lake is tasted before Pumpkin Pale.
(B) Neither Newtonbury nor Quest is tasted before Long Lake.
(C) Neither Moon Rune nor Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Olenguard.
(D) Olenguard is tasted after Long Lake.
(E) Moon Rune is tasted before Roundabout.

6. If Pumpkin Pale is tasted first, the seven beers could be tasted in how many different orders?

(A) Four
(B) Five
(C) Six
(D) Seven
(E) Eight

7. Which one of the following, if substituted for the condition that either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Roundabout or Moon Rune is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both, would have the same effect on the order in which the beers are tasted?

(A) Either Roundabout is tasted after Pumpkin Pale or before Moon Rune, but not both.
(B) Either Long Lake or Roundabout is the first beer tasted.
(C) Either Newtonbury or Quest is tasted sixth.
(D) Either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Moon Rune, or Roundabout is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both.
(E) Either Roundabout is tasted before Pumpkin Pale, or Newtonbury is tasted after Moon Rune, but not both.

Think you have the answers? E-mail them to logicmaster@atlaslsat.com. First person to submit the correct answers wins a $25 Amazon gift card. The best explanation posted on Atlas LSAT Forums wins $25 as well.

Answers to Logic Games Challenge #19: (1)B (2)A (3)E (4)C (5)C (6)C (7)D (8)D

For more information about the LSAT, check out Law School Podcaster's full show "The LSAT: Everything You Need to Know About the Test."

Law School Applicants and Students Face Changing Landscape for Employment

In “No Longer Their Golden Ticket,” the New York Times shines a spotlight on the rough and changing landscape of the legal job market and paints a dismal view of associate life at Big Law firms -- worse now than before the Recession. The article reports on the reshaping of law firm culture and describes the legal profession as one in a tight squeeze: “lurch[ing] through its worst slump in decades, with jobs and bonuses cut and internal pressures to perform rising.”

Not surprisingly, it's the economy. "The main reason for the squeeze is the Great Recession, which has cut deeply into the kinds of companies — in financial services, real estate, high tech — that are the wellsprings of fees for corporate lawyers. The client companies that survived are doing fewer deals, and driving harder bargains with their lawyers: many negotiate a flat fee for the job, meaning firms can no longer bill by the hour for every legal eagle on the case."

The squeeze felt by associates at BigLaw firms and other lawyers seeking employment is not news to those living the life or for anyone following the legal blogs, which track daily the attorney layoffs, start-date deferrals, salary freezes, scaled back recruitment programs and bonus cuts that have become so familiar. As one law firm partner interviewed for the story observed: “the next generation may have to expect less from a legal career.”

'Less,’ here seems to mean, ‘less money.’

What has come to pass is that a law degree is not a ticket to a six-figure salary and a six-figure bonus,” said Matthew A. Feldman, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York. Smart, talented people will still find advancement within firms, he said. But “speaking candidly,” he added, “in the past, associates were a little oblivious” in presuming that if they “simply showed up every day and didn’t offend anyone, they were there indefinitely. They have had a wake-up call.

It's clear that certain things about law-firm life and the wider legal employment market are changing. But aside from "less money," experts say that some of these changes might actually be healthy. These include a wider array of recruitment practices, a shift from lock-step to merit-based, competency-based advancement and compensation, professional training and development that includes apprenticeship programs as well as generally a more diverse approach to the business model of a law firm. On a recent Law School Podcaster segment, Ashby Jones, Lead Writer for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and Jim Leipold, Executive Director of NALP (National Association for Law Placement) shared some of their insights on these changes with our listeners.

Here is some of what they told us:

•Ashby Jones, Lead Writer, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog:

“Law firms are sort of trying to rethink the way they do business, rethink the way they hire people, rethink the way they pay their employees, pay their associates, compensate their partners et cetera, sort of everything that has been the textbook way that law firms run themselves is being reshaped and rethought right now, so it is sort of a crisis point and inflection point and law firms are having to adjust to it. How does that affect the current law student? For the most part, it is a challenge, it is a moment of crisis, but in crisis arises opportunity often. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look and knowing what opportunities are going to attract you.”

• Jim Leipold, Executive Director of NALP (National Association for Law Placement):

“In a way, things got so bad that firms were freed up from looking over their shoulder to see what the other firms were doing and it allowed them to try some new things. So we’re seeing some firms, for instance, implement what they’re calling apprenticeship programs where they’re bringing students on in the first year at a much lower salary but also with a much lower expectation in terms of billable hours and they’re devoting more of that first year to training. We’re seeing some firms lower their starting salaries and others not. We’re seeing some firms say, “We’re going to skip our summer program and just hire laterally. We’re not going to take first year law students right out of school. We’re going to wait and just grow our firm laterally.” So I think what that means is that, where in the recent past, law firms, particularly large law firms, have tended to all do the same thing in almost a knee-jerk way and salaries have coalesced very quickly around the common number and recruiting practices have coalesced very quickly around common practices. I think what we’re going to see going forward is more diversity of practice in all of these areas and I actually think that’s healthy. So you’ll have firms that compete with each other some of whom have apprenticeship programs, some of whom don’t; some of whom offer a starting salary of 160, some of whom offer starting salary that’s considerably lower, some of whom abandon a model of hiring first year new associates and others who continued to have traditional summer programs followed by first year associates. In the training and development arena, you see some law firms leaving this lock step model where each year you automatically get a promotion and moving to a more merit based, competency based system. And so you may or may not progress from year to year. All of those things were beginning to happen before the recession for a number of reasons but the recession accelerated most of those changes and I think will support those changes... .So students are just going to have to be prepared for a much broader range of practices and understanding for each firm that they’re interested in what course that firm is choosing.”

Check out our podcast “The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students,” to hear more on this topic.

Keep Law Schools Updated on Your Recent Accomplishments

Once your law school application is finally complete, you send it in and wait. Right? Well, there may still be more to do.

Most law schools have a rolling admissions process that extends over several months. If you sent in your application early, and it is deferred, held or even rejected, you should update the law school with any new and significant information you think they should have to evaluate your candidacy. We spoke recently with George Washington University Law School's Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Anne M. Richard, and she suggests you notify the law school and provide them with new and "material" information. "An improvement in your LSAT score, membership in Phi Beta Kappa, job promotions and awards." These are the types of things that strengthen and improve your application enough to merit notifying a school.

Dean Richard says that may even make sense if your application was already considered and rejected by a law school. Depending on what the new information is, it may be just enough to earn reconsideration and a spot in the incoming class. Dean Richard tells us that GW Law School wants to hear from an applicant with that type of new information.

Harvard too? The Official JD Admissions Blog at Harvard Law School recently offered similar advice to the first batch of applicants the school put on "hold". "Hold" status is where the admissions committee is "not quite ready to make a decision on your application yet and need[s] some more time to re-examine it in the context of the broader applicant pool." HLS Dean of Admissions, Josh Rubenstein, encouraged applicants placed on "hold" to send updates such as honors or awards you've recently won, a new job, or anything else that you think could materially impact our evaluation of you."

While LSAT scores and updated transcripts will need to come from LSAC or LSDAS, you might want to find out the best way to send other updates to a particular school (email or postal mail etc).

Listen to “Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Help You Get Accepted” and "Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Application" to hear other tips from experts inside the admissions offices at several top law schools about the ways to make your application go from good to better, to getting that acceptance letter!