- Quickdraw McLaw
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A website called Tipping the Scales, a site whose mission is to be a must-read destination for law school applicants, recently debuted its ranking of the top 50 law schools. Thanks to a tip from one of you, we learned that UNLV fared pretty well on this list–coming it at number 27 and beating out BYU at number 34 and Utah at number 43. We’ll let you discuss the merits of the gravity-defying ranking method, but props to Boyd for being that high on somebody’s list.
Speaking of lists, Desert Companion recently issued its list of top lawyers in Nevada (around page 79). While the list was nothing exciting, Boyd thought it was and made an attempt at identifying Boyd Professors and Alumni that made the list.
So, how are things at Boyd these days? Is Dean Dan Hamilton, author of this article in Nevada Lawyer, having any impact on things? Any word on what percentage of Boyd students passed this most recent bar exam? Did very many firms show up for OCI?
To rank Boyd as number 27 on any national list is beyond silly. And I actually like Boyd and think it sometimes gets a bit of harsh treatment. But let's be honest with ourselves; Boyd is, at best, a middle to below middle of the pack law school when all ABA-accredited schools are considered. To start, you'd have to rank Boyd lower than every school in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, DC, LA, Seattle, Atlanta, and Chicago just based on those cities' exposure to real business, culture, politics, and higher education. Boyd will always suffer merely by the fact that exists in an outpost like Las Vegas.
While I generally agree with you that Boyd ranked at #27 seems high, I don't agree with your basis for that assertion. I don't necessarily believe that you automatically have to rank Boyd below "every school" in a large city just because they're in a large city. There are quite a few law schools in New York and Los Angeles that just suck. I think the two most important factors for a law school are: 1) quality of education, and 2) ability to get grads into jobs. Cost of education is a close third. I'd go to a law school in Alaska if it had a good reputation for quality education and placed 100% of its grads in good paying jobs.
Job placement aside, if you were an elite legal scholar, would you come to Las Vegas?
As an elite legal scholar? Absolutely. This place is almost like a blank slate. We have very little case law and there is a lot of room to shape the legal climate.
Plus, very little local competition in the "legal scholar" department.
Lisa Willardson just posted the following in the Clark County Republicans forum on Facebook:
Nevada Judicial Watch
RE: Lisa A. Willardson, Esq.
Hard to believe that I have been practicing law for 10 years. I'm so grateful to have had all the experiences that I have been blessed to have had. It's time for a new challenge and that will be running for Judge in 2014. Department L, Judge Elliott's courtroom, needs a full time Judge. Judge Elliott has had over 120 sick days this past year. We can do better … !!
Isn't that an ethical violation for a judicial candidate to advertise her party?
Is the 120 days claim accurate? That's huge. Is he deathly ill?
Given what I've read about Willardson in the RJ and Sun, I don't think she's very electable.
Judge Elliott is a woman.