Even with a less difficult bar exam, passage rates will continue to trend downward.
The percentage of new law school graduates who enter the profession competent and prepared to practice has been on a downward trajectory for some time. Relatedly, the number of law school applicants has plummeted while the number of students admitted to law school has decreased only very marginally. The implication is quite simple: law schools are admitting a progressively greater percentage of unqualified students.
How are law schools hiding this fact? By placing tremendous pressure on State Bar organizations to ease up on bar passage standards. It's a poor solution and it is flooding the profession with less-qualified new members.
The real solution is to immediately close the doors of all law schools in the bottom quarter of the academic rankings. Would that sting some academic stragglers who cannot get into the better schools? Sure. But it would be the right thing to do for a profession that has spent some time now increasingly inviting the mediocre into its ranks. And really, do the mediocre Cooley graduates actually need to be saddled with $180k in student loans and no real way to pay them? Is that a good thing?
Hey, take it easy on Cooley. At least of the graduates rose to be the personal attorney of a high-profile “billionaire.” But I suppose most will not achieve the heights of Michael Cohen.
Agree. There is a reason the Judicial Canons prohibit judges from advertising their political party. It may just be for the sake of appearance as judges still solicit funds and, among the DJs and supremes, the contribution pockets are significantly deeper. Wasn't it mentioned on the blog a day or too ago that Cadish was also seeking Adelson money?
Tao isn't really going "non-partisan" though. He's going Republican in terms of his campaign consultants and policies, except that he's using the non-partisan label as a fig leaf. It's super disingenuous.
And personally I would rather that judges of whatever stripe just be honest and upfront about their politics anyway. They should try to be as non-partisan as possible, of course. But no human is ever going to be completely successful at that, and I would rather know their biases going in instead of having to guess.
9:06 here and not 8:59, 9:12 or 1:10. As long a judges solicit funds, I believe there is an inherent problem. Claiming a political party is window dressing on that process. That said, I commend Tao for stripping it down and simply going after the funds (which, again, the process requires unless you are independently wealthy).
I, for one, belief 1:52 and 1:55 are different people. I mean, it's two separate posts, and they say they are different people, so it has to be the case. Yup, must be different people.
Tao does not follow the law. He is trying to get a federal court appointment as one is available in southern district. He is go Republican because he believes laxalt and Heller will win.
The exam doesn't really test writing, though. It tests substantive knowledge of the law. It doesn't matter how well you structure a bar essay, or if your rhetoric is persuasive, or any of the other skills involved in legal writing. It's just about (1) listing all the issues and (2) regurgitating the correct legal rules. That's a totally different skill set.
@12:38 seriously. I remember being specifically told "don't worry about bad grammar and spelling mistakes." But the bar exam SHOULD test writing. Some of the emails/letters I receive from attorneys (let's not even speak of court filings) are straight up depressing in their ineptitude.
Both the public and attorneys would be better off if the bar actually required a certain written proficiency in English to pass the exam. That probably makes me a deplorable "letterist" or "Englishist" or something.
Upvote for 10:55, that was one of my favorite moments of yesteryear.
Guest
Anonymous
May 10, 2018 4:51 pm
I for one would like to see reporting on judge tardiness. Something like the airline on time statistic. I am now In one dept of the eighth where the judge is 20 minutes after the start time with no explanation.
Methinks a double entendre is a-brewin'! +2 points for creativity. Good show.
Guest
Anonymous
May 10, 2018 5:14 pm
@9:51 – yes thank you! Every time I appear in front of Judge Delaney it's ridiculous. she sets all hearings for 9:00 then takes the bench between 9:30 and 9:45. If it wasn't so maddening it would be comical. How is this allowed to continue??????
Guest
Anonymous
May 10, 2018 6:51 pm
as what many of you would dismissively refer to as a millennial, it's pretty clear that the bar exam is a written by a bunch of cisgender old white guys hoping to continue to perpetrate an outdated heteronormative world view of the law.. anyone who dares to express how the law should be need not apply. face it, the nv bar is controlled by scared dinosaurs who are clutching to a vestige of the past no longer compatible with today's reality. it may take my generation a few tries to get into your boys club, but once we're there we will transform the world as you know it. #49%er
The bar exam is meant to demonstrate that the applicant grasps the basic concepts of the law as written. Not how the applicant, individually, believes the law should be applied. Applicants don't get points for thinking monkeys should have inalienable human rights under the US Constitution when sitting for the bar exam.
11:51, I have no doubt that the bar exam is controlled by a bunch of cisgender old white guys. I agree that this is a bad thing. That's doesn't change the fact that expressing how the law should be is a fucking terrible strategy for taking the bar exam.
Read the fact pattern, spit out existing/established law, and apply those existing laws to the facts. Straight IRAC/CREAC. Anybody getting into policy is missing the entire point of the bar exam.
11:51, you don't have to be a licensed attorney to "transform the world," which I'm assuming means change certain heteronormative laws. Run for the state legislature, push BDRs at the legislature, run PR campaigns. None of those things require a law license. The reason the bar tests you on existing law is because that's what lawyers most often have to advise their clients on.
11:51 – Way to enlighten the community! Now 1:45 knows what cisgender means. On a related note, the blogging platform's word processing was created by old, white cisgender dudes, because cisgender still gets a red squiggly line under it. "Squiggly," however, is a real word because it does not get a red squiggly line.
@11:51 here. i wish i passed but i didnt – thanks tho. but i will say it's pretty messed up that #nvbar doesnt even give trigger warnings or safe spaces. youre the ones who made us this way so dont blame me. and im not super surprised about how ignorant the readers of this blog are. ill probably challenge my score anyway or hire someone to sue the bar for discrimination. newsflash: the world is changing – some of us are nonbinary and can think for themselves – and the sooner you get the picture the better.
The bar exam does not, and should not, test gender theories. You want to defend a thesis on gender issues, get a PhD in some bullcrap. That’s not what the bar exam is for.
11:51 / 2:15 can't be a real law student.. can they? On the one hand, it seems a pretty basic troll flame, complete with missing punctuation and ignoring all rules for capitalization. On the other hand, he/she/it includes just enough self-righteous indignation to indicate that they are, in fact, a pretty typical law student these days. Hard to tell.
Fernfigson, LLC, dba Gamage & Gamage. 1:28, try looking up A-18-774126-C or A774126 as a case cross-reference. You have to get either the full number or just the cross-reference correct.
"BOG Elections: Clark County Ballots on the Way Tomorrow
Clark County-based bar members will soon be receiving their 2018 Board of Governors election ballots. The ballots will be distributed electronically, via email, on Friday, May 11, so keep an eye out for your ballot if you live in Clark County. Don't forget to vote!"
And sadly, Washoe County desperately needs its own consciousness raising law blog since the county's lawyers remain bent over and asleep. "Uncontested"? WTH?
"The election in Washoe County is uncontested. The two candidates who will be appointed to the open seats in this district are Doug Clark and Ann Morgan."
So get ready for more of the same on the board with two out-of-touch, non-reform incumbents from the nether regions that spawned preening paternalist and self-appointed 'Mr. Being Accountable' Gene Leverty.
Will Clark County step up and instead drain the swamp?
Reading the bios, it's painfully obvious the incumbents are oblivious to the unrest and discontent among membership. They don't even try to fake addressing the rising concerns.
Identify who are the incumbents and vote them out for proposing the "Random Trust Audits" fiasco. How about getting rid of the requirement for Substance Use /Abuse–the 13th hour? Where did that come from? Twelve credit hours of CLE is plenty. Only 200 attorneys attend the Annual Meeting. Mandatory malpractice insurance needs to die on the vine. Can someone help out here–who are the incumbents? I want to vote them out and support other candidates. More attorneys go to the Family Law Conference than the Annual Meeting as I understand it.
Even with a less difficult bar exam, passage rates will continue to trend downward.
The percentage of new law school graduates who enter the profession competent and prepared to practice has been on a downward trajectory for some time. Relatedly, the number of law school applicants has plummeted while the number of students admitted to law school has decreased only very marginally. The implication is quite simple: law schools are admitting a progressively greater percentage of unqualified students.
How are law schools hiding this fact? By placing tremendous pressure on State Bar organizations to ease up on bar passage standards. It's a poor solution and it is flooding the profession with less-qualified new members.
The real solution is to immediately close the doors of all law schools in the bottom quarter of the academic rankings. Would that sting some academic stragglers who cannot get into the better schools? Sure. But it would be the right thing to do for a profession that has spent some time now increasingly inviting the mediocre into its ranks. And really, do the mediocre Cooley graduates actually need to be saddled with $180k in student loans and no real way to pay them? Is that a good thing?
Hey, take it easy on Cooley. At least of the graduates rose to be the personal attorney of a high-profile “billionaire.” But I suppose most will not achieve the heights of Michael Cohen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Z9lTUu3e8
" mediocre Cooley graduates "
MEDIOCRE?
SAYS WHO?! SAYS WHO?!?!?!?
every school but the top 20 or so and local state schools like UNLV, Illinois, Washington, etc, should be closed.
Go back to the old system: admit everyone who applies to law school, but cut the bottom 1/3rd every year so only the top 1/3 graduates.
Math whizz.
This!
Middle 1/3 remain in law school purgatory and are never heard from again.
I commend Tao for going non-partisan. Interesting how there are no stories that investigate Cadish's campaign. You are not doing your homework.
Agree. There is a reason the Judicial Canons prohibit judges from advertising their political party. It may just be for the sake of appearance as judges still solicit funds and, among the DJs and supremes, the contribution pockets are significantly deeper. Wasn't it mentioned on the blog a day or too ago that Cadish was also seeking Adelson money?
Yup, Cadish is a hypocrite. I cannot believe some of the unions are backing her. She is pro bank, and she is pro corporation. Go look at her rulings.
Tao isn't really going "non-partisan" though. He's going Republican in terms of his campaign consultants and policies, except that he's using the non-partisan label as a fig leaf. It's super disingenuous.
And personally I would rather that judges of whatever stripe just be honest and upfront about their politics anyway. They should try to be as non-partisan as possible, of course. But no human is ever going to be completely successful at that, and I would rather know their biases going in instead of having to guess.
Okay, go to the Secretary of State's website.
At least Tao applies the law along with the COA.
Yay! Judges should apply the law guy is back.
Although I suspect 8:59, 9:06, 9:12, and 1:10 are all the same person. So I guess he's been here the whole time.
9:06 here and not 8:59, 9:12 or 1:10. As long a judges solicit funds, I believe there is an inherent problem. Claiming a political party is window dressing on that process. That said, I commend Tao for stripping it down and simply going after the funds (which, again, the process requires unless you are independently wealthy).
I only posted 1:10. It is awesome 1:33 is a Cadish campaign adviser
I, for one, belief 1:52 and 1:55 are different people. I mean, it's two separate posts, and they say they are different people, so it has to be the case. Yup, must be different people.
Only one person dislikes Cadish. The only person who would buy that is her and Thomas.
Tao does not follow the law. He is trying to get a federal court appointment as one is available in southern district. He is go Republican because he believes laxalt and Heller will win.
I am a high up with the Culinary and I am voting for Tao.
I can't believe Boyd gets ranked in legal writing when whatever writing they are teaching can't hack it for the exam. Just saying.
The Boyd pass rates are usually well above the overall pass rate.
@10:31 – correct.
https://www.nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/NevadaLawyer_April2018_BackStory-stats.pdf
The exam doesn't really test writing, though. It tests substantive knowledge of the law. It doesn't matter how well you structure a bar essay, or if your rhetoric is persuasive, or any of the other skills involved in legal writing. It's just about (1) listing all the issues and (2) regurgitating the correct legal rules. That's a totally different skill set.
@12:38 seriously. I remember being specifically told "don't worry about bad grammar and spelling mistakes." But the bar exam SHOULD test writing. Some of the emails/letters I receive from attorneys (let's not even speak of court filings) are straight up depressing in their ineptitude.
Both the public and attorneys would be better off if the bar actually required a certain written proficiency in English to pass the exam. That probably makes me a deplorable "letterist" or "Englishist" or something.
Bar applicants' English grammar, spelling and writing skills are equal to those of most high school and college grads. IMHO that is the problem!
WHO YOU PEOPLE?
Upvote for 10:55, that was one of my favorite moments of yesteryear.
I for one would like to see reporting on judge tardiness. Something like the airline on time statistic. I am now In one dept of the eighth where the judge is 20 minutes after the start time with no explanation.
You could roll a beach ball down the back halls any time after 11am on any floor and not hit a single person. Double for the judge's parking lot.
I now practice mainly outside of Nevada, and it’s way worse here. A 9 am Court time could commonly mean staying my until 4 pm.
Thd Nevada bench is loaded with tardiness.
Methinks a double entendre is a-brewin'! +2 points for creativity. Good show.
@9:51 – yes thank you! Every time I appear in front of Judge Delaney it's ridiculous. she sets all hearings for 9:00 then takes the bench between 9:30 and 9:45. If it wasn't so maddening it would be comical. How is this allowed to continue??????
as what many of you would dismissively refer to as a millennial, it's pretty clear that the bar exam is a written by a bunch of cisgender old white guys hoping to continue to perpetrate an outdated heteronormative world view of the law.. anyone who dares to express how the law should be need not apply. face it, the nv bar is controlled by scared dinosaurs who are clutching to a vestige of the past no longer compatible with today's reality. it may take my generation a few tries to get into your boys club, but once we're there we will transform the world as you know it. #49%er
:eyeroll:
The bar exam is meant to demonstrate that the applicant grasps the basic concepts of the law as written. Not how the applicant, individually, believes the law should be applied. Applicants don't get points for thinking monkeys should have inalienable human rights under the US Constitution when sitting for the bar exam.
11:51, I have no doubt that the bar exam is controlled by a bunch of cisgender old white guys. I agree that this is a bad thing. That's doesn't change the fact that expressing how the law should be is a fucking terrible strategy for taking the bar exam.
Read the fact pattern, spit out existing/established law, and apply those existing laws to the facts. Straight IRAC/CREAC. Anybody getting into policy is missing the entire point of the bar exam.
11:51 failed the bar exam. Twice.
12:13 PM,
You should not be an attorney. The bar exam seems to have gotten this one right.
11:51, you don't have to be a licensed attorney to "transform the world," which I'm assuming means change certain heteronormative laws. Run for the state legislature, push BDRs at the legislature, run PR campaigns. None of those things require a law license. The reason the bar tests you on existing law is because that's what lawyers most often have to advise their clients on.
I had to google cisgender.
11:51 – Way to enlighten the community! Now 1:45 knows what cisgender means. On a related note, the blogging platform's word processing was created by old, white cisgender dudes, because cisgender still gets a red squiggly line under it. "Squiggly," however, is a real word because it does not get a red squiggly line.
Hey, @1:25, @11:51 passed the bar on [preferred pronoun's] first try. I know this for a fact!
@11:51 here. i wish i passed but i didnt – thanks tho. but i will say it's pretty messed up that #nvbar doesnt even give trigger warnings or safe spaces. youre the ones who made us this way so dont blame me. and im not super surprised about how ignorant the readers of this blog are. ill probably challenge my score anyway or hire someone to sue the bar for discrimination. newsflash: the world is changing – some of us are nonbinary and can think for themselves – and the sooner you get the picture the better.
Pretty sure this post was meant to be sarcastic.
The bar exam does not, and should not, test gender theories. You want to defend a thesis on gender issues, get a PhD in some bullcrap. That’s not what the bar exam is for.
11:51 / 2:15 can't be a real law student.. can they? On the one hand, it seems a pretty basic troll flame, complete with missing punctuation and ignoring all rules for capitalization. On the other hand, he/she/it includes just enough self-righteous indignation to indicate that they are, in fact, a pretty typical law student these days. Hard to tell.
Oh well. Sucks to be them either way.
^^ says the geriatric, cisgender, small-minded bigot ^^
@2:19, easy for a white-cisgender-guy to say. Ever heard of tests being biased against non-white males? It's a real thing – look it up.
This self-righteous snowflake HAS to be a troll. No way this is real.
Well done 2:15. Well done.
2:30, ever hear of actual admissions and hiring practices being biased against males and white/asian/Jewish people of any sex?
@5:17 – No.Ever heard of white-male privilege?
I seriously can't figure out whether this bar-failing, cisgender law student poster is being serious or not
Sounds like another trust account scandal a brewin': A-18-774126
Details? I can't get anything to pull up on attorney corner.
Good cause for an audit.
ATM$? Hemo?
Fernfigson, LLC, dba Gamage & Gamage. 1:28, try looking up A-18-774126-C or A774126 as a case cross-reference. You have to get either the full number or just the cross-reference correct.
What is the scoop?
The Gamages who went to UNLV? No shit
Bill Gamage's website is atrocious.
Wth is Fernfigson? It sounds like they assemble Ikea and sell religion at Nellis.
That's funny.
@2:57, I love your comment so much.
Just got SBN E-News blast email announcing:
"BOG Elections: Clark County Ballots on the Way Tomorrow
Clark County-based bar members will soon be receiving their 2018 Board of Governors election ballots. The ballots will be distributed electronically, via email, on Friday, May 11, so keep an eye out for your ballot if you live in Clark County. Don't forget to vote!"
And sadly, Washoe County desperately needs its own consciousness raising law blog since the county's lawyers remain bent over and asleep. "Uncontested"? WTH?
"The election in Washoe County is uncontested. The two candidates who will be appointed to the open seats in this district are Doug Clark and Ann Morgan."
So get ready for more of the same on the board with two out-of-touch, non-reform incumbents from the nether regions that spawned preening paternalist and self-appointed 'Mr. Being Accountable' Gene Leverty.
Will Clark County step up and instead drain the swamp?
https://www.nvbar.org/about-us/board-of-governors/board-governors-elections/2018-board-governors-candidates/
Reading the bios, it's painfully obvious the incumbents are oblivious to the unrest and discontent among membership. They don't even try to fake addressing the rising concerns.
Time to vote them out!
Identify who are the incumbents and vote them out for proposing the "Random Trust Audits" fiasco. How about getting rid of the requirement for Substance Use /Abuse–the 13th hour? Where did that come from? Twelve credit hours of CLE is plenty. Only 200 attorneys attend the Annual Meeting. Mandatory malpractice insurance needs to die on the vine. Can someone help out here–who are the incumbents? I want to vote them out and support other candidates. More attorneys go to the Family Law Conference than the Annual Meeting as I understand it.
Tamar, Paoala, Ryan Russell, Cathy Mazzeo…I need help here
Remember-vote only for the people you want , i.e. don't use all 4 votes unless you want 4 people otherwise you are giving votes to the others