idealawg

Blog Glob: "Diversity Meets Data at George Mason Law"

Excerpt from the article (Inside Higher Ed):

The American Bar Association considers, as part of its accreditation requirements, a law school’s commitment to a diverse student population. For top-ranking institutions, that usually means some combination of aggressive outreach, race-conscious affirmative action and on-campus support services to help recruit and retain underrepresented minorities.

But what if the ABA’s diversity standard led some students on the path to failure?

Since 2005, when The Stanford Law Review published a controversial and highly publicized study concluding that there would be more black lawyers if law schools did not use affirmative action in admissions, opponents of such policies have argued that race-based preferences actually harm those whom it is intended to help. Yet there is also evidence that concerted outreach and support efforts can, if applied properly, prevent the potential negative effects of race-conscious admissions practices.

University of Washington Law hosting "Legal Education at the Crossroads"

From the conference Web page:

The UW School of Law will host a working conference, Legal Education at the Crossroads — Ideas to Accomplishments: Sharing New Ideas for an Integrated Curriculum, September 5-7, 2008. The conference will be held on the UW campus at William H. Gates Hall, home to the law school.

The conference is intended to respond to suggestions from a Carnegie Foundation report, Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law.

Almost 90 deans and faculty from a wide range of schools around the country will present at the conference. Presentations will be of three types. ...

Click to read the rest and to register. Registration closes August 22, 2008.

George Carlin's last interview

About George Carlin's Last Interview to which I am linking, Carlin said:

...I really appreciate all the thought you’ve put into all these questions. Really, it’s the most complete interview I’ve ever done.

The long interview was conducted on June 13, 2008, by Jay Dixit. Read it and think about the message of this extraordinary comic and provocative philosopher.

5 steps to finding your interests: Become a detective looking for the fuel in your career

What is one essential ingredient in an exciting, energizing, engrossing legal career? Or in any satisfying career? You have to be engaged in something that really grabs your interest, that really catches your attention—everyday. If you are toiling away at some job that does not match your interests, I am betting you will not be happy. In evaluating your career, knowing your strengths (aptitudes) is important as is knowing your values. But so is discovering your interests. Here's a five-step process for going on the interests hunt. The steps are adapted from Don't Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best.

1) Start an Interest File.

Get a file folder or box and put it someplace where you will see it. Use your file to collect notes about anything that gets your attention: articles, pictures, or even random thoughts about what really interests you in life. You don't have to be choosy here. You are not wedded to anything you put in this file; the more you play with it, the better. What looks like fun? What would you like to find out more about? What has always fascinated you?

2) Keep Your File for at Least Three Weeks.

Longer is better. Don't look in it. Just keep throwing stuff in. If a picture catches your attention, toss it in. If

That lawyer happiness thing again: Now being discussed at WSJ Law Blog

The comments to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog post What Holds Unhappy Lawyers Back From Leaving? are almost as interesting as the post itself. The post features Monica Parker of Leaving the Law who has a book coming out next month titled The Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law. From the post:

Unhappiness in the law has, unfortunately, become a distinct sub-genre of LB coverage. To such an extent, in fact, that the storyline of lawyer wretchedness has become somewhat of a cliché: Wayward liberal-arts student, law school, indebtedness, dashed career hopes, inertia, misery.

But what happens next? Is there a way out? Monica Parker ... thinks unhappy lawyers can be coached out of law, and back to happiness. After stints as a producer at Spike Lee’s film company and a manager at a Winn-Dixie grocery store, Parker, a Harvard grad, returned to Cambridge for law school. “‘I should have a larger income, I should have something with more prestige and status,’” she thought to herself.

“Being the true law school type, I decided on law school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she told the Law Blog in a recent interview. “You hear it opens doors.”

Click for the rest. From another post (also featuring Parker) entitled Escaping the legal profession is becoming its own business (National Association of Freelance Legal Professionals blog):

How do you know that dissatisfaction with the legal profession has reached an all-time high? When helping lawyers leave the profession becomes its own cottage industry.

A cottage industry! Let me know of other people doing this kind of work and I will post them here.

Here's a directory of legal career consultants (in which I am listed). Also:

• Stephanie Kane*
• Hindi Greenberg
• Leslie Hilton*
• Anne Angerman*

Yes, when I actually think about it, law-leaving consultants do make up an industry. Who else should be on this list?

• Ellen Ostrow wrote me to be included on this list (her Web site says she works with women lawyers)

*Certified to use The Highlands Ability Battery

New survey: 90% of Americans believe in God and a majority report religious tolerance

The media are covering a new report titled U.S. Religious Landscape Survey just released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

From "Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance" (New York Times):

Although a majority of Americans say religion is very important to them, nearly three-quarters of them say they believe that many faiths besides their own can lead to salvation, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

From "More Than 90 Percent of Americans Believe in God, Study Finds" (Washington Post):

More than 90 percent of Americans -- including one in five people who say they are atheists -- believe in God or a universal power, and more than half pray at least once a day, according to results of a poll released today that takes an in-depth look at Americans' religious beliefs.

From "Religious Americans: My faith isn't the only way" (AP):

America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don't feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.

From "92% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, Pew survey finds" (Los Angeles Times):

Californians, however, are less likely to consider religion 'very important.' Of the 36,000 people surveyed, 42% said they think Hollywood is a corrupting influence.

I urge you to read more at the above links. The study looks at other factors such as how spiritual beliefs coordinate with political affiliation. I am one of those in the 90+% majority. However I must have a very skewed group of friends as at least half say they do not believe in God. That is of course okay with me. And most (not all) friends seem okay with my belief. The tolerance found in the study, yes?

Image credit: kevinrosseel at morgueFile

From Discover: 20 Things You Didn't Know About... The Summer Solstice

For the whole list, click here (Discover Magazine). The first of the list items:

1  Summertime, and the tiltin’ is easy. Summers are hot not because Earth is closer to the sun, but because the tilt of the Earth’s axis lets rays of sunlight hit one hemisphere more directly.

2  During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, we’re actually farthest from the sun, receiving 7 percent less sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere does during its summer.

3  The summer solstice—June 20 this year—is the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day, with 24 hours of unbroken sunlight north of the Arctic Circle.

4  For obsessive-compulsives: The site www.archaeoastronomy.com maintains a second-by-second countdown to each solstice.

5  Supporters of Seattle’s Solstice Parade, an annual fixture of the city’s artsy Fremont neighborhood, proclaim that it will “cast a spell of joy, hope, and rebirth that spreads from Fremont to the entire universe.”

6  Helping cast the spell are the Painted Cyclists, a clothing-optional group of bike riders who wear intense body makeup.

7  Watch out for those solstice rays: The Painted Cyclists’ organizers instruct participants to slather on the sunscreen, encouraging newbies to “ask Rob about his plaid sunburn from Solstice 2002.”

And a happy summer solstice to you!

Image credit: earl53 at morgueFile

Excellent ways to sabotage almost any organization (even a law firm)

The Simple Sabotage Field Manual (pdf) from the Office of Strategic Services (indirect precursor to the CIA), written in 1944, includes much advice on sabotage. It looks to me as if several people working in organizations of which I am aware have the Manual memorized. Some examples:

Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.

Make "speeches." Talk as frequently as possible and at great length. Illustrate your "points" by long anecdotes and accounts of personal experiences. ...

When possible, refer all matters to committees, for "further study and consideration." Attempt to make the committees as large as possible — never less than five.

Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.

Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.

Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.

Advocate "caution." Be "reasonable" and urge your fellow-conferees to be "reasonable" and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments or difficulties later on.

Be worried about the propriety of any decision — raise the question of whether such action as is contemplated lies within the jurisdiction of the group or whether it might conflict with the policy of some higher echelon.

When training new workers, give incomplete or misleading instructions.

Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.

Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.

Act stupid.

Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting yourself into trouble.

Blog Glob: "When the Powerless Rise Up"

Excerpt from "When the Powerless Rise Up: Power leads to positive action, but only when acquired legitimately" (Association for Psychological Science):

In an effort to reconcile the science stating that power leads to action and lack of power leads to inhibition -- despite constant historical reminders of the powerless rising up and taking action -- new research in the June issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that the legitimacy of the power relationship is an important determinant of whether power leads to action.

The research, led in part by Kellogg School of Management Professor Adam Galinsky, sought to determine at what point the powerless rise up and take action. ... These findings are the first to clarify when, and lend insight into why, power leads to behavioral approach, or action.

According to the researchers, when power is acquired or wielded legitimately (e.g., following a fair election or when actions are within authority), the likelihood for

Ashoka (social entrepreneurship) in Colorado

"They're called social entrepreneurs, and if you haven't heard the phrase yet, you're missing one of the hottest movements."

US News and World Report

For more information about the social entrepreneurship events being held from 6:30 to 8:30 PM

• Monday, July 14, 2008, at Leeds School of Business, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Colorado, Boulder, and
• Tuesday, July 15th, 2008, at Daniels College of Business, University of Denver

Click here (pdf).