idealawg

One law prof's thoughts on law school tuition

Professor Deborah Merritt posted to law-legaled, a legal education listserv, and has allowed me to copy here what she wrote.

I've enjoyed reading the posts on this issue, which grew out of the original post on counseling students in the wake of disappointing first-semester grades.  I have a few other thoughts to share in response to some of the questions.

Many on this list probably know this, but it's worth noting that law school tuition has increased dramatically over the last few decades.  The ABA has a table showing the costs of tuition and fees from 1985 through 2009.  http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/legaled/statistics/charts/stats_5.authcheckdam.pdf

In 1985, public law schools charged an average of just $2006 per year for in-state students.  Today, the average cost is $18,472.  Inflation accounts for just a small portion of that increase:  If in-state tuition had increased only to match inflation, the cost in 2009 would have averaged $4000.   In constant dollars, public schools charged four and a half times more in 2009 than they did 25 years earlier.

Increases at private schools aren't quite as large, but they're still dramatic--and, of course, the private schools started at a much higher level.  Average tuition at private law schools was $7,526 in

"Neuroscience: A New Direction for Solution-Focused Thinkers?"

For those interested in Solution-Focused practices, this article may be thought-provoking.

Abstract:

The development of highly sophisticated imaging techniques in the past 20 years has made it possible for neuroscientists to study the brain like never before. The resulting findings, particularly about emotions, are challenging psychotherapists of all orientations to reevaluate their theories and practices. These considerations are a particularly daunting task for therapists whose work reflects the post-modern denial of objective reality, like that of Solution-Focused therapists. In this article, the authors have juxtaposed solution-focused theory and practice with some key neuroscientific ideas in order to explore fit and incompatibility. Possible benefits for Solution-Focused practice are discussed.

Excerpt from Conclusion:

Neuroscientists work in a domain in which the human body is a material reality. SF therapists work in a domain in which reality is a subjective experience constructed through language. It is difficult in this moment in time to imagine a theoretical integration of these very different domains. ...

SF therapists considers problems as subjective realities and believe that people have inherent resources to find solutions to these perceived problems. In this paper, we have explored some neuroscientific findings that suggest that the most evolved living systems (human beings) have mechanisms that allow for subjective realities and continuing change. When SF therapists say that

Guru of conflict coaching will be giving 4-day seminar in Colorado

Cinnie Noble will be offering her Conflict Management Coaching Workshop on July 11-14 at University of Colorado at Boulder. From the flyer:

Conflict management coaching, also known as conflict coaching, is a specialized niche in the field of coaching and conflict management.  It is a one-on-one technique, in which a trained coach assists people to effectively prevent or manage specific disputes and to enhance their conflict management skills.  This process has wide application, in the organizational context and for coaching individuals to participate in mediation, negotiation and relational conflict.

Outcomes of the Conflict Management Coaching Workshop:

Here's a class I'd like to take! Law and Literature

If only I could go back to college; my focus would be much different and my appreciation for the experience would be much greater. Today seeing the reading list for Law and Literature, being taught by Tyler Cowen (his TED video about storytelling has been very popular), made me want to return immediately to the role of student in the classroom.

Click to take a look at the reading list. An excerpt

• The New English Bible
• Oxford Study Edition Billy Budd and Other Tales, by Hermann Melville
• The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories, by Franz Kafka
• In the Belly of the Beast, by Jack Henry Abbott
• Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, by Fernando Verrissimo
• Glaspell’s Trifles, available on-line
• Sherlock Holmes, The Complete Novels and Stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, volume 1
• I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov.
• "John Keats's Attitude to Lawyers"

See why I am drawn to this class?

47 new studies in the January edition of MINDFULNESS RESEARCH MONTHLY

From the current edition of the monthly newsletter:

In this issue

47 new studies including:

21 Intervention & Application studies

8 Etiology & Association studies

7 Theory & Processes studies

5 Review & Meta-analysis studies

6 Method & Measures studies

Also...

3 Clinical Trials

Another nail in the coffin of eyewitness testimony? At least reasons for more caution when using it?

From "Your memory of events is distorted within seconds" (BPS Research Digest):

Memory isn't etched in neural stone. It's a creative process, sketched in sand. In one of the most dramatic demonstrations of this yet, Brent Strickland and Frank Keil have shown how people's memory for a video clip was distorted within seconds, to form a coherent episode "package". ...

...

The researchers said their findings have obvious implications for crime scene witnesses. Imagine a witness sees a man wielding a gun, and imagine seconds later they also see a person nearby falling from a gunshot wound - these new results show how easily the mind of the witness could invent a memory of having seen the moment the trigger was actually pulled. "In some circumstances," the researchers said, "conceptual packaging can induce the perceiver to insert unseen information in order to fulfil structural requirements. This was the case in the present study."

Click to read the rest.

Quick thoughts from US District Court Judge John L. Kane on the future of lawyers, law schools, the courts

After sending Judge Kane a link to "Federal Judge Says Law Schools Need To Change" (CityTownInfo.com), I received this e-mail from him:

Law schools do need to change ---so  does the profession, if nothing else by ending the billable hour---- and so do the courts, if nothing else by throwing out the present rules of procedure and coming up with an entirely new paradigm.

I don't think any of these changes will happen.  What I think will happen is that legal education and the law as we know it will vanish as they become increasingly irrelevant. The Age of Administration is already here.

The universities have been ruined by the shift to administrators; the courts and lawyers continue to price themselves out of the market.

----But then, I'm an optimist.  Imagine the whole system as a replication of the airline industry.

 Posted with his permission, of course.

The "we" of leadership: If led this way, people will continue to act in a given direction even if the leader is absent

Leadership is not my favorite topic in books, but I recommend a book I have been reading this week. It appeals to me because it stresses the "we" of leadership rather than identifying the traits of the "I" leader. Here's a short excerpt from The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power (Psychology Press):

[L]eadership is not about brute force, raw power, or “incentivization.” Indeed we suggest that such things are indicators and consequences of the failure of leadership. True, they can be used to affect the behavior of others. If you threaten dire punishment for disobedience and then instruct others to march off towards a particular destination, they will probably do so. Equally, if you offer them great inducements for obedience, they will probably do the same. But in either of these cases it is most unlikely that they will be truly influenced in the sense that they come to see the mission as their own. If anything, the opposite will be true. That is, they are likely to reject the imposed mission precisely because they see it as externally imposed. So, take away the stick—or the carrot—and people are liable to stop marching, or even to march off in the opposite direction in order to assert their independence. Not only do you have to expend considerable resources in order to secure compliance, but, over time, you have to devote ever-increasing resources in order to maintain that compliance.

In contrast, if one can inspire people to want to travel in a given direction, then they will continue to act even in the absence of the leader. If one is seen as articulating what people want to

A fun list on how to be more interesting (with some serious advice)

I like this list! How about you? From "How To Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps)" (Forbes.com):

1.Go exploring.
Explore ideas, places, and opinions. The inside of the echo chamber is where all the boring people hang out.

2. Share what you discover.
And be generous when you do. Not everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your adventures.

Click to read the rest.

 

Cartoon Counsel: Try this for improving your ability to hold various points of view in conflict, making a decision, or puzzling out a problem

I learned several valuable exercises from the late Harry Sloan when I took from him a 10-day course in psychosynthesis. (The 10 days were a part of a two-year intensive I took in mediation from Gary Friedman.) For those of you not acquainted with psychosynthesis, I highly recommend the book What We May Be; or books by Roberto Assagioli, founder of psychosynthesis: The Act of Will and Psychosynthesis. (For other books on psychosynthesis, see below; click for past posts related to psychosynthesis here, here, and here.)

One of the exercises learned from Harry which I will describe in a minute may seem simple, silly, and maybe not worth your time. That was my first reaction until I participated; our group spent a half day digging into this process! You don't need to spend hours, but I think you might benefit with even a few minutes. Since learning it in the '80s, I have used the cartoon process a number of times over the years, both myself and in workshops.

As explained below, this process (and the whole of psychosynthesis) can help conflict professionals to feel at ease with ambiguity and contradictory points of view. (That is, of course, one of the main reasons we took 10 days of psychosynthesis in our mediation intensive.)

Below is the process as I recall it from memory and my notes, and is probably just a bit different from how Harry presented it.

Here are each of the steps of the Cartoon Counsel process—my name, I can't recall what Harry called this exercise. (As you will see, it could also be spelled Cartoon Council.)

In preparation, for a week or more, collect cartoons that you find especially funny. Choose one of