Husson University in Bangor, Maine has dropped plans to offer law degrees.  This is a follow-up to an article we blogged about this past September.  A March 4th Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling that Husson’s graduates would not be allowed to take the state’s bar exam influenced this decision.  The University asked the court to devise its own review system for evaluating Husson University, as an alternative to the American Bar Association standards.  The court said it could not create an alternative review process and without the law school in full operation and a review in progress, the court said it could not allow Husson students to take the bar exam.  The University of Maine School of Law in Portland remains as the only law school in Maine, which leaves no law school in the northern or eastern part of the state.  The original article from The Portland Press Herald can be accessed here.

Congratulations to the leaders of Jones School of Law at Faulkner University. The Law School applied to the ABA and was granted provisional accreditation the following year. The school was notified last week that formal accreditation has been granted by the ABA. The school has issued a press release filled with more information.

Belmont University, located in Nashville, TN announced this morning that it will open a new law school, the first new law school in middle Tennessee in the last 100 years. Factors weighing the decision to move forward with a new law school included this gem:

A recent feasibility study indicated increasing need over the next decade for attorneys in Tennessee as well as in the region. Tennessee currently has fewer lawyers per capita (8.2 per 10,000) than nearly all of the states in which new American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law schools have opened in the past 10 years. In addition, there are hundreds of individuals interested in attending an ABA-approved law school in Tennessee who are currently unable to do so—in 2008, nearly 6,800 individuals applied for entrance to Tennessee’s three ABA-approved law schools, but only 1,773 were issued offers of admission.

What a couple of fascinating statistics! Congratulations on the announcement.

Fore a more detailed account of the announcement, visit Belmont University’s web site.

What are your thoughts? Does the country need another new law school? Does the country? Chime in with your comments below!

Congratulations to those California Western Law Students involved in the California Innocence Project. A U.S. District Court Judge has ordered that the conviction of Rafael Madrigal, Jr. be overturned, and that the man be retried within the next 60 days, or released from prison. For more details on the story, refer the the California Western School of Law blog, or the story in the Los Angeles Times. The students involved in this decision will likely recall this win for the rest of their legal careers.

In August, the Ohio Supreme Court approved a rule change that allows legal interns (i.e., third year law students) to represent certain defendants in felony cases. Legal interns may represent any person who qualifies for services provided by particular legal services organizations, including law school clinics, legal aid bureaus, and public defender’s offices. While Ohio 3Ls have long been able to represent defendants in misdemeanor cases, the new rule allows legal interns to advocate in first-, second-, or third-degree felonies with a licensed attorney serving as co-counsel; interns may represent the accused in fourth- and fifth-degree felonies under an attorney’s supervision. The consequences of losing a felony trial are severe: defendants found guilty of a first-degree felony can be sentenced with up to ten years in prison, eight years if convicted of a second-degree felony, five years for a third-degree felony, eighteen months for a fourth-degree felony, and one year for a fifth-degree felony.

Public defenders in at least two Ohio counties do not support the rule change and don’t plan to be assigning legal interns to felony cases any time soon. Law school officials, as one might imagine, are pleased with the new rule. Some of the more convincing arguments against the rule include:

• Third-year law students do not have the experience necessary to represent defendants who face losing their freedom.
• Because the legal interns need a substantial amount of supervision by public defenders, it could actually add to the public defenders’ already overwhelming workloads.
• Supervision can only be so effective when trials require thinking on your feet and split-second decision—experience is necessary.

Arguments in support of the rule include:

• Presumably, interns would be supervised and guided by law school personnel. Assuming knowledgeable and experienced supervisors are provided by law schools, interns could possibly ease the public defenders’ case loads.
• Legal interns may not have any less experience than assistant public defenders hired immediately after graduating and passing the bar (unless, of course, they served as legal interns while in law school). While nobody will dispute the importance of the third year or the rigors of the bar exam, neither provide students with practical experience.
• Legal interns will gain unparalleled real-life experience. Some of these students will eventually feed into the public defender’s office, making the initial time investment worthwhile not only for the students, but for the public defenders as well.

It’s also worth noting that this rule applies only to the defense and not the prosecution. As one prosecutor stated, “When you are representing the state of Ohio and only have one shot at a criminal defendant, I won’t take that chance.” It’s true that the defense can appeal in situations where the prosecution cannot, but is this really a valid justification for turning a person’s life into a school project?

On a personal note, while I was in law school, I worked at a family law clinic. Of course, none of our cases involved possible imprisonment, but there was a lot riding on the outcomes, especially where children were involved. It’s also worthy to note that while criminal defendants are entitled to representation, civil litigants are not—thus civil clinics provide a service other than allowing to law students to gain experience. It seems to me that allowing students to represent criminal defendants begets completely different, and more weighty, issues altogether.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that third year law students are able to provide proper representation in felony cases? Certainly, providing law students with experience will benefit representation down the road, but does this function trump providing the accused in felony cases with the best representation possible under the circumstances?

This Monday marked the first day of classes – in Raleigh – for nearly 400 Campbell University law students.  Campbell’s law school, formerly located in rural Buies Creek, North Carolina, just opened its doors in Raleigh.  Prior to the move, Raleigh was the nation’s largest capital without a law school within its city limits.  Campbell’s law students, many of whom previously commuted from Raleigh, can now more readily access opportunities with state and federal courts, the state’s premier law firms, and state government.

Campbell’s Raleigh location boasts of over 100,000 square feet of technologically sophisticated classrooms, a two-story law library, and three courtrooms.  Law school administrators intend for the location to act as a meeting place not only for Campbell law students and alumni, but for the Raleigh legal community at large.  The move has also quickly – and dramatically – increased interest in Campbell’s program, with applications rising 25% in the wake of the announcement two years ago.

On a personal note, I visited Campell’s Buies Creek location last year, and was charmed by it’s rural setting.  However, according to several of the students with whom I spoke, the area is rather devoid of activities – aside from studying, that is.  Thus, this move likely presents students with a double-edged sword: broadened internship and employment opportunities coupled with increased distractions and reasons to focus on anything but studying.

Congratulations to both Campbell AND the city of Raleigh on this exciting relocation!

For further information,  please visit Campbell University’s web site and read this informative article from Raleigh’s News & Observer.

Interesting story this morning, courtesy of The Maine Public Broadcasting Network. It is a translation of a radio report, which is also available on the site.

Husson University in Bangor is again launching an effort to open a new law school in Maine. The school has expanded its curriculum and hired faculty so that it can once again petition the Maine Supreme Court to allow graduates to take the Maine Bar Exam.

Husson Makes Another Bid to Open Law School

Husson University