The Ginger (Law) Librarian

In spring 2017, I briefly discussed the issues  with scholarship impact factor in law as a response to a recommendation by a law professor to create a rankings methodology based on Google Scholar citation. Now US News is trying to get in the game of creating a ranking of law faculty by scholarship impact factor using Hein publication metrics. US News is asking each law school for the names and other details of its fall 2018 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty. US News plans to link the names of each individual law school's faculty to citations and publications that were published in the previous five years and are available in HeinOnline. Using this data, HeinOnline will compile faculty scholarly impact indicators for each law school . This will include such measures as mean citations per faculty member, median citations per faculty member, and total number of publications. Those measures will then be provided to US News for use in eventually creating a comprehensiv...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that business schools are taking a stand against academic rankings. Business-school deans and research faculty at more than 20 universities are taking a stand against the academic rankings published by media outlets such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Nikkei Inc.’s Financial Times and the Economist Group. Rather than “acquiesce to methods of comparison we know to be fundamentally misleading,” the administrators are urging their peers at other schools to stop participating in a process they say rates programs on an overly narrow set of criteria. Those in the business of rankings say that the rankings help students make an informed decision about what is likely among the most expensive purchases these students will make in their lives.  The administrators opposed to the rankings methodologies are of the opinion that if the goal is to help inform [students] about how to make the best decision about business schools, let’s give them the raw info...

While working as a Faculty Services & Scholarly Communications Librarian, I presume I am not alone in being asked to create an impact factor for which to judge the scholarly work of faculty. In fact, Gary Lucas at Texas A&M was recently asked a similar question : Texas A&M University assesses its colleges and departments based partly on scholarly impact and using quantitative metrics. The law school’s dean has assigned me the task of identifying scholarly impact metrics for use in assessing the performance of our law faculty collectively and individually. This essay discusses the major issues that arise in measuring the impact of legal scholarship. It also explains important scholarly impact metrics, including the Leiter score and Google Scholar h-index, and the major sources of information regarding scholarly impact, including Google Scholar, Westlaw, Hein Online, SSRN, and bepress. Ultimately, Lucas proposes ranking scholarship by Google Scholar citation count to p...

Is your faculty's scholarship reaching its intended audience? Is it truly having an impact? Most law schools are in the zero-sum game of the USNews ranking system . The quality assessment by peers and lawyers/judges makes up nearly 40% of the overall score. One of the ways to help this score is by upping the reputation of the school - say, through the promotion of impactful faculty scholarship. Currently, we have impact factors for the individual journals , but there is no widespread system of comparing the schools' overall faculty scholarship. One (of a few) impact factors for the individual journals is from the Washington & Lee Law Journal Submissions & Rankings Database is based on "the average number of annual citations to articles in each journal (rounded to two decimal places)." One (imperfect) method of comparing scholarship for an entire school's faculty is to base it on the number of downloads from SSRN &/or the institutional repos...

In a previous post , I discussed using SSRN in lieu of an institutional repository to make faculty publications more accessible. As mentioned in the previous post, it's ideal to use both SSRN and an institutional repository, but not all schools have institutional repositories (like my previous school), so I was promoting the use of SSRN in that case. My new school does have an institutional repository, which is great. And we also utilize SSRN to promote faculty scholarship. Inevitably, when we discuss this with faculty, we get the question, "will the institutional repository hurt my SSRN rankings or downloads?" An article that appeared in the AALL Spectrum in 2012 discusses this very issue. "Librarians have every reason to support the creation of an institutional digital repository (IR). An IR preserves the output of the intellectual life of the school, enables anyone with internet access to enjoy the benefits of the new knowledge, and promotes the institution...

The NYTimes reported on a new study that shows that law school proximity matters for big-law partner prospects. And it may matter more than the rank of the law school. "The study is called Does Law School Still Make Economic Sense? An Empirical Analysis of ‘Big Law’ Firm Partnership Prospects and the Relationship to Law School Attended [and] will be published in the May issue of the Buffalo Law Review." The study looked at "33,000 lawyers at the largest 115 law firms in the country [and] found that the dozen highest ranked law schools, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Northwestern, had a high correlation between their status and the number of alumni who made partner." No surprise there. "But some of the other 100 schools examined showed greater differences between their ranking and their alumni partner numbers.... For example, Suffolk University Law School in Boston is not ranked nationally but it has 167 graduates who are partners in top law firm...

As spring law-review submission season winds down, many law faculty are busy submitting to journals. Here is a compilation of the Top 50 law reviews as ranked by Washington & Lee (current combined score 2013) and the submission criteria for each of those law reviews compiled from Information for Submitting Articles to Law Reviews and Journals (Jan. 22, 2105). 1. Stanford Law Review [Submit] Must use their online submission form. Do not include any identifying information in the submission. Include a brief abstract [Citations] Bluebook format [Word Requirements] word limit of 30,000 words (including footnotes). Remove name or other identifying information [Processing Period] They will consider requests for expedited review. Use their online form 2. Harvard Law Review [Format] Word document [Submit] Through their online system or by mail (Articles Office, Harvard Law Review, Gannett House, 1511 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138). Only include identifying information on ...

The National Law Journal reported on a a diversity study conducted by Aaron Taylor , an assistant professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law. Taylor "examined application trends, Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores and enrollment figures for minority and white students in both 2010 and 2013. He hoped to better understand how the dramatic downturn in law school applications nationwide has affected diversity." "Taylor focused on 2010 and 2013 because they defined 'feast or famine' periods for legal education. The incoming class in 2010 was largest on record, but by 2013 enrollment had declined by nearly a quarter, representing the smallest cohort of new law students in 40 years." This "feast or famine" meant that "[c]ompetition between schools for students was fierce in 2013." And "overall admission rates rose to 51 percent from 36 percent in 2010. Theoretically, [when it comes to diversity] relaxed admissions stand...

InsideHigherEd has an enlightening article discussing the issues surrounding law schools lowering admissions standards. As the article notes, "[e]nrollment at ABA-accredited law schools is the lowest it has been since 1973, even though there are 53 more law schools open now, according to Moody's Investors Service. As the number of students going to law school drops dramatically, law schools are increasingly competing for students with lower undergraduate grades and LSAT scores. Professors who study legal education worry that schools are enrolling more and more students who have not proved they can graduate law school. Equally concerning is that law schools are admitting and then graduating students who might not be able to pass the bar exam." In fact, "five years ago, no American Bar Association-accredited law school had an entering class with a median LSAT score of less than 145. Now, seven law schools do, according to Jerome M. Organ, a professor at University...

The National Jurist reported that LSAT takers have hit a record low. LSAC reported that "the number of students who took the October LSAT dropped to 30,943, down from 60,746 in 2009, when it hit a high mark. The numbers are off 8.1 percent from last year. It was the lowest number of test-takers in October since prior to 1987. The July exam was also off from the prior year, dropping from 23,997 to 21,803. The number of test-takers is on pace to be the lowest number since prior to 1987, when there were fewer law schools." As law schools compete for fewer students, it may be easier than ever to get into law school even with a less-than-stellar LSAT score. For prospective students who do score low on the LSAT, say in the high 130s, there is a good chance that you can start law school at a lower ranked school and transfer to a higher ranked school after your first year. The ABA Journal reported "as law school enrollment declines nationwide, competition for transfer ...

Huffington Post recently ran an article discussing a new law school: UNT Dallas College of Law. Judge Royal Furgeson, the founding dean of UNT Dallas College of law, says that the school will have an  " unconventional ethos — to cultivate lawyers as public servants. The method? Eschew national rankings, deflate tuition, welcome the 'rejects' and teach real skills. 'We want to train lawyers that want to be lawyers for the right reasons,' Furgeson says." While some believe that there are too many lawyers, "'[t]he legal industry has never been able to offer sufficient resources to the poor, [Judge Furgeson] says, and neither has it properly served the middle class or small businesses. The profession needs to come to grips with the fact that we’re not providing legal services to a vast majority of our people,' he says. 'You think of how many people are struggling out there, how many people are working at the margins. Something bad happens to ...

Erwin Chemerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow's article in the NYTimes this morning is interesting for its take on the legal education crisis. The authors believe that legal education can use reform, like all higher education in general, but the 'crisis' talk is overblown and may lead to unnecessary reform that will make legal training worse in the long run. "The claims of imminent catastrophe always focus on three things: the problematic job market for law graduates, the increased cost of legal education and the decrease in applications for law schools." As to the job market, " [a]ccording to the Association for Legal Career Professionals, as recently as 2007, close to 92 percent of law-school graduates reported being employed in a paid, full-time position nine months after graduation. True, the employment figures had dropped by 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, but only to 84.7 percent. The number of graduates who are employed is ...

InsideHigherEd reported on the University of La Verne College of Law's tuition restructuring. La Verne might be the "first law school to stop offering discounts to the top students it wants to attract." "Instead, the Southern California law school will charge all students a flat price of $25,000 a year. Before, its sticker price was $39,000, but many students didn't pay anywhere near that much. Its 127 students actually paid an average of about $25,000 a year, but the students with the highest test scores paid less. Overall, its discount rate -- the share of tuition charges the college forgoes in the form of scholarships -- was 46 percent." "La Verne's dean, Gilbert Holmes, said discount pricing, which colleges use to reward both low-income students and high-achieving students, can widen gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students because the students who are most likely to succeed and make more money after law school graduate with the l...

These days it's essential for law students to learn practical skills while in law school because law firms and clients have decided to no longer foot the bill for practical training after law school. The ABA is also considering mandating more practical skills training , so it's a good time for law schools to be proactive and take the initiative to create a practical-skills curriculum. I'm still surprised that it has taken over 20 years for practical skills training to take hold after the MacCrate Report was released in the early 90's, but better late than never! The National Jurist recently unveiled its first honors for law schools that deliver practical training. As The National Jurist noted, "[t]his is the first effort to try to quantify which schools are delivering on their promises to make legal education more experiential.” As for the ranking process, "[t]he magazine based the ranking on four factors — three objective and one subjective. The three ...

Forbes  recently had an article discussing stats on lawyer hiring by state. Forbes "updated the supply-and-demand outlook for lawyers by state to see if the picture looks any better than it did a few years ago. The answer [according to Forbes]: Not really. Hiring has mostly been stagnant coming out of the recession, and more than twice as many people graduated with law degrees in 2012 (46,565) as there are estimated job openings (21,640). But take away full-time, salaried positions and the real growth in the lawyer job market has come from those working on the side in part-time arrangements. It’s here where many of the job opportunities appear to be, which is hardly encouraging for newly minted lawyers deep in debt." So how are the individual states faring? "For most states, the outlook is similar — there are between two to four graduates for every opening. The most extreme oversupplies are in Vermont (7.9 law grads for every opening), Michigan (5.4), Massachusetts (...

Now this is real elitist reform right here. The ABA Journal report s that a "British-based law firm, Clifford Chance, has introduced a 'CV blind' policy that hides candidates’ university information from those who are doing final interviews." "The aim is to eliminate bias in favor of Oxford, Cambridge and other leading schools. Clifford Chance adopted the policy last year, leading to a 28 percent increase in the number of institutions from which it drew trainees." As a senior employee of Clifford Chance put it, “[w]e’re looking for the gems and they’re not all in the jeweler’s shop.” A 28 percent increase in the number of institutions is pretty substantial. Currently, the name brand law schools in the U.S. are the main feeder schools into BigLaw leaving little room for candidates from the other 140+ law schools in the country. If U.S. BigLaw were to follow the lead of Clifford Chance, I wonder how many additional schools would be represented in new ass...

With the polar vortex that essentially shut down the Midwest, I was finally able to read for fun! I chose  David & Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. It is a quick read, and it has an interesting argument about the perceived advantage of attending a highly ranked, brand-named school. The argument goes like this: If you are a little fish in a big pond (like a student attending an Ivy League institution in terms of sheer brain power), and you are at the bottom of your class (which is probably still in the 90th percentile nationwide), you may be deterred from finishing a difficult degree because you are not used to failure, and you become demoralized. Of course Gladwell offered various statistical analyses to support the idea that this phenomena actually happens. His argument is that it may be better to be a big fish in a little pond (like a student at a respectable state school) and excel and be motivated to finish a difficult degree. Gladwell goes on to discuss how this works w...

The National Law Journal reported on a Skadden fellow who was chosen from an unranked law school -- a rarity among Skadden fellows. "Since the creation of the Skadden Fellowship in 1988, more than 700 law students and judicial clerks have received its financial support for two years as they pursue public-interest law projects of their own design. Of those recipients, nearly 70 percent came from schools listed in the Top 10 by U.S. News & World Report; most of the remainder held J.D.s from schools listed in the Top 100." But Sarah Hess broke the mold when she became the "first student from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago to win the prestigious fellowship. In fact, 2010 was the last time a student from any unranked law school (in that case the Widener University School of Law) made the cut." "The year’s 28 Skadden fellows hail from 13 law schools—seven of them from Yale Law School and six from Harvard Law School. Each fellow will be paid on pa...

If you took the LSAT in June 2013, you may be able to use your score for admission into law school this fall. "Eager to beef up admissions, at least 25 law schools have announced they will consider scores from the June LSAT for fall admissions." Generally, the June LSAT is taken by prospective law students hoping to get a jump on admissions for the following year. The February test is usually the last test used for fall admissions. "Among the schools considering June scores are the University of Alabama School of Law, ranked No. 21 by U.S. News & World Report, and the University of North Carolina School of Law, ranked No. 31." And if your June LSAT is strong enough to get you into the fall admission process, there may also be a new way to finance your legal education. American University tax law professor Benjamin Leff is suggesting another way to finance a law school education —through an 'income-based rate swap.' "The idea: Students wo...

Let's say that you performed a preemption check , wrote a wonderful scholarly article, and went through the various strategies to get it published . And let's say you've received numerous rejections. You're asking yourself, what's the deal. Did you write a bad article? Maybe. But it's more likely due to many factors that are outside of your control. In 2008, there was a comprehensive study  published regarding the article selection process for law reviews and journals. This process looked at factors in selection, including: The article fills gaps in the literature The article provides enough background explanation so that one not familiar with the particular field can understand the relevant issues The topic has been discussed in the news in the past year Articles on similar topics have not been published in the journal recently The topic is considered to be controversial The draft version of the article has been frequently downloaded from SSRN The ar...