Advocates for a more inclusive legal profession are worried about the recent decline in enrollment of Black students in law school. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), Blacks were 7.4 percent of all law students in 1994. By 2005, that percentage had fallen to just 6.6. Several law journal articles have suggested that the schools…

In a study of the organizational socialization of law school interns, the authors observed that some of the students were assimilated quickly and completely into the role of prosecutor, while others were less socialized. The authors believe that the organizational structure and level of control exercised over the interns accounted for these…

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Skills Analysis Survey identifies the skills that are important for success in law school. This information provides validity evidence for the current Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and guides the development of new test items and test specifications. The key question of the survey is "what academic…

This study investigated the overall prevalence of discrepant Law School Admission Test (LSAT) subscores, their differential incidence for subgroups of examinees, and the psychometric properties of alternative measures of discrepant performance. The sample consisted of 39,350 examinees who took the LSAT in December 1991. Subscore differences, often…

In item calibration using LOGIST (M. Wingersky, R. Patrick, and F. Lord, 1987), when the program determines that it cannot accurately estimate the c-parameter for a particular item due to insufficient information at the lower levels of ability, an estimate of the c-parameters, called COMC, is obtained by combining all such items. The purpose of…

Reports a study which examined the performance of 41 law students in an Economic Analysis of Law course. Conclusions are that prior formal study of economics appears to have no effect on performance in law school economics courses. The main determinant is performance in other law school courses. (KC)

Explores the purpose of law school and its impact on students' perceptions of professional norms. Reviews reasons for student dissatisfaction with law school and examines the current pedagogical and curricular practices. Offers suggestions to improve the relevance of legal education to the real world lawyers will encounter. (SLD)

The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University offers several specialized in-house legal clinics. This article focuses on the outreach services of the Elder Law and Consumer Protection Clinic and the Children's Advocacy Clinic. These programs provide opportunities for law students to obtain practical experience in a thoughtful…

A survey of attitudes concerning marijuana was conducted among law school students (N=245) at a southern university. General trends indicated were that a liberalization of attitudes is occurring and that there is acceptance, in a professional capacity, of the lawyer who uses marijuana. (Author)

Based on the results of a Phase 1 investigation into the nature of legal writing, a prototype writing assessment, the Diagnostic Writing Skills Test (DWST) for entering law students was developed. The DWST is composed of two multiple-choice testlets based on prompts and responses to the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) Writing Sample. It contains…

Test takers were asked to report which, if any, methods they used to help prepare for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The study began with the 1991-1992 academic testing year and ended with the 1996-1997 academic testing year. More than 100,000 students responded in each of the years, with the exception of a smaller sample in 1996-1997…

This document presents a history of moot court, defined as a mock court where hypothetical cases are tried for the training of law students. The first recorded reference to a moot court was in the year 997, and moots were common at the Inns of Court and Chancery in 14th century England. In 18th century England there were 4 greater Inns of Court…

Discusses when law students legitimize the expectations of their professors rather than those of their peers. (Author)

Used statistics from publicly available sources to establish how women are treated in legal education. Found that women will soon be the majority of students; although they have higher undergraduate grades than men, that differential reverses in the first year of law school. Also, women faculty are paid less than comparable male colleagues and…

This report summarizes self-reported information about the kinds and extent of test preparation used by those taking the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). For the first time, in June 1989, test takers were asked to volunteer information about how they prepared for the LSAT. Approximately 75% of the test takers in June and September 1989 responded…