Fourth Tier South Texas College of Law Changes Its Name Yet Again, for Second Time Within the Last Five Months

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/A-NEW-new-name-announced-for-Houston-law-school-10598245.php

What’s in a Name?: On November 7, 2016, the Houston Chronicle published a piece from Gabrielle Banks, under the headline “Another new name announced for Houston law school.” Check out this opening:

“The dean of Houston's 93-year-old law school announced Monday morning the school will henceforth be known as South Texas College of Law Houston, on the heels of an injunction by a federal judge barring the school from using the name Houston College of Law while a trademark suit played out in court. 

The new name is designed to avoid confusion with the University of Houston's Law Center while still helping potential students find the Houston-based law school. 

Just after South Texas College of Law announced its Houston-focused name in June, the University of Houston regents sued for trademark infringement.

UH attorneys argued that those interested in their institution had become confused about with school was which when viewing the new branding at college fairs and online.

In mid-October U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison found that UH had a strong likelihood of prevailing at trial on the grounds that the new law school name prominently featuring the words Houston and Law along with a new red-and-white color scheme were likely to confuse consumers in the marketplace. The judge upheld UH's motion for an injunction.

At a subsequent hearing before Judge Ellison, Houston College of Law's attorneys acquiesced, agreeing to take down billboards and banners and revise Internet and letterhead branding. The attorneys said the school would share its new name confidentially with lawyers for UH Friday, and the parties complied with that agreement. If UH didn't see the proposed name as problematic, the downtown law school would move forward.

"We agreed to it and we don't have any problems with it at all," said Dona Cornell, general counsel for UH. As for the lawsuit, Cornell said, "I totally anticipate its going to be over in very short order." [Emphasis mine]

Who wouldn’t want to attend a cesspool named $ouTTTTh TTTTexa$ Commode of Law Hou$TTTTon?!?! Hell, senior centers are more selective in who they admit than this steaming pile of excrement! Furthermore, the bathroom stalls at old age homes smell better than a degree from this toilet. 

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/06/law-schools-name-change-sparks-ire-potential-lawsuit/

Prior Name Change in June 2016: Back on June 23, 2016, Above the Law featured a Kathryn Rubino entry labeled “Law School’s Name Change Sparks Ire, Potential Lawsuit.” Take a look at this portion:

“Just yesterday we told you about South Texas College of Law’s decision to change its name to Houston College of Law. The only problem? A little less than four miles away there is already a University of Houston Law Center, and they share the same red school color. 

Tipsters and folks on social media had an immediate reaction, nearly all of it negative. Changing your school’s name after 93 years is bound to be controversial, especially when there is a good chance the school could be confused with one significantly ahead of it in the U.S. News and World Report Rankings.” 

And now, the University of Houston Law Center is weighing in on the issue. They are not pleased. From Dean Leonard Baynes: 

It has come to the University of Houston’s attention that South Texas College of Law has announced that it is changing its name to Houston College of Law. The University of Houston Law Center has an established history of nearly 70 years in the City of Houston. The University of Houston is concerned about the significant confusion this creates in the marketplace and will take any and all appropriate legal actions to protect the interests of our institution, our brand and our standing in the communities we serve.” [Emphasis mine]

I’m sure it was a mere set of coincidences the pigs initially changed their name to Houston College of Law – and amended the school colors to match those of the University of Houston. What are the odds? Then again, I suppose the $TTTTCL cockroaches felt they could claim that this was an “error.” 

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+8

Ranking: As you can see, $ouTTTTh TTTTexa$ Commode of Law-Hou$TTTTon is rated as a FOURTH TIER TRASH CAN, by US “News” & World Report. What a great distinction, huh?!?! Perhaps, the dolts only wanted to change their name to Houston COL in order to be placed earlier in the Rank Not Published section – since those garbage pits are listed alphabetically.

Conclusion: Avoid this cesspool at all costs, despite whatever name changes it undergoes in the next several months or years, lemming. In the final analysis, a TTTT law degree isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, fool. Case in point: full-time tuition at this ABA-accredited dung heap stands at $30,600 – for the 2016-2017 academic year. Have fun trying to repay back massive amounts of NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt, when you are relegated to jobs making $45K or less, per year, Bitch! Does that strike you as a wise investment, Stupid?!?!

3 Reasons Law Firms Should Care About Passive Data Capture

As they say in the legal profession, time is money. While most attorneys are measured by their proverbial “books of business,” the last thing they want to do is spend valuable time updating their client rolodexes.

After all, clients pay top dollar for expert legal counsel, not data entry.

Last week, we shared an anecdote about a database administrator at AmLaw 200 law firm who discovered a staggering 210,000 additional contacts for their firm simply by using the InterAction IQ signature capture feature, which begs the question, how does it work?

The InterAction IQ signature capture feature uses “passive” data capture. In other words, every time an attorney receives a new email IQ automatically mines the firm’s exchange server using passive data collection and compares the email signature to the most recent contact data available in InterAction. In essence, with InterAction’s existing data change management functionality, provided a contact exists in an attorney’s contact collection, the attorney or BD professional doesn’t need to do a thing and those changes are immediately passed onto them which can either be reviewed or automatically made.

Now going back to the firm with 210,000 newly discovered contacts, just think about the time it would take an attorney or member of the BD team to manually enter and update that information. Chances are this is a significant chunk of time that could otherwise be better spent focused on more pressing billable client or BD related-work.

And, if unearthing thousands of potential new connections isn’t enough to motivate law firms to care about using passive data capture via IQ, here’s are 3 other reasons to consider:

• Reduces time spent entering data change requests. In addition to saving law firms time and money, IQ’s signature capture feature alleviates the need for attorneys or members of the BD team to be bogged down by manually updating their data change requests. This not only allows attorneys to focus on serving paying clients, but it also alleviates BD resources to focus on well, building business.

• Ensures Data Quality is High. By using only the freshest data available via signature capture feature, attorneys and members of the BD team can ensure the quality of their data is the highest. In other words, it helps weed out stale data to uncover only most current and accurate information available.

• Reduces Data Stewardship Responsibilities. In addition to alleviating a firm’s overall data stewardship responsibilities, whoever is researching a particular contact can see who is making the recommended change. This eliminates the extra step of having to research who is suggesting the change and enables attorneys to see the actual signature taken from the email so they can confirm the accuracy of the data, if needed.

To learn more about IQ’s signature capture feature and how IQ can inform the law firm BD process, take a read through this new IQ E-book.

This post is by Carla Del Bove, who provides support to the business of law software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

 

Why Understanding Economics is the Key to Law Firm Profitability

“One of the biggest flaws with alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) not succeeding in law firms, is most law firms don’t understand their economics,” says Frederick J. Esposito, Jr., CLM, executive director of Long Island, New York and New Jersey based regional law firm, Rivkin Radler, LLP.

Mr. Esposito believes law firms focus too heavily on rate setting. By contrast he suggests, firms need to take into account law firm expenses. In other words, focus not just how much the firm charges clients, but how much it costs the firm to produce the work and keep clients happy.

“Right now it’s a client’s market, cautions Mr. Esposito, clients want focus and value, they want their law firms to work more efficiently and they want to pay less.”

To address this, firms need to understand their data, he says.

“You have to read and understand your data and you have to look at billable hours and monitor those hours and ask the questions. Are the hours increasing or decreasing?  Are the billing numbers low, are they high?” What is the realization for billing and collections?

The goal, he says, is to bring that information forward to answer important business questions, such as:

What can we do ensure the work an attorney brings into the firm will actually make the firm money?

To answer this question accurately, he recommends law firms consider the following profit/loss formula:

• An attorney’s total compensation. This figure not only includes how much an attorney is paid in salary, but also the attorney’s compensation benefits, taxes and any expenses allocated to the attorney such as administrative support staff. Essentially, this figure needs to include the total overall direct expense allocation to that attorney.

• Work cash versus actual direct expenses. This figure gives a profit & loss for the attorney based on the hours they’ve worked against their total overall direct expenses.

“Just because an attorney brings $3 million in work, adds Mr. Esposito, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a win for the firm, especially if it costs the firm $4 million to service the business.”

“It really comes down to how much it costs to produce the work,” he adds.

Once this information becomes realized, it benefit law firms in several important ways:

• Creates value
• Covers Cost
• Assumes Risk
• Makes Money

The only trouble is only a small percentage of firms are actually proactively adapting their practices to meet the changing demands of the business. Instead, too many firms approach their clients in a reactionary way.

“Law firms need to view the profession as a business,” he adds.

In addition, to understanding their economics and how the firm produces revenue, another important aspect of managing the firm more like a business, involves weeding out the good clients from the bad. Some attorneys know their value and turn clients away, he says, but astonishingly, some attorneys still discount their fees by up to 30 percent, in an attempt to succumb to client demands.

This is approach isn’t helping them, he adds.

“Just ask yourself, do I really want to cut my fees?” If the answer is no, then the firm most likely doesn’t need to keep that type of client in the firm.”

While there’s still a fundamental resistance to change by some law firms, Mr. Esposito believes those firms that proactively look at their business models, understand their economics to better address pricing issues and work more efficiently to adapt to evolving client demands, will be those poised to succeed in today’s highly competitive legal market.

This post is by Carla Del Bove, who provides support to the business of law software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

Everything you need to know about Election Day

It’s been a contentious and scandal-plagued election season.  And thankfully it’s almost over. If you’re a registered voter the Times Union has information about polling locations, voting hours and the candidates running for office. And remember, it’s illegal in New York to take a ballot selfie. Finally, if you’re fascinated by the election and want breaking

Can pets help with depression?

  There’s just something about coming home from a long day at work or school and being greeted by your loving pet that makes you so much happier. Having pets has such a positive impact in people’s lives, that it almost seems necessary to have a companion in your home. Whether it’s a furry cat

Streamlining Technology Procurement for Government Agencies

On October 24^th, the General Services Administration (GSA) released its “Making It Easier to do Business with the Government Report,” summarizing accomplishments by the program last year and goals for next year. As reported by Federal Times, “the GSA’s plan to streamline acquisition is about to find its second gear.”

At the federal, state and local levels, government agencies are making strides to streamline their procurement processes. These gains in efficiency are perhaps most important when it comes to the acquisition of technology products and services, which often need to be swiftly purchased and deployed in order to take advantage of the latest innovations.

Carahsoft Technology Corp. is a trusted Government IT solutions provider that serves as the master government aggregator for many best-of-breed technology vendors. This allows the company to support an extensive ecosystem of manufacturers, value-added resellers, system integrators and consulting partners committed to helping government agencies select and implement the best solution at the best possible value.

Carahsoft and its partners focus on providing technology that helps public sector customers solve IT security, management and infrastructure challenges, improve IT efficiencies and capabilities, and handle increasing workloads. The company has recently expanded its solutions portfolio with the addition of Lexis Nexis litigation solutions to support the in-house legal departments at government agencies.

“Government agencies continue to be asked to do more with less, and public sector legal teams are no exception,” said Michael Shrader, vice president of innovative and intelligence solutions at Carahsoft. “Through a new partnership with LexisNexis and with the support of our reseller ecosystem, we will now be able to help our customers address those challenges by providing the tools they need to be efficient, cost-effective and successful while managing litigation.”

Carahsoft recently entered into an agreement with LexisNexis in which Carahsoft will serve as a master government aggregator for LexisNexis litigation software solutions, making them available to the public sector via Carahsoft’s GSA Schedule 70 and SEWP V contracts.

“LexisNexis works with government organizations to apply the right mix of technologies to help agencies meet challenges related to data management, FOIA, public records requests and open data initiatives,” said Shrader. “These solutions can help agencies balance the need for transparency with privacy and national security demands.”

Carahsoft and LexisNexis have already begun collaborating on industry education initiatives, such as a webinar to help state and local government officials better understand how to navigate compliance challenges related to digital document workflow. To learn more about that program, please click here.

LexisNexis software solutions are available immediately via Carahsoft’s GSA Schedule No. GS-35F-0119Y and SEWP V contracts NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B. For more information, contact the LexisNexis team at Carahsoft at 703.871.8639.

 

This post is by Daryn Teague, who provides support to the litigation software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

 

Passing the Buck: Pigs at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University Blame Lazy Graduates for Lower Bar Passage Rate

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/11/law-school-blames-lazy-graduates-with-low-gpas-for-abysmal-performance-on-bar-exam/?rf=1

Throwing JDs Under the Bus: On November 4, 2016, Staci Zaretsky posted an ATL entry entitled “Law School Blames Lazy Graduates With Low GPAs for Abtsmal Performance On Bar Exam.”  Check out this opening:

“While law schools across the country have tried to find a solution to their graduates’ bar exam problems, be it through blaming the test for being unfair or too difficult or allegedly begging their graduates not to take the exam at all, passage rates in many jurisdictions have continued to drop precipitously. 

Law schools in New York are still a bit tense, and with good reason — after all, the overall pass rate of 64 percent for the state’s first administration of the Uniform Bar Exam in July 2016 was only a modest improvement over the results from the July 2015 exam, which were the worst New York had seen in more than three decades. One New York law school seems to have pinpointed the exact reason why its overall pass rate was so low. The school revealed in a recent email to all students that graduates with low GPAs and students who refused to work hard on studying dragged down the school’s overall pass rate. Which law school could it be? 

The school in question is Hofstra Law School, and its bar passage rate has progressively slipped from 84 percent in July 2013 to 64 percent in July 2016. You can be sure that any law school with a 20 percentage point drop in graduates capable of passing the bar exam would search for the root cause of the problem, but like many law schools that have lowered their admissions standards in recent years, Hofstra’s quandary may be of its own doing.

Last night, Hofstra’s dean sent an email to current students about the school’s abysmal bar passage rate. That email contained the following information:

The July 2016 New York State Bar results were released, and our pass rate for first-time takers was 64 percent, a decline of 3 percent from the previous year. The average pass rate for first-time takers at New York schools was 83 percent. … 

Hard work is truly an important factor in Bar success. Studies have found that students who complete at least 75 percent of their commercial Bar prep work have a significantly higher chance of passing the exam. Also, the strongest indicator of success continues to be a student’s final law school GPA. If you are currently ranked in the bottom 50 percent of your class, I strongly encourage you to reach out to our academic success advisors. 

It’s no wonder Hofstra graduates with low GPAs have suffered when it comes to passing the bar exam. Take a look at how the law school’s admissions criteria have sunk since 2010, particularly in the 25th percentile range. Students who entered the school with those numbers may well have become graduates with low law school GPAs, which have been shown to correlate strongly with success (or lack thereof) on the bar exam.” [Emphasis mine]

It’s easier to blame supposed lazy-ass students for bar exam failures than it is to make changes at the school charging them outrageous sums of money in tuition. By the way, you cockroaches chose to admit and enroll those students. Furthermore, only half of any law school class can finish in the top 50 percent of that cohort. These weak “arguments” further illustrate that “law professors” truly are terrible at math.

https://www.lstreports.com/schools/hofstra/admissions/

Garbage Admissions Policy: Take a look at the Law School Transparency report for Hofstra University. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, to see the chart showing that the pigs have KNOWINGLY LOWERED their admi$$ion$ “standards” – in order to get more asses in seats, as the number of applications dropped. This is evidenced by the fact that first year enrollment was 365 in Fall 2010, as opposed to 251 in Fall 2015.

Here are the 25th percentile LSAT scores:

Fall 2010: 156
Fall 2011: 155
Fall 2012: 153
Fall 2013: 151
Fall 2014: 147 
Fall 2015: 147

The median LSAT scores were 158, 159, 157, 154, 152, and 153 for the same respective years – and the 75th percentile results were 160, 160, 159, 157, 154, and 155. The 25th percentile LSAT in Fall 2010 was higher than the 75th percentile LSAT figure – at the same damn school – in Fall 2014 and Fall 2015! Do you understand the implications of those numbers, Lemming?!?!

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+5

The Toilet’s Ranking: As you can see, the Maurice A. Deane Sewer of Law at Hof$TTTra Univer$iTTTy is rated as the 111th greatest, most fantastic, and amazing law school in the entire damn country! Hell, it “only” shares this distinction with 11 other commodes. What a tremendous in$TTTiTTTuTTTion, huh?!?!

http://law.hofstra.edu/directory/departments/financialaid/tuition/index.html

Tuition: This is incredible, folks. Full-time tuition at the Maurice A. Dean Sewer of Law – for the 2016-2017 academic year – stands at $55,860. How is that for a slap in the face? In comparison, full-time tuition at top ranked Yale Law School is $57,615, for 2016-2017.

Conclusion: Do not even consider applying to the rancid pile of fecal matter known as the Maurice A Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Do you think – for one microsecond – that you will stand a chance competing against JDs from NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard or Yale, for the high-paying jobs needed to repay your NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt?!?! If so, then you do not possess the mental capacity to order food for yourself from McDonald’s. But if you do graduate from Hof$TTTra, then you may have a decent chance to scrub toilets for that establishment.

Tuning up a W, the beats behind Maple Hill Boys soccer

Castleton, NY — During tomorrow’s 20-minute bus ride from Schodack to Colonie, there will be one song playing as the undefeated Maple Hill Boys Varsity Soccer team gets hyped for their regional final against Potsdam. Next stop Plattsburgh #NYSPHSAA #518Soccer pic.twitter.com/oMPnBak33G — Dylan Rossiter (@ByDylanRossiter) November 1, 2016 “Tunak, Tunak Tun” a Bhangara song from Daler

What Were We Reading (November 4, 2016)

How is it November already?!? Hope everyone survived the scary holidays and is staying warm. And, please, be sure to VOTE! Enjoy the weekly roundup!  Articles from the Ether Some articles we found interesting or useful this week on the web: 8 Ways to Get People to Take You More Seriously: Use this advice now { Continue Reading }

The post What Were We Reading (November 4, 2016) appeared first on The Girl's Guide to Law School®.

Grab her by the what now?

Grab Her by the Brain.  It was meant to be a provocative and satirical  response to Donald Trump’s grab her by the genitals remark, but it’s actually a good example of people not understanding the root of a problem, and therefore making it worse. The Grab Her by the Brain campaign was founded by Elizabeth

Photo gallery: Harvest Fest at Guilderland Elementary School

Parents and children recently enjoyed an evening out as they gathered at the Guilderland Elementary School to celebrate the fall season. The activities, collectively known as Harvest Festival, featured face painting, group games, a photo booth, and an expert at making autumn-themed balloon shapes, including pumpkins and ghosts.    

How to Go from 40K Known Law Firm Contacts to 250K Using InterAction IQ

Lateral hiring is a tried and true growth strategy for many law firms and with good reason. Each time a lateral is hired, that attorney brings a wealth of new and existing connections which ideally helps the firm grow its business pipeline. The only trouble is this strategy assumes that attorneys who are newly hired as laterals to the firm keep their professional rolodexes up-to-date, so the firm can immediately leverage all of these promising connections, from day one.

We all know how this story goes…

No matter how diligent attorneys are about keeping their contacts up-to-date, the minute they start working with their new firms, they are pulled into a myriad of on-boarding meetings, all while trying to service clients and get acclimated to their new work environment. In other words, something as time consuming as entering or updating their professional rolodexes gets pushed to the bottom of the priority list.

However, by failing to quickly make these connections and adding new contacts to the firm’s CRM database, some firms are actually leaving big money on the table.

In fact, one CRM administrator at an AMLaw 200 said her firm went from 40,000 known contacts to a whopping 250,000 contacts, simply by using the InterAction IQ feature.

By doing this, she said her firm experienced a whopping 5X increase the firm’s knowledge of “who knows whom” and engagement levels. And, the kicker, she said, is the firm’s attorneys didn’t need to lift a finger.

LexisNexis recently debuted a new E-book explaining how law firms using the InterAction CRM database can do the same thing by using the IQ feature to tap into a myriad of new and previously unknown contacts as soon as a new lateral joins the firm. Here’s a quick overview of hlexow it works:

• Alleviates the Need for Manual Entry. As soon as lateral hire emails a previous contact and there is a response, IQ is able to discover the contact, as long as a signature is included in the email. This alleviates the attorney/ lateral hire from having to manually enter old contacts and helps the law firm marketing and leadership team see how the attorney’s on-boarding/BD plans are progressing.

• Discovers New Contacts. IQ helps attorneys who are newly hired to the firm and members of the BD team to discover new connections by instantly uncovering previously unrecognized contacts via the signature capture feature and automatically adding them to the firm’s BD contact database. This also enables firm to make appropriate determinations about where to make introductions.

• Enhances Who Knows Whom. IQ enhances a firm’s who-knows-whom capabilities by automatically adding new relationships to InterAction database based on an attorney or member of the BD team’s configuration settings.

• Ensures New Contacts Aren’t Missed. IQ creates a file of possible new contacts who are not an attorney’s InterAction database, for the BD team’s review, so members of the team can ensure no new contacts are missed, especially during the lateral on-boarding process. This helps the firm discover where the lateral has unique relationships and where there is overlap with the firm’s existing contacts. This also help the lateral put the best plan in place to start making the most of those relationships to help the law firm grow organically, by either introducing their contacts to others services within the firm or expanding the existing services being provided in collaboration with partners who also have relationships with clients where the lateral’s expertise in not already being provided by the firm.

Now, we’re not mathematicians, but we’d say odds are pretty good those additional 210K discovered contacts, turned up a new business opportunity or two for the firm…

 

This post is by Carla Del Bove, who provides support to the business of law software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

 

The perils of binge-watching Netflix

Whether you’re into cheesy romance movies or crime fighting shows, there’s something for everyone to enjoy on Netflix. Netflix first started as a DVD-by-mail operation and then added a global streaming service that has grown in popularity with an estimated total of over 70 million subscribers. The website features popular shows and movies, along with a large variety

Data Security Audits: 4 Ways We Can Work Together

Data security audits can be onerous and burdensome, but they’re a necessity of business practice — particularly in the legal industry, where confidential documents reside on virtually every desktop, laptop and notebook.

To help law firms understand their responsibilities, LexisNexis recently partnered with Lewis Brisbois to host a CLE panel event in Los Angeles: “How to Interpret and Meaningfully Comply with Audits?” The panelists included: Gordon Calhoun, chair of electronic discovery, information management and compliance, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP; David L. Hansen, director of compliance, NetDocuments; Aaron Laderman, regional underwriting manager, AIG; and Jeff Norris, CISSP, senior director of data security for LexisNexis Managed Technology Services.

We’ve been recapping some of the highlights of that discussion with a series of blog posts. In last week’s post regarding data security audits at law firms, we took a look at the idea of “co-education” – insurance companies, corporate counsel, outside law firms and data security providers all sharing educational information with each other – and the benefits of that open conversation. In previous articles (click here and here), we shared some of the overarching trends in data security audits and explored the art of interpreting data security audits.

This week, we take a look at how law firms can collaborate effectively with their outside partners – software companies, data security consultants, cloud service providers, etc. – in order to deploy the solutions that are needed to maximize data security.

1. Vendors must rise to the challenge
   “Law firms exist to do business and serve their clients, so if data security requirements become too much of a burden, they’ll just avoid dealing with it and put themselves at risk – because at the end of the day, they just want to get their work done,” said Hansen. “The solutions that we as third-party providers deliver to law firms need to be easy and workable. We need to do the heavy lifting with data security requirements for this all to work.”

2. Bolster cloud defenses
   “We’re a cloud services provider for a lot of large law firms so we take a hard look at the needs within the industry, the trends, the emerging threats and all the things we need to do to bolster our defenses,” said Norris. “We really take our time with helping clients set up their services with us and then partner with them on the data security audits they need to conduct.”

3. Consider entire Information Governance environment
   “When we review data security, we’re really talking about different components of information governance and what has traditionally happened is we have siloed each of those components,” said Calhoun. “We need to think about the entire information governance environment, not just the information itself, but also what’s required to secure the information within that environment.”

4. Look around the corner
   “We’re trying to look ahead to see where the regulatory requirements are going and where the new data security threats are developing,” said Hansen. “We’re developing technologies all of the time to address the security challenges we see coming so we can mitigate those potential risks for firms.”

To view a video clip including the panelists’ discussion about the value of co-education in data security, please click here. Next week, we’ll share our fifth and final recap post from the data security audits panel in Los Angeles.

Watch Video

This post is by Daryn Teague, who provides support to the litigation software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

 

Maple Hill Boys Soccer advances to Regional finals

PLATTSBURGH NY — The Maple Hill boys varsity soccer team advanced to the Regional finals Tuesday, in a 1-nil routing of Lake Placid. The Wildcats (20-0-1) came out on top off the hot feet of senior Garrett Axtmann. Nicknamed the “red tornado” by his third-grade bus driver for the mischief he caused, he was able

The week’s playlist

Everyone knows that most radio stations play a continuous cycle of the top 20 popular songs. They get stuck in your head and quickly get old. So it’s important to have access to new songs and new artists, especially if you use music to boost your mood and to reduce anxiety and stress. As someone who loves

Toilet Closure: Indiana Tech Law School to Shutter Its Doors in June 2017

http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local/Indiana-Tech-Law-School-to-close-next-June--losses-at-million

Booyah!: On October 31, 2016, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel published one of the most beautiful and poignant news articles in the history of print media. The piece from Kevin Leininger was entitled “Indiana Tech Law School to close next June; losses at $20 million.” Take a look at this glorious opening:

“Indiana Tech's law school, which opened in 2013 with far fewer students than expected, failed in its first attempt at accreditation and graduated its first students this year — only one of whom passed the state bar examination — will close, The News-Sentinel has learned.

The school on Maumee Avenue just east of downtown built its $15 million law building to accommodate up to 350 students and expected 100 in its initial class but attracted 28. At the time, some critics doubted the need for the school, saying first-year law school enrollments had dropped 28 percent since 2010 to their lowest level since 1973. 

Indiana Tech [president] Arthur Snyder said the university has lost $20 million on the law school and, given projected enrollments, expected the deficit to continue. “This was an extremely difficult decision for all involved," Snyder said. "Over the course of time it has become apparent that the significant decline in law school applicants nationwide represents a long term shift in the legal education field, not a short-term one. Specific to Indiana Tech, the assessment of the Board and our senior leadership team is that for the foreseeable future the law school will not be able to attract students in sufficient numbers for the school to remain viable.” 

Indiana Tech Law School currently has a total of 71 students, and Snyder said they will have the option to complete the year, with those in their third and final year having the ability to graduate from the law school in May. First and second year students will have the option to transfer to other law schools at the start of the January 2017 semester, or to complete the year at Indiana Tech Law School and then transfer for the start of the fall 2017 semester. 

Chris Mackaronis, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing one of the faculty members affected, said the university’s Board of Directors had recently voted unanimously to close the school at the end of the academic year in June 2017. The vote, he said, conflicts with years of representations to the students, faculty and the American Bar Association regarding the university’s commitment to pursue full accreditation and long-term success for the law school. 

“Most of the faculty accepted their appointments at great professional risk (based on that commitment)," Mackaronis said, calling the closure a "complete betrayal of what the university and the Board of Trustees represented to the faculty, staff, and students repeatedly over the last few years . . . By all measures, the plan was working,” he said.” [Emphasis mine]

Sure the plan was working, douchebag. Out of your inaugural class of 20 graduates, only three damn former students managed to eventually pass the Indiana bar exam – including on appeal. Yes, those are excellent results, right?!?! Then again, the academic bitches and hags were paid up front, in full.

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/10/indiana-tech-law-school-to-close-citing-20-million-in-losses/

Other Coverage: On October 31, 2016, Above the Law posted a Staci Zaretsky entry labeled “Indiana Tech Law School To Close, Citing $20 Million Loss.” Enjoy the following, joyous segment:

“Indiana Tech School of Law opened its doors in 2013, amid cries that the state had no need for another law school. In its first year, only 30 students enrolled, despite the school’s goal of an inaugural entering class of 100. After being denied accreditation in May 2015, the school was granted provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association in March 2016. Shortly thereafter, the 20 remaining students in the school’s charter class graduated, and 13 of them registered to take a bar exam. Only three of them were successful, for an overall passage rate of 23.1 percent. This fall, the school enrolled 55 students, its largest class ever.

Today, Indiana Tech Law School is announcing its closure. 

At a meeting this afternoon, Indiana Tech University President Arthur Snyder is expected to tell faculty, staff, and students that the Board of Directors, citing $20 million in losses, voted unanimously to close the school at the conclusion of the academic year. Its final day in operation will be June 30, 2017. Faculty members are understandably upset, as many of them “accepted their appointments at great professional risk,” according to Stone Mattheis Xenopoulos & Brew partner Christopher G. Mackaronis, who represents a faculty member who prefers to remain anonymous.” [Emphasis mine]  

The author also includes some advice to the idiots still enrolled in this cesspit, i.e. do some research on closed school loan discharge. [Read: do not attend another ABA-accredited trash pit, as you will be in worse shape completing a law degree.] Sadly, most of these morons will continue their pur$uiTTTTT. 

Conclusion: The greedy pigs at the Indiana Institute of Technology failed to perform basic research, regarding the need for another garbage law school in the state. Hell, Paul Campos and several other critics warned these dolts not to start a fresh toilet. Yet, the academic thieves willingly ignored reality. The prevailing job market for law grads was already in the gutter, but the swine decided to open a new in$TTTTTiTTTTTuTTTTTion in August 2013. Yes, that was a brilliant decision! The university heads finally woke up and stopped the bleeding. Of course, the law faculty are now upset. However, they will not be on the hook for outrageous sums of NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt – while armed with a TTTTT law degree. These “scholars” should have no trouble at all commanding a high six-figure salary and a corner office in any law office of their choice.

New Time Matters Pro Certification Offers Insider Secrets, Career-Long Value

Former Second Lady of the United States, Abigail Adams once said, “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

For all enthusiasts  of the LexisNexis Time Matters legal practice management software seeking to become professional administrators of the Time Matters software for their firms, whether as new users or perhaps seasoned veterans, there’s a new Time Matters Pro Certification training at the end of this month, which may just spark some interest.

During the four day instructor-led training event, which will take place from November 29 through December 2^nd on-site at the LexisNexis Chicago Office, attendees will learn all of the “ins and outs” of using the Time Matters software as well as best practices related to:

• Overall functionality
• Administration
• Configuration
• Automating processes
• Billing and linking to popular applications like Intuit QuickBooks for accounting

Each day the sessions will cover new ground and will include use of participant manuals, reference documents and an online certification exam.

According to attendees of similar, recent LexisNexis on-site training sessions, these all-day hands-on events aren’t simply the garden-variety one size fits all training workshops. In other words, they are both engaging and helpful to users at all levels.

“This class [PCLaw Administrator Certification] was extremely helpful for me. I knew I was missing some things that PCLaw could do, and I was correct. Having the training as well as talking things through with the other students was great,” said Accountant and PCLaw user, Melissa C. Kimbrell

Here’s a brief look at sessions to be covered during the upcoming Time Matters Pro Certification workshop:

Session 1: The Time Matters Basic workshop demonstrates the features that comprise the foundation for the Time Matters application.

Session 2: The Calendar and Documents workshop instructs users on some of the more advanced features and concepts of Time Matters.

Session 3: The Additional Features workshop introduces features that may help streamline law firm workflow, including the different ways to implement email, customization, and utilities.

Session 4: The Implementing Time Matters workshop takes users to the beginning and shows Time Matters installation, along with pre- and post-install routines.

Visit LexisNexis University to sign up and learn how to obtain a Time Matters Pro Certification.

This post is by Carla Del Bove, who provides support to the business of law software product line based in the LexisNexis Raleigh Technology Center.

 

Senior year, the beginning of the end

Senior year isn’t all that it’s supposed to be. Teenagers are thinking throughout their high school years that once they get into the final stretch, it’s easy sailing from there on out. Students are thinking about how they are excited for college and how they can’t wait to start the next chapter of their life.

Middleburgh senior takes second at Eastern States Exposition

Most teenagers look forward to the weekend when they can catch up on sleep. But Marilyn Hanley sets her alarm for 3 a.m. on Saturday mornings because she gets up early to milk cows at a local farm. The Middleburgh High School senior and vice president of the Schoharie Chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) isn’t just