Frank Snyder
I'm a law professor who has taught at law schools in each quartile of the USNews rankings, been a partner at an AmLaw 20 firm, and owned a couple of independent minor league baseball teams.
You can find my current school on a Google search, but I'm not putting it here because I want to emphasize that this blog reflects my personal observations on legal education, the profession of law, and the vast changes (the "Apocalypse") that are looming on the horizon for each. I claim no special expertise in these topics, except for having practiced law for nearly 15 years and taught in law schools nearly as long.
Unlike some other critics, I believe that the law is the greatest of the secular professions It has played a critical role in American life. Law school is not a scam. Law has offered, and continues to offer, incredibly rewarding careers to thousands of new lawyers. My view of the American law school is like that of reforming 15th-century Catholics to abuses in the Church -- a deep love for an institution but a strong concern that it has fallen under some very bad influences.
Unless attributed and linked to specific others, all of the thoughts here are mine, unless I unconsciously stole them, in which case I apologize. None of them should be taken as the opinions of my employer, my publishers, my students, or any other person or institution.
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Author Archives: Frank
“What’s Going On at Law School Admission Council?”
The other day I noted that LSAC in raising test fees in response to a decline in LSAT test-takers. I attributed that to the utter isolation from economic reality that the legal education business has enjoyed. Over at Balkinization, Brian Tamanaha points out … Continue reading
Shining optimism to alcoholic depression
American law schools are sometimes charged with turning out people who are so driven, competitive, and insecure that they end up hating their lives and their careers, and too often sink into depression or alcoholism. Turns out, this is one thing … Continue reading
Incivility as a tool for the marginalized
Much of the ranting about the problems with American law schools (here and elsewhere) strikes many observers as uncivil. Many critics are over the top when they talk about law schools lying, deceiving, stealing from students, preying on the helpless, engaging … Continue reading
Some new associates are having fun
Two observations about the “incident” in France in which a young Shearman & Sterling lawyer who was siring socialite (and royal sister-in-law) Pippa Middleton (left) around Paris brandished a toy handgun at annoying paparazzi. First, it’s good to see some … Continue reading
Delegating power to your enemies
Lawyers are pretty devious, and law professors are part of the clan when it comes to deviousness, if that’s a word. In an interesting new paper, Delegating to Enemies. Jacob Gerson and Adrian Vermeule discuss the surprisingly common situation in which the best thing … Continue reading
Fewer people want our product? Charge more!
It’s hard to think of a dumber principle on which to base a business decision, but the good folks at the Law School Admissions Council have figured out how to deal with an ugly 15% drop in demand from their customers … Continue reading
“Good faith” threat to breach
When is a threat to breach a contract unless the other party agrees to pay more (or take less) made in “good faith.” I raise the issue over at ContractsProf Blog.
Getting rid of “professionalism”
In a thoughtful and perceptive new paper, Calling Law a “Profession” Only Confuses Thinking About the Challenges Lawyers Face, Thomas D. Morgan (Geo. Washington) makes a good case that the term “professionalism,” as currently uses in the law trade, doesn’t do … Continue reading
Twitter, football, Osama bin Laden, and contract law
Over at the Technology and Marketing Law Blog, Eric Goldman (Santa Clara) and Venkat Balasubramani (Focal PLLC) are exchanging views about a new decision, Mendenhall v. HanesBrands, Inc. In the case, NFL running back Rashard Mendenhallof the Pittsburgh Steelers signed an endorsement deal for Champion … Continue reading
Challenging “Challenging Carnegie”
The February issue of th Journal of Legal Education, the scholarly house organ of the Association of American Law Schools, has a thought-provoking article by Kristen Holmquist (UC-Berkeley), Challenging Carnegie. For the uninitiated, “Carnegie” means the Carnegie FAT’s report, Educating Lawyers, … Continue reading