Tuesday October 02, 2007

Here’s the situation. A man shoots a policeman and injures him so severely that the policeman is paralyzed. The man is convicted of aggravated assault and serves a long prison sentence. He gets out on parole, decides he wants to move his life in a positive direction, and even speaks to college students about his efforts to turn his life around. Over four decades after the shooting, the policeman gets an infection and dies. Doctors conclude that the infection would not have happened if not for the shooting many years before. The district attorney charges the man who shot the policeman with murder. What do you think? Can the district attorney do that? Should he do that?

Some of you may recognize this fact pattern, as it reflects recent events in Philadelphia in relation to William J. Barnes who shot Officer Walter T. Barclay, Jr. back in 1966. (For a fuller discussion of this case, see the article in The New York Times by Ian Urbina, “New Murder Charge in ’66 Shooting,” from September 19, 2007.) It was this general issue which was the topic of discussion at the first meeting this year of the Dean’s Honor Society at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Students who do particularly well academically after their first year of law school are invited to join the DHS. This year’s membership is about 60 students. As members they meet regularly with me as Dean , as well as with various faculty members, to discuss interesting legal issues in an informal setting. We will also be getting together for various social events, such as plays, concerts, etc.

During our first meeting, the students and I were joined by Assistant Dean Cara Cunningham as well as Prof. Richard Krisciunas, who spent about twenty years as one of the leading prosecutors for Wayne County. I very much enjoyed the free-flowing discussion, as we all grappled with the issues that this scenario raises. Based on the conversation, there seemed to be a good deal of disagreement about whether the district attorney should re-charge the defendant with murder so many years after the crime. But I think everyone’s minds were opened a little bit as they listened to the arguments from different perspectives.

In fact, that kind of listening to different arguments and trying to think through their repercussions is, I think, an important part of the law school experience. And, to be frank, engaging in these kinds of discussions with UDM law students certainly brings a lot of pleasure to the Dean! For those of you thinking about coming to UDM next year, feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts about this case as well.

Monday September 10, 2007

There is something wonderful about the start of a new
school year. There is a real sense of rebirth as our law
school community gets renewed. There are students from the
previous two years to welcome back and a new group
of eager, enthusiastic (and, admittedly, somewhat nervous)
students to welcome to the School.

This year's entering class seems particularly excited to be
at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
They come from about half the states as well as three
Canadian provinces and several other countries. In fact,
approximately 45 percent of the entering class is comprised of
students whose permanent residence is outside Michigan.

I had a lot of fun getting to know different members of the
entering class through our orientation activities. As part
of those activities, my wife and I (together with our two
sons) host a series of parties at our home to welcome the
new students. (I say a series of parties because the
entering class is too big for all of the students to come
at the same time.) That gives me a good opportunity to get
to know students on a more personal level and to just have
some really fun discussions.

I must admit that I was impressed about how much the
entering students knew about the School and our innovative
curriculum. Many of them mentioned to me the recent
national press we have received: The Wall Street Journal,
the National Law Journal, USA Today, the front pages of
both The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News. In fact,
the week of orientation, University of Detroit Mercy School
of Law was also featured in a full-page article in The
National Jurist. (I particularly enjoyed the fact that the
article, referring to the tremendous increase in interest
by national firms in students from UDM, referred to us as a
"job-hunting powerhouse.") Links to each of these articles
can be found on our website.

Our new students seemed to have made a conscious decision
to come to us because they liked our approach, they liked
our focus on preparing them for the real world of practice
and helping them aggressively in their job searches, and
they felt that the community atmosphere at the School was
right for them.

I think that's particularly good advice for students who
are starting the process of applying for next year. Each
law school has a different approach and a different feel.
Get to know the different law schools and what they can
offer, and try to get a sense for where you would feel most
comfortable. If you are interested in the University of
Detroit Mercy School of Law, be sure to visit our website,
to come to visit our School, and to meet with our Admissions
staff, faculty, students, and administrators.It's an important
decision regarding the next stage in your life, and you
should be sure to get a real sense for what each school has
to offer.

Friday July 27, 2007

Here's a quick question for you: Which one Michigan law
school with multiple first-time test-takers can boast a
pass
rate on each of the last two bar exams of 90 percent or
over.

If you guessed, University of Michigan Law School, you're
wrong. The answer is University of Detroit Mercy School of
Law.

That's right. For last July's exam, 93 percent of UDM
graduates passed on their first try. And we just received the final
results for this past February's exam. While the statewide
average for first-time test takers was 80%, UDM's pass rate
was 90%. (If you're interested, no other Michigan law
school with multiple first-time test takers scored above
81%.)

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I think prospective
students spend too much time asking about these kinds of
numbers. While I'm certainly pleased that our graduates
have done so well, I honestly don't think they tell you
about what law school will be best for you.

And, as Dean, I see so much about University of Detroit
Mercy School of Law that cannot be captured in any set of
numbers. There's our International Opportunities Program,
under which between 15 and 20 of our students who just
completed first year are studying abroad this summer --
with the benefit of some funding from the School to help
defray their travel expenses. There's our new Veterans
clinical program, which has received national press and
offers an opportunity for students to sharpen their
practical skills while helping this very deserving
population.

There's the student in our Immigration Law Clinic who had
the opportunity this past year to argue a real case in
front of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Or how about the students who are now summer associates at
law firms like Shearman and Sterling or Paul Hastings in
New York; Mayer Brown or Jenner and Block in Chicago; and
so many other places around the country. How about the
approximately 80 students who are serving as Externs this
summer working for judges, prosecutors, non-profits, or
elsewhere while getting school credit. Or the 9 students
who received $4500 fellowships each to work in public
service this summer.

Then there are the dozens of students on our external Moot
Court teams who have an opportunity to interact with
experts in their fields around the country. Not to mention
the over 50 students who finished their first year in May
and are now preparing to be inducted into our Dean's Honor
Society.

Whether it's our innovative curriculum which has been
featured in so many national publications (see our website
home page for links to some of them, including The Wall
Street Journal, the National Law Journal, and USA Today) or
the many national firms now working with us on our Law Firm
Program, there's a lot more to any school than numbers
alone can tell you.

Students quickly discover that when they arrive for
orientation. And it becomes more and more evident
throughout the year. So, while based on the bar passage
numbers, we sure are doing well, I urge you to look beyond
them to really find out about our school -- and others you
might be considering as well.

Tuesday July 17, 2007

There are certainly some important changes underway in
legal education in US law schools. That's made crystal
clear by the recent article "Re-enginnering the JD Degree"
which appeared in the July issue of the ABA Journal, which
is the national publication of the American Bar Association
and is read by thousands of lawyers around the country.

In describing innovative curricular changes at key law
schools, the Journal article focused on seven law schools
around the country: Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, Penn,
Drexel, and the University of Detroit
Mercy.

Given all the attention that our distinct model of legal
education has been getting recently (from The Wall Street
Journal, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, and the National
Law Journal, to the ABA Journal and USA Today, to name a
few), I am hearing from more and more attorneys around the
nation. Their comments have been very supportive as they
confirm that traditional legal education has not done a
particularly good job in preparing students to practice as
attorneys.

Students starting in the fall at University of Detroit
Mercy School of Law will enjoy the benefits of our now
nationally-recognized new model. The model includes our
new "Core Concepts" course in the first year, during which
students are introduced to a range of analytical techniques
and more hands-on problem solving. By discussing actual
fact patterns that cut across the different first-year
topics, students should be able to see better how the
concepts taught in each first-year class apply to real-life
problems.

Starting in their second year, students will benefit from
our extensive clinical program -- in fact, all of our
students will take either a clinic or an externship while
at the school. The list of clinics continues to expand,
including our Urban Law Clinic, Immigration Clinic,
Appellate Advocacy Clinic, Mediation Clinic, Criminal Law
Clinic, Environmental Clinic (starting next year), and our
new veterans clinical program as well.

Students will then be well-prepared for our third year "Law
Firm Program" in which they will work on simulated complex
corporate transactions of the types of national firms
generally handle. This is perhaps the part of our new
model which has gotten the most national attention, and I
keep hearing from partners in major firms across the
country about what a step forward it is. In fact, many of
those firms are now working with us to develop different
more specialized courses in the Law Firm Program.

Of course, it's always nice to get good press and to be
recognized as a national leader. But what brings me real
joy as Dean is seeing our students prepared in ways that
give them a real advantage in the marketplace for jobs.

Given all the changes underway in legal education, I think
prospective students trying to decide where to attend law
school need to ask themselves about how well the curriculum
under which they study today will help prepare them for the
jobs they will be seeking tomorrow.

Monday June 25, 2007

I am writing this blog on a Sunday, having returned late
last night from a two-day trip to Chicago with about 25
University of Detroit Mercy law students, the vast majority
of whom just finished their first year.

What were we all doing in Chicago? Well, I know that
Chicago has become a very "hot" market in terms of student
desires for law jobs, and it's a market where UDM School of
Law has many contacts. On my Dean's Advisory Board sit
Chicago-based partners from a range of major Chicago firms:
Baker and McKenzie; Katten Muchin Rosenman; Mayer Brown
Rowe and Maw; and Winston and Strawn, to name a few. We
also have alumni at other firms, such as Jenner and Block;
Vedder Price; McDermott Will and Emery; Neal Gerber
Eisenberg; and others.

Given student interest in the Chicago market, we decided to
take a group of students to Chicago to introduce them to some of
the players at the major firms, give them a sense of the
opportunities, and also have a little bit of fun while we're at it.

Of course, it doesn't make sense to visit every firm, so we
chose three that represent different aspects
of the Chicago market. First stop was Dykema Gossett,
which is a Detroit-based firm with a growing Chicago
presence. As we were talking with a partner there about
their practice and their summer associate program, he
mentioned the firm's longstanding relationship with the
School -- as more than 20 of our alumni work at Dykema,
including Rex Schlaybaugh, the firm's Managing Partner.

Having seen the Chicago office of a Detroit-based firm,
we also wanted our students to meet some of the players at
one of the major Chicago-based firms, Jenner and Block.
At the firm, our students had an opportunity to speak with
one of the hiring partners as well as with attorneys in the
corporate and litigation areas. Also joining us at the
firm were a UDM alum who just graduated this past December
and is now an Associate at the firm, as well as a current
student who is a Summer Associate there this summer.

Our final stop was the Chicago office of New York-based
Skadden Arps. Here we spoke with several attorneys,
including a tax partner (whose niece is a student at UDM
School of Law), the head of recruitment, and attorneys from
the corporate, real estate, and litigation departments. A
partner from Skadden's New York office is on my Dean's
Advisory Board, and their New York office flies to Detroit
to interview our students in the fall. We also discussed
ways that students more interested in the Chicago office
can be considered for summer associate positions.

After visiting these three firms, we hosted a reception for
our Chicago-based alumni (we have more than 100 alumni in
Illinois, and more than half of them are based in Chicago),
which provided an opportunity for our students to network,
ask questions, etc. For example, one of our alumni who is a
partner at Mayer Brown, spoke informally with students
about his firm, as did an associate at Vedder Price.

Since the reception ended around 7:00 p.m., our students were
able to spend a Friday evening having fun in Chicago. On Saturday,
we went to see the matinee performance of "Wicked" before
getting back on the bus for a spirited ride back to Detroit.

Since this was the first time we did one of these
excursions, I was particularly interested in hearing from
our students about their reactions, which were all
extremely positive. In fact, I was peppered with
suggestions that we make this an annual event and that we
also do road trips to a series of other cities.

Based on this recent experience, I certainly think that
these kinds of trips make sense. We'll be exploring what
we should do next year. I am eager to hear about the cities
in which our Fall 2007 1Ls hope to practice. If you are an
incoming student, please feel freeto contact me at
gordonmc@udmercy.edu.