Volume 13, Issue 7 | February 2022
The Newsletter of the Carnegie Mellon University Pre-Law Program
News
On-campus learning may have returned, but some of the online technology that schools relied on during the darkest days of the pandemic are not being shelved. We surveyed law schools to find out what the pandemic year taught them about online legal education.

The law school applicants with the highest grade point averages and LSAT scores studied the classics in college, according to a 2014 analysis of data from the Law School Admissions Council.

Law school transfers continue downward trend
The recent spike in law school interest has caused a number of reactions, such as a bump in enrollment, more competition for seats and a scramble for scholarship money. Here’s another apparently: shrinking transfer options.

Law Schools Tackle Mental Health
More law schools are offering services to help students cope with the stress of their education and their future careers.

A round of good news from law schools around the country: multiple schools have engaged in efforts to either increase diversity or to help combat social injustice.

Enrollment swells, but will jobs follow suit?
Getting into law school last year was challenging. Not only were applications up, so were LSAT scores, allowing schools to be choosy. But if students thought landing a spot in law school was competitive, wait until they graduate in 2024.They’ll be fighting for jobs then.

The American Bar Association’s get-tough accreditation standard regarding bar passage has landed two more schools in hot water. Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco and Western New England University School of Law in Massachusetts were recently put on notice by the ABA that they were not meeting the relatively new threshold of having 75% of graduates passing the bar within a two-year period.
Opportunities

Applications are open for the 2022 LSAC PLUS Program
Each year, as part of our Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, LSAC partners with member law schools to provide selected students with a unique immersive learning experience designed to prepare them for law school success. The LSAC PLUS Program is specifically aimed at undergraduate students and prospective law school applicants one year away from applying who are from minoritized groups that are underrepresented in the legal profession. Host law schools are currently accepting applications for their 2022 programs.

University of Houston Law Center Pre-Law Pipeline Program

Application period for Summer 2022 is now open!

The UHLC Pre-Law Pipeline Program offers four study tracks: Scholar I, Scholar II, UH Cougar Law Program (for select current students and recent graduates of the University of Houston only), and Working Professionals Program. Additionally, the UHLC Pre-Law Pipeline Program offers a host of professional development workshops geared towards preparing its students for networking and internship opportunities and to improve overall the caliber of the student's academic career. Included in these workshops are speaker sessions with members of the legal community, introductory legal research methods, and effective study and networking techniques.

Two Free Resources for Aspiring Law Students
 As you attend law fairs, craft your personal statements, ask for letters of recommendations and finalize your list of schools, we have two tools that can help!

  • XploreJD by AccessLex® is a free, online search tool offering aspiring law students a data-based approach to finding law schools that best meet their criteria. They’ll answer questions regarding five primary factors in the law school decision-making process—location, cost, academic and student experience, diversity, and outcomes—and prioritize the attributes that will most impact their decision.
 
  • Students can use the AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank to find scholarship opportunities to help pay for law school and lower their debt burdens. The Databank houses more than 800 curated and vetted scholarship opportunities and writing competitions, with filters to help them find the ones best suited for them.

Summer Lex Fellowship in Italy, Spain and D.C. Now Available!
Lex is the only program truly tailored to pre-law; in Lex’s “360 Law Immersion” model, you rotate to different law firms each day and get hands-on experience with diverse cases, fields, and lawyers, guided by someone from a U.S. JD background. This lets you understand the life of a lawyer across legal fields so you can make the most of law school (and confirm you want to go), and stand out in law school applications with a condensed, unique experience (that can also replace common extracurriculars, letting you focus on GPA back at home).
Events

START SMART LAW: How to Handle Your (and Others') Intellectual Property
Thursday, March 3, 2022
5:00 p.m. -6:30 p.m. EST
Virtual via Zoom

Presenter: Panel

Intellectual Property is an asset to be protected. This session will cover how to deal with IP issues including:
  • Do you really need a patent?
  • Difference between a provisional patent and a formal patent filing
  • Developing a patent strategy
  • Different ways to protect your company’s IP (patents, trademarks, etc)
  • How to handle IP created by class projects when one or more of the student team members want to pursue commercialization
  • Tips on searching the US Patent Office Database (for prior ‘art’ e.g. existing patents)
  • What to expect after filing a patent (Time and expenses)



2022 preLaw Symposium: Choosing Your Law School

Thursday March 3, 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. EST

Registration is now open!

Get ready for our 3rd annual virtual event for pre-law students! This free symposium is designed to help you choose the best law school for your needs.
 
This event will feature multiple top law schools for diversity, innovation, and best value. Not only that, you will have the opportunity to connect with hundreds of other students like yourself and with renowned law school deans and professionals. Don't miss out!
Law School Profiles
The University of Michigan Law School is the most prestigious school in the region and one of the top schools in the country. Its entering-class profile reflects the school’s high standard, with a median LSAT score of 169
Advice
Waiting game: What to do after submitting your application
After working diligently throughout undergrad to earn high grades, forming relationships with professors for letters of recommendation, writing all of your application essays and preparing for months to take the LSAT, you’ve finally submitted your application(s)! Now what?

Here are some tips on how to handle the stress and manage your time while you (im)patiently wait for decisions.

Ten websites you need to see before applying to law school
With so much misinformation out there about law school admissions on the internet, from well-intentioned friends or other lawyers, it makes sense to primarily stick to resources that are a little bit more official when planning to apply to law school.

If you are puzzled by advice you been given, which may or may not be at all correct, here are 10 websites relating to law school that might help you.

Seven tips for building a successful career in law
If you’re thinking about how to prepare for law school and build a successful career in law, here are a few tips to try to clear up any doubts you might have.
About Us
Pre-Law Advising Office
Dr. Joseph E. Devine
University Pre-Law Advisor
For an appointment, call 412-268-2831 or email jd0x@andrew.cmu.edu)

Thomas M. Kerr, Jr. Student Pre-Law Society
Mahima Aggarwal
Senior, Ethics, History & Public Policy
President, Thomas M. Kerr, Jr. Student Pre-Law Society