Fourth Tier Pile of Fresh Waste: Elon University School of Law

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/law/admissions/cost.xhtml

Tuition: For the 2011-2012 school year, full-time students at Elon Univer$iTTTTy Sewer of Law will be charged $34,550 in tuition. So much for opening the doors of “the noble profession” to those of moderate incomes.

Total Cost of Attendance: The bitches and hobos estimate that housing, food, utilities, personal, transportation, health insurance, rental insurance, books and supplies, plus parking will add another $23,243 to the big-ass tab. This would bring the total COA - for the current school year - to $57,793.

Rest assured that the pigs only considered nine-month costs, when arriving at this figure. Taking twelve-month housing, food, utilities, personal, and transportation expenses into account, we reach a more accurate total, estimated COA of $64,292.

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

Ranking: Based on the prohibitive cost of tuition and overall attendance, this school must have one hell of a reputation, huh?!?! Well…according to US “News” & World Report, Elon University Sewer of Law is a fourth tier pile of dog feces. (Of course, Pussy Bob Morse now uses the phrase “Rank Not Published” to identify fourth tier dung piles.)

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/law/career_services/statistics.xhtml

Supposed Employment Placement Statistics: The swamp pit claims that “89.7 percent of the members of Elon University School of Law's charter class were employed nine months after graduation.” Yeah, sure they were - and I just struck out the heart of the Yankees lineup on nine pitches. Then again, serving as bartender at Brewski’s Tavern, ringing up sales at PetSmart, and taking reservations for the Holiday Inn Express count as “employment.”

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com/clearinghouse/?school=elon&show=salaries&class=2009

However, according to this chart from the two choirboys at Law School Transparency, only 81.3% of this commode’s Class of 2009 was employed, within nine months of graduation. Yet, the school wants prospective students to believe that its grads had better outcomes, while the overall job market shrunk further.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings/page+4

Average Law Student Indebtedness: USN&WR lists the average student indebtedness of Elon Univer$iTTTTy $chool of Law grads from the Class of 2010, who incurred law school debt, as $103,059. Incredibly, 91 percent of this particular class took on such toxic debt for their fourth tier law degree. To put this into perspective, third-ranked Stanford Law 2010 grads incurred - on average - $104,424, in law school debt. Furthermore, “only” 81 percent of Stanford JDs took on such debt.

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2010/560/532/2010-560532303-06b98f32-9.pdf

Administrator and Faculty Salary Info: Head to page 32 of Elon University’s 2010 IRS Form 990, to see how well the swine are making out. There, you can see that founding dean and “professor of law emeritus” Leary Davis made $313,680 in TOTAL COMPENSATION, for the 2009 calendar year. Yes, this “educator” made $272,215 in base compensation; $13,625 in other reportable compensation; $19,600 in retirement and other deferred compensation; and $8,240 in nontaxable benefits.

He is not the only one to make a handsome living by “teaching” legal theory to potential future lawyers. George R. Johnson, Jr., current dean of the sewer of law, “earned” $261,403 in TOTAL COMPENSATION, whereas Jeffrey Kinsler made $221,800 in TOTAL COMPENSATION, for the same tax year. See how well “higher education” pays off?!?!

http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Note.aspx?id=953455&css=http://www.elon.edu/shell/css/law/eNetNotes.css&s=/law/news/enet_navigation

This pile of waste received full accreditation on June 10, 2011. Keep in mind, that one could purchase a double-wide trailer, install some bookshelves, running water and an internet connection - and likely receive ABA accreditation.

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/law/about/

By the way, this fourth tier cess pool was established in 2006. Yes, this bodes well for current students and recent graduates, huh?!?! Remember, this sewage pit has a small, insignificant alumni base. Does anyone with an IQ above 45 think that these students have a shot in hell, when competing against in-state “rivals” at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill?

Conclusion: This festering, overpriced stink pit is now in its sixth year of operation. Remember, you DO NOT NEED to incur an additional $100K-$135K in NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt, in order to earn a TTTT law degree. By the way, North Carolina is home to seven law schools. Do you think that there might be a glut of attorneys, in the state?! If this is the best school you can get into - and you absolutely MUST become a lawyer - then you should re-take the LSAT. Hopefully, you can get accepted into a real law school.

Profiles in Academic Douchebaggery: Brian Leiter, Sissy and “Professor” at University of Chicago Law School

Leiter Lashes Out, Like a Cornered Cat, Against LawProf:

http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2011/08/update-on-scamprof.html

"ScamProf is the failed academic who has done almost no scholarly work in the last decade, teaches the same courses and seminars year in and year out, and spends his time trying to attract public attention, sometimes under his own name, this time anonymously. These are important facts about ScamProf, since he is indeed scamming his students and his state, and his initial posts were tantamount to a confession that he's not doing his job. His colleagues, in any case, now know who he is, and are quite understandably angry, since the reckless genearlizations are naturally read as commentary on them."

Yes, because producing law review articles entitled “The Radicalism of Legal Positivism” and “The End of Empire: Dworkin and Jurisprudence in the Twenty-first Century” is extremely helpful in training people on how to practice law, right?!?! For clarification, what are "genearlizations"? Douchebag continues:

"ADDENDUM: A colleague from Penn writes:

I don't know who this jerk is, but I appreciate you calling him out. I clicked through to his posts and felt the urge to throw something. I bust my butt preparing for class and educating myself deeply in my fields (and, indeed, refuse to teach any class in which I don't consider myself highly qualified), and students clearly understand and appreciate those efforts, but this kind of recklessly expressed cynicism can undermine an enormous amount of good work in the creation of a cooperative and engaged learning environment."

Apparently, the anonymous "educator" at Penn thinks that it is cowardly to post under a pseudonym when pointing out the flaws of the law school industrial complex. Conversely, it must be courageous for one to "bravely" defend this sick, depraved industry, right?!?! By the way, tell your colleague to calm down from his tantrum. It is beyond embarrassing how sensitive you academics are, at the slightest criticism leveled at the Ivory Tower. Yes, readers and prospective law students: these are the pansies who are entrusted to "teaching" the next generation of lawyers.

"ANOTHER: A colleague at Maryland writes: "Scamprof is easily explained by the well known proverb that 'a thief thinks everyone steals.' Don’t let up on him." By the way, several readers tell me that ScamProf moderates comments, and will not approve those that are too critical."

Does your colleague catch the irony of emailing this drivel to a blog author who DOES NOT ALLOW blog comments?!?! Or is the academic too busy drafting his or her next law review article on the historical context and underlying currents of the Rule Against Perpetuities?

Did this "scholar" criticize former dean Karen Rothenberg, of the University of Maryland Sewer of Law, when she received $410K in bonus loot - on top of her annual $360K salary?! Eventually, this esteemed educator returned the money. Did your colleague praise Rothenberg's “responsible” actions? Before we cite to her as a beacon of ethics, let's keep in mind that this was in response to a legislative audit and tons of negative press. As you can see, state university system officials asked her to return the money.

Ass Hat's History of Abusing Others Online:

http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/baker200403150909.asp

"VanDyke's temerity in giving prime real estate in one of America's most respected legal publications to Beckwith's work was particularly galling to Brian Leiter. Intelligent design? Francis Beckwith? In the Harvard Law Review? It was all too much for Leiter, which may be why he risked his prestige to make this petty, but deadly serious attack on VanDyke:

The author of this incompetent book note . . . is one Lawrence VanDyke, a student editor of the Review. Mr. VanDyke may yet have a fine career as a lawyer, but I trust he has no intention of entering law teaching: scholarly fraud is, I fear, an inauspicious beginning for an aspiring law teacher. And let none of the many law professors who are readers of this site be mistaken: Mr. VanDyke has perpetrated a scholarly fraud, one that may have political and pedagogical consequences." [Emphasis mine]

Wow! That is “tough” nerd talk, huh? By the way, I’m certain that Lawrence VanDyke could knock you out in 60 seconds, weakling. You should take up boxing, so that you can gain a genuine taste for fierce competition. My guess is that you wouldn't last one full round with the majority of moderately healthy men under the age of 65.

http://jonrowe.blogspot.com/2005/07/leiter-outs-burton-i-obviously-respect.html

“Anyway Burton wrote a post attacking Leiter's blogsphere conduct, Burton trying to give Leiter a taste of his own medicine by using an especially harsh and insulting tone. Leiter responded in the comments section by "outing" his former friend. And an interesting dialogue continued from there.”

If the allegation above is true, then you should seek counseling.

How Practicing Lawyers View the Urchin:

http://peterseanesq.blogspot.com/2005/07/primer-on-how-to-practice.html

“Professor Leiter responds to this post with the very first comment - and doesn't that speak volumes about what may be an unhealthy narcissism. Leiter's comment is:

Try "former" friend. What happened to you, Steve? Does your ex, Scott--who was always the nice one--know that you've sunk to this level?

I always admired your philosophical acumen, and your contrarian views in aesthetics, and think it a travesty of our profession that you did not secure permanent employment in it.

Ooooh! Meeow! Claw-claw, scratch, scratch.

In case you missed the innuendo, Burton is gay! Quick run him off the sacred premises of conservative thought, which must not be sullied by carnal sin....”

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2011/08/21/brian-leiter-smears-scamprof.aspx

“'[LawProf] was far more popular with practicing lawyers and law students, but then, we don't get a law school paycheck or judge our manhood by the number of articles published in law reviews.”

Does anyone see Leiter measuring up as a man, in terms of looks, character or physical strength?!

Conclusion: Smearing someone's reputation is a common tactic for those who have no case and no argument. I like beating down my opponents relentlessly with facts, charts, graphs, stats, and industry statements - before I take a few shots at them. See the difference, philosopher?! Now, continue with your riveting insights on the (useless) themes of utilitarianism and existentialism. In the end, this douche feels that his little academic presentations at Joseph Raz’s Legal Philosophy Seminar are more important than training lawyers.

Grab the Two Ply: Second Tier Septic Tank University of Houston Law Center

The school is home of the frightening garden gnome/ass-hat known as Michael Olivas. Seeing that first tier law schools also provide MANY of their students and grads with anemic job prospects, we can start flushing toilets that occupy the second tier.

http://www.law.uh.edu/admissions/tuition.html

Tuition: For the 2011-2012 school year, Texas residents attending the Univer$iTTy of Hou$TTon Law Commode, on a full-time basis, will pay $28,129.80 in tuition and fees. Non-residents attending this trash pit, as full-time students, will be charged $38,805.30 in tuition and fees - for the same academic year. So much for attending an in-state school, in order to save money, huh?!?!

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+3

Ranking: According to US "News" & World Report, University of Houston Law Septic Tank is rated as the 56th best, most amazing and fantastic law school in the United States. With such a "solid" ranking, I'm surprised that these pigs are not charging in-state residents $37K per year in tuition.

http://www.law.uh.edu/career/resources/WheretheJobsAre2010.pdf

Alleged Employment Placement: On page 17 of this PDF, you can see that this trash heap claims that 92% of its Class of 2010 was employed within nine months of graduation. Yeah, sure it was - and Lauren Graham just locked her ankles around my waist. Then again, this figure takes into account those Univer$iTTy of Hou$TTon JDs working at Lowe's, selling insurance for Allstate, and those working as doormen at Viviana's Night Club.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings/page+7

Average Law Student Indebtedness: US "News" lists the average student indebtedness of University of Houston Law Center grads from the Class of 2010, who incurred law school debt, as $65,802. Fully 82 percent of this particular class took on such toxic debt for their second tier law degree. Keep in mind that this does not take undergrad debt into account. Who wouldn't want to start their "professional career" off owing a small, NON-DISCHARGEABLE mortgage, right?!?!

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/university-of-houston-system/departments/dean-law/6677/

Administrator and Faculty Pay: Since we are dealing with a public toilet, we will refer to The Texas Tribune, in order to find out how much the pigs are raking in, each year. We can see that Michael Olivas "earned" $169,646 last year. Dean Raymond Timmer made $301,000, while William Streng brought in $194,000. You will also notice that Joseph Sanders made $189,000, whereas Richard Alderman claimed a salary of $175,000. Who says you can't teach at a public university and make a decent living?!

http://houston.lawschoolnumbers.com/

"Generosity" of the Commode: According to Law School Numbers, for 2005-2006, this sewer provided full tuition scholarships plus a stipend to 0.2% of students. An additional 3.7 percent of students received a half-tuition scholarship, to attend this dung pit. Furthermore, LSN notes that 93.2% of this commode's Class of 2005 was employed within nine months of graduation.

http://www.law.uh.edu/center4clp/

As a student at this dung heap, you have the unique opportunity to intern at the Center for Children, Law & Policy. Imagine how impressed law firms will be to see this "experience" on your resume. Also, make sure not to tell attractive woman about this - unless you want them to physically attack you and rip your clothes off.

http://www.law.uh.edu/ihelg/

If you prefer, you can partake in something called the Institute for "Higher Education Law" and Governance. I wonder if this center advocates for more spending on "higher education." By the way, notice that Olivas and his ratty-ass beard wrote the casebook for this course - which is available at the suggested retail price of $95.00. See how well "higher education" pays off?!?!

Conclusion: In the last analysis, the University of Houston Law Center overcharges its students and does not adequately train them to practice law. In fact, this overpriced trash pit does not sufficiently prepare its students to pass the bar exam. Imagine pissing away three years of your life - and an additional $65K-$80K in NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt - and then needing to take a prep course. Lastly, employing the Socratic Method and assigning parsed, archaic, 18th century property cases does not provide one with the requisite skills or understanding to undertake a case.

Profiles in Academic Myopia: Michael Olivas, “Professor” at the University of Houston Law Center

In response to one tenured colleague’s noting that “law professors” are over-paid, and do not produce graduates who are ready for the practice of law, Michael Olivas, answered with a moronic argument that a Thomas M. Cooley grad could see through. Would you expect anything less from a pompous windbag with the long-winded, ridiculous title of “William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law” and “Director of the Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance” at the University of Houston?!?!

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/08/09/tenured_law_professor_aims_to_expose_the_excesses_of_his_profession

“Michael A. Olivas, a law professor at the University of Houston who is president of the Association of American Law Schools (but who stressed that he was speaking for himself, not the organization), said that LawProf is welcome to return half of his salary if he is guilt-ridden.
Olivas said that "there is a small grain of truth in most of what he says," but that his portrayal of law professors is unfair and inaccurate. Olivas said that good law professors prepare for every meeting of every course, paying attention to changes in the law. He said that they routinely help not only current students, but alumni. And he said legal scholarship is valuable to academe and society. "It's unprincipled to walk into class unprepared," he said. "I would never do that. Most people would never do that."

Hello, Stupid Bitch. Are you aware that one instructor foregoing half of his salary would represent a drop in the bucket?!?! This certainly would not lead to systemic change in American “legal education.” By the way, such a noble move would result in that money going back into the particular law school’s coffers. What the hell would be served, by doing that?

Also, how many changes in “the law” have occurred in the last 25 years, in fields such as property or contracts?! Even in areas such as constitutional law, criminal procedure and torts, there are not a myriad of changes to justify the salary of “law professors” who essentially dust off their old notes, order a supplement to the main casebook, and come to class. Then again, what would one expect from an industry goon and apologist dog?! One wonder if Olivas the Dog turns away from his own vomit.

http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/government-employee-salaries/university-of-houston-system/michael-a-olivas/682212/

As the author of Inside the Law School Scam noted in this entry, Michael Olivas - and his ratty-ass beard - made $169,646 in base salary, from the University of Houston, last year. In the same entry, LawProf punches Olivas in the snout:

“Michael Olivas, the current president of the American Association of Law Schools (basically the trade association for ABA-accredited schools), makes a really bad argument when he suggests I return half my salary if I'm so guilt-ridden. This reminds me of the argument that people who have an AGI of over $250K and who support the repeal of the Bush tax cuts for those in their income category should simply write a bigger check explanation as to why this is a ridiculous argument you probably shouldn't be reading this blog, although apparently you're qualified to be president of the AALS).” [Emphasis mine]

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings/page+3

By the way, US “News” & World Report lists the University of Houston Law Center as the 56th greatest, most triumphant and exhilarating law school, in the nation. According to The Texas Tribune, Olivas was hired on September 1, 1982. No wonder this Ivory Tower denizen is so keen on preserving the status quo. Do you think this academic would make it in private industry or a law firm?!

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/grad-debt-rankings/page+7

Furthermore, USN&WR notes that the average student indebtedness of University of Houston Law Center grads - from the Class of 2010 - who incurred law school debt stood at a robust $65,802. Make sure to thank Texas taxpayers for subsidizing tuition, and for providing your salary for the past 29 years, Michael. By the way, 82% of this commode’s 2010 graduating class took on such debt, for their “legal education.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKysX3ikpQ

Check out this long-winded ass-clown’s presentation. Who knew that Amerigo Vespucci discovered and developed a time machine, and warped into the future? In any event, you can see this pretentious academic "Welcome everyone" in Spanish - as keynote speaker at June 12, 2011 commencement for the UC-Riverside Graduate School of Education. For future reference, when you travel across the country to present a speech to a group of people, i.e. Houston to Riverside, CA, YOU don't welcome THEM.

At the 3:50 mark, Michael "Porky" Olivas talks about the changes in the world of "higher education." He notes that he graduated from college in 1972. For $ome rea$on, the bearded swine does not mention the following topics: SKYROCKETING tuition; the corporatization of American universities and colleges; the shrinking job market; or the fundementally different U.S. and global economies. Instead, he focuses on abject concepts such as "the collegiate conscience," "the loss of innocence" and social justice issues of the past. Guess what, tool?! College and university administrators do not have a conscience - or moral compass. Unless, of course, you consider the following as moral: their focus on increasing enrollment, charging higher tuition, financing wasteful capital improvements, bloating the ranks of administration further, and naming "professorships" and campus buildings after rich, white guys and corporate entities.

In the last analysis, Michael Olivas is divorced from reality. He sees the world through the lens of one who has been in the safe confines of academia, for the last 29 years. Keep in mind that he has spent about 25 years in educational settings as student, prior to this period. You can see the results. Olivas is someone who does not understand the changing American economy, the shrinking U.S. lawyer job market, or the long-term effect that MASSIVE amounts of NON-DISCHARGEABLE debt have on recent graduates and their families. Imagine how much debt Olivas incurred to earn his BA, MA, PhD and JD, in comparison to the current generation.

Another Look at Fourth Tier Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Fifth Rate Lawsuit

http://www.cooley.edu/rankings/_docs/Judging_12th_Ed_2010.pdf

Head to the top of page 6 of this 424 page pile of waste known as the Twelfth Edition of Judging the Law Schools, to see how the founder and former dean at Cooley, Thomas E. Brennan, and current dean and president Don LeDuc, reached their results:

“We again offer some observations. Our rankings are subjective in that we assign value to each factor, such as ranking bigger libraries better than smaller libraries. And we give each of the 40 factors equal weight (2.5% each), a decision intended to reduce the impact of any single factor on the overall rankings, which is the fundamental flaw in US News.” [Emphasis mine]

You explicitly admit that your idiotic rankings scheme is subjective. However, you two “scholars” published this report, in response to the subjective nature of the rankings disseminated by US “News” & World Report. Everyone knows that the Cooley rankings were produced, because the festering sewage pit was upset that it is typically rated as a fourth tier pile of buffalo dung, by USN&WR.

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

In the Table of Contents, you can see that law library indicators account for 10 of the 40 factors. Yes, because legal employers are so concerned with the size of libraries and quantity of seats, right?!?! These ten criteria are: Library Materials Expenditure; Total Volumes in Library; Total Titles in Library; Total Serial Subscriptions; Professional Librarians Rankings; Library Hours Per Week; Library Hours Per Week with Professional Staff; Library Seating Capacity; Networked Computers Available; and Library Total Square Footage.

When you have four campuses, and the largest enrollment of any law school in the country, you are certain to have the largest law library. I’m surprised that these tools did not come up with 15 law library criteria, in their ratings scheme.

"Unfortunately, some bloggers have taken to demeaning our approach, offering criticisms that make it clear that they have read none of the explanatory material we offer and making comments that reinforce their commitment to elitism. And those criticisms universally reject the significance of the factors that the American Bar Association considers most important, if law school applicants are to be informed consumers.” [Emphasis mine]

Does the ABA feel that one should assign the same value to each indicator?!?!

Go to page 212 of this PDF. There you will see how the rankings for Percent Graduates Employed. Keep in mind that this extremely important measurement only counts for 2.5 percent of the overall score. On page 216, note that Thomas M. Cooley is ranked 181st - out of 193 law schools - regarding percentage of employed JDs. The commode lists a placement rate of 78.8 percent.

It seems that finding a decent job would be a HIGH priority for those entering law school. The fact is that this dump does not provide its students and graduates with adequate employment prospects, in comparison to other schools. Hell, the toilet’s own rankings data shows this reality. Page 222 shows the First Time Bar Passage Percentage rankings. Guess where TTTThoma$ M. Cooley Law Sewer ended up? That’s right! On the bottom of page 225, you will notice that this dung heap is ranked 160th - out of 191 schools!

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2009/381/988/2009-381988915-0661fd69-9.pdf

Don LeDuc’s Salary: Head to page 37 of this septic tank’s 2009 IRS Form 990. There, you will see that Don LeDuc, dean and president, “earned” $548,067 in TOTAL COMPENSATION - for the 2008 calendar year. Yes, LeDuc received $400,000 in base compensation; $75,000 in bonus & incentive compensation; $31,644 in other compensation; $19,160 in deferred compensation; and $22,263 in nontaxable benefits.

On page 2, Section A, Part I, line 9, you can see that the school’s revenue in 2008 was $96,091,697. Of this amount, $44,769,472 went to salaries, other compensation and employee benefits. This information is listed on Part I, line 15. On Part I, lines 20-22, you will note that this foul pile of waste had $231,587,804 in end of year total assets, balanced by $149,977,265 in liabilities. The commode had $81,610,539 in end-of-year net assets. See how profitable it can be to operate a “non-profit corporation” known as an “institution of higher learning”?!?!

http://www.qfora.com/jdu/thread.php?threadId=18891#post266764

As you can see, “RockStar05” noted the following, on JDU:

“Finally, I would like to add that Cooley has not attempted to contact me even once, either through e-mail or through a blog comment on this post.”

He also mentioned that his blog had been receiving about 30 hits a day, prior to Cooley‘s fifth-rate lawsuit. Let’s see if his attorney, John T. Hermann, can flush this suit down the drain.

http://www.cooley.edu/newsevents/2011/071411_Cooley_Protects_Alumni_Students_and_Reputation.html

Yet, the “educator” who made $548,067 in TOTAL COMPENSATION, for 2008, has the nerve to claim that he filed suit to protect the toilet’s students, alumni and reputation. What a man of principle, fighting for the average man and woman, huh?!?!

In sum, the following is beyond dispute: (1) Thomas M. Cooley Law Sewer has a terrible reputation; (2) the rankings scheme published by Cooley is a pathetic attempt to enhance its TTTT image; (3) As in Butler University v. Zimmerman, this moronic lawsuit was filed to stifle the views of discontented students and former students; (4) the school received $96,091,697 in revenues, for calendar year 2008 - yet the school is suing four bloggers for $25,000 each in Ingham County Circuit Court; (5) the commode still has the largest enrollment of any U.S. law school; and (6) dean and president Don Leduc “earned” more than $548K in TOTAL COMPENSATION - for 2008.

Third Tier University of Baltimore School of Law Flushes Dean Phillip Closius Down the Drain

Law School Tuition Bubble pointed out that Closius was recently ousted by the 117th best law school in the land:

“Dean Phillip Closius sent an e-mail today reporting that the university’s president asked for his resignation on Thursday and it’s effective now. Why? Because Dean Closius told the ABA that the university was looting the law school, and the ABA requested an explanation. He writes:

For the most recent academic year (AY 10-11), our tuition increase generated $1,455,650 in additional revenue. Of that amount, the School of Law budget increased by only $80,774 [!]. I do not know of any law school in the country receiving such a small percentage of its generated tuition revenue. A recent article in The New York Times noted that a 25-30% revenue retention by a university was considered high by national standards. As of academic year 2010-11, the University retained approximately 45% [!] of the revenue generated by law tuition, fees and state subsidy. Using any reasonable calculation of the direct and indirect University costs, the University was still diverting millions of dollars in law school revenue to non-law University functions.”

His Philosophy on Gaming the Rankings:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?_r=1&pagewanted=3

“When I was a candidate for this job,” said Phillip J. Closius, the dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law, “I said ‘I can talk for 10 minutes about the fallacies of the U.S. News rankings,’ but nobody wants to hear about fallacies. There are millions of dollars riding on students’ decisions about where to go to law school, and that creates real institutional pressures.” [Emphasis mine]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?_r=1&pagewanted=4

"Mr. Closius came from the University of Toledo College of Law, where he lifted the school to No. 83 from No. 140, he said. Among his strategies: shifting about 40 students with lower LSAT scores into the part-time program. Because part-time students didn’t then count in the U.S. News survey — the rules have since been changed — Toledo’s bar passage rate rose, which helped its ranking.

“You can call it massaging the data if you want, but I never saw it that way,” he says. Weaker students wound up with lighter course loads, which meant that fewer of them flunked out. In his estimation, a dean who pays attention to the U.S. News rankings isn’t gaming the system; he’s making the school better.

Unfortunately, he says, not all schools play fair.” [Emphasis mine]

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

By the way, Closius’s old school, i.e. the University of Toledo, is no longer ranked 83rd. In fact, it is now in the fourth tier. I guess Phillip does not care much about long-term improvement. Also, how does manipulating figures make the school better?!?!

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1585952

“Reducing the size of the entering class will also help us avoid the need for increased academic attrition rates at the end of the first year. If a school keeps placing additional students in academic jeopardy, the admissions office is usually required to admit larger classes in the succeeding year. Unfortunately, in the market of the 1990s, more students usually meant less qualified students. This in turn necessitated higher attrition. We hope that our downsizing will help us avoid this downfall.” [Emphasis mine]

This law review article is entitled “The Incredible Shrinking Law School,” 31 U. Tol. L. Rev. 581, 582 (2000). On page 585 Closius concludes: “Downsizing may not be appropriate for every school.”

What a beacon of integrity, huh?!?! It is CLEAR that this man is merely looking to help his school’s reputation.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20101121/ai_n56363639/

In a November 21, 2010 interview with The Daily Record, Closius said:

"Law school is a professional school. It's not like you're going to become an English major because you've always wanted to read 'Beowulf.' At the end of the day, people come to law school because they want jobs," he says. "If we can't get people where they want to go, we've failed to a certain extent." [Emphasis mine]

He continued:

"For good or bad, this is a rankings culture. I can't fight that aspect. It's just part of the deal," he says. "You cannot, in the 21st century, be a dean of a law school and not pay attention to these rankings. It's just too important."

I suppose that Phillip Closius, a highly-educated man with degrees from Notre Dame and Columbia, feels that he must go along with this idiotic ranking system.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4183/is_20101121/ai_n56363647/

"If you come to UB, the bulk of students are going to have to be able to deal with a $90,000 debt service on a $65,000-a-year salary," he said. "That's not easy."

The school, incidentally, has raised tuition 77 percent in the last 7 years.

"The only thing that justifies it is, so is everyone else in the law school world," Closius said.” [Emphasis mine]

Yes, that is a great rationale for your conduct, Phillip!

http://law.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=1146

“The building project has a total budget of $107 million, of which $92 million will be contributed by the State of Maryland. The School of Law was responsible for raising the remaining $15 million in private funds and met that goal in March, 2010, thanks in large part to a generous $10 million donation from Peter Angelos, LL.B. ’61.”

Apparently, the sewage pit did not feel that applying some of these donations to fund scholarships would be a wise investment. At least, the school can still attract large donors - including the taxpayers . Although I’m not sure how this is going to help recent third tier commode JDs find employment.

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2008/08/us-news-to-step.html

“Schools that have "gamed" the rankings system in the past are unapologetic. The article offers the example of Phillip Closius, dean of University of Baltimore Law School, which elevated its rank to 125 from 170 by cutting the number of full-time students and adding more part-timers. Says Closius:

U.S. News is not a moral code, it's a set of seriously flawed rules of a magazine, and I follow the rules...without hiding anything.

Just as a Closius' ability to improve rankings made him a hero, deans who fail to take rankings seriously may find themselves the goat.” [Emphasis mine]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121971712700771731.html

“One of the top beneficiaries of the current U.S. News criteria is Phillip Closius, former dean of the University of Toledo's law school. He led the school's rise from the list's fourth tier to its second tier within a few years. After he took the helm of the University of Baltimore law school last year, that school also quickly climbed the rankings, to 125 this year from 170 last year, he says. (Schools in the third and fourth tiers aren't publicly ranked -- instead they are grouped together -- but deans can find out where they placed.)

Mr. Closius's winning strategy in both places: Cut the number of full-time students accepted into the program to boost the median LSAT scores and GPAs, which together account for more than 20% of a school's ranking. In their place, the schools add more part-time students, who can transfer to full-time the second year.

Mr. Closius says having some students complete fewer classes at first gives them a better chance of academic success. He says he also made other changes that improved the school's ranking, including keeping better track of graduates' employment status after graduation. The moves benefit students, he says: At Toledo, more large law firms began interviewing students after the school's ranking climbed, and at Baltimore, he recently got multimillion-dollar grants and donations for a new building.” [Emphasis mine]

Conclusion: In the final analysis, Phillip Closius was unapologetic when it came to gaming the rankings system. After all, everyone else does it. Which makes such disgusting conduct okay, right, Phillip?!?! He was upset because he felt that the University of Baltimore was taking too large of a cut out of his law school’s tuition increases, i.e. loot. Don’t mistake his complaints as a man standing on principle. Why don’t you head to the 135th ranked private toilet known as New York Law $chool?! They are in need of a new dean. Plus, you will not need to split your gains with university personnel. Plus, if you are somehow able to take this trash pit into the second tier, people will see you as a savior. (Plus, I will then be able to look up your big-ass salary, from the dung heap’s IRS Form 990.)