National Courts Monitor

Bar Exam Failures Raise Concern

Updated: December 8, 2014

The LA Times is reporting that “a group of administrators from nearly 80 law schools, including University of LaVerne College of Law Dean Gilbert Holmes, has asked the National Conference of Bar Examiners to review how the bar exam is scored after a big drop in passage rates this year.”

Just when we need more lawyers for things like immigration cases, it turns out that fewer people are passing the bar exams. The Los Angeles Times reports that “… for the first time in nearly a decade, most law school graduates who took the summer California bar exam failed, adding to the pressure on law schools already dealing with plummeting enrollments, complaints about student debt and declining job prospects.”

The Golden State reflects a national trend. The LAT says that “… many other states showed similar declines this year. It’s unclear why the recent passage rates are so low, but they fell by at least 5 percentage points in 20 states.”

Law school officials are asking all sorts of questions, including what the failure rate means amid student debt and other pressures. Read the story here: Fewer law school graduates pass bar exam in California.

New Estimate: Asbestos Plaintiff Firms ‘Pocket’ $2 Billion Annually

by NCM Staff

Posted: December 4, 2014

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How much of a victim’s settlement or jury award should go to contingency attorneys is always a touchy subject, so it’s no wonder that a new estimate that plaintiffs’ firms “pocket” $2 billion per year is getting attention.

Some context: that’s more than President Obama and Governor Romney spent on their 2012 race – combined.

Such estimates are fairly rare, in part because legal firms don’t exactly make those numbers public, basically treating it as a trade secret. Litigation is virtually case-by-case, and neither defense nor plaintiff’s share much information, even among themselves. Read More

Fla. Creates Working Group For Civil Courts Aid

by NCM Staff

Posted: December 3, 2014

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The Florida chief justice has created a 27- member “working group” to tackle the problem of unrepresented poor people in civil courts. The Tampa Bay Tribune explains that “… criminal defendants are guaranteed legal representation even if they can’t afford it, but that’s not the case with civil matters, such as foreclosure, child custody or unpaid wages. People who can’t afford an attorney in Florida must turn to a network of legal aid groups, many of which are overworked and underfunded.”

The paper also notes that “… Florida is one of three states, along with Idaho and Wisconsin, where civil legal aid receives no state legislative or court funding, according to the American Bar Association.”

Read the report here.

Tomorrow’s Immigration News Today: Devil In The Details

by NCM Staff

Updated: December 1, 2014

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Not to equate the United States Justice Department with Lucifer himself, but the old saying that “the devil’s in the details” is holding up with President Obama’s immigration actions. You have to read with a particular eye, but a Washington Post report by Juliet Eilperin and Jerry Markon notes that “… one of the provisions the Justice Department lawyers included, which they also pushed for during the creation of the 2012 program, was to make clear that federal immigration officials would still have the option of deporting individuals who might otherwise qualify for a deferral.”

Wait, what? With some 400,000 cases pending in the Justice Department’s own immigration courts, they also have the option of deporting people who would “otherwise” qualify for defferral? The WaPo also reports that the “… memo states that the new policy ‘provides for case-by-case determinations about whether an individual alien’s circumstances warrant the expenditure of removal resources, employing a broad standard that leaves ample room for the exercise of individual discretion by enforcement officials.’”

One point of the story is that some people who might qualify for protection under the Obama action will no self-identify to authorities. It’s the kind of uncertainty that has kept some “Dreamers” from stepping forward. From what we’ve seen in the past year, “trust the Justice Department” is going to be a tough sell, and a future headline will be “Few Take Obama Up On Protection Offer.”

You read it here first! And you can see the excellent WaPo work here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

by NCM Staff

Posted: November 26, 2014

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To make sure our team has some time to be thankful, the Courts Monitor has suspended posting until Monday, Dec. 1, when we will resume our daily ration of civil justice rationing. Happy Thanksgiving, and watch for our “Year In Civil Courts” series in December. — The Editors.