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Law school enrollment in Missouri lags as legal jobs dry up
Legal News |
2011/07/01 07:17
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Missouri law schools expect fewer students in the fall after several years of significant enrollment growth both regionally and nationally.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this week that the University of Missouri's flagship campus in Columbia has received 17 percent fewer applications this year. Applications at Washington University dropped 13.3 percent, while St. Louis University is seeing a nearly 20 percent decline.
A national group that tracks law school enrollment says that applications are down more than 10 percent overall compared to this time last year.
The economic downturn means that law school graduates can no longer count on landing lucrative jobs straight out of college. The declining interest comes one year after many schools reported record enrollment.
"The stories about the legal market have certainly dampened some people's enthusiasm," said Paul Pless, assistant dean for admissions and financial aid at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Law. Applications at Illinois are down nearly 8 percent so far this year.
Melissa Hamilton, 35, is a recent University of Missouri law school graduate still looking for a job. She's applied for a few government positions but is waiting until she passes the bar exam before making a stronger push. She's also looking into jobs where she could also use her master's degree in social work. |
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Ex-Delaware pediatrician guilty of child sex abuse
Legal News |
2011/06/23 18:39
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A former Delaware pediatrician who decorated his office with Disney characters and miniature amusement park rides was found guilty Thursday of sexually abusing scores of his young patients.
Earl Bradley, 58, recorded homemade videos of the abuse, said prosecutors, who presented the judge with more than 13 hours of videos showing sex crimes against more than 80 victims, most of whom were toddlers.
Superior Court Judge William Carpenter Jr. announced the verdict in business-like fashion, avoiding any personal remarks about Bradley. An indictment against Bradley initially contained 470 counts, but attorneys agreed before the trial to consolidate them into 24 counts.
Bradley was found guilty on 14 counts of first-degree rape and five counts each of second-degree assault and sexual exploitation of a child.
Bradley, who will be sentenced on Aug. 26, faces up to life in prison on each rape charge.
He showed no reaction when the verdict was announced, but some of the spectators cried.
Carpenter presided over a one-day trial in which prosecutors called two witnesses and presented the judge with an external hard drive containing the videos, recorded from December 1998 to Dec. 13, 2009. Bradley was arrested after a 2-year-old girl told her mother the doctor hurt her after an office visit, an accusation that came just days before the last video was recorded.
In a footnote to his verdict, the judge wrote that he was unable to discern the video activity for one alleged victim and there was no video for another. |
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Banks lose battle to delay cap on invisible fee
Legal News |
2011/06/10 06:54
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Merchants trumped bankers in a battle for billions Wednesday as the Senate voted to let the Federal Reserve slash fees that stores pay financial institutions when customers pay with debit cards.
Whether consumers will see any of that money remains to be seen.
The Fed will now issue its final rules on debit fees, called interchange fees, on July 21. It has recommended cutting the average 44 cents that banks and credit unions charge for each debit card transaction to no more than 12 cents, although the final plan could change slightly.
The fee is now typically 1 to 2 percent of each purchase. It produces $16 billion in annual revenue for banks, credit unions and the credit card companies that operate the huge payment networks, the Fed estimates.
Merchants say lower fees should let them lower prices. Banks warn that they'll have to recoup the lost revenue through other charges that likely will come directly from consumers' pockets, such as higher checking account fees. |
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RI lawyer confirmed as US judge; GOP block fails
Legal News |
2011/05/06 09:39
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A trial lawyer nominated by President Barack Obama to be a federal judge in Rhode Island was confirmed on a party-line vote Wednesday just hours after a Senate GOP filibuster attempt failed.
The Senate voted 50-44 to confirm lawyer John McConnell to the bench after a more significant 63-33 tally to advance the nomination past a filibuster orchestrated by GOP leaders.
Eleven Republicans joined with Democrats in the earlier vote to break the filibuster. GOP leaders opposed McConnell, citing his record as a trial lawyer in cases against businesses. Republicans also said McConnell was less than truthful in his testimony to the Senate.
Wednesday's vote comes six years after the Republicans then in control of the Senate considered a change in procedures to make it impossible to filibuster judicial nominations, citing numerous Democratic efforts to stall former President George W. Bush's nominees. Democrats said Republicans were being hypocritical in now trying to filibuster a Democratic nominee. |
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Discrimination suit against Pa. law firm settled
Legal News |
2011/05/05 15:41
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A lawsuit that accused Pittsburgh's second-largest law firm of discriminating against women has been settled.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports a dismissal notice was filed in federal court Thursday, ending the case brought by attorney JoEllen Lyons Dillon.
Dillon alleged in a December lawsuit that women at Reed Smith are paid less than men and that females are pressured to have sex with male superiors to get work.
She also said her pay was nearly halved during maternity leave, and that she was asked if she was "done having babies" when she inquired about a promotion.
Dillon's lawyer, Sam Cordes, would say only that "the matter is resolved to our mutual satisfaction."
Reed Smith declined comment. Dillon no longer works there. |
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