A reality star turned aspiring lawyer. A $125 million naming gift spurring student backlash. A long-awaited reversal in the fortunes of bar exam takers.

Some of the big legal education stories in 2019 were years in the making, such as murdered Florida State law professor Dan Markel’s accused killers finally facing trial and the ABA’s new bar pass standards getting adopted after years of spirited debate. Other stories seemingly came out of the blue, such as the surprise announcement from U.S. News & World Report that it’s starting a law school ranking focused on faculty scholarship. Here, we’ve rounded up our top 10 legal education stories of 2019. Here’s hoping 2020 is just as newsy.