Karen Sloan

Karen Sloan is the Legal Education Editor and Senior Writer at ALM. Contact her at [email protected]. On Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ Sign up for Ahead of the Curve—her weekly email update on trends and innovation in legal education—here: https://www.law.com/briefings/ahead-of-the-curve/

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May 21, 2021 | Law.com

'There Was An Extraordinary Amount of Interest.' These Orrick Associates Are Spending A Year Focused on Racial and Social Justice

Orrick associates Walter Alarkon and Andrea Mazingo discuss their participation in the firm's new Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Fellowship program.

By Karen Sloan | Zack Needles

2 minute read

May 20, 2021 | Law.com

Law Grads With High Debt, Financial Stress Do Worse on the Bar Exam, Study Finds

A study looking at thousands of New York bar examinees highlights the factors that correlate to higher pass rates, such as studying at least 40 hours a week, and those that correlate to lower pass rates, such as poor time management.

By Karen Sloan

5 minute read

May 19, 2021 | The Recorder

California Overhauls Its Law School Accreditation Rules, Emphasizing Diversity and Student Learning

The new accreditation rules take effect Jan. 1, 2022, though law schools will have until 2024 to demonstrate they are in compliance.

By Karen Sloan

4 minute read

May 18, 2021 | Law.com

New Report Highlights Which States Are Leading on Access to Justice, and Which Are Falling Short

The National Center for Access to Justice collected state-by-state data on 163 civil justice practices and compiled those findings into a ranking.

By Karen Sloan

5 minute read

May 18, 2021 | Law.com

Ahead of the Curve: Law Students Love Their Cellphones

This week's Ahead of the Curve breaks down a new study of how law students use smartphones, plus the Innovation for Justice Lab at the University of Arizona's law school is designing access to justice programs for Utah's regulatory sandbox project.

By Karen Sloan

8 minute read

May 17, 2021 | Law.com

Full-Ride Law School Scholarships in Hand, These 10 Black Students Represent the Future of Civil Rights Law

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has named the inaugural recipients of the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, a $40 million initiative to foster the next generation of Black civil rights attorneys.

By Karen Sloan

5 minute read

May 17, 2021 | Law.com

ABA Pushes Forward With Racism Training Requirement for Law Schools

A requirement that law schools train students in "bias, racism and cross-cultural competency" is among a slate of changes to the law school accreditation standards that the American Bar Association is weighing.

By Karen Sloan

4 minute read

May 13, 2021 | Law.com

'It's the Moment for This': An Unprecedented Number of Black Women Are Leading Law Schools

By the fall, 14% of law schools will have Black women in the dean's suite.

By Karen Sloan

8 minute read

May 12, 2021 | Law.com

Northwestern Dean Pick Means Women Will Run Half of the T-14 Law Schools Come Fall

Penn State University Law Dean Hari Osofsky will be the next top administrator at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

By Karen Sloan

4 minute read

May 12, 2021 | Law.com

'These Shouldn't Be on Parallel Tracks': Law Firms Are Cutting Staff Without Considering the Mental Health of Those Left Behind

This week's episode features a conversation with Patrick Krill, principal and founder of Krill Strategies, a behavioral health consulting firm focused exclusively on the legal industry. Krill raises an interesting and little-discussed point: as law firms continue to cut support staff and embrace automation, they're limiting lawyers' human interactions even further, which is likely to exacerbate feelings of isolation that so many in the industry already struggle with.

By Zack Needles | Karen Sloan

2 minute read

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