Presidential Candidate John McCain at BankUnited Center Tomorrow Night

Republican candidate for president Senator John McCain will be speaking at an RNC Road to Victory Rally Sunday evening at the BankUnited Center on the Coral Gables campus. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and the program will begin with performances by several Spanish-language musical groups. Senator McCain will speak at around 11:30 p.m.

This rally is open to the general public and the University community. Students, faculty, and staff must bring their ‘Cane cards to gain admission to the event. Members of the general public should visit this Web site to obtain tickets.

For security purposes, do not bring bags and please limit personal items. The following items are not permitted in the BankUnited Center: signs, banners, video and audio recorders, and cameras. For the complete list of items not permitted in the BankUnited Center, visit www.bankunitedcenter.com.

Sound like the real fun might be outside?

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In the course of that discussion, questions were raised about the data the law school publishes in its Viewbook. In particular, commentators questioned the claim made there that the average starting salary for UM grads who work in firms is over $100,000. I wondered about that myself, as the breakout data later on the same page seemed to suggest something lower.

Could the law school have made a (convenient) error in the viewbook?

I took my concerns to the law school administration, who responded by giving me a full data dump and a full explanation. I don’t have the energy to try to type in all the data, so I’ll just try a simplified version of the explanation. [If you really have to have more, or have further questions, the Dean of Career Development, Marcy Cox, mcox@law.miami.edu (305-284-2668), says she’s happy to address them.]

According to Career Development Office, the reason why the both $104,500 number and the more detailed but somewhat different pie charts accompanying it are accurate has to do with response rates, differing data sets, and national reporting standards.

Since firm size and starting salary are related, you might reasonably object — as I did — that it would be more reasonable to pro-rate the responses of the people who gave salary data on the assumption that the people who didn’t fill in that part of the survey earned similar amounts by comparable firm size. And I still think there’s something to that. But I’m told by the Career Office — and I believe them — that the average salary data is presented the way it is because that’s how all law schools do it and the goal is to provide prospective students with numbers that can fairly be compared to what is provided by other law schools.

The Career Development Office avers that it collects the data and reports it in accordance with ABA and NALP guidelines, using the same methods that every other accredited law school in the country uses. Were the law school to do something else, the administration notes, it would no longer be reporting to students in the way it reports to the ABA and NALP. That would mean our data would have an asterisk. And even if we were doing it in order to provide better data the inevitable conclusion that most people would draw is that we were trying to hide something. So the Catch-22 is that we have to do it this way, possibly sacrificing some statistical excellence and even accuracy, or else we’ll look like we’re engaged in some sort of cover-up. And, of course, in addition to having an asterisk, we’d be harming our competitive position since we’d have gone to some trouble to calculate and report a lower number which would harm marketing and recruiting.

It seems to me that UM is between a rock and a hard place here. I would prefer that we use the best statistical techniques, pro-rate the data we have, and let the chips fall where they may. Following the national standards will, I believe, tend to cause this (and apparently almost every other) law school to report a number as “average” that is in fact likely to be higher than the reality. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, what UM — following a methodology its competitors use — reports as an “average” salary for graduates in firms, is most likely closer to what someone in the 75th percentile of the salary distribution gets. And given the law firm salary structure is now a notoriously double-humped curve (see Starting Salaries For Law Students are BiModal — If Not Bipolar for more details), this is a fairly severe truth-in-advertising problem.

Students nationally have some right to be upset. On the other hand, it seems pretty hard to ask UM to engage in unilateral disarmament in the recruitment wars: this is a job for the ABA or the AALS to resolve on a national level. (It also means that students thinking about a law career and hoping for the giant salaries offered by the biggest firms should really understand what that double-humped curve means to their prospects.)

Meanwhile, however, I’ve asked the Career Development Office to include something in the next edition of the Viewbook that makes clearer the relationship between the various data sets it uses. They’ve agreed in principle, and we’ll thrash out some language when time comes to do the next edition.

A bag of fishing chum was found near the mutilated corpse of an endangered crocodile on the UM campus.

BY CURTIS MORGAN

The butchered carcass of an endangered American crocodile was discovered Wednesday in a canal on the University of Miami campus.

A mesh bag with fishing chum found on the canal bank suggests the protected animal was lured to its death, then its head and tail were chopped off, said Officer Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

While large alligator heads are sometimes mounted as trophies, Pino said it would be pure speculation to guess at the reasons for the croc beheading.

Nobody’s safe around here?

Links to full (I think) discourse.net crocodile coverage:

* What’s Doing (Reptiles Dept.)
* Crocodile Reminder
* Fair Warning (Alligator Dept.)
* Crocodile Coincidence
* Croc II !
* Cold Front Flushes Out UM Croc
* What? A Croc?
* Crocodile Medallions French Style

Update: Forgot to say that “Croc Killer on the Loose” is better than “Killer Croc on the Loose”!

I’m going to miss it, because I will be in New York. On Friday I’ll be at Fordham Law for a seminar; on Monday I’ll be at Brooklyn Law giving a paper. Over the weekend, TKTS willing, I hope to catch a play. Suggestions for other cultural highlights welcomed.

This job is a pretty big deal to the school; the program is large and unusual, and the right person could forge a national reputation from it. The previous incumbent is now the President & CEO of NITA—the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

The University of Miami School of Law invites applications for the Director of the School’s Litigation Skills Program beginning fall of 2009. This is a tenure-track position. Appointment will be made at the associate or full professor level, depending on experience.

The School is interested in recruiting an individual with a proven record of achievement who will enhance the national reputation of this outstanding program. The Director should have extensive expertise and experience in trial practice and in teaching trial skills and a substantial record or a demonstrable interest in scholarship related to trial skills or related substantive areas.

The University of Miami School of Law Litigation Skills program is an award winning program that provides top quality simulation training in pre-trial and trial practice. Approximately 80 percent of the School’s students take the voluntary six-credit Litigation Skills I class. The Director designs skills problems, teaches litigation skills classes, and recruits, trains, and supervises the work of approximately 60 adjunct faculty. The adjunct faculty are leading practitioners and judges who work with students in small groups to develop their skills.

The Director also oversees the development of Litigation Skills II, a course for students who complete Litigation Skills I. Skills II includes advanced litigation matters such as jury selection, expert witnesses and multiparty or multi-claim lawsuits. Students who complete Skills I may also enhance their skills through a one-semester clinical placement (externship).

The Director supervises the Litigation Skills Program Manager and an Assistant to the Director. The Director works with clinical faculty to identify and coordinate externship placements with public agencies and public interest law offices. The Director develops and fosters relationships with the various agencies, courts, and firms from which Litigation Skills faculty are recruited and clinical externs are placed.

The Director should be prepared to teach one or more core courses on an annual or rotating basis, depending on the needs of the School and the scope of other responsibilities. In addition, the Director should be prepared to work with students to enhance the School’s efforts in inter-school skills competitions.

Interested persons should contact Professor Terence J. Anderson c/o Detra Davis, University of Miami School of Law, P.O. Box 248087, Coral Gables, FL 33124-8087 or ddavis@law.miami.edu.

All so very tasteful and revenue-enhancing, I’m sure. And so Florida. Although to be fair, there are lots of schools from both sunny and raininy states on that list…

(Spotted via Kieran Healy, A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.)

She’ll share the stage with Gen. Peter Pace, who’s getting a consolation prize for not being renominated as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (the administration was afraid to let Congress ask him hard questions). Also present will be Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the D.C. Circuit, long a linchpin of the very right-wing group on that court.

There will be a posthumous award to Representative Tom Lantos of California, a human rights champion who was also an early supporter (and, later, doubter) of the Iraq war.

On behalf of Dean Dennis Lynch, I write with great sadness to inform you that Professor Alan Swan died in a car accident this morning. His wife, Mary Jo, was also in the car and was seriously injured and is presently in intensive care. She is not able to take calls or receive visitors.

We do not have other details at the moment but will follow up as soon as we have other information.

Please keep the Swan family in your thoughts and prayers.

Seems that UM has found a money-maker. These:

Yes,

The University of Miami exports about 30,000 sea slugs yearly to researchers around the world, bringing in hundreds of thousands in revenue.

Hold the jokes, eh?

One is the “Advice to Graduates” given by someone with great experience of the legal system — usually but not always a senior lawyer or judge, sometimes a politician, once a reporter with extensive experience covering the Supreme Court.

The other is a student speaker, chosen from among self-selected applicants by a committee comprised of students, administrators, and the odd faculty member.

This year, the role of wise elder was played by Carolyn Lamm, one of our more distinguished alumni, who in addition to being a Partner at White & Case is also about to become the President-Elect of the ABA.

The student speaker this year was Christopher Lomax. He gave what is undoubtedly the best student speech I’ve heard in the 15 years I’ve been going to UM Law commencement exercises.

I’ve taken the liberty of reprinting it below. (As you might expect from a Moot Court champ, the delivery was excellent too.) You can also see the video — Mr. Lomax’s speech is towards the end at 1:48 in the web cast.

Good Afternoon. President Shalala, Dean Lynch, Distinguished Faculty and Administration, friends, family, and members of the class of 2008. I am honored at a level beyond belief to share these moments with you. These are the times in life that we relish. These are the moments fashioned with great anticipation. Yet, the final scene of a movie is only as good as the captivating moments that lead up to it.

August 22, 2005 was the first day that I met many of you. I recall that day because it was our first full day of class. Those of you in Sections B and C will recall that our day began at 8:00 a.m. in room 309, under the tutelage of the revered and feared Professor Anthony Alfieri. We had all been made aware of his execution styled questioning under the Socratic Method, and many of us cringed at the thought of being called on early in the semester. Well, I and my now dear friend Mindy Reinstein had the honor of being the first two people called on. Professor Alfieri told the class that Mindy and I were “On Trial”, which meant that we had to go stand at a podium in the back of the room and field questions. Mindy and I had never met, never spoken with each other, but we immediately formed a united front. Professor Alfieri looked up from his lectern and said; “Mr. Lomax, where does the law come from?”

I thought to myself, and a million possible answers crossed my mind; but none of them seemed to be something that I could acceptably utter to this man, clad in his immaculately tailored suit, with matching shoes and suspenders. So, I looked at Mindy, and she looked back at me with her eyebrows raised, as a silent indication of uncertainty. Eventually, I gave him what I believed what was an appropriate and intelligent response. But alas, he wasn’t satisfied; so if anyone out there knows where the law comes from please find me after this ceremony because I still owe that man an answer.

As you can see, we made it through that first day of class, and here we are some three years later.

Well, what have we learned? We have learned how to read cases and write law school exams. We’ve learned to use the bluebook, sub check law review articles, and draft legal briefs and memoranda. We’ve learned how to network and to forge lasting relationships with members of the legal community. We’ve learned how to conduct ourselves in job interviews. We’ve learned the trends of the United States Supreme Court, and the political ideologies of current and former Justices. We’ve learned terms like binding precedent, obitur dictum, res ipsa loquitor and stare decisis. We can eloquently discuss the implications of analyzing a statute under strict scrutiny as opposed to rational basis; and if we try hard enough, we may even figure out what Chevron deference actually means. All of these things are great, but what have WE learned, specifically as students at the University of Miami.

We learned to cope with the rigors of the first semester of law school while trying to survive through hurricanes Wilma, Rita, and Katrina. We learned to be civil, cordial, and benevolent to students from Tulane University School of Law, and Loyola Law School in New Orleans, when they were displaced during such a challenging time in their lives. We gave them our notes, we shared our outlines, we invited them into our homes, and we encouraged them when they had nothing to hold onto besides the enduring hope of attaining their law degrees. We admired them for their persistence and unwillingness to allow a Hurricane to thwart their dreams of becoming attorneys. The irony of life is that often times, the things that illicit the greatest challenges, are the catalysts for our greatest triumphs. A hurricane in New Orleans destroyed our colleagues’ homes and schools, but a group of Hurricanes, you guys, Miami Hurricanes gave them hope and an opportunity to overcome. And moments ago, several of them crossed this stage and received their law degree.

What else have we learned? We learned that one person’s success does not necessarily come at the expense of another’s failure. We have all had a measure of success, not because we’ve trampled one another in an effort to reach the front of the line. Rather because we have pushed one another towards that line in hopes that we would reach it together. I submit to you that each of us has reached that line, in some way, shape or form.

Be that in the spirit of winning a competition, booking a class, writing the best brief, securing a highly coveted clerkship, or landing a job with a large law firm. For some of you, like myself, the fact that you are here today defies all mathematical probability. Statistics say that many of you were not supposed to make it here today. And there has been a recent buzz on campus about rankings, another statistic; But I’ve come to tell you today that statistics aren’t everything. Allow me to share some statistics with you. For African American males born around 1983 like me, the statistics would tell you that there was a greater probability that I would be in jail or dead at the age of 25. But I stand before you alive and well, blood flowing warm through my veins, moments away from receiving a degree that means more to me than any statistic I’ve ever read. Statistics also say that a person like me, who LSAT score was average at best, would either not graduate, or graduate towards the bottom of the class. Today I’m graduating with honors. So, I’m glad that the University of Miami saw more than a statistic when they read my application. They gave me all I needed, and that was just a shot. And many of you were given the same.

The admissions committee saw at least some level of potential in this music major, raised in the inner city, with a dream of becoming a trial attorney. Well, admissions committee, I’m proud to say that I didn’t let you down. I have done my best to stay the course and be the best law student that I could be. I believe we all have. We worked hard and became members of the Moot Court Board. We tried our hands at writing a case note and were selected as candidates for law journals. We’ve represented our University at numerous competitions and have brought home trophy after trophy. As a class, we participated in Helping Others through Pro Bono Efforts; we sponsored toy drives, book drives, and we’ve tutored inner city youth. Many of you have served as a guardians at litem; others have worked on issues in immigration and child advocacy; some have even defended the health rights of individuals with HIV and AIDS. A group of you formed an organization called Lawful Productions and raised 37 thousands dollars to be donated to charity. You should all be commended.

Nevertheless, all of our victories and accomplishments won’t mean much if we don’t continue our pursuit of excellence with the same passion and fervor that you’ve all exemplified during these three wonderful years. Not every moment was easy. You stayed up late and woke up early. You sacrificed your weekends and you forced yourself to keep pushing even when fatigue objected. Your bodied wanted to sustain that objection at times, but your heart and your mind said “Objection Overruled.” What I’m talking to you about now is your uncommon relentlessness. They say that we are living in uncommon times. Uncommon times call for uncommon people to do uncommon things to achieve uncommon results. But, I believe in the notion that all times are uncommon. 1808 was uncommon to those who lived in the 1700. 1908 was uncommon to those who lived in the 1800 and the year 2008 is uncommon in its own right. If you don’t believe that, just go to the gas station. But, the tie that binds all times are the people that make the most of the time they spend here on Earth.

Like the Albanian Roman Catholic woman who experienced “The Call within the Call.” She responded to the call by birthing an organization called the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. At the time of her death, her organization was operating 610 missions in 123 countries. You know her as Mother Theresa.

Or that little boy from Atlanta, Georgia who went off to college at the age of 15, earned his Ph.D from Boston University, organized and led marches for blacks’ right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were successfully enacted into United States law with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We all know him as Martin Luther King, Jr.

And So: My charge to you is to find the greatness within yourself. Classmates, for three years, I have been amazed by your intelligence, your diverse backgrounds, and your willingness to learn from one another. It has been an honor and a privilege to sit next to you in class, to cheer with you at Hurricane football games, socializing with you every other Thursday at beer at the rat or at Tommy Wang’s Chinese New Year parties. I’m astounded by your potential and I look forward to witnessing thefruition of your greatness. So for those things, I thank you. And I ask you to remember me when one of you goes on to become the next President of the Florida Bar or follows in the footsteps of Mrs. Lamm in leading the American Bar Association. Or, when another one of you is appointed to the State or Federal Bench. Or when another one of you creates an organization for underprivileged youth. And in return, I pledge to never forget you. If I were to say the names of each person in this class that touched my life we would be here all day.

So, I encourage you to use these days to reflect upon all of the individuals who have touched you throughout your lives.

Thank you to all of the mothers out there who made us believe that we could do and be anything. Thank you to all of the fathers who have been there throughout the years, encouraging us to do our very best.

Thank you to all of the grandparents, for spoiling us during the summers.

To all of the sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles for your support and encouragement, we say thank you. We say thank you to all of the Friends, Partners, Spouses and Children who have always been a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear.

As I go to my seat, I congratulate you all and leave you with a spirit of encouragement. The World is depending on you. Go forward and walk with your heads held high. Play to win, but play the right way. Use your gifts and talents in an uncommon way, so that an uncommon reality will arise. We are an uncommon class, graduating from an uncommon University in an uncommon part of America; Where no language is common, but all languages are understood because the universal languages of acceptance, hope and understanding resound loudly above the words, and will reverberate from generation to generation.

Thank you, God Bless, and congratulations to the class of 2008.