Contact Attorney Richard Keyt: 480-664-7478|rk@keytlaw.com

Law School Dean Resigns With Harsh Criticism For Tuition Increases

ABA Journal:  The dean of the University of Baltimore’s law school has agreed to resign, but he’s not going quietly.

The dean, Phillip Closius, emailed a resignation letter to the law school community on Friday that aired his differences with university officials, Above the Law and the Baltimore Sun report. In particular, Closius criticized law school tuition increases that benefit the university rather than his students.

For the most recent academic year, Closius said, a law school tuition increase generated nearly $1.5 million, but the school of law budget increased by only about $81,000. In all, the university retained about 45 percent of the money generated by law tuition, fees and state subsidies for the year, he said.

Governor’s Immigration Countersuit Faces Tough Battle

AZCentral:  A federal countersuit filed by Gov. Jan Brewer alleging that the federal government is failing to secure the border from an “invasion” appears to be on shaky ground.

The suit, which was filed in connection with the federal suit over Senate Bill 1070, got its first day in court Thursday as attorneys for the state defended it from a U.S. Department of Justice motion to dismiss.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton will issue a ruling at a later date, but she made it clear she was leaning toward dismissing at least some of the state’s allegations.

 

Expect To Give A DNA Sample If You Get Arrested By The Feds

ABA Journal: An en banc federal appeals court has upheld a law authorizing the collection of DNA samples from all federal arrestees.

In an 8-6 decision, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that routinely collecting DNA samples from arrestees for a national database does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Legal Intelligencer covered the decision (PDF).

“DNA profiling is simply a more precise method of ascertaining identity and is thus akin to fingerprinting, which has long been accepted as part of routine booking procedures,” the majority opinion said.

ABA Changes Law School Reporting on Graduates’ Employment

ABA Journal:  It’s official: The ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has approved changes to its annual law school questionnaire to include more employment and placement information about graduates.

The changes, recommended last month by the council’s questionnaire committee, were announced in a press release by the section Wednesday.

The section said in a statement (PDF) that it believes the new information will bring additional transparency to the data reporting system it uses and provide useful information to assist prospective students and graduates in making career decisions.

Mortgage Assignments Must Now Be Filed With County Before Foreclosure

ABA Journal: Calling for an end to a controversial practice, the Virginia-based company that owns Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) has announced a change in its rules that apparently would require mortgage loan services to follow longstanding property law principles.

They are no longer to file foreclosure actions in the name of MERS, a subsidiary of Merscorp Inc. of Reston, Va., and are to obtain and record mortgage assignments with county clerks before suing, reports Reuters.

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