Law schools

The Economist reports how some US law schools, such as the University of Virginia (UVA) and George Washington University, have managed to boost their placement statistics to up to 97.5 per cent, despite a continuing terrible economy for US law graduates. The secret, apparently, is that the law schools pay graduates a salary to work in NGOs or the like, boosting their rank in US News' law school league tables [The Economist (porous paywall)]

NUJS Kolkata vice chancellor Ishwara Bhatt announced at the law school's convocation that its guidelines to protect of interns from sexual harassment would be published on its website soon, reported the Telegraph.

The report added that Bhatt promised that if an intern’s employer does not take action against a harasser on receiving a complaint of sexual harassment from the university, the university will “help the intern in a suitable way”.

The report stated that the policy follows sexual harassment allegations by former NUJS students against ex-Supreme Court Justice AK Ganguly, and "another Supreme Court judge", whose name the paper did not specify.

Newspapers reported in January that one of former Justice Swatanter Kumar's NUJS interns, while he was still a sitting judge, alleged that the judge sexually harassed her. Kumar has filed a defamation suit against several newspapers, which will next get heard on 19 May, obtaining a temporary and partial restriction on media reporting the allegations against him without also stating that they are mere allegations.

GNLU Gandhinagar director Dr Bimal Patel will continue as the law school’s director for another five years, according to a press release which stated that GNLU’s general council had renewed his term that had expired in November.

The long-awaited report by the GNLU Gandhinagar review commission's third member, has completed his review of the college, with vice chancellor Bimal Patel announcing a press conference about its findings tomorrow.

The Rajasthan high court on Friday issued notice to all national law universities part of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) core committee, the Bar Council of India and CLAT 2014 convenor GNLU Gandhinagar, in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed for transparency in the exam’s answering process.

Former Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Prof BC Nirmal has today joined NUSRL Ranchi as vice chancellor, almost five months after the last VC demitted office.

A Right to Information (RTI) response confirmed that the vice chancellor (VC) Prof Ishwara Bhatt claimed that he rejected interviewing an academic candidate via Skype because candidates would have to give a demonstration class, which has been contradicted by the former VC Prof MP Singh and college sources.

Former Luthra & Luthra Delhi corporate partner Anil Kumar Rai will be joining NLU Delhi as a visiting professor.

NUJS Kolkata students have been collecting evidence of possible administrative malfunctioning at the university...

Professor Venkat Rao has been re-elected as NLSIU Bangalore vice chancellor (VC) for another term of five years.

A Right to Information request to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed that 117 Indian prisoners are languishing in foreign jails even after completion of their prison sentence.

NUJS Kolkata alumni have launched an online petition calling on the university’s chancellor to set up a review commission and inquire into, review and remedy falling standards of the law school.

Nalsar Hyderabad girl students stand vindicated after the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) fined Sakshi TV Rs 1 lakh for broadcasting a “flawed, one-sided and misleading story” on them when they filmed them outside a local pub in April, reported Gulte.

The students had slammed it as voyeuristic reporting after they were filmed without their consent by the news channel, owned by Congress politician YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the footage was edited into allegedly defamatory broadcasts.

The channel had aired the broadcasts with comment on the girls’ attire and alleged inebriation, saying it was culturally demeaning.

The decision was one of several decisions by the NBSA against TV channels, according to MediaMughals.

ILS Pune first year student Saumitra Dhoble, aged 19, allegedly committed suicide on Saturday after declaration of exam results in which he failed two papers.

His body was discovered hanging from the ceiling fan in his room at his residence by his father, during vacations from the law school, reported the Indian Express.

Several students of the law school later complained to the principal Vaijyanti Joshi about the problem of repeated faulty evaluation of exam papers at Pune University.

Shamnad Basheer, the ministry of HRD chair professor in intellectual property law at NUJS Kolkata, has resigned after losing trust in vice chancellor (VC) Prof Ishwara Bhat.