National Jurist - September 2007 - (Page 11)

NEWS ing — both in and out of the classroom. “Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach,” by Benjamin Spencer, is an interactive casebook designed to appeal to visual and textual learners. It is published in both print and digital format, and 13 professors have already adopted the book and will be using it in the fall. Spencer, an associate professor of law at the University of Richmond School of Law, says the current approach to casebooks is becoming outdated. “I just think it’s a different time where students are able to take in information in a more interesting way,” he said. As a student in Arthur Miller’s civil procedure class at Harvard Law School, Spencer said he wasn’t drawn to the massive amounts of un-shaded text. As a professor, he noticed his students weren’t either. The textbook uses color text, instead of the traditional black and white, and includes visuals in both the text and online version. It provides a highly readable layout, including call-out boxes, colored diagrams and segregated feature sections. Each includes an electronic version, which includes hyperlinks to the full text of cases, statutes and regulatory material. Litigation diagrams and “Food for Thought” breakouts in the print version will address key points in cases and address questions that may come up in class. Spencer said the approach is something we’ll definitely see more of in the future. T h o m s o n We s t , which is publishing the book, has made the casebook a series. Capri Miller, a third year Richmond law student who reviewed the textbook, agrees. “This text makes it more accessible to understand and easier for students to work harder,” she said. “It’s always good to have a concise resource to go to.” Miller said while it does make it easier to access information, it starts teaching students to look for information. “I’m not trying to trick people,” Spencer said. “I’m trying to be clear and I want the students to learn. This saves time for students to focus on what matters.” —Michelle Weyenberg action] policy prohibits this,” according to an Associated Press article. Casey Mattox, litigation counsel for the society’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom, said schools are starting to get the message that they can’t exclude Christian organizations from campus. Mattox said sometimes information isn’t made clear in school policies, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the lawsuits didn’t go away. —Michelle Weyenberg Southern Illinois settles lawsuit with Christian Legal Society Southern Illinois University settled a lawsuit brought by a Christian group whose student organization status was revoked because members must pledge to follow a “Statement of Faith,” including barring individuals who engage in homosexual conduct. The Christian Legal Society sued the Carbondale, Ill. school in 2005 after school officials said the society’s requirements violated the school’s affirmative action and Board of Trustees policies, said Rod Sievers, SIU media relations assistant to the chancellor. The settlement announcement by the Chicago U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that SIU’s law school should reinstate the Christian group to student organization status. The ruling reversed a district court judge’s 2005 decision. Peter Alexander, dean and professor of law at SIU, said the group b ro u g h t t h e c h a p t e r requirements to his attention. But the incident did not affect the dayto-day operations of the school, he said. The school reinstated CLS before the settlement was reached. The agreement, which includes establishing a $10,000 scholarship fund for the society, allows anyone to attend the meetings, though they may not fit the requirements to be a voting party, Sievers said. The appeals court found that the group’s membership policies were based on belief and behavior rather than status, and no language in SIU’s [affirmative September 2007 THE NATIONAL JURIST 11 Ave Maria law professors protest school’s move A group of law professors are objecting to Ave Maria School of Law’s decision to move its facilities from its current location in Ann Arbor, Mich., to a rural Southwest Florida town by 2009. Part of the group’s concerns are that the law school would be better served by staying in its urban location rather than moving to Ave Maria, Fla., which was cofounded and funded largely by Catholic multimillionaire Tom Monaghan. Calling themselves the Association of Ave Maria Faculty, the group has taken its concerns public, posting letters online and talking with media outlets. “There are all sorts of reasons why one would find it imprudent to leave a wellpopulated area, where a law school has made valuable contacts with the profession and for its students over the last seven years, to move 1,300 miles to a new and untested community, isolated from most of the kinds of social networks in which legal communities thrive,” the Association said in an April 30 statement posted on Catholic legal theory Web site Mirror of Justice. The move is only one of the issues facing Ave Maria’s law school, the dissenting faculty said in their April letter. They also disagree with the administration’s decisions on faculty hiring as well as the leadership of Dean Bernard Dobranski. Dobranski has said he believes the move will benefit students and faculty alike. He also believes the Florida community will benefit from having a law school in the area. —Karen Dybis

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of National Jurist - September 2007

National Jurist - September 2007 Contents Free Speech Disturbing the Peace For the Record Judge Approves $49 million BAR/BRI Settlement Law School Causes Emotional Stress, Study Finds New Textbook Breaks the Mold Southern Illinois Settles Lawsuit with Christian Legal Society Ave Maria Law Professors Protest School’s Move The Firm Report Student Hoax Shuts Down Hastings Law NCCU Grad Expands Her Program for Troubled Kids Hawaii Grad Finds Excitement in Saving Whales Diversity Hampering Whittier Accreditation? The Paper Chase Chronicles The Supreme Court: An Insider’s View Detroit Mercy’s Innovative Changes Pay Off Career Hotline The J.D. Files

National Jurist - September 2007

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