Top Law Schools

I was considering Pepperdine, but now news comes down that Ken Starr is leaving. While I'm not particularly drawn to the individual myself, I am under the understanding that, as a law school, Pepperdine was more or less a non-player before he got there. Any takes?

I am pretty sure that faculty quality is more important than dean quality. Schools are usually measured by the quality of their research, and deans are just administrators, not researchers.

all your presidents are belong to us!

I understand, but it seems like, especially given what happened at UCI, faculty is pretty willing to follow the big name around. I'm not really asking if his singular departure spells doom, but more if people see a school that wasn't even in the top 100 eight years ago unraveling, or holding itself together in the long term. I'm looking at Southern California schools only, and UCLA is out. Pepperdine seemed like a sweet spot for me to not only get a quality education, but also to get some major help paying for it.

Have other schools weathered similar transitions, or do you think we'll have to see who replaces him before we know?

Fark-o-vision wrote:I understand, but it seems like, especially given what happened at UCI, faculty is pretty willing to follow the big name around. I'm not really asking if his singular departure spells doom, but more if people see a school that wasn't even in the top 100 eight years ago unraveling, or holding itself together in the long term. I'm looking at Southern California schools only, and UCLA is out. Pepperdine seemed like a sweet spot for me to not only get a quality education, but also to get some major help paying for it.

Have other schools weathered similar transitions, or do you think we'll have to see who replaces him before we know?

Yeah, but is Starr really comparable to Chemerinsky? Chem is a top academic scholar, whereas Starr is noted for his government work. I don't think Starr brought much to Pepperdine other than a 'big name' and a conservative slant.

I think you are reading too much into this...I highly doubt Pepperdine's top faculty are going to flee now that Kenneth Starr is leaving. For me, the dean of whatever school I was considering was not even close to a relevant factor in making my choice.

Starr's best skills at Pepperdine were raising money and opening doors. The major donors he brought such as a million for the Nootbar Institute aren't going anywhere even though he is. With a celebrity-type dean such as Starr you never knew when they would leave so he, or the school, made sure other admins always went with him to seduce donors and alumni so the contacts didn't just end when he inevitably left. And, like anywhere else, the doors he's opened with government and the private sector will remain open so long as the students continue do well as interns/externs.

He was a great dean but I don't know why ken starr would be the primary (or even substantial reason?) for why you would want to go pepp.

Oh and I would argue, as Sweat did, that Starr and Chemerinsky are opposites. Starr as smart as he is, doesn't get respect from academics, who said vote in USNews, but he is well known to lay people, whereas Chemerinsky would be the reverse.

Fark-o-vision wrote:I was considering Pepperdine, but now news comes down that Ken Starr is leaving. While I'm not particularly drawn to the individual myself, I am under the understanding that, as a law school, Pepperdine was more or less a non-player before he got there. Any takes?

This could be the best news for Pepperdine in years. This alone won't make people start taking them seriously, but it could eventually lead to that happening, someday.

vanwinkle wrote:

Fark-o-vision wrote:I was considering Pepperdine, but now news comes down that Ken Starr is leaving. While I'm not particularly drawn to the individual myself, I am under the understanding that, as a law school, Pepperdine was more or less a non-player before he got there. Any takes?

This could be the best news for Pepperdine in years. This alone won't make people start taking them seriously, but it could eventually lead to that happening, someday.

It is still Jesus Camp - the law years.

vanwinkle wrote:

Fark-o-vision wrote:I was considering Pepperdine, but now news comes down that Ken Starr is leaving. While I'm not particularly drawn to the individual myself, I am under the understanding that, as a law school, Pepperdine was more or less a non-player before he got there. Any takes?

This could be the best news for Pepperdine in years. This alone won't make people start taking them seriously, but it could eventually lead to that happening, someday.

I've never understood how Pepperdine received the incredible rankings rise it took in the last few years. If you look at the CA Bar info, Pepperdine has historically placed WELL behind Loyola and USD in the SoCal market. That being said, I still think it's a good school, regardless of the Dean in place at the time. I just don't understand why it's ranked so much higher.