Res Ipsa Blog

Early last week, I wrote a post about the CCRAA loan forgiveness program in which I noted that it was still unclear whether loan forgiveness under the CCRAA would trigger tax liability. Paul Caron of the TaxProf Blog reported on Friday that the IRS handed down Rev. Rul. 2008-34 "which clarifies that law school public interest loan forgiveness programs qualify for the § 108(f) exception (and, as a result, students need not report the forgiven interest as discharge of indebtedness income). " ... Read More

With more and more attorneys adopting Macs throughout their offices every day and the business world raving about the cost effectiveness of Mac OS X, today Macs are an accepted and feasible alternative to Windows in the legal community. Having recently made the switch to a Mac myself, I've put together a list of the top ten free Max OS X programs that made switching from a PC to a Mac a breeze. 1. Quicksilver Quicksilver is a program launcher that uses simple commands ... Read More

According to the ABA, 87% of law students borrow money for their law school education. The average law student at a private school graduates with over $83,000 in student debt, while those who graduate from public schools have, on average, over $54,000 in debt. In 2007, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) was signed into law by President Bush. (Public Law 110-084). The CCRAA provides for the forgiveness of federal student loans after i) 10 years of public service work, or ... Read More

Today, the Supreme Court decided Boumediene v. Bush, affirming that terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to file habeas petitions in federal courts. The case arose from a habeas petition made on behalf of Lakhdar Boumedine who was being held as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay. Majority: Kennedy, Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg, and Souter Dissent: Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito Full-length opinion. Sources: Reuters, SCOTUSblog More information: Oyez, SCOTUSwiki: amicus briefs Boumediene: a lesson in drafting dissents. Oral Arguments Read More

A low average cost of education doesn't always translate to less debt on graduation. For example, although SMU has the highest average cost of education of all law schools in Texas, graduates from SMU carry less debt on average than graduates at Baylor and St. Mary's. Similarly, Texas Wesleyan has the third highest cost of education, yet Wesleyan graduates have the second lowest average debt. Meanwhile St. Mary's, which has the fourth lowest average cost of education, has the highest average debt ... Read More

University of Texas law students, on average, get the most bang for their law school buck. There are only two other schools in Texas where students make more in their first year than they spend in law school: the University of Houston and Texas Tech. At the other end of the spectrum, Baylor and Texas Wesleyan graduates have to work for nearly two years before they can recoup their law school expenses. The cost/earnings ratio (C/E ratio) reflects how much every dollar earned ... Read More

Continuing on the theme of whether going to law school is worth it, here is a look at the average starting salaries for Texas law school graduates, as originally published by The Princeton Review Best 170 Law Schools, 2008 Edition. (The average starting salary for Texas Southern graduates was not included in the article.)   Law School Average Starting Salary Texas Wesleyan University School of Law $57,497 St. Mary's University School of ... Read More

In response to my survey of starting salaries for entry level positions at district attorney's offices around Texas, one of my readers wrote in asking whether it was worth going through three years of law school to become a prosecutor. I'm posting my answer here so that others can add their thoughts and comments on the subject. First off, congratulations on getting into law school. You are in for the ride of your life! To answer your question on whether it's worth becoming a ... Read More

The Texas Supreme Court upheld the court of appeals decision, agreeing that the removal of the FLDS children was not warranted. The Court pointed out that there are numerous measures available to the district court to protect the children short of separating them from their parents, such as issuing temporary restraining orders, or removing the alleged perpetrators. The full opinion is available here. Read More

The new iPhone is set to be unveiled in less than two weeks. Here are the top new features of the second generation iPhone: 1. Browse Westlaw and Lexis Faster: 3G Connectivity The new iPhone will run on a "3G" or third-generation network. While that translates to speeds of up to 42 Mbps, (think ten times faster than DSL or Cable), here in the United States, we likely see only a fraction of that. Initially, we will see speeds approaching the speed of your ... Read More