Free WiFi. I’ll keep this going for the next 3 hours as long S the WiFi stays running and unless they start offering free mimosas

We asked for them to consider different remedies. The more I talk about it, the less likely it will be considered, but they did say they would potentially reconsider with our thoughts, that there is a “committee” (which generally means some highest level person makes the decision but perhaps there is one). That’s all I can report other than I will keep everyone updated and hope it helps!

- Mike Spivey

I think some will like this, but I’m not LSAC or an applicant so who knows. To be clear LSAC created the bind they are in and this would get them out of that bind, so I'm trying to put myself in their shoes to see what they do next.

I’d allow applicants to opt in/opt out for the next year or several years and announce a date down the road where a set policy in enacted, versus in the cover of darkness random email on a random day like they just sent out to start this mess.

What this does for applicants is pretty obviously helpful; if your dual credit lowers your gpa you opt out, if they raise you opt in. Schools likely won’t mind this either.

But the reason LSAC would like this is because it removes all of their potential liability issues that they created. So problem solved.

Thoughts?

- Mike Spivey

With the test now going in person there’s hope that score holds will be greatly reduced. One can hope — I’ve seen these indefinite-feeling holds crush people’s cycles and in many cases, understandably, really harm them psychologically. It feels like you are in a court room being accused of something you didn’t do.

Which brings me to the following. Why does LSAC ask the following for those whose scores have been held? This is the kind of question you would be subjected to in a deposition of all things — why do they reserve the right to ask it? Does anyone have any theories? I do and while some are at the margins understandable, eg maybe someone cheated responds “oh I used www.rednotescheating.com” I have other guesses that are much less charitable and I see a lot of bad things in this ask.

“How did you prepare for the LSAT?
a Did you use a test preparation company or tutoring service? If so, which one(s) and who was the specific tutor?”

Edit update. Here’s a bit more on this — the hope being competition in the market (and going in person, etc) leads to less score holds and a more natural test score distraction ie less score inflation.

I liked the action by, delivery, slow build to where things 2022 coalesce and thought the spy craft was exceptionally nuanced and well done. So all of that would be great but I don’t require the CIA/spycraft backdrop which would be great Ana as much as I liked it, just foundationaly the other elements.

So for example I loved Paradiae for similar reasons.

Any shows like this people on here with similar taste would recommend?

*Edit update. I should add I had former CIA Director General David Petreaus on my podcast and asked him which movies and books were most realistic. Happy to share the link in the comments and the minute mark where he gives several books and a movie if anyone wants

We’ve already seen a new change, from HLS:

"Statement of Perspective: How have your past experiences shaped the person you are today? How will those experiences inform your engagement in your law school community?"

Two things of note. If you’re reapplying to a school make sure to read carefully each prompt: they may look the same but be different.

Importantly if you are applying this coming cycle — it’s just another reason to realize there is a strategy for going slow right now that is solid. Every year we see people complete past year’s essays, only to have to redo their entire application because the schools applications change.

You can’t even submit until late August or early September and some schools don’t start reading applications until December or January. No reason to rush at this stage .

I how this helps!

Mike Spivey

I detail the case in my LinkedIn.

For everyone here I’ll add what you want is a remedy to CAS fees, if there is a ruling for the plantiff. That may happen, or they may just settle with only a settlement fee, or they may prevail (my instincts are this ends with a settlement).

There’s a Stipulated Protective Order which basically means we won’t learn anything more. And the court date is set for 2028. It’ll be slow at first, when you see these kind of antitrust cases you see ridiculous arguments at time, a possible example would be LSAC’s lawyers saying “our client could be charging a lot more but they are not.”
So who knows what they will say but it will be slow, of that I’m nearly certain of.

One more thing to note: this is a jury trial if it goes to court. I think that is not good for LSAC, as if I’m the plaintiff I’m highlighting the non-profit status of LSAC to a bunch of people in Philadelphia who pay their taxes. So again, if I had to guess and I’m completely guessing — this will end in a settlement. But not anytime soon

- Mike Spivey

Tuesday AM I’m podcasting with Dr. Milana Hogan who leads Sullivan and Cromwell’s global hiring, as well as a former BigLaw hiring partner who then became a midlaw managing partner. So hopefully we can cover a relatively wide range of hiring questions if anyone has questions I’m happy to try to work some into the the podcast.

To talk about the upcoming changes in August, how they might affect test taking, difficult, score distribution and cheating.

Crowdsourcing who you’d suggest I invite — feel free to suggest names in comments. Thanks all!

On a flight with nothing to do and I was reminded of a story that I think is relevant for any with an interview this cycle and next.

When I was an assistant dean at a law school I had a research intern who was one of my best student interns ever. He went to Michigan undergrad, had a great resume, tremendous work ethic, was curious and a charismatic personality. The kind of person that should shine in interviews. And he did, he got a bunch of offers after OCI, except for his dream firm. For whatever reason he had this intense desire to work with Gibson Dunn, which is by chance the firm I use and have deep connections to (I’ve interviewed their global M&A chair and global lit chair on our podcast as well as a new associate if your curious about what BigLaw lawyers do as partners or associates)

So I was able to get feedback on his interview. The concern for the firm was he was too intense during the interview. He spoke fast, told them over and over how much he wanted Gibson. He wasn’t himself.

How does this relate to law admissions? More so than ever in my career, interviews can make or break an admission decision as they track with employability out of law school more than gpa and LSAT (to be fair LSAT tracks with bar passage which tracks with employability and schools still start with target medians before they get to interviews). And I have seen so many times the exact same story as above play out in admissions. A great applicant who crushes all of their interviews except the one school they most want to go to. We don’t get feedback from the admissions offices like I did with Gibson but what I’d say there is a take away and I’ll tl:dr it since this is a long post for me.

Just be yourself. You don’t have to be extra special for any school. You don’t have to try harder. You don’t have to paint your room the color of the school (an applicant did that many years ago for NU, he painted his office purple). Certainly prepare for each school and know their style and what may be coming at you, but don’t slam down 5 monster energy drinks for one school when you haven’t done that for the others. I know this is easier said than done, and you definitely can tell your top school they are your top school. But you only need to once. Sometimes when people want something so badly they change their normal style. If your normal self is working in the process, stick with your normal self. Don’t overthink just let yourself shine like you have for everyone else.

I hope this helps some.

Mike Spivey

Hi all,

Here are some thoughts and observations that I hope are helpful.

1. If someone were to go to LSD and compare the aggregate number of WL admits today versus this time last year, I'd bet there are more this cycle versus last. Is that helpful? Directionally maybe it is, but what you'd really want to know is what % of WL A's versus # of people WL'd which would be much more work to compute accurately, and the more you want to get out of LSD the more is breaks down because it's a smallish, self-reported slice of the real applicant pool.
2. That said, I'll click on the first part (1) again. I have internal data that while smaller than LSD, is 100% accurate there's no false reporting. Our internal data shows there's been more WL admits this cycle as of yesterday than last year. This comes as zero surprise as it's been an incredibly slow cycle. I've done two TikTok's in the last 3 weeks before there was a single WL admit saying we'd see a number of WL admits and we're starting to see that. We knew it because of under admitting. In fact, I'm pretty sure some of you all had similar observations months ago -- the slowness has meant there has to be more admits. It's going to continue. Again, to be sure, this doesn't mean it's been or will be easier to get a WL admit because proportionality matters, but it negates these few doomsday posts that "there won't be any WL movement the year." There is going to be a lot.

Speaking of, a bit on schools that say they are full.

(3) No school can predict their yield, especially this year. So while a school may be full right now, that doesn't mean they won't make WL admits. If I had to guess 99% of school this year will make WL admits. Full now doesn't mean full all summer because melting occurs for just about everyone. Yale, per secondhand info from applicants, has twice said they plan to make 10-15 WL admits. HLS seems to have WL needs. These schools at the top all trickle down to every school when the schools at the top start taking off the WL. It's classic domino WL movement and we'll see it this cycle.

(4) Also, the schools at the top *may* have more WL needs than past data would show because yield may be lower due to the loan changes. TBD but I'm guessing this is real.

I'd avoid sweeping generalizations from this post or any post because we are just now getting into WL season, and it will run May to early Sept. But if I'm sure of one thing it is that in 27 years of doing this almost all schools have to use the WL, and that will be true this cycle as well. How much as a % of the overall number of WL admits they make? II have no idea and anyone that claims to is overstating their ability to time travel a few months into the future. But I do know we are going to see a lot more WL admits, and quite possibly WL admits from schools that currently have no need.

I hope this helps!

Mike Spivey