October 2005
Dean Heidi M. Hurd
David C. Baum Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy
Co-Director of the Program in Law and Philosophy
Telephone (217) 333-9857
hhurd@law.uiuc.edu
Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Campus Administrators, and Friends,
Plato once said that "a good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers." Mason Cooley lamented that "pity drowns in numbers." Hunter Thompson disparaged those who are "slothful about numbers, unless they're attached to dollar signs," and sardonically dismissed those like "journalists, quarterbacks, and felony criminal defendants, who tend to be keenly aware of numbers at all times." Samuel Johnson reminded us that "round numbers are always false," and the Italian philosopher Vico wrote: "The nature of our civilized minds is so . . . spiritualized in the use of numbers, because even the vulgar know how to count and reckon, that it is naturally beyond our power to form the vast image of this mistress called 'Sympathetic Nature'."
Yet for all the distrust that numbers might merit--for all the fear we should have that attentiveness to statistics numbs the personal, the relational, the spiritual--sometimes numbers outstrip words in their clarity. And sometimes, what they make clear deserves our respect and merits our pride. This month, as we absorbed displaced students from New Orleans into the fabric of our community and witnessed tremendous displays of selflessness and generosity by faculty members who taught make-up classes, students and staff who made life-reconstituting donations, and alumni who leapt to support the tuition waivers we extended to those who made their way to Illinois, we also began the annual task of gathering information for our Fall reports to the American Bar Association and the College's Board of Visitors. And that task revealed a set of numbers I thought I would substitute this month for my usual text.
Illinois Law By the Numbers:
# 1 in Diversity: Illinois ranks first in student diversity within the Big Ten Conference and among the state's law schools. 36.8% of the total student body is comprised of students of color! Illinois has a 7% lead on second-place Northwestern and no one else in the Big Ten Conference is within 10% of our percentage of minority students.
# 7 in Faculty Productivity: Illinois ranks seventh in the nation in faculty productivity, as measured by the number of downloads from the Social Sciences Research Network, averaging nearly 3 papers per faculty member in 2004-2005.
# 8 among Public Law Schools: Among public university law schools, Illinois ranks eighth in the nation (U.S. News and World Report 2005).
# 8 in Bar Passage Rate: Illinois' graduates rank eighth in the nation for both their overall and by-jurisdiction bar passage rate (U.S. News and World Report 2005).
# 9 Faculty Member for SSRN Downloads: Professor Larry Ribstein submitted 31 papers last year to the Social Sciences Research Network with a download average of 266 per paper, putting him in the most productive category of SSRN contributors (those who submit over 30 papers in a single year), and making him ninth in the nation for downloaded articles in law.
# 10 in Total Faculty Submissions to SSRN: The College's faculty is tenth in the nation in its overall submission of articles to the Social Sciences Research Network, having submitted 181 papers last year to the network.
# 10 Faculty Member for SSRN Downloads: Professor Larry Solum is the 10th most SSRN-downloaded professor in America within the category of those who submitted 10-20 papers in the last year, with an average of 789 downloads per paper. As a result of his high-profile work, Professor Solum was nominated as one of the nation's Top 20 most influential and important legal thinkers in 2004 by Legal Affairs Magazine.
# 10 Faculty Member for SSRN Downloads in Tax Law: Professor Richard Kaplan is the 10th most SSRN-downloaded tax professor in America.
# 14 for Total SSRN Downloads: Illinois' faculty ranks 14th in the nation for total SSRN downloads, averaging 212 downloads per paper.
# 14 in Library Quality: Illinois' Jenner Law Library ranks 14th within the nation's top academic law libraries with 730,000 volumes.
# 17 in Top-50 Law Firm Hiring: Illinois ranks seventeenth in the nation for its ability to place its graduates in top-50 law firms, with 18% of last year's graduates joining the nation's top-50 firms (The National Law Journal, September 2005 issue).
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99.5%: The employment rate for the Class of 2004.
91.2%: The bar passage rate for the Class of 2004.
58%: The percentage of the Class of 2004 who went into private practice. 13% went into government and public service; 13% took judicial clerkships; 12% joined corporations and businesses; and 4% took academic positions.
42%: The percentage of tenured/tenure track Illinois law faculty who hold advanced degrees in other fields, including business, economics, electrical and computer engineering, history, journalism, medicine, microbiology, philosophy, political science, and psychology. 11% of the College's current students hold advanced degrees in other fields.
32%: The percentage increase in alumni giving to the Law School Annual Fund from FY2003 to FY2005.
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7,482,632: The number of "new gift" dollars (current use and deferred) recorded last year to support student scholarships, faculty research, and programs.
3,500: The number of daily visitors to two of the nation's most influential law-related blogs -- Professor Larry Solum's Legal Theory Blog and Professor Larry Ribstein's Ideoblog.
1,372: The number of cases handled by the Civil Litigation, Employee Justice, and Transactions and Community Economic Development Clinics during the past decade.
1,000: The number of dollars collected through the Student Bar Association and a 1L fund-raiser to give to the four displaced law students and their families who arrived in Champaign after Hurricane Katrina displaced them from their studies at Tulane and Loyola. Students, staff, and faculty also provided temporary housing, food, clothing, household goods, diapers and other baby items, and even business attire for a Moot Court competition that one of the arriving students joined.
166: The LSAT median score of this year's entering 1L class (reflecting a 3-point median increase in a single year!), which positions the class within the nation's 95th percentile and puts the College among the nation's top 15 law schools in terms of this indicator of student quality.
34: The number of active student organizations at the College of Law.
20: The number of student organizations at the College of Law that conducted one or more public service projects last year. For example, the Christian Law Students Association held an Angel Tree gift drive, the Asian American Law Students held a Tsunami Relief fund-raiser, and the Military Law Society created care packages for deployed service men and women.
20: The number of endowed faculty chairs and professorships (current use and deferred) at the College of Law, thanks to the generosity of 20 very special individuals, couples, and families.
17: The number of countries represented by this year's class of international LL.M. and exchange students, including Argentina, Belgium, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
12/1: The College's student/faculty ratio, which places the College among the nation's top 15 law schools in terms of this important indicator of quality (U.S. News and World Report 2005).
10: The number of specialty programs within the College of Law, including the Jon David and Elizabeth A. Epstein Health Care Law and Policy Program and the Programs in Asian Law Politics and Society, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, Elder Law, Intellectual Property Law, Comparative Labor and Employment Law and Policy, Law and Economics, Law and Philosophy, Legal History, and Sports Law.
9: The number of new tenured/tenure-track faculty hires made in the last two years, including seven high-profile lateral appointments and two acclaimed entry-level appointments--Ralph Brubaker (from Emory), Lee Fennell (from Texas), David Hyman (from Maryland), Patrick Keenan (beginning his career at Illinois), Jennifer Robbenolt (from Missouri-Columbia), Richard Ross (from Wisconsin), Jacqueline Ross (from John Marshall), Larry Solum (from San Diego), and Ekow Yankah (beginning his career at Illinois).
5: The number of days (Friday 9/2 through Tuesday 9/5) between the inception of a plan to absorb up to ten victims of Hurricane Katrina and the enrollment and make-up instruction of four students from New Orleans' Loyola and Tulane Law Schools. J.D. students, Rahul Kulkarni (Tulane), Luke Wilson (Tulane), and Amanda Wingfield (Loyola), and LL.M. student (Tulane), Reshma Paranjape (a native of Baroda, India, who arrived with her husband and two-year old daughter) collected books and class notes and were back in class within hours of arrival. The College of Law has waived tuition for these students so as to allow the Tulane and Loyola law schools to devote these students' already-paid tuition to the task of rebuilding, and the campus is providing them with free housing.
2: The number of moving vans required to transport the donations of clothing, food, household goods, appliances, and medical supplies that were inspired by the Black Law Students Association's Hurricane Katrina Drive and shipped to Houston by the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Decatur and the Webber Street Church of Urbana.
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As these numbers reveal, the success with which the College of Law competes
at the highest levels of excellence co-exists with a culture of service that
belies the claim that an attention to numbers is inconsistent with a "Sympathetic
Nature." This harmony between ambition and empathy, service and success,
is one of the hallmark features of this very special law school and is at the
heart of the reason why people of diverse ideals, interests, and backgrounds
find fulfillment within its community.
Sincerely,
Heidi M. Hurd
P.S. Please join us during the month of October for the events listed below, including most especially the Baum Lecture by Columbia Law Professor Kent Greenawalt on October 5, entitled "Objections in Conscience to Medical Procedures: Does Religion Make a Difference?", the Vacketta-DLA Piper Lecture by Senator George J. Mitchell on October 20th, entitled "America's Role in the World in the 21st Century," and the end-of-the-month Homecoming festivities.
Calendar of College of Law Events
October 2005
October 3, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Room A: "Successful Cover Letters". A program for students on the topic of drafting successful cover letters. Presented by Career Services. For more information contact Kelly Griffith at 217-244-8663 or kgriff@law.uiuc.edu.
October 4, 7:00 p.m., Room D: Social Justice Film Festival: "Dirty Pretty Things." All are invited to join the College of Law community to view a film and discuss various social justice issues. Professor Patrick Keenan to facilitate the discussion.
October 5, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, Indiana Supreme Court: Chief Justice Shepard will present a talk entitled "The Tools a Judge May Appropriately Use in Interpreting the Constitution." Sponsored by The Federalist Society. For more information contact federal@law.uiuc.edu.
October 5, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium, Overflow in Courtroom: David C. Baum Memorial Lecture: The David C. Baum Memorial Lecture Series on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights is an endowed biannual lecture series named in memory of University of Illinois College of Law Professor David C. Baum. Professor R. Kent Greenawalt of the Columbia University School of Law, a noted First Amendment scholar and former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States, will present the topic, "Objections in Conscience to Medical Procedures: Does Religion Make a Difference?"
October 6, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Fourth District Appellate Court Arguments will be heard followed by a luncheon in the Pedersen Pavilion. For general information contact Sally Cook at 217-333-9851 or scook@law.uiuc.edu; students interested in attending the luncheon should contact Assistant Dean Vermillion at vvermill@law.uiuc.edu.
October 10, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Room E: Prof. Dr. Rolf Wank of the University of Bochum here to present a talk entitled "Latest Developments in Antidiscrimination Law--EC, Germany, and the United States." Sponsored by The Program in Comparative Labor and Employment Law and Policy. For more information contact Stacey Ballmes at 217-333-9852 or ballmes@law.uiuc.edu.
October 14, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Room B: IPLS Luncheon Presentation by a noted IP Attorney on "What Life is Like as an IP Attorney." For more information contact ipls@law.uiuc.edu.
October 18, 7:00 p.m., Room D: Social Justice Film Festival: "Matewan." All are invited to join the College of Law community to view a film and discuss various social justice issues. Professor Jim Pfander to facilitate the discussion.
October 20, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Room D and Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Vacketta - DLA Piper Lecture on the Role of Government and the Law: The annual Vacketta lecture which will feature Senator George J. Mitchell speaking on "America's Role in the World in the 21st Century." Reception to immediately follow in the Pedersen Pavilion.
October 21, 6:00-8:00 p.m., Lincolnshire Fields Country Club, 2000 Byrnebruk
Drive, Champaign: Homecoming Reception--All Alumni, Students, Faculty
and Staff Welcome! Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award will
be honored. No cost, but RSVP is required. For more information contact Beth
Erwin at 217-333-2628 or eerwin@law.uiuc.edu.
October 22, 3:00-6:00 p.m., Cribbet Field: Pre-game Barbeque Tailgate
Featuring Live Music--Come One, Come All! Co-sponsored by the
University of Illinois Law Alumni (UILA). $25 adults or $15 for children under
12. For more information contact Beth Erwin at 217-333-2628 or eerwin@law.uiuc.edu.
October 26, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Max L. Rowe Auditorium: Federalist Society Speaker: Justice Brent E. Dickson, Indiana Supreme Court: Justice Dickson will speak on "The Tools a Judge May Use in Interpreting the Constitution." Sponsored by the Federalist Society. For more information contact federal@law.uiuc.edu.
October 26, 1:00-2:00 p.m., Room J: Deans' Open Forum. Students are invited to join Dean Hurd and Assistant Dean Virginia Vermillion for an open discussion of College matters.
October 31, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Room 200: Student Lunch with the Dean. Students are welcome to stop by Room 202E to sign-up to have lunch with Dean Hurd.
