The latest look at law students' post-graduation employment by the National Law Journal is sobering:

Nine months after graduation, area law schools — with the exception of the University of Pennsylvania Law School — were lucky if more than half of their graduating classes had found full-time, long-term employment that required bar passage, according to data recently released by the American Bar Association.

More from the Legal Intelligencer here: Legal job market still tough for law school graduates

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Under Pennsylvania law, parents of a child found guilty of a "tortious" or wrongful act that causes injury to another person are liable for $1,000 per person injured, with a $2,500 limit per incident, regardless of the number of people injured.

I spoke with some legal experts who explained what criteria have to be met before a parent is legally liable for a child's criminal acts.

Suing parents for child's violent acts is difficult

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Actress Katherine Heigl is suing pharmacy chain Duane Reade over a tweet.

Heigl was photographed in New York City carrying two Duane Reade shopping bags, and on March 18, the company tweeted the picture with the caption, "Love a quick Duane Reade run? Even @KatieHeigl can't resist shopping NYC's favorite drugstore."

The lawsuit argues that the tweet is a violation of the Lanham Act, which protects celebrities from deceptive advertising that makes it look like a famous person is endorsing a product.

Heigl is seeking $6 million in damages, according to the Associated Press.

What do you think-- is Heigl protecting her image or overreacting? As you might imagine, everyone on Twitter has an opinion.

Screen shot of the tweet (which Duane Reade has deleted from its account):

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According to the Associated Press, the Hobby Lobby birth control case has Supreme Court justices sharply divided. At issue is whether an employer's religious beliefs can exempt them from paying for coverage of birth control for employees.

One key question is whether a profit-making company like Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby, whose owners are evangelical Christians, has religious rights.

SCOTUSblog has a live blog running. The latest update indicates that the outcome is going to depend on the vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy, with the other justices apparently split four to four.

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Amanda Hess has an interesting piece on Slate looking at an issue that I kind of can't believe is still an issue: Female lawyers who dress too 'sexy' are apparently a 'huge problem' in the courtroom.

The latest reminder for women law students to dress more conservatively (apparently the "Grace van Owen blouse" is the fashion standard?) came from Loyola Law School, Hess writes, with the school's externship director sending a memo to students about the "embarrassing" situation: "I really don't need to mention that cleavage and stiletto heels are not appropriate lawyer wear outside of ridiculous lawyer TV shows), do I?"

But Hess raises an interesting advantage women lawyers might have; men are still confined to wearing a traditional suit and tie ensemble, but

...while a bold fashion choice was a risky move, it "could draw attention to you and away from your opponent" in a positive way.

 

It would be great if this weren't an issue at all, because what you're wearing hardly reflects on your abilities as a lawyer (or a journalist, or a banker or any other job) but, I'd love to hear from some female lawyers in Pittsburgh about their experiences: Have you ever been told your choice of attire is not attorney-appropriate, either directly or indirectly?

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Both the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Duquesne Law School moved up significantly in the annual ranking of law schools by U.S. News and World Report.

Pitt's law school, which dropped in last year's ranking from 69th to 91st, moved up ten spots in the latest survey, to No. 81, tied with nine other law schools.

Duquesne Law, which made the list last year for the first time in a decade, coming in at No. 144, moved up to No. 121 on this year's list, in a five-way tie.

The report, which uses criteria including students' acceptance rates, job placement rates and law school admission test scores, examined 194 accredited schools.

Yale University topped the list for the second year in a row, followed by Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Chicago.

The full list can be found here: US News 2015 Best Law Schools

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