October 7, 2023 And 2024

Last year, I wrote:

I am the dean of a law school with four Jewish full-time faculty and perhaps the largest cohort of Jewish students among Los Angeles area law schools. One of those professors was in Israel for the High Holidays with his family on October 7 and taught his 1L contracts class remotely from Israel on October 9 in between visits to bomb shelters. On October 11, I attended a moving and overflowing community gathering hosted by our Jewish Law Students' Association and Associate Dean for Student Life and Spiritual Development. On October 18, for the first time in our six years hosting the weekly dinner and Bible study, my wife Courtney and I spoke to the gathered students, staff, and faculty. On October 23, another of our Jewish professors will open our monthly faculty meeting in prayer.

Now, two weeks after October 7, I feel compelled to share my thoughts, not in my capacity as dean, but as a human being and a Christian horrified by the savagery unleashed by Hamas on that day. My three dear friends on Pepperdine Caruso Law's senior leadership team also welcomed the opportunity to share their personal views as well.

Yesterday, October 7, 2024, my Courtney and I hopped on a bus in the law school parking lot with a group of students and faculty to visit the Nova Exhibition, which powerfully shows what happened at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7, 2023:

At our law school dinner two weeks ago, Michael Avi Helfand, our Brenden Mann Foundation Chair in Law and Religion, shared what it has been like for Jewish students and professors at our Christian law school over the past year:

The Great Unfinished Pepperdine Caruso Law Symphony

I had the honor of speaking at our annual Pepperdine Caruso Law School Dinner last Saturday night at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles:

I previously blogged about the daily challenge I face Deaning While Stuttering. I am deeply grateful that my university and law school community continue to embrace me and overlook my shortcomings.

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Welcome, Pepperdine Caruso Law School Class Of 2027

Welcome to the members of the Pepperdine Caruso Law School Class of 2027 who begin their legal education today in a week-long introduction to law school and professional formation, as well as the over 400 students pursuing joint, LL.M., and masters degrees and certificates, including our LL.M. and certificate programs in Entertainment, Media, and Sports and our online masters in Legal Studies and Dispute Resolution and our online LL.M. in Dispute Resolution.

This is my eighth year as Dean, and I am thrilled that you have decided to join our very special law school community. You will learn and study on our spectacularly beautiful campus in Malibu with easy access to Los Angeles, one of the world's most vibrant cities for young professionals. Beginning today you will experience the faculty and staff's faith-fueled commitment to you and to your success that manifests itself in various ways, large and small, in daily life at Pepperdine Caruso Law. My fervent wish is that you will love your time here as I have since joining the faculty in 2013, and that you will leave here with a deep sense of your professional and personal calling in law and in life.

Pepperdine Caruso Law Welcomes the Class of 2027

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Law Schools Are Expanding Mental Health And Wellness Support

It’s OK To Not Be OK: Law Schools Are Expanding Mental Health and Wellness Support, preLaw, Winter 2024, at 16:

Law school can be emotionally taxing and take a serious toll on one’s mental health. Students who are prepared for the added stress can perform better in school and in turn be better positioned to embark on a legal career.

Luckily, law schools are now doing more to help students manage the stress of legal education.

David Jaffe, associate dean for student affairs at American University’s Washington College of Law, is one of the authors of a report titled “It Is Okay to Not Be Okay: The 2021 Survey of Law Student Well-Being.” Overall, he said, today’s students are arriving at law school with much more self-awareness than earlier generations. Although some stigma remains about reaching out when in need of assistance, students are seeing their classmates be more open about seeking help, and they are replicating this positive behavior, Jaffe said.

A recent study by The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education found that while a majority of 2019 law school graduates are doing well on the employment front, 39% of all grads and 44% of females said the pandemic is continuing to have a negative effect on their mental health and well-being. In 2018, the percentage of law graduates citing such issues was 31%. ... 

Several other schools such as New England Law | Boston and Pepperdine Caruso School of Law have implemented programs and activities to improve student well-being.

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Top Law Schools For Alternative Dispute Resolution

Top Law Schools For Alternative Dispute Resolution, preLaw, Spring 2024, at 37:

Law students who specialize in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) focus on litigation and conflict resolution skills. ADR acts as an alternative to going to trial when problems arise between businesses and their customers, suppliers, partners or employees. Just as trial skills are important, so is a strong background in mediation, arbitration and negotiation. ...

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Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic Provides Legal Services At Juneteenth Event On Skid Row

Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic Provides Legal Services at Los Angeles Mission Juneteenth Event:

Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic law clerks, Sara Nemiro, Andra Danila, Evan Botos, and Ross Patterson, provided pop-up legal services at the Los Angeles Mission's "Juneteenth Boogie" on June 18. The event also included free haircuts, housing services, job training opportunities, and clothing giveaways to the residents of skid row.

The Pepperdine Caruso Law clerks have spent the summer working at the Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic's Union Rescue Mission, assisting residents with expungements, family law, credit, and other legal matters.

Branding Experts Rank The Top 100 College And University Mottos

Tagline Guru, U.S. College & University Motto Survey:

More than 400 nominated U.S. college and university mottos from a universe of around 1,500 were sent to approximately 250 advertising, marketing, and branding professionals on both the client and agency side. ...

Respondents were asked to rank their top 10 mottos based on the following branding criteria:

• Attributes: Does the motto embody a school’s character, style, or personality?
• Message:  Does it tell a story in a compelling and memorable way?
• Differentiation: Is it original in its attitude, point of view, or creative expression?
• Ambassadorship:  Does it inspire you to want to go there, learn more, or donate more? ...

Top 100 U.S. College & University Mottos . . .

1. Think one person can change the world? So do we.
Oberlin College • Oberlin, OH • 1833 • Private

The top-ranked motto was created in the 1980s by either Al Moran, the then VP for Communications at Oberlin; or Anne Paine, who was publications director at the time. It also might have been a group effort that included Moran, Paine, and others. The motto was dropped in 2006 and replaced with We are Oberlin: Fearless. Negative student and alumni reaction to the new motto finally compelled the university, through the efforts of Ben Jones, VP for Communications, to bring back “Think one person...” in 2013. Enjoying widespread acceptance, the motto is regarded as timeless because it serves as an empowering call to action and recognizes the individual as a self-determining force in society. By the way, the official motto of Oberlin is Learning and labor, which harkens back to the school’s founding in 1833. Prior to the 1980s, the school’s motto was the lackluster phrase A place to thrive.

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I’m A Jewish Alumna Of Christian Colleges —Where I Found A Safe Home

New York Post Op-Ed:  I’m a Jewish Alumna of Christian Colleges —Where I Found a Safe Home, by Sara Garfinkle (B.A. 2020, Hillsdale; M.P.P. 2022, Pepperdine):

“But you’re Jewish!”

Other than “Why?” this is the most common reaction when I share that I attended a Christian college.

Actually, I attended two.

Recent events on college campuses have invited me to reflect on my own college experience — and what it could have been had I attended another school. ...

Hillsdale and Pepperdine regularly invited Jewish guest speakers, for whom students filled lecture halls and commencement spaces to the brim. ...

Jewish students are not safe on many college campuses.

At my Christian colleges, I not only survived, I thrived. ...

To sit with friends, to learn, to eat, to pray in many languages, to eat some more — what a perfect thing to do with the freedom that Hillsdale so ardently defends.

In many American universities, students abuse that freedom. ...

I came home to Southern California for graduate school at Pepperdine University, another Christian college.

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Happy Memorial Day From Pepperdine

Tom Knudsen (General Counsel, Pepperdine), A Special Memorial Day Message:

While there are competing claims as to the origins of Memorial Day, Congress has declared its birthplace as Waterloo, New York. There, on May 5, 1866, a year after its conclusion, a small ceremony was held to honor local residents who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed, flags were flown at half-staff, and flowers were draped on the graves of those who had fallen. Two years later, in 1868, John A. Logan, a former major general of the Union Army, declared that May 30 — a date supposedly chosen because "the choicest flowers of springtime" would be in bloom throughout the nation — would be a day to decorate "the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country.” In so doing, he stated, “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance.... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”

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Pepperdine Caruso Law Celebrates The Class Of 2024

Commissioning Service:

Baccalaureate Service:

Commencement:

On Friday, May 17, the Pepperdine Caruso Law Class of 2024 gathered at Alumni Park to celebrate their commencement with their families, friends, and classmates. It was a joyous occasion for the 400 graduates who earned their Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, Master of Dispute Resolution, and Master of Legal Studies degrees. 

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Law School Dean Developments

Law.com, 'Dean Developments': Several Deans Move Long Distance:

There may be a calm before the storm with only three dean changes within the past month, but June and July are prime time for dean moves.

The University of Buffalo School of Law has named a permanent dean [S. Todd Brown], as its former dean [Aviva Abramovsky] heads to Idaho. Meanwhile, an Albany Law School professor [Alicia Ouellette] is moving to the West Coast to take on a new role as dean.

Plus, the New York University School of Law has launched a new lab focusing on environmental justice, and Paul Caron celebrates 20 years of publishing the TaxProf Blog. ...

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Deanna Newton Joins Pepperdine Tax Faculty

Deanna Newton, Caruso Family Faculty Fellow at Pepperdine Caruso Law School, will join the Pepperdine Caruso Law tenure-track faculty in August.

Deanna received her B.A. in political science from Loyola Marymount University in 2013; J.D. from Pepperdine Caruso Law School in 2017; and LL.M. in taxation from  Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2018. She returned to Los Angeles and worked in KPMG's International Tax Group, where she advised multinational enterprises on tax planning matters, first as an Associate and then as a Senior Associate, from 2018-2022. Deanna taught Federal Income Tax as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Caruso Law in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022.

In Fall 2022, Deanna was named the inaugural Caruso Family Faculty Fellow. The fellowship program is designed to help attorneys successfully transition from practice to tenure-track faculty positions.

Deanna taught Federal Income Tax in the 2022-2023 academic year and Federal Income Tax and Tax Policy in the 2023-2024 academic year. In 2023, she received the Waves of Excellence Teaching Award, the Waves of Excellence Service Award, and the Faculty Award at the Belonging Awards. Deanna primary research interests are international tax and tax policy. She has written two tax articles that have been accepted for publication in leading law reviews:

• Closing the Opportunity Gap, 102 N.C. L. Rev. ___ (2024) (presented at Boston College, Florida State, Pepperdine, Toronto,  and UC-San Francisco law schools)
• Inclusive Prosperity, 12 Tex. A&M L. Rev. ___ (2025) (presented at San Diego Law School)

Pepperdine Caruso Law 3L Commissioning Service

We hosted our 13th annual 3L Commissioning Service at Pepperdine Caruso Law last week. Like many of the best things at our school, it is the brainchild of a student. In 2012, 2L Raija Churchill proposed that the last Wednesday night Dean's Bible study of the year model the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) as a send-off for our graduating 3Ls.

I was honored to give a gift to our 3Ls to encourage them to live the lives that God has called them to after they graduate: a paperweight to keep on their desks to remind them (on the top) of their time at Pepperdine Caruso Law and (on the bottom) a single word — the most powerful word that Jesus talked about and modeled for us — forgiveness. I shared several of the forgiveness stories I have chronicled on this blog, including this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.

The highlight of the evening was when our faculty and staff spoke words of life over each of the graduating 3Ls (kudos to Tyler Clark (JD '12) for beginning this wonderful tradition):

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20-Year Anniversary Of TaxProf Blog

Today (April 15, of course) marks the 20-year anniversary of TaxProf Blog (and the 29-year anniversary of the TaxProf Email Discussion Group). In 2004, I was in my fourteenth year on the University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty. I would be taking my son (age 13) to a ranch in Northern California (JH Ranch) that summer, and would return with my daughter (age 11) in summer 2005. 

It has been a wonderful ride, professionally, personally, and spiritually, these past twenty years. I have written over 52,000 posts (my first post is here), and TaxProf Blog has received over 200,000,000 page views.  The blog played a role in my selection as dean in 2017 —indeed, I may be the only dean in America with a contract provision encouraging me to continue to blog! I could not have done so without the wonderful work of my assistants the past seven years, especially the spectacular Kellie Kamimoto since June 2021.

I'm not sure how much longer I will keep TaxProf Blog going, but I am grateful for the many people who come for the tax, legal education, and faith content. (If you would like to receive a daily email with links to that day's tax or legal education posts, or a weekly email with links to Sunday's faith posts, please email me.) 

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Pepperdine Caruso Law Celebrates Founding Dean Ron Phillips

On April 6, Pepperdine University paid tribute to one of the most significant figures in its history—Ronald F. Phillips, founding dean and dean emeritus of the Caruso School of Law. Alumni, faculty, staff, and friends shared their stories of the profound impact Dean Phillips has made on their lives. Thanks to the generosity of the Pepperdine community, the University far exceeded our fundraising goal to endow the Ronald F. Phillips Chair at the law school. In fact, we have raised $5.7 million, a demonstration of just how incredibly grateful our University family is for Dean Phillips’ transformative years of service and leadership.

And one stunning announcement led to another: If our Caruso Law community can raise an additional $1 million, Pepperdine will match those gifts with a $3.5 million contribution and establish a second endowed chair in honor of Dean Phillips’ beloved wife Jamie. Caruso Law will be able to attract not one but two of the world’s finest legal scholars to shape our students for purpose-driven lives of outstanding servant leadership and help lift our school’s standards of academic excellence to even greater heights.

As we get closer to meeting this goal and accelerating Caruso Law’s trajectory toward becoming the world’s premier Christian law school, we humbly ask you to help us build on this unprecedented momentum by making a gift to the law school today and ensuring that Dean Phillips and Jamie’s legacies endure forever. You can make your gift online at this link.

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Justice Alito Delivers Keynote Address At Dinner Celebrating Launch Of Ken Starr Institute For Faith, Law, And Public Service At Pepperdine Caruso Law

Washington Examiner, Samuel Alito Says US Legacy Is ‘Mutual Respect’ Between Religions During Speech at Ken Starr Institute Dinner:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito believes the everlasting legacy of the United States is the “mutual respect” of diverse religious viewpoints, according to his keynote speech for the launch of Pepperdine University’s Ken Starr Institute for Faith, Law, and Public Service last week.

Alito’s speech was in reflection on the late Ken Starr, solicitor general for former president George W. Bush who also served as independent counsel from 1994 to 1998 in the investigation that led to former President Bill Clinton‘s impeachment. Starr was a dean at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in Malibu, California, from 2004 to 2010, and the college announced its novel institute that bears his name at a private-ticketed event at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 4.

Standing before a crowd of more than 250 attendees at the dinner event, Alito said he often considers what historians will think of the United States “hundreds and hundreds of years from now.”

“I hope that one thing they will say if they are asked ‘how did the United States contribute to the development of civilization’ is this: The United States of America taught the world that it is possible for a religiously diverse population to live together amicably, harmoniously, and productively with mutual respect,” said Alito, an appointee of Bush.

Pepperdine Caruso Law School Dean Paul Caron gives remarks about the Ken Starr Institute at a dinner event Monday at the Congressional Club in Bethesda, Maryland. ...

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What Best Prepares You For The Practice Of Law?

What Best Prepares You for the Practice of Law?, Nat'l Jurist, Winter 2024, at 19:

In recent years, law schools have ramped up their efforts to help students build their professional identities, spurred by an American Bar Association requirement to do so. ...

Lavinia Osilesi, who started at Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law in California in 2016, said her first-year curriculum included a course on professional identity formation, which addressed topics such as academic success, ethics, character building and professional development.

She also participated in the school’s Preceptor Program, where she was paired with a practicing alum in her area of interest.

“The most impactful part of the program was the mentorship I received from my preceptor,” Osilesi said. “She helped me navigate foundational 1L courses, prepare study plans for exams, expand my network, learn about different practice areas and develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities I could pursue as an attorney.”

Osilesi said her professional formation training helped her learn a great deal about herself.

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The Best Law Schools For Practical Training

The Best Law Schools For Practical Training, preLaw (Spring 2024):

These 59 law schools are the best schools for practical training — helping to mold law students into courtroom-ready professionals through various hands-on externship and clinic experiences. ... 

Law schools have faced criticism for failing to turn out attorneys ready for practice. That has prompted a shift toward more comprehensive practical training programs. 

In the past few years, schools have added more offerings, and every year preLaw highlights the schools that do practical training best. ... 

Methodology
We graded schools on a number of data points, focusing on key practical training offerings such as clinics, externships, simulation courses, pro bono hours and moot trial participation.

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Third Annual Nootbaar Fellows Workshop And Conference: Charting The Future Of Church And State

Pepperdine Caruso Law School's Nootbaar Institute For Law, Religion, and Ethics held a series of wonderful events this week:

Wednesday: Religious Liberty Salon: Celebrating the Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Religious Liberty Clinic

• Noel Francisco (Jones Day, Washington, D.C.; 47th Solicitor General of the United States 
• Eric Rassbach (Vice President & Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty)
• Megan Lacy Owen (Jones Day, Washington, D.C.)

Thursday:  Third Annual Nootbaar Fellows Workshop

• Chagai Schlesinger (Hebrew University), Two Concepts of Judicial Deference to Religious Claims 
• Nomi Stolzenberg (USC: Google Scholar), Usings and Removings (or Is Religion the New Race or Is Race the New Religion)?
• Mark Storslee (Emory; Google Scholar), History and the School Prayer Cases
• Laura Portuondo (Houston), Gendered Liberty 
• James Nelson (Houston), Disestablishing Work

Thursday: Open Conversation With Solicitor Generals of the United States Under Presidents Obama and Trump:

• Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. (Munger, Tolles & Olson, Washington, D.C.); 46th Solicitor General of the United States 
• Noel Francisco (Jones Day, Washington, D.C.; 47th Solicitor General of the United States 
• Victoria Schwartz (Pepperdine; Google Scholar) (moderator) 

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Uganda: A Trip Nothing Short Of Life-Changing For Law Students And Lawyers

Pepperdine Beacon, Uganda: A Trip Nothing Short of Life-Changing:

“I came away from that moment, saying if that’s all I ever got to do with my law degree, it was one hundred percent worth it.” ...

Sherri Sturgeon, professor of law at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and associate director for Student and Professional Engagement, had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Uganda last spring to plea bargain alongside U.S. attorneys and law students. ...

Aware of Pepperdine’s Uganda programs, Sturgeon applied for and worked toward a Master’s in Dispute Resolution at the Caruso School of Law. She planned for a trip to Uganda during her 2L year in 2020, only to have it canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Fortunately, an opportunity arose in the spring of 2023 after she had graduated, making her a U.S. attorney on the trip rather than a U.S. law student.

Spending ten days in Uganda, Sturgeon and fellow students and attorneys went straight to work on plea bargaining cases. After studying the defendant’s files, Sturgeon and her team would meet with the defendants, preparing for their appearance before the judge. Discussing with both the prosecutors and the defendants, Sturgeon would negotiate the most optimal sentence for her client.

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Higher Education Must Reclaim Its Higher Purpose: Value And Virtue

Newsweek Op-Ed:  To Revitalize Higher Ed, Colleges Should Care About Character, by Jim Gash (President, Pepperdine University):

Higher education must realize and reclaim its foundational higher purpose, which is to develop and equip people of value and virtue who in turn infuse value and virtue in their communities, countries, and the rest of the world.

To accomplish this, colleges must form academic communities that appreciate viewpoint diversity, safeguard academic freedom, and stimulate intellectual curiosity. ...

Colleges must take an active role in nurturing students' understanding of and appreciation for foundational American values, including freedom of religion, freedom of speech and assembly, and a free press. Students should grow in their understanding of these fundamental rights, the stories of the (admittedly flawed) heroes who secured and defended those rights, and their responsibility to preserve these freedoms for future generations. If taught to and embraced by students in college, these values will be embedded in our communities and strengthen the democratic process for generations to come. As the late educational reformer John Dewey once said, "Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife."

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Pepperdine Hosts Junior Tax Scholars Writing Retreat

Pepperdine Caruso Law was delighted to host a group of junior tax professors last week for a winter writing retreat:  Luis Calderon-Gomez (Cardozo), Conor Clarke (Washington University), Maynard Goldburn (Indiana-Kelley Business School), Nyamagaga Gondwe (Wisconsin), Luke Maher (Seattle), Jeesoo Nam (USC), Deanna Newton (Pepperdine), and Alex Zhang (Emory). The only bummer: I was at the AALS Annual Meeting all week and didn't have the opportunity to spend any time with these wonderful young tax scholars. Hopefully next year!

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Please Join Us: Pepperdine Caruso Law AALS Reception TODAY (6:00-8:00 PM)

Pepperdine Caruso Law School invites law professors and deans to a reception
hosted by Dean Paul Caron at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Friday, Jan. 5, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Tulip Room (2nd Floor Mezzanine) | Marriott Marquis (Headquarter Hotel)
Please join us for local California wine & beer and hors d'oeuvres

Today's AALS Tax Highlights

Section on Taxation, Taxation and Democracy 
10-11:40 AM Independence Salon A, Level M4, Marriott Marquis 

Taxation plays a fundamental role in democratic societies. This panel will focus on the relationship between tax policy and democratic principles. It will explore the various roles that tax policy plays in shaping our democracy and consider innovative approaches to advancing tax policy that enhances democratic values.

• Steven A. Dean (Boston University) 
• Francine J. Lipman (UNLV) 
• Orly Mazur (SMU) (moderator) 
• Clinton G. Wallace (South Carolina) 

Section on European Law, Co-Sponsored by Comparative Law and Taxation, EU Fiscal Federalism and the U.S. Perspective
1-2:40 PM Mount Vernon Square, Level M3, Marriott Marquis 

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California Law Students Provide Pro Bono Help To Struggling Maui Residents After Wildfires

Fox News, California Law Students Provide Pro Bono Help to Struggling Maui Residents After Wildfires:

A group of law students at Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law are helping with the legal side of recovery after the devastating wildfires in Maui in August.

The students are volunteering through the Pepperdine Caruso Law Pro Bono Program, which is part of the school's Clinical Education Program.

"Under the leadership of Professors Jeff Baker and Peter Fendel, about 20 Pepperdine Law students volunteered their time and legal skills to assist Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) in providing assistance to citizens of Maui who lost their homes and/or businesses in the wildfires," Caruso School of Law student Matteson Landau told Fox News Digital. ...

Pepperdine's students were particularly inspired to assist those in Hawaii in part due to the school's recent history. "The Pepperdine community knows firsthand the tragic effects of wildfires, as our own campus and city was affected by the Malibu Woolsey Fire in 2018," said Landau. Pepperdine University is located in Malibu. 

After that fire, Baker "was inspired to develop a legal aid program for disaster relief, and students at that time learned how to file FEMA applications and draft appeal letters," Landau said. ...

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Please Join Us: Pepperdine Caruso Law AALS Reception (Friday, Jan. 5)

Pepperdine Caruso Law School invites law professors and deans to a reception
hosted by Dean Paul Caron at the 2024 AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Friday, Jan. 5, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Tulip Room (2nd Floor Mezzanine) | Marriott Marquis (Headquarters Hotel)
Please join us for local California wine & beer and hors d'oeuvres

Universities Must Preserve American Values: Freedom, Faith And Self-Governance — Leavened With Humility

The Messenger Op-Ed: Universities Must Preserve American Values, by Jim Gash (President, Pepperdine University):

It seems every week produces another story of intolerance, hate, or worse on college and university campuses across the nation. As society rightfully expresses concern about students engaged in such behavior, it is past time for higher education administrators to take on their responsibility to cultivate academic communities that embody America’s founding virtues.

The Founders’ idea was truly revolutionary: citizens from all walks of life, religions, and political persuasions mutually submitting themselves not to the authority of a king or queen, but to the rule of law. The strength of this idea is rooted in a people who so valued the rule of law that they would even die to protect the freedoms established in the Constitution.

Our Founders believed that freedom, faith and self-governance — leavened with humility — are interwoven and indispensable foundational values upon which a pluralistic and enduring society can flourish. More than any institutions, perhaps other than the family and houses of worship, our schools are responsible for cultivating the character and resilience required of a productive citizenry capable of reaffirming the American experiment.

At Pepperdine University, which I lead, character formation is at the heart of our mission. It is why we are passionate about what our students learn. But we are even more focused on who they are becoming. James Phinney Munroe, an MIT scholar who was successful in business, leadership and education, perhaps said it best: “The question to be asked at the end of an educational step is not, ‘What has the student learned?’ but, ‘What has the student become?'” ...

Our Founders also knew the value of faith. They had experienced the threats to a free expression of it, and they knew it was a value not only to be held individually, but to be defended collectively. Religious liberty goes hand-in-hand with freedom of thought, speech and viewpoint diversity.

Universities must help students to understand that their value isn’t derived from temporal sources. Dignity and worth are inherent and God-given (the Founders would say “endowed by their Creator”). “Likes” on social media are fleeting and fickle. ...

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Pepperdine Caruso Law At The Supreme Court

I had the honor yesterday morning of moving the admission of eleven Pepperdine Caruso Law alumni and friends into the U.S. Supreme Court Bar:

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Newton Presents Closing the Opportunity Gap Today At Pepperdine

Deanna Newton (Pepperdine) presents Closing the Opportunity Gap at Pepperdine today as part of its Faculty Workshop Series hosted by Jacob Charles: 

Opportunity Zones are low-income areas or economically distressed communities in the United States. The Opportunity Zone program encourages investment in low-income areas or economically distressed communities by offering investors tax benefits. Scholars have found little evidence that Opportunity Zones positively impact zone residents’ lives, concluding that Opportunity Zone legislation mostly benefits wealthy investors and should be reformed to benefit community members better. Investors are currently not required to finance projects geared toward the needs of local communities; they are instead funding developments they would have already invested in, whether located in an Opportunity Zone or not. This Article argues that current reform efforts and related scholarship do not give adequate weight to active and direct participation by community members and investors as it relates to economic development tax incentives. It argues for a comprehensive framework that focuses on active, direct, and transformative participation by community members and investors.

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Ed Larson, Tom Stipanowich, And Ahmed Taha Win Pepperdine University Faculty Awards

Congratulations to my friends and colleagues Ed Larson, Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law and University Professor, Tom Stipanowich, William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution and Professor of Law, and Ahmed Taha, Professor of Law, on receiving Pepperdine University Faculty Awards. 

Ed Larson won the Stephen D. Davis Award for Scholarly Achievement: 

This award will honor the contributions of Pepperdine faculty members who are strengthening our scholarly contributions, and elevating our research reputation. Examples of such accomplishment include research publications of high impact, scholarly books, major musical and artistic products/exhibitions, mentoring of Pepperdine students resulting in scholarly accomplishment, receiving national or international award or recognition for work directly related to their scholarship, and leadership in securing major research grants from external agencies.

Ed Larson
Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in History and numerous other awards for writing and teaching, Larson is the author or co-author of fourteen books and over one hundred published articles. His 2015 book, The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789, was a New York Times Bestseller and resulted in Larson being invited to deliver the 2016 Supreme Court Historical Society lecture in Washington, give the annual Gaines Lecture at Mount Vernon, and serve as a featured presenter for the Library of Congress's Madison Council event. His other books, which have been translated into over twenty languages, include An Empire of Ice: Scott Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science; A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign; and the Pulitzer Prize winning Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Larson's articles have appeared in such varied publications as Nature, Atlantic Monthly, Science, Scientific American, Time, Wall Street Journal, American History, The Guardian, and dozens of law reviews. His latest book, American Inheritance, was published by W.W. Norton in 2023.

Tom Stipanowich and Ahmed Taha won the Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence: 

The Howard A. White Award for Teaching Excellence recognizes outstanding teachers who embody Pepperdine University's commitment to excellence. The award honors teachers who inspire, stimulate, challenge, and motivate their students; teachers who develop in students the ability to think critically and creatively about the world; teachers who instill in their students a lifelong love of learning.

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Alarie Presents The Impact Of AI On Legal Education And Law Practice At Pepperdine

Benjamin Alarie (Toronto; Google Scholar) presents The Legal Singularity: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Law Radically Better (with Abdi Aidid (Toronto)) at Pepperdine today as part of its Dean's Speaker Series: 

Law today is incomplete, inaccessible, unclear, underdeveloped, and often perplexing to those whom it affects. In The Legal Singularity, Abdi Aidid and Benjamin Alarie argue that the proliferation of artificial intelligence–enabled technology — and specifically the advent of legal prediction — is on the verge of radically reconfiguring the law, our institutions, and our society for the better.

Revealing the ways in which our legal institutions underperform and are expensive to administer, the book highlights the negative social consequences associated with our legal status quo. Given the infirmities of the current state of the law and our legal institutions, the silver lining is that there is ample room for improvement. With concerted action, technology can help us to ameliorate the problems of the law and improve our legal institutions. Inspired in part by the concept of the "technological singularity," The Legal Singularity presents a future state in which technology facilitates the functional "completeness" of law, where the law is at once extraordinarily more complex in its specification than it is today, and yet operationally, the law is vastly more knowable, fairer, and clearer for its subjects. Aidid and Alarie describe the changes that will culminate in the legal singularity and explore the implications for the law and its institutions.

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3rd Annual Pepperdine Caruso Law Tennis Tournament

We held our third annual Pepperdine Caruso Law doubles tennis tournament for faculty, staff, and students yesterday on a beautiful  Malibu afternoon. Twelve teams participated, and I am pleased to report that my partner 3L Cassandra McKenzie and I won the A flight. Teams were chosen in a random draw by tournament director (and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs) Jason Jarvis. In an odd coincidence, Cassandra played on the St. Louis University women's tennis team and earned First Team Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors. In another odd coincidence, last year's winning team of Dzina Milovanovic, Recruitment and Admissions Manager at our Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution (and former member of the Pepperdine University women's tennis team) and Danny DeWalt, University Vice President and Chief of Staff, were both out of the country (as were Cameron McCollum, Assistant Dean of our Global Justice Institute, and Sukhsimranjit Singh, Danny Weinstein Managing Director of the Straus Institute)).

Pepperdine Caruso Law Professor Teaches 1L Contracts Class Remotely From Israel During War

Surf Report, Pepperdine Caruso Law Professor Teaches 1L Contracts Class Remotely From Israel During War:

Michael A. Helfand, Brenden Mann Foundation Chair in Law and Religion, taught his first-year contracts class remotely on Monday from Israel following the declaration of war. As is his custom, Professor Helfand traveled to Israel with his family to observe the High Holy Days. Professor Helfand and his family will be returning to the United States as soon as they can.

Professor Helfand’s contracts student Ari Steinberg commented, “Any person who visits Israel, violence erupting is always a thought in the back of your mind, but you never imagine it to become reality while you are there. Despite Professor Helfand watching this becoming reality in front of him, and everything he might have been feeling and going through with his family, he still took the time out of his day, or the middle of the night I should say, to make sure our class was still learning the material. I can say without a doubt that I've never had a teacher show me that they cared about my learning more than in that moment. In the middle of a war, Professor Helfand showed our class how important it was to him that we don't miss a beat. He showed us his level of commitment to our learning, and this has made me want to match that level of commitment to our learning environment. To act like it's all just fine for that hour and a half, was honestly inspirational. As a Jewish student, to know that I have a Jewish professor, like Professor Helfand, committing himself to my studies, makes me feel proud to be part of the Jewish community here at Pepperdine. Our class has been thinking of and praying for Professor Helfand and his family’s safe return home.”

Dean Paul Caron said, “Our Pepperdine Caruso Law community is praying for Michael and his family, all of our Jewish faculty, staff, students, and alumni, the country and people of Israel, and all people in the region during this horrific time. We are heartbroken by the devastating suffering and loss of innocent lives.”

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College Kids Are 'Hungry' For Christianity On Campus, Pepperdine Leader Says

Fox News, College kids Are 'Hungry' For Christianity on Campus, Pepperdine Leader Says: 'Central' to School Life:

An associate vice president at a Christian university told Fox News Digital that he believes college students today are hungry for a robust spiritual life — and it is up to schools to ensure that their needs are being met.

"For a lot of students that come to college and really struggle spiritually, we want to do everything we can to make sure that this is a place where they find their faith, if they're open to it, or maybe return to the faith, if they've kind of strayed from it," Tim Spivey told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.

Spivey is the assistant vice president of spiritual life at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles County, California.

Alternatively, students who are already Christians can use college "to build a stronger, more vibrant faith," he said.

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The Parable Of The Prodigal Son: Justice, Mercy, And Humility

I spoke at last Wednesday night's Bible study and dinner that my wife and I host for students, staff, and faculty. I talked about two of my favorite passages in Scripture: Micah 6:8 ("[W]hat does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.") and the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

I used the three characters in the parable to illustrate God's view of justice, mercy, and humility. The younger (“bad”) son broke the rules and was humbled by hitting rock bottom, before returning home and receiving his father’s mercy and love. The older (“good”) son kept all of the rules and was humbled by realizing that did not make him any more deserving of his father’s love than his brother. To me, the main character in the parable is the father, who represents both our earthly fathers and our Father in heaven. All earthly fathers and mothers fall well short of being the parents their children deserve, just as all sons and daughters fall short in living out the fifth commandment ("Honor your father and mother"). 

I ended my message by talking about the sudden death of my 82-year old father in 2007. I am so grateful that, a few years earlier, I had taken separate trips to JH Ranch in northern California with my son and daughter when they were 13 years old for a week-long program (video) to help prepare them for adulthood. I got as much or more out of the program as they did. During each of the weeks, the ranch gathered the Dads and had us write letters to our fathers, apologizing for the mistakes we had made growing up and thanking them for all they had done for us. It means the world to me that after my father's death, I learned he had kept the two letters I wrote to him near his favorite chair in the living room.

I closed my remarks by offering everyone pens, stationery, stamped envelopes, and clipboards so they could write letters to their fathers or mothers. I was thrilled when they all took me up on the offer:

It was a treat the next morning to mail the letters to parents around the country:

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Speech By Princeton's Robby George About Free Speech Is Shouted Down At Washington College

Chronicle of Higher Education, A Professor Spoke About ‘Campus Illiberalism.’ Students Shouted Him Down Over His Anti-LGBTQ Views.:

This month, Robert P. George gave a campus talk about what he sees as a growing intolerance of certain viewpoints in higher ed.

“At some colleges and universities, speaking invitations to dissenters from campus orthodoxies are not issued,” the Princeton University professor wrote in prepared remarks he shared with The Chronicle. Those who are invited can be disinvited or pressured to withdraw, he wrote. Or “they are interrupted” or “shouted down.”

Some students who disagreed with George’s views on LGBTQ rights and abortion disrupted the speech. The event — at Washington College, a small liberal-arts institution in Maryland — ended early.

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2023 Religious Law School Rankings

The Most Devout Law Schools, preLaw (Winter 2023):

Religion has long played a significant role at many of the nation’s law schools. Here we highlight the top 20. ...

While 46 of the nation’s 200 law schools have ties to religious organizations, there is a big difference between them when it comes to acting on that faith.

While the 28 law schools associated with the Catholic religion stay true to a mission of serving the public good and educating the whole person, many provide few, if any, services or curriculum related to faith. And at many of those schools, few students ever talk of faith.

That’s not the case with the schools on our list.

To determine the top 20, we gathered information from the schools and from other sources. We looked at the percentage of students and faculty who belong to the faith; the number of religion-focused courses and other ways the school incorporates faith into its curriculum; religion-related journals, centers and clinics; religious services and clergy at the law school; and the mission of the law school.

This year, for the first time, we present the schools in one ranking, as opposed to best schools by denomination. Liberty University School of Law, a Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia, is No. 1. ... Regent Law practically tied for No. 1 on our list. ...

“The relationship between law and faith affects both what we do and how we do it,” [Regent Dean Brad] Lingo said. “While others might tell students that lawyers are sharks, we teach that lawyers can be healers of conflict. We teach that law, at its best, provides opportunities to walk with someone during what might be one of the darkest, scariest, loneliest times of their lives.” 

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Girgis Presents Fragility Not Superiority? Assessing The Fairness Of Special Religious Protections At Pepperdine

Sherif Girgis (Notre Dame) presented Fragility Not Superiority? Assessing the Fairness of Special Religious Protections, 171 U. Pa. L. Rev. 147 (2022), at Pepperdine last Thursday as part of our Nootbaar Institute For Law, Religion, and Ethics’ Law, Faith and Religion Colloquium Series sponsored by the Brenden Mann Foundation and hosted by Michael Helfand and Jennifer Koh:

Is it fair to grant exemptions from neutral laws to protect religion but not other deep commitments and pursuits, like secular conscience or care-giving bonds? The thirty-year scholarly debate on this question now has legal import, as the Supreme Court stands poised to reverse precedent and restore free exercise exemptions from neutral laws. Whether it should, under stare decisis, turns partly on moral considerations like the fairness issue. And the fairness debate is worth revisiting. Almost everyone has assumed that special religious protections are fair only if religion matters more than other interests. Yet protections for religion might be warranted not because religion is more important, but because it is more needful of protection.

To see if these special protections are indeed fair and necessary, this Article develops a measure of need, based on how all civil liberties work in our system. Our doctrines on speech, abortion (for decades), gun rights, and travel have imposed heightened scrutiny on laws that deny us one means of exercising a liberty without leaving adequate alternatives—i.e., other ways to realize the interests served by that liberty to the same degree and at no greater cost. Thus, an interest will have greater need for this protection, the more that laws burdening some means to it will leave no adequate alternative means—or the more “fragile” the interest is. And even if an interest is fragile (because burdens on it are often too heavy), it will not need protection if it rarely faces burdens, heavy or not—if it is not “exposed.” These two concepts create a framework for assessing all our liberties and limiting their scope.

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First Hurricane/Tropical Storm In 84 Years + Earthquake Rock Malibu

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Welcome, Pepperdine Caruso Law School Class Of 2026

Welcome to the members of the Pepperdine Caruso Law School Class of 2026 who begin their legal education today in a week-long introduction to law school and professional formation, as well as the over 400 students pursuing joint, LL.M., and masters degrees and certificates, including our LL.M. and certificate programs in Entertainment, Media, and Sports and our online masters in Legal Studies and Dispute Resolution and our online LL.M. in Dispute Resolution.

We are thrilled that we exceeded our enrollment target of 175 and enrolled a class with the highest credentials in the 55-year history of our law school. 

This is my seventh year as Dean, and I am thrilled that you have decided to join our very special law school community. You will learn and study on our spectacularly beautiful campus in Malibu with easy access to Los Angeles, one of the world's most vibrant cities for young professionals. Beginning today you will experience the faculty and staff's faith-fueled commitment to you and to your success that manifests itself in various ways, large and small, in daily life at Pepperdine Caruso Law. My fervent wish is that you will love your time here as I have since joining the faculty in 2013, and that you will leave here with a deep sense of your professional and personal calling in law and in life.

The Best Law Schools For Practical Training

The Best Law Schools For Practical Training, preLaw (Spring 2023):

You may have heard the phrase “Learn by doing.”

Aristotle highlighted this idea when he said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”

It’s a theory that speaks to the lovers of hands-on learning and posits that students must interact with their environment to learn best. For many law schools, this theory becomes reality through clinics, externships and simulation courses — or what is commonly known as practical training.

Practical Training Methodology
We graded schools on a number of data points, focusing on key practical training offerings such as clinics, externships, simulation courses, pro bono hours and moot trial participation.

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Bar Exam Lunches

Update: Pepperdine Caruso Law Bar Lunch Program Serves the Class of 2023 Across the Country

One of my favorite Pepperdine Caruso Law traditions is our Bar Exam Lunch Program. We provide lunches for our graduates taking the bar exam, not only in California but throughout the country. Bar takers have enough to worry about without having to navigate getting lunch in the short period between the morning and afternoon sessions. So we provide not only food but a space to relax and unwind with friends before going back into the fray. This year, we have a record 25 faculty, staff, and alumni distributing lunches at 21 locations, thanks to the generosity of 85 donors.

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Praying For The Bar Exam

On Friday, I participated in one of my favorite traditions at Pepperdine Caruso Law: a virtual prayer session with our graduates taking the bar exam this week:

Faculty and staff encourage our graduates to finish strong and remind them that their three years of study have prepared them well for this challenge. I have the honor of praying over them and reminding them that we prayed over each one of their applications three years ago, so this is the perfect way to close this chapter of their time with us and we look forward to welcoming them back to campus for their bar swearing in ceremony in December. We closed with this wonderful song from Numbers 6:24-26:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Update:  Lee Fisher  (Dean, Cleveland State) emailed this prayer he wrote to his graduates last Thursday (reprinted with Lee's permission): 

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Pepperdine Law Review Submission Window: August 1-31

The Pepperdine Law Review is accepting article submissions from August 1st through 31st for publication in April 2024. The submission link is here. For recent Pepperdine Law Review symposia, see:

• The Future of the Federal Judiciary (2023)
• Wealth and Inequality  (2021)
• The Past, Present, and Future of Federalism (2019)
• The Supreme Court, Politics And Reform (2017)
• The Impact Of King v. Burwell On Judicial Deference To IRS Determinations (2015)
• Tax Advice for the Second Obama Administration (2013)

Michael McConnell And Marcus Cole Receive Religious Liberty Awards

Michael W. McConnell (Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law and Director of the Constitutional Law Center, Stanford) and Marcus Cole (Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law, Notre Dame) were honored last month at Becket's annual gala in New York City for their work defending religious liberty.

Michael McConnell received the 2023 Canterbury Medal, religious liberty’s highest honor:

The 2023 Canterbury Medal Gala honored Professor Michael W. McConnell, Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and a former federal judge, for his decades-long commitment to the cause of religious liberty. As a professor, scholar, advocate, and public servant, Professor McConnell’s career has provided a strong and unfailing defense of religious liberty for all.

In his distinguished career, Professor McConnell has played a key role in advancing the principle of religious freedom for all people. As an advocate, Professor McConnell has argued many religious liberty cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts. Following his unanimous confirmation by the Senate, Professor McConnell served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2002-2009. He also played a central role in founding the first religious liberty law clinic at Stanford Law School, where he continues to teach courses on constitutional law, the First Amendment, and constitutional history.

Michael McConnell's acceptance speech (video; text).

Marcus Cole received the 2023 Legal Service Award "for his trailblazing expansion of the clinic concept in launching Notre Dame’s Religious Liberty Initiative." Marcus Cole's acceptance speech (text).

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Pepperdine Resiliency Program Equips Students To Address Life's Challenges And Creates A Campus Culture That Values Well-Being

Inside Higher Ed, Resilience Skills Curriculum Gets Ahead of Student Crisis:

A resiliency skills program at Pepperdine University equips students with tools to address challenges in their lives and create a campus culture that values well-being.

The Resilience Informed Skills Education (RISE) program at Pepperdine University integrates education around resiliency in student life and provides learners with life skills to get ahead of crisis and mitigate distress.

The curriculum, developed by Connie Horton, vice president for student affairs, draws on research to provide six dimensions of resilience. Students first encounter RISE programming in their first term through a credit-based small group, but the program is woven throughout academics, residence life and social programming.

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U.S. News Law School Rankings Panel At Today's AALS Institutional Advancement Conference

I am moderating the final panel today at the first-ever AALS Institutional Advancement Conference: Making a Difference in a Changing World (registration):

U.S. News Law Rankings (4:30 PM ET)
It’s a whole new world with changes to the US News Law Rankings. Or is it? We’ll hear from those who are covering the U.S. News changes and are grappling with what it all means for law schools.

Moderator:  Paul L. Caron, Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law, Pepperdine University, Caruso School of Law

Speakers:

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Pepperdine Caruso Law Celebrates The Class Of 2023

Commissioning Service:

Baccalaureate Service:

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One Week Later . . .

It is exactly one week ago to the hour that we put down our beloved sweet dog Josie. I am astonished by how much I miss her. She had been a daily presence in our lives during our entire time at Pepperdine (10 1/2 years). My days would begin with her bounding out of our bed and end with her jumping into our bed as we settled down for the night. In between, she was a full participant in our hectic lives — joining me for early morning tennis at Pepperdine and cardio and weight training in our bedroom, and later for walks in our neighborhood, dinners at our home with students, and beach outings. But my favorite time was the countless hours she slept at my feet while I worked in our dining room — it was so comforting to have her nearby.

I choose to remember the Josie in the photo below, racing toward the setting sun, brimming with excitement at what awaits her, confident that her "binky ball" will magically appear, at just the right spot and bouncing at just the right height for her to jump and catch it in her mouth, so she can trot back to me proud of her accomplishment and drop the binky ball at my feet so I can toss it again and again and again. The difference now is that Josie kept racing toward the setting sun, still brimming with excitement at what awaited her. I take comfort in C.S. Lewis's theology about dogs and heaven, and hope that when my time comes to race toward the setting sun, I will find Josie awaiting me, with a shiny new binky ball at her feet, ready to resume the chase again and again and again.

Open Conversations At Pepperdine Caruso Law School: Building Culture, Developing Discourse, Nurturing Democracy

Jeffrey R. Baker (Pepperdine; Google Scholar) & Tanya Asim Cooper (Pepperdine; Google Scholar), Open Conversations: Building Culture, Developing Discourse, Nurturing Democracy:

[A]t our first Open Conversation, ... [o]ver fifty students attended, and we set out some simple guidance. This was not a teaching moment for the faculty, and it was not a debate. It was a conversation, discourse to share perspectives, an opportunity to speak and listen, to engage across difference, to give voice to pain and anger, to explore paths forward, all from the students’ perspectives and experiences. With general prompts and light moderation while breaking bread together, the conversation was rich, critical, vibrant, heartfelt, and serious. It did not fix all of the issues or resolve all the tension within our school, but it was a moment of genuine community struggling with itself but refusing to alienate each other. 

After that first Open Conversation, we continued to offer them when controversies erupted nationally or locally, refining the approach. ... The broad objective for Open Conversations is to build a healthy culture within our law school community. It is not to resolve every issue or to engage in antagonistic debate; there are plenty of other opportunities for that during law school. Rather, it is to enrich our discourse with care, respect, and dignity, even over the most contentious issues. Moderation and centrism are also not the aims; students advocate and argue in Open Conversations with conviction but within a framework that aims to hold our shared life at the heart of our discussions. In our current national season of extreme polarization, brutal partisanship, personal antagonism, and so-called “cancel culture” (all of which have been topics of our discussions), the Open Conversations are counter-cultural exercises in democratic engagement. 

To these ends, we developed a practice of lightly-moderated discussions over lunch around curated topics with important ground rules for the conversation. We typically have fifty to sixty students and another ten staff and faculty in the room. The ground rules are “conversational harnesses” to preserve the objectives of discourse and engagement, and we share them at the top of each open conversation:

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