random observations (March 2, 2011)

• I've been critical about the way law schools supply useful information to applicants, so I'm glad to see that there's now a report on how well law schools place into the NLJ 250.  That is a nice proxy for hiring and first year salaries, and if it's coupled with the reputational rankings from US News and Leiter, applicants and students have a much better set of relevant data.  Kudos to University of Chicago for topping the list.  And I'm glad to see that UC-Berkeley (nee Boalt), where I often teach, acquits itself well.
• I see that co-blogger Richard Painter has a substantive piece up on HuffPo, arguing that Goodwin Liu's nomination should sail through the Senate.  The only serious objection I had to Liu was the last paragraph of his comments on the Alito nomination, where Liu had echoed the infamous rhetoric on "Robert Bork's America."  (scroll down to the last paragraph)  In Liu's prior testimony, he gently backed away from his comments.  Now, Liu's apologizing.  Good for him.  The Senate should confirm him.
• In case anyone's wondering why my posting dropped off late in 2010, I've been busy and re-prioritizing.  In in the future, I'm hoping to contribute 2-3 round-up posts a week.