By FITSNews || Fresh on the heels of another disappointing performance in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings, USC’s School of Law now finds itself looking for a new leader.
Dean Walter F. “Jack” Pratt, Jr. will not seek reappointment to the post he has held since 2006, the school announced on Tuesday.
Of course before he goes, Pratt will lead a “blue ribbon panel” that will seek “external advice to identify key areas of research consistent with the overarching themes of the university to be oriented globally just as strongly as it is on the needs of the state of South Carolina.”
Sheesh …
Another casualty of the University’s obsessive focus on speculative “economic development” deals, USC’s law school has been dropping like a rock in the national rankings. As recently as the early 2000s, USC’s law school was ranked in the high 70s or low 80s according to U.S. News and World Report, but it has now dropped out of the Top 100 altogether and into dreaded “Tier 3? status.
By R May 11, 2010 at 4:53 pm
A photo of the Horseshoe for the law school?
By Just a good ole boy May 11, 2010 at 5:00 pm
I’ve seen some of their recent graduates in action and tier three status is giving them to much credit.
By NunYah May 11, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Hmm, considering that national ranking drop out of the top 100 in U.S. News and World Report, no wonder you see so many recent USC Law School Grads accepting jobs as public defenders. (O_~)
By CL May 11, 2010 at 6:02 pm
R,
The law school holds its graduation on the Horseshoe, but I don’t know that this was what they had in mind.
By James the Foot Soldier May 11, 2010 at 6:15 pm
There are a handful of good lawyers in this town – the rest are blow-hard wannabes – and nothing beats out-lawyering them in a court room – without a freakin’ law degree!! :)
By mygraduationday May 11, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Dean Pratt chaired the (corrupt) review committee process for CAS Dean Fitzpatrick – so he gets terminated and “stupid, arrogant and inflexible” Dean Fitzpatrick gets renewed – looks like our SC legistlative body is indeed picking and choosing our deans as reported in a prior FITS article.
By Jim May 11, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Yes, indeed Dean Pratt did chair the corrupt review process for Dean Fitzpatrick, but he failed in his appointed task. He was tasked with creating a POSITIVE review for Dean Fitzpatrick. He was not able to do this, and so clearly this figured in the fact that he would not be renewed. It is a shame, because he and other tried very hard to corrupt Dean Fitzpatrick’s review, and they did make progress, perverting it to only a 2 to 1 margin against.
By SubZeroIQ May 11, 2010 at 9:31 pm
FITS: I don’t know the inner workings of USC’s School of Law; but I do know its outer building appearance; and this picture is not it. Nor was the picture in your previous recent article one of the law school building. What happened? They became so anti-First-Amendment they wouldn’t let you even close enough to the building to take a picture?
By SnakeMD May 11, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Go easy on USC Law School graduates. A good deal of them post here on a regular basis. And most of them post during working hours, too. 98% percent of them give the remaining 2% a bad name!
By Ashley May 11, 2010 at 11:09 pm
“Tier three law school?” Yes, that’s a good description, assuming there is such a thing as “Tier four,” which would include Campbell School of Law, Charleston School of Law and University of Jacksonville School of Law.
It is a so-so law school, not known for its brilliant faculty, students or Law Review. It is just fine for your ordinary line of legal work which seems to be workmans comp and slip-and-fall, according to our local telephone book.
C or C plus.
By Lilly Collette May 12, 2010 at 8:06 am
D@mn if I didn’t like the comment of James the Foot Soldier:
There are a handful of good lawyers in this town – the rest are blow-hard wannabes – and nothing beats out-lawyering them in a court room – without a freakin’ law degree!! :)
Yeah man.
By Lilly Collette May 12, 2010 at 8:12 am
FBI guy told me there were good lawyers in Charleston.
He then wanted to know why I asked if he had a shovel I could borrow.
(ROTFLMAO)
Well, I was gonna go find me one of them thar lawyers — duh.
By Calhoun Fawls May 12, 2010 at 9:28 am
See ya, Dean, thanks for making my degree mean less than it once did. By any chance do you coach football?
By . May 12, 2010 at 9:44 am
So then, USC law will be on its 5th dean in 9 years! Pratt certainly had his issues, but he is mainly just a scapegoat. Upper administration incompetence of Amiridis and Pastides are equally culpable, for the failure to provide adequate resources to retain talented faculty, recruit high quality students, and improve facilities (except for the ongoing Innovista debacle). Does anyone really think hiring a new dean will improve the situation? Terminating Pratt is just a Pastides CYA move to show the legistlature that something is being done, but in reality, nothing significant changes at USC.
By Ynotfirst May 12, 2010 at 9:48 am
USC lawyers = USC doctors. All poor in skills.
USC is lacking real leadership and real instructors.
By Bobby May 12, 2010 at 11:03 am
USC has a law school that you could’ve taken a picture of. The law school isn’t on the horseshoe. Anyway, your point is well taken. USC Law is dropping quickly; it’s pathetic.
By fitsnews May 12, 2010 at 11:49 am
People.
It is the USC law school … the horseshoe is a symbol of USC.
C’mon.
Focus …
-FITS
By Jack May 12, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I love the way the lawyer haters come out on this site. My experience with USC grads has been great. It seems you guys generally fall into one of the following groups.
1. Criminals (both caught and uncaught)
2. Crappy Doctors who don’t think they should be held responsible when they f*#! up their patients.
3. Insurance execs and Insurance lobbyists. (I have the most respct for them they hate for pay)
4. People whose spouse divorced them because they are a worthless POS or
a crappy lay.
5. People who screwed someone and was called on it;
6. People who borrowed to much money, and couldn’t pay it back;
7. People who have never dealt with a lawyer in their life, but
none the less hate lawyers, because some right wing nut told them to and
they can’t think for themselves;
8. Lawyer Wannabes; and my favorite,
9. Law school grads who partied too much in law school and can’t get a job.
By Confused May 12, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I just want to be sure that I got this right. The problem with USC is just the deans? Which is why the Medical School, The Law School, The Pharmacy School and The College of Arts and Science are all worthless? Excuse me if I left out a failing college, there may be more. Oh yes, and Innovista was a disaster only because of one bad apple Parks?
And this has nothing to do with Pastides and his henchmen Amiridis and Moore?
Does anyone else see a pattern here? It’s called leadership failure.
Or am I just confused?
By James the Foot Soldier May 12, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Jack – you missed a category or 10 (typical of an SC Lawyer)
#10: people who inadvertantly married a gold-digger
#11: people who are great lays but can’t stomach further attempts at getting through over-grown thickets on their journey to the promised land
#12: people with a sense of humor
#13: people with a functioning brain
#14: people that don’t believe in wasting their hard earned cash
#15: people that don’t need a wannabes to fight for them
By Charles May 12, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Hmm,
#10 Never really met a person who “inadvertantly” married a gold digger, unless it was in Vegas after a long night of partying; and if there is such a person, I’m sure if he had gone to his lawyer in advance, he would have advised Prenup See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vwNcNOTVzY&feature=PlayList&p=D3CD36F1E2AD8366&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1
By James the Foot Soldier May 13, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Charles – if only I’d known then what I know now…..
By James the Foot Soldier May 13, 2010 at 9:37 pm
oh, and Jack, #11:
people with a sis that practice in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in your corner make USC law school grads superflous.