31(b)log: Moneyball and law schools

I just read a really interesting law review article that applies sabermetrics to legal education: "What Law Schools Can Learn from Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics,"?by Caron and Gely,?82 Tex. L. Rev. 1483 (2004).? The authors take the lessons from "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis and apply them to how we rank law schools and how law schools select students and teachers.

Dwight Sullivan did something similar in capital litigation a few years back with his article called "Killing Time," 180 Mil. L. Rev. 1 (2006).? An interesting ILE paper topic would be to apply sabermetrics to how we select talent in the JAGC, or the larger Army, for that matter.? (Could the resistance to real 360 degree evaluations be because we are scared that it will provide accurate data that actually matters?? Who better to know if you are a good leader than your subordinates, or if you are a good team player than your peers?? Are our raters subject to the same problems with their subjective evaluations?that baseball scouts have, in that they "(1) generalize wildly from their own experience; (2) are unduly influenced by recent performance; and (3) be biased by what they see with their own eyes?"? Or will we fail to see the real talent if we become too focused on metrics?? What is the right balance between objectivity and subjectivity?)

In any event, this article is worth a skim, if only for the interesting discussion about the evolution of legal training in our country and how that process led to the change-resistant culture that currently exists in law schools.

LTC Carpenter

Source: http://tjaglcs-adc.blogspot.com/2012/07/moneyball-and-law-schools.html

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