Happy Thanksgiving; I'm Thankful for These Seventy-Nine Heroic Law Deans

As the faithful reader will recall, last month, the NCBE and Brooklyn Law Dean Nicholas Allard had the following dialogue:

NCBE President Erica Moeser:  There was no error on this year's bar results.
Law Dean Nicholas Allard:  Shenanigans!

Once the initial artillery shelling ends, the infantry marches forward, and soon after Allard's canon-shot of perfect and unbiased scientific reasoning, the recruits lined up to march in unison for the Kingdom of Law.

On Tuesday, seventy-nine (over one third!) of America's law deans signed a letter requesting a "thorough investigation" that is "fully transparent to all law school deans and state bar examiners."  Specifically, they are requesting "all data in its possession on reliability or fairness of the July 2014 bar exam and all data necessary for independent expert review of the same."

Now, a snarky scamblogger might say something like "How about....no, fuck off." 

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "What genius former BigLaw litigator wrote this vague and ridiculous  request for production?"

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "Why, yes, transparency and enough information for independent expert review.  That sounds like a splendid thing to ask of an organization determining the fortunes of those with six-figure debt."

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "It's wonderful that law deans and state bar examiners will get this information; obviously, something like the minimal competence of lawyers should not be trusted to the public."

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "When you say "independent expert," you mean someone like Richard Matasar, right?"

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "I don't understand their concern.  A JD is a truly versatile degree and even those who fail the bar examination are well-served by their legal education."

Or a snarky scamblogger might say "With all their constitutional and civil procedure brain power, surely they have collectively navigated past the minor problem that none of them have any sort of recognized standing to even be arguing and asking for this crap."

Etc.  Lord knows what other cynical filth the minds of the unwashed can conjure.

I am not a snarky scamblogger.  I understand that these seventy-nine individuals are making a bold move in demanding open access and transparency in a shrewd sacrifice to ensure that as many debt-ridden bottom-quartile special snowflakes pass the bar exam as humanly possible in future years.  It's not about this particular battle.  It's about the war.

This is some Sun-Tzu shit going on here, and the war is all about whether you want rigid bar examinations by a cold, opaque NCBE or open, fair, and flexible bar examinations whose administrators cower to threats of auditing and mass criticism, helping the status quo to carry on for another year.  Heck, just by sending a few letters, they've already virtually guaranteed that bar examination pass rates will improve next year in several states.  No way those bureaucrats want to further ruffle feathers with law deans.

So hail these brave patriots, and let us celebrate the institutions that they serve.  Albany, Ave Maria, Barry, Capital, Charleston, Drake, Golden Gate, Hofstra, JMLS, La Verne, NYLS, Northeastern, Pace, Roger Williams, St. Marys, St. Thomas (2x), TJLS, Touro, Cooley, Vermont, Whittier, Widener, and all the others are fortunate to have leaders who understand the need for transparency and accountability when the law schools may have an adverse result.  God bless them, every one.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Americans.  And if you're not an American, well, I would love to help find you an LLM program.