Heat and light, LSAT scores and bar passage data

If you at all frequently read this blog, you're undoubtedly aware that what largely began as my idiosyncratic thoughts about election law have given way to a significant amount of content on legal education and the bar exam.

Recently, many pixels have been used to discuss the utility of the LSAT, and the relationship between LSAT scores and bar pass rates, which has spurred many larger discussions about the nature of legal education. They are easily discoverable.

Bernie Burk several months ago used the metaphor of heat and light in the midst of some such discussions, which I found quite useful. And I commend to all readers Jerry Organ's comments at the Legal Whiteboard, The Opaqueness of Bar Passage Data and the Need for Greater Transparency. Measured, careful, thoughtful analysis is the analysis I find most useful in such discussions--ones that not only concede limitations, but do not minimize such concessions. I remain deeply grateful for the thoughtful contributors in this space who have spurred me to think carefully and critically on all fronts. And I hope my posts remain useful.