Kevin Legal Advice

With entrance to law school becoming more and more competitive, the Law School Admission Test is playing a large role in determining the fate of the candidates. It’s not enough to just pass the test, successful applicants need to ace it. Students with a 3.5 GPA are a dime a dozen, but LSAT scores of 165 and higher show your analytical thinking ability in it’s best light.
The LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, is offered by the Law School Admission Council and is necessary for admission to the more than 200 law schools who are members of the LSAC. Though there are hundreds of test locations, not all test dates are available at all test centers. Check the LSAC website for exam schedules and sites. You should register as early as possible to ensure that you get your first choice of location.
You can register for the LSAT either online, by telephone or by mail. But do yourself a favor and signup on time. There is a late registration period available, but you will pay an extra $64 for the privilege. For those students who celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, alternative exams are usually given on the Monday following the regular Saturday tests or the June exam is given on a Monday.
The LSAT is given four times a year in February, June, October and December and includes five 35 minute multiple choice sections and a 35 minute writing sample at the end. Four of the five multiple choice sections are scored…the non-scored one is used to check new test questions. You may not know which is which, so be prepared to give full attention to all sections.
The four scored sections will fall into the following categories: reading comprehension, analytical reasoning and two of logical reasoning. The writing sample is not scored either, but a copy of it is sent to all law schools to which you apply, so you want to put forth your best effort.
Once you’ve decided to take the LSAT, your next step is preparation. You can find sample questions and tests on the LSAC website, as well as on various LSAT test preparation sites such as Kaplan. Question categories are consistent from test to test, so once you’ve completed a few sample exams, you will have a good idea of what’s coming. If the sample tests aren’t sufficient to make you feel comfortable, there are courses available both online and in a classroom setting. The online courses have the advantage of being accessible 24 hours per day, important for someone who may be juggling a busy work and school schedule. Taking the course in the classroom allows direct interaction with the teacher, as well as forcing you to focus to be prepared for class.
Scoring is based on the number of correct answers given. If you find yourself coming down to the end of a section and you have several blanks, make sure you get some answer marked. Even guessing, you’ll have a 20% chance of a correct answer and if you could eliminate any definitely wrong answers, your percentage goes up.

Dr. William Allan Kritsonis

Professor

 

Public School Law & Educational Laws and Policies

 

Case Five

 

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Beaumont.

 

Nora Kathryn CONROY, Appellant

v.

NACOGDOCHES INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.

No. 09-05-362 CV.

 

 

LITIGANTS

 

Plaintiffs-Appellant: Nora Kathryn CONROY

 

Defendants-Appellee:  NACOGDOCHES INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

BACKGROUND

 

            At the time Conroy filed her petition, she had been employed as a special education diagnostician by NISD for three years. In November 2002, Conroy and sixteen other special education staff members at NISD filed and signed a complaint with the TEA reporting violations of state and federal law in the NISD special education program. The TEA conducted an initial investigation of the special education program. In January 2003, the TEA sent NISD Superintendent Dr. Tony Riehl a letter advising him of the allegations contained in the complaint and directing the district to take corrective action. In March 2003, in a letter to the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Conroy again complained of violations of state and federal regulations in the special education program. Twelve of the original sixteen signatories to the TEA complaint also signed this letter.

 

            In August 2003, NISD’s Special Education Director Debbie Walker informed Conroy she would be transferred from the elementary school to the high school for the 2003-2004 school year. Conroy had previously told Walker that Conroy did not want to go to the high school and Conroy’s specialization was in working with very young children. In October 2003, while working at the high school, Conroy received a directive from High School Principal Elizabeth Ballenger instructing her to follow the admission, review, and dismissal procedures. Conroy brought suit against NISD under the Texas Whistleblower Act alleging her transfer to the high school and the October 2003 directive were retaliation for her reports to the TEA and U.S. Department of Education.

 

FACTS

 

            Appellant Nora Kathryn Conroy, a diagnostician employed in the Nacogdoches Independent School District’s special education department, filed suit against the school district under the Whistleblower Act. Conroy appeals the trial court’s final order granting NISD’s no-evidence motion for summary judgment. NISD cross-appeals the trial court’s order denying NISD’S motion to transfer venue. We affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified.

 

DECISION

 

                        For Conroy to prevail on her claim, she must establish (1) she is a public employee; (2) she acted in good faith in making her report; (3) the report involved a violation of law; (4) the report was made to an appropriate law enforcement authority; and (5) she suffered retaliation as a result of making the report. Employees filing a whistleblower action must prove all elements of their claim by a preponderance of the evidence. Conroy argues the trial court erred in granting NISD’s no-evidence motion for summary judgment because more than a scintilla of evidence established “causation” between Conroy’s report of violations and her transfer and the October 2003 directive. To show causation, a public employee must demonstrate that after he or she reported a violation of the law in good faith to an appropriate law enforcement authority, the employee suffered discriminatory conduct by his or her employer that would not have occurred when it did if the employee had not reported the illegal conduct.

 

DICTA

 

            The Court of Appeals, Beaumont, Judge David V. Wilson ruled that Conroy failed to present more than a scintilla of evidence to support the causation element to her claim and we affirm the trial court’s judgment as modified. We need not address NISD’s cross appeal.

 

IMPLICATIONS

 

            A whistleblower is a person who publicly alleges concealed misconduct on the part of an organization or body of people, usually from within that same organization. This misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, or regulation. The Appellant was not successful in her suit because of lack of evidence regarding reasons for her termination and dismissal.

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