Law School Ethical Violation?

[JK42]

     
Hello,

One of my friends is experiencing a difficult situation with the law school I recently joined as a 1L. He asked me what I think and I don't know what to tell him. I want to know what you all think.

He says the issue is that the professor in one of his classes plagiarized most of his final exam questions from another exam posted online by a professor from another law school(the answers were also posted online). The problem is that many students used the online exam as samples/practice exams to prepare for their exam days before the final. So they technically had the answers fresh in their minds which threw off the curve in the class. He feels his grade in the class is not fair due to this.

He petitioned the school, and they said that there was no abuse of discretion. He called the assistant dean, and caught the guy in couple lies. He first said that there was no proof of anybody really seeing the answers before the exam, but my friend gave him proof (the online exams, and told him he had names of people who saw the sample exams before the real exam). Then the dean changed his story and said that he had the list of who saw it and who didn't and adjusted the grades appropriately (something about eliminating their grades to calculate my friends' grade)...to this my friend asked him if he asked everyone in class if they saw it or not, and he said no. My friend believes there was no such adjustment.

He came to the conclusion after talking to the assistant dean that the school also believes this situation is wrong but they are trying to sweep this under the rug.

I see his argument, and I am a little alarmed that people of position would lie like that (especially at the school I attend)

What do you guys think?

Thank you,
Thomas

[john4040]

It's not a new thing for professors to copy test questions from other professors.  Professor A at my law school copied test questions verbatim from Professor B's old exam.  Professor B used to teach the same subject at my law school.  Yet another professor copied his test questions right out of a contracts hornbook.  Professors are lazy.  Does copying test questions violate ethical standards?  Not IMO.  Are the students who studied the other exam unethical?  Not IMO - all students had equal opportunity to find and study the other exam.

I'm not sure why the school is trying to sweep this under the rug, there's nothing unethical about the teacher's conduct.

[pacelaw2013]

I would say nothing wrong happend. If that is the way the teacher wanted to be, so be it. You (or your friend) had every opportunity to study from that test as many of the others students obviously did. It sucks, but do your dilligence in studying and you wouldn't have the problem.

[JK42]

Yea I agree if it was only the questions that were posted online, it would not be that big of a deal.  But as I stated above the answers to the questions were also posted online.  So many of the students who saw the exam, saw the answers ahead of time, thereby messing with the grade curve of the class...how is that not unfair and unethical?

[pacelaw2013]

Suggested answers were online I assume you mean, especially if it was essay form. Also, that still means the answers were available for everyone to read as well. Again, I don't see the problem.

It was great luck that those students studied those exact questions so well, and for that htey should be commended.

[JK42]

Wow, you do not see anything wrong with this situation?   So according to you, the students who saw the answers should be commended for unintentionally cheating and students who studied hard but didn’t happen to see this particular model exam online should be penalized.  You’ll make an awesome lawyer, pace law student

Edit:  Pacelaw2013, I'm assuming you haven't started law school or recently just started.  Do you even know how a law school grade curve works?  Maybe after one semester in law school, you'll see this situation differently.

[john4040]

unintentionally cheating

There's no such thing as "unintentionally cheating."  To cheat requires, by definition, an intent to acquire an unfair advantage over another.  These students sought no such unfair advantage.  The teacher used his discretion to copy questions for his exam, the students happened to study said questions, and the rest is history.  Neither the teacher nor the students acted unethically.

Edit:  I've finished law school and have experienced the lunacy of law school curves and grading.  What happened to you (or a friend) is unfortunate, but so are many things in life.

[Cicero]

(Note: I'm not sharing this to blow my own horn, but rather to give a counter point.) I had one professor my 1L year who loved to copy questions out of a particular study aid, though she would vary from them slightly (often making them more challenging). She put one question (essay) on our final that pretty much came directly out of it (and the supplement had suggested answers).  I had not come across the question in the supplement, but another student had found it and had practiced that essay (she told me after the final). Was it fair for the other students who didn't look at that supplement? I don't know if that other student did a lot better than most of the other students, though I'm sure it helped her grade. I ended up getting the highest grade in that class, even though I didn't review that question in the supplement, so her "advantage" didn't adversely effect me.

I think that a lot of the professors copy questions, either verbatim or with some minor tweeking. Students need to test what they know by using a variety of supplements, so that when you come across questions on the final, they seem similar to what you have practiced, even if you haven't practiced that exact question, the names are different, the situation is somewhat different, etc.

[JK42]

Ok John, then their actions (teacher and students who saw the exam answers) lead to consequences and results that are similar to as if cheating really did occur.  Like I stated in my earlier post, this happened to a friend.  Not sure why people can't read properly

Yea life is unfair, but my friend paid good money to go to a law school to get a fair and proper legal education. The professor was lazy and didn't do what he was hired to do.

Cicero, it might not have affected you adversely, but have you talked to every one that was in your class?  I'm sure there were students who would have scored higher than her if she didn't have the advantage....maybe knocking them off from the b bracket to the c bracket, thus affecting their overall rank.  Do you think that is fair?

Edit:  How about it affecting timing?  The students who had the answers probably went through the essays quicker than the students who did not have the answers, so they got more time to go over the MC and more time to review their final exam. 

[john4040]

Tell your friend to appeal the decision and see what comes of it.  My guess is that s/he loses.  I still fail to see how either the students' or teacher's conduct was unethical.  Being unfair and unethical are two separate things (just like professionalism and ethics: Professionalism is a set of rules an attorney ought to follow. Ethics are a set of rules an attorney must follow.)