Fired professor sues law college // EDUCATION: A retired judge says he was dismissed in part for criticizing the school for admitting students with no aptitude for the law.

DATE                  09/01/93
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               METRO
EDITION               MORNING
PAGE                  b01
STORY LENGTH          22 INCHES
HEADLINE              Fired  professor  sues law  college // EDUCATION: A 
                         retired judge says he was dismissed in part for 
                         criticizing the school for admitting students with no 
                         aptitude for the law.
BYLINE/CREDIT         DAN FROOMKIN:The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS         OC:LAW:COLLEGES:FACULTY:LAWSUITS:EMPLOYMENT:END

     Just how smart do you have to be to become a lawyer?
     According to retired Judge Russell A. Bostrom, at the very least
  you ought to have more on the ball than many students at Western
  State University College of Law.
     But Bostrom, who was a professor at the school for more than two
  years, says he was fired after he voiced that opinion.
     This week he filed a $900,000 lawsuit against the school,
  alleging that he was dismissed in part for condemning the admission
  of students whose standardized test scores ranked them among the
  least capable would-be lawyers in the country.
     "I'm not sure that one has to be an intellectual giant to become
  a lawyer, but you have to have some aptitude," said Bostrom, whose
  contract was not renewed last year.
     Western State University is a for-profit commuter law school
  with about 2,600 students attending classes at campuses in
  Fullerton, Irvine and San Diego. It's the only accredited law
  school in Orange County.
     John C. Monks, the university's president, characterized Bostrom
  as a "disgruntled short-term employee."
     "Mr. Bostrom is angry at us," Monks said, "and his perception of
  why his contract was not renewed is his own. It had nothing to do
  with comments he may or may not have made on the admissions
  process."
     Monks said Bostrom "was fired because he did not meet our
  performance requirements in teaching and scholarship."
     Bostrom, 51, who retired from his post as an Orange County
  Municipal Court judge four years ago, said no concerns were raised
  about his performance during two years of teaching criminal law and
  evidence classes.
     Ron Talmo, a professor at the university, said Monday that
  Bostrom is absolutely right. Talmo said he was suspended with pay
  for six months in part because of a critical memo he wrote about
  admissions.
     The memo, written when Talmo was acting dean of the Irvine
  campus, alleged that about 30 percent of admitted students ranked
  in the bottom 20 percent on the Law School Aptitude Test, or LSAT.
     Monks questioned Talmo's figures and denied that Talmo ever was
  suspended.
     Monks said he simply wanted Talmo out of the way while a new
  dean took over the campus. "He was told to take a sabbatical,"
  Monks said.
     Monks also said the school is proud of its policy of admitting
  students other schools might not want. "We take a gamble on
  people," he said. "We tell them that we're going to take a gamble."
     He said many students are career-changing adults who have taken
  unusual paths to law school.
     For instance, Monks said, about 25 percent of incoming students
  do not have bachelor's degrees -- a rarity at most accredited law
  schools.
     Figures show that 74 percent of Western State graduates pass the
  bar exam within three tries. That's lower than the University of
  California, Los Angeles, Law School, 90 percent of whose graduates
  pass the bar on their first try.
     And Monks said more than half of entering Western State students
  don't graduate -- either because they flunk or drop out.
     Bostrom's suit alleges breach of contract and wrongful
  termination. In an earlier letter to the university, his lawyer
  said Bostrom would be satisfied with monetary damages of $873,000
  and written assurance that academic-freedom guarantees and the
  university's admissions policy will be beefed up.
     Bostrom said it's not that the admitted students are stupid.
     "I can point to a lot of lawyers who are living proof that just
  about anybody can become a member of the bar," he said.
     "But there are people who just don't have that particular
  capacity."