Animal rights activist Bob Barker has donated $1 million to the University of Virginia School of Law to start a new animal rights program that will bear his name.

According to the UVA Today News Blog, the Bob Barker Animals Rights Program will feature "coursework, guest speakers and a writing competition focused on animal law," and will be led by law professor Mimi Riley.

Animal rights law is increasingly popular in law school and practices today, so if you're an animal lover, you have one more specialty area to consider.

During my daily spin around the legal blogosphere, I came across a post at The Salem Diet, written by Justin, a law student in Oregon. He posted A Law School Diet because, as he wrote, "I started back up in law school and I now realize this semester is going to be much busier than last. If I don't plan thoroughly then I'm not going to have enough to eat."

Justin makes an excellent point.

Going to law school means you're busy, possibly busier than you've ever been before, but one of the items on your to-do list should always be taking care of yourself. This includes regular, balanced, healthy meals and exercise.

I know firsthand how hard it is to do these things during law school, but if you make an effort to plan ahead as Justin has done, you'll see great results in your energy, concentration, and productivity levels--and possibly even in your grades.

Yes, January has barely begun, but if you're a 1L and haven't started your job search yet, it's time to start thinking of how you'll want to spend the summer.

Many 2Ls get jobs in small, medium, or large law firms, but 1Ls generally hold other legal positions like judicial intern or research assistant, or work in governmental agencies or non-profit organizations. Unfortunately, a lot of jobs open to 1Ls don't pay or pay very little, but be sure to check with your school's career planning office for public interest funding or work study information.

Best of luck!

This quarter, Professors Douglas Baird, M. Todd Henderson, and Randy Picker of the University of Chicago Law School are holding a seminar on Bailouts, and even if you're not enrolled in the law school, you can still follow along online.

You can find the evolving syllabus here, which includes links to the readings, and read students' thoughts at the Bailouts blog. The first assignments include a look at 1930s propaganda, the Chrysler 1979 bailout, and Detroit in current times.

This is a great opportunity for those of you thinking about law school to get a feel for what law school class workloads and discussions are like, and for the rest of us, it's an excellent chance to peek into the legal minds at work today.

I love this idea, and I hope more law professors will follow this lead in making their courses more open to the public. What do you think?