Capital University Law Students Set Off in Search of Real-Life Solutions

Jan 1, 2011 9:50 AM CST

2 Law Profs Create Website to Encourage Rich to Give ‘Unconscionable’ Tax Breaks to Charity

Two law professors and a political science professor have created a new website to encourage those they see as having benefited unduly from recent tax legislation to give the extra money to charity. That is to say, the rich, reports the Wall Street Journal. The website, giveitbackforjobs.org, is intended both…

Dec 29, 2010 8:48 PM CST

Law Student Dies After Fall at Exclusive Chicago Club

A unique and extraordinary first-year law student with a promising future has died after somehow falling down the stairs at an exclusive Chicago club he was visiting with his father during the holiday break. Eric Fatla died yesterday from the severe injuries he sustained in the Christmas Eve fall at…

Dec 28, 2010 7:00 PM CST

Creative Legal Minds May Be Able to Protect a Cocktail, IP Law Profs Say

You can’t copyright a drink recipe. But some aspects of a creative cocktail might be protected under other legal theories, according to two law professors writing a guest column in the Freakonomics blog of the New York Times. Trademark is one, say Kal Raustiala, UC-Los Angeles and Chris Sprigman of…

Dec 23, 2010 10:52 PM CST

Ex-Law Dean Will Return More Than $300K in Bonus Money

The former dean of the University of Maryland law school has agreed to return more than $300,000 in bonus money awarded as part of a “retention package” during an important fund-raising campaign. Karen Rothenberg had received $410,000 in bonus money over a two-year period ending in 2009, but she has…

Dec 23, 2010 12:33 PM CST

2 Law Profs Win $5.2M Verdict in Defamation Case Over Pocket Part Authorship

A pay dispute with two law professors concerning their longtime annual updating of a criminal procedure treatise they authored has proven costly for West Publishing. After a four-day trial, a federal district court jury in Philadelphia last week awarded the two profs a total of nearly $5.2 million, reports the…

Dec 20, 2010 8:49 PM CST

Lawyers’ Holiday Confessions: Faux Gifts and Karaoke

Lawyers fessed up to some offbeat holiday traditions for a legal publication. Above the Law founder David Lat goes to his parents’ New Jersey home, where about 30 family members “break out the Magic Microphone for a hard-hitting session of karaoke,” the National Law Journal reports. New York University law…

Dec 20, 2010 2:32 PM CST

‘Long-Shot’ Cert Petition Alleges Tobacco Settlement Violated Compact Clause

A “long-shot” petition for certiorari references a little-known clause in the Constitution in an attack on the $200 billion multistate tobacco settlement. The cert petition by the Competitive Enterprise Institute argues the 1998 settlement between 46 states and the tobacco industry violates the compact clause, according to the Wall Street…

Dec 20, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Duke Law Prof Fears Suicides as Estate Tax Holiday Nears an End

As the year draws to a close, so too does the estate tax holiday that gave heirs a one-year exemption from taxation on inheritances. Next year estates will be subject to taxes of up to 55 percent, with a $1 million exemption, if Congress does nothing, TaxProf Blog reports. If…

Dec 16, 2010 2:44 PM CST

Lady Justice’s Look Changed as Judicial Systems Took Shape

Lady Justice didn’t always wear a blindfold. She has been depicted as a goddess of harmony and order in ancient Egypt, and as a sister, wife and counselor to Zeus, the New York Times reports. The blindfold did not become an accessory until well into the 17th Century, according to…

Dec 16, 2010 1:10 PM CST

Now at Trial, Law Profs Win Initial Round in Pocket Parts Suit: If Defamation Is Proved, It’s Per Se

Two longtime authors of the supplementary “pocket part” to a Pennsylvania criminal procedure treatise say they were shocked when they saw they were still listed as the authors of a “sham” new version in 2008, after refusing to revise it because of a pay dispute with West Publishing Co. The…

Dec 14, 2010 8:11 PM CST

Pols’ Takes on First and Second Amendments Make List of Top 10 Quotations

Statements by two Tea Party candidates with unusual views of the First and Second Amendments have made a Yale law librarian’s list of the year’s top 10 quotations. No. 6 on thelist is this, from unsuccessful GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle: “I hope that’s not where we’re going, but you…

Dec 13, 2010 1:00 PM CST

Duquesne Settles 1 Law Faculty Suit, Still Faces 2 Others

One of three law faculty members who have been pursuing litigation against Duquesne University has settled on undisclosed terms. The exit of Alice Stewart, a clinical administrator who had sued for gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation, leaves two other faculty members saying they weren’t fairly considered for the law dean’s…

Dec 9, 2010 10:25 PM CST

Law Prof’s Book Helps Underwater Homeowners Decide When to Walk Away

A University of Arizona law professor offers advice to underwater homeowners in a new book that echoes his earlier views that walking away from a mortgage may be the best alternative. The professor, Brent White, says homeowners need to evaluate financial and practical concerns before making a decision, according to…

Dec 8, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Two Harvard 2Ls Sue Over Airport Searches; Law Prof Doubts Success

Yet another lawsuit has been filed that challenges airport full-body scans and pat downs, this time by two Harvard law students. The suit was filed by 2Ls Jeffrey Redfern and Anant Pradhan, according to the Harvard Law Record. Redfern told the publication that he became interested in a lawsuit when…

Dec 2, 2010 4:37 PM CST