Law Professors

Law Prof Isn’t Stranded in Scotland and in Need of Cash, Despite E-Mail to Contrary

A senior lecturing fellow at Duke University School of Law who conducts happiness research is trying to remain positive after a hacker used his e-mail in an apparent scam. Lawyer and positive psychology expert Dan Bowling says he’s been hacked. “No, I’m not in Scotland, and no, I don’t need…

Sep 28, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Yale Law Prof Laments ‘Bumper Sticker’ Discourse

Yale University law professor Stephen Carter worries that Americans are losing the ability to debate in meaningful ways. Democracy depends on civil discourse, Carter says, where people can sit and talk and work things out. He spoke on Friday at the inauguration of former independent counsel Kenneth Starr as Baylor…

Sep 22, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

As Gov & Lawmakers Sparred Over Top Court Vacancy, Chief Judge Made Temp Appointment

As the new governor of New Jersey and state lawmakers deadlocked for months about filling a vacancy on the state’s highest court, its top judge finally took action. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner filled the vacancy—temporarily—himself, two weeks ago, by elevating a judge from state appellate court. Whether he had the…

Sep 21, 2010 10:45 PM CDT

Law Prof’s Deleted Post: I’m Not ‘Super Rich’ Enough for Higher Taxes

A University of Chicago law professor’s controversial blog post condemning higher taxes on the so-called super rich—he’s one of them, but says he can’t afford to pay more—has been taken down, but it lives on in cached form. Writing at Truth on the Market, law professor Todd Henderson said he…

Sep 21, 2010 12:03 PM CDT

Extras Wanted for New PBS Human Rights Trial Program Pilot Starring Ogletree & Cherie Blair

Law and international affairs leaders will be among a number of well-known attorneys showcased in an upcoming PBS series on human rights trials that is being produced by Penn State Public Broadcasting. And for those who expect to be in central Pennsylvania within the next week there’s even a chance…

Sep 14, 2010 9:51 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Cites ‘Insubordination,’ Says Cooley Had Right to Fire Tenured Law Prof

A law school had a right to fire a tenured faculty member for “insubordination,” a federal judge has ruled, in a decision that the plaintiff’s lawyer contends should send shock waves through the nation’s law professor ranks. Lynn Branham had argued that she was improperly fired, without a hearing, after…

Sep 14, 2010 12:24 AM CDT

Scalia Urges Law Profs to Spend More Time Teaching, Less Time Writing

Justice Antonin Scalia has joined the debate over law school instruction. Speaking Wednesday at a dedication for Marquette University Law School’s new $85 million building, Scalia said law professors should devote less time to academic research to free up more time for instruction, according to stories in the Milwaukee Journal…

Sep 9, 2010 11:28 AM CDT

GW Law Prof Promises Airing of Undisclosed ‘Critical Facts’ in Judge’s Impeachment Trial

A George Washington University law professor will be leading the defense for U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. when the first phase of his impeachment trial begins next week before a special U.S. Senate Committee. Lead defense lawyer Jonathan Turley told the National Law Journal in an e-mail that…

Sep 9, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Elena Kagan Quote Provides a Runner-Up in Dictionary’s ‘Words of Summer’

A quote from the U.S. Supreme Court’s newest justice generated so many lookups on Merriam-Webster.com that the dictionary has proclaimed it one of its “Top Words of Summer 2010.” The word is “vapid,” used by Elena Kagan in a 1995 law review article, the Associated Press reports. The article calls…

Sep 8, 2010 12:44 PM CDT

A Cancellation by Harvard Prof Fuels Speculation on Consumer Post

Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren won’t be teaching her first-year contracts class this fall, fueling speculation that she will be tapped to head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The Washington Post obtained an e-mail announcing the change in profs. Warren declined to comment, and White House spokesman Robert…

Sep 2, 2010 3:47 PM CDT

Adjunct Law Prof Hits Schools’ Preoccupation with ‘Impractical Scholarship’

Top law schools hire professors with fewer years of real-world experience than lower-tier schools, according to an adjunct who questions schools’ “preoccupation with impractical scholarship” in a law review article. Georgetown University adjunct law professor Brent Evan Newton told the National Law Journal that he was inspired to write his…

Sep 1, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Law Prof and Ambassador Douglas Kmiec Crashes Car, Killing Nun

Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec, the U.S. ambassador to Malta, crashed his car in California on Thursday, killing a nun who was a passenger. Kmiec suffered moderate injuries and another passenger, a pastor, was also injured, according to stories by the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles Times blog…

Aug 27, 2010 11:38 AM CDT

U of Iowa Law School Offers Free Web Course on Health Care Reform Act

In what may be a one-of-a-kind move, the University of Iowa College of Law is offering all comers the opportunity to attend a free online 14-week course on the nation’s new health care reform law. Already, nearly 500 people have reportedly expressed an interest in attending. The class will be…

Aug 26, 2010 11:10 PM CDT

Northwestern Law Dean Van Zandt Gets New Gig as President of New York’s New School

David Van Zandt, a ABA Journal Legal Rebel who has served as the dean of Northwestern University’s law school for well over a decade will be stepping down at the end of the year to take a new job as president of the New School in Manhattan. The eclectic New…

Aug 26, 2010 10:22 PM CDT

Law School Dispenses iPads, Touts Downtime Study Opportunity

A California law school’s pilot program to provide iPads to students in a supplemental bar study curriculum proved so popular that all of its entering 1Ls signed up. The Monterey College of Law in Seaside, a four-year evening law school, has issued a press release saying it is the first…

Aug 26, 2010 12:32 PM CDT