Law Professors

Paying Too Much to See a Baseball Game? Blame the Tax Code, Law Prof Says

A law professor says there is a critical factor that helps explain why the average price of a Chicago Cubs ticket has increased 265 percent in the last two decades—the tax code. Business write-offs are spurring skyrocketing ticket prices to sporting events in two ways, according to a New York…

Apr 5, 2010 12:07 PM CDT

Add to April 1 Annals: Harvard to Refund Tuition of Jobless Law Grads

In another late-breaking addition to yesterday’s list of April Fools’ Day jokes, the Harvard Law Record is reporting that the Harvard Law School will refund the tuition of third-year students who graduate without job offers. The purported tuition refund offer does not apply to graduates pursuing public-interest jobs, who should…

Apr 3, 2010 12:34 AM CDT

Race Cuts Both Ways in Law School Hiring, Study Says

A study by a 2009 Harvard Law School graduate concludes that minorities are more likely than whites to land law school tenure-track positions, but minorities are more likely to end up at lower-tier schools. “In the realm of law school hiring, race appears to cut both ways,” according to a…

Apr 1, 2010 5:28 PM CDT

Law Profs Explain Why Comics Don’t Sue Over Joke Thefts

Copyright law applies to joke thefts, but comedians rarely invoke legal protections because suits are too expensive and uncertain. One legal barrier is that copyright protects original expression, but not the original idea, according to UCLA law professor Kal Raustiala and University of Virginia law professor Chris Sprigman, writing at…

Mar 31, 2010 6:34 PM CDT

John Yoo Sees Himself as West Berlin During the Cold War

The former Justice Department official who wrote legal memos authorizing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects views his position as a conservative law professor at a liberal school through the prism of history. John Yoo has prompted so much protest that administrators at the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall…

Mar 29, 2010 1:15 PM CDT

Dang Gummit! Law Prof Uses ‘Machine Gun’ Student Grilling Method on Wall Street

In her quest for a new consumer financial protection agency, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren speaks with the twang of her native Oklahoma and the zeal of a hard-nosed crusader. “Dang gummit, somebody has got to stand up on behalf of middle-class families!” she told the New York Times…

Mar 26, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Blog Offers Diagnosis for Harvard Law Prof’s Mysterious Illness

Doctors for Harvard Law School professor Jonathan Zittrain are taking a look at an obscure 1994 article from a Korean medical journal as a result of an online appeal for a diagnosis. Zittrain, a digital freedom advocate, was hospitalized last Thursday with unexplained fevers, but doctors expecting to find an…

Mar 17, 2010 11:49 AM CDT

Law Prof Says Long Arm of the Law Should Not Extend to Middle Finger

The middle finger may be losing its shock value, but that hasn’t stopped police from issuing citations to those who use the gesture to show their opinion. An American University law professor who has written a law review article (PDF) on the subject maintains that such prosecutions are usually a…

Mar 15, 2010 12:56 PM CDT

Yale, Harvard, Chicago Top Prof’s Scholarly Impact Rankings

Updated: University of Chicago law professor Brian Leiter has posted a sneak peek of his annual ranking of law faculties’ scholarly impact—and Yale Law School, Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago Law School are Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Chicago was in the No. 2 spot last year,…

Mar 12, 2010 5:48 PM CST

USC Law Prof’s Lament: Why Can’t Wal-Mart Provide Legal Services?

In the United Kingdom, legal clients will have a new option next year: They can seek advice from corporations. That means Tesco, the European equivalent of Wal-Mart, could get into the legal business. A law professor at the University of Southern California says the United States should take note. Writing…

Mar 12, 2010 5:33 PM CST

Who Are the Most-Downloaded Law Professors? Get the Stats

Social Science Research Network has a site meter of sorts for what legal scholarship is being read through its site and how often. The top law authors page “is watched for sport,” Lauren Streib writes at Business Insider’s Law Review. The blog pays tribute to the 10 law professors who…

Mar 11, 2010 10:48 PM CST

Another False Rumor: Chief Justice Turns the Table on Law Prof

Chief Justice John G. Roberts told University of Alabama law students on Tuesday that he has an announcement about an impending retirement. But it wasn’t his own retirement, briefly announced and then retracted by a website last week. The rumor apparently made its way into cyberspace after Georgetown University law…

Mar 11, 2010 12:30 PM CST

Study Partly Blames Higher Law School Tuition on 40% Leap in Faculty Size

Law school faculties have increased an average of 40 percent over the last decade, helping boost tuitions that have more than doubled at public institutions. The study by the National Jurist says the higher staffing levels at 195 ABA-accredited institutions account for 48 percent of tuition increases during the period…

Mar 10, 2010 3:20 PM CST

Classroom Laptops an ‘Attractive Nuisance’ and Rumor Monger

Georgetown law professor David Cole is siding with other legal academics who have decided to ban laptops from their classrooms. Cole banned laptops beginning in 2006, calling them an “attractive nuisance.” He explained why in a recent interview with the Washington Post. “This is like putting on every student’s desk,…

Mar 9, 2010 5:32 PM CST

Harvard Law Prof Is Helping to Draft Fashion Copyright Bill

In the last few months, fashion houses Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen have accused Steve Madden of ripping off their shoe designs and filed suit. But they face an uphill battle in court, because the U.S. lacks a fashion copyright law. Sen. Charles Schumer—along with Harvard law professor Jeannie Suk—is working…

Mar 8, 2010 11:23 PM CST