Law Professors

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

Harvard Law Prof Nesson on the Hook for Motion Cost in Downloading Trial

Some pro bono litigation could prove costly for Harvard law professor Charles Nesson. Nesson led the defense for graduate student Joel Tenenbaum, who was ordered to pay $675,000 for unlawfully downloading 30 songs on the Internet. Now Nesson may be on a hook for some of the record companies’ legal…

Mar 8, 2010 3:39 PM CST

Law Prof’s Controversial Nomination Moves Once Again to Full Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee has once again given its approval to the nomination of a controversial law professor to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. The committee voted to approve Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen by a 12-7 party line vote and sent the nomination to the…

Mar 5, 2010 5:41 PM CST

CUNY Spends $155M for New Law School Home, Spurring Outcry

Critics are taking aim at the $155 million price tag negotiated by the City University of New York for a bigger law school home in Long Island City, Queens. The price for space in the first six floors of the 14-story Two Court Square building amounts to about $688 a…

Mar 5, 2010 4:07 PM CST

ATL Says Law Prof May Have Sparked False Rumor of Chief Justice’s Retirement

An exclusive “news” report briefly posted on the Radar Online gossip blog this morning—that U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is about to announce his retirement—was soon followed by another “exclusive” report a short time later that Roberts is going to stay on the bench. But what’s…

Mar 5, 2010 12:48 AM CST

NYU Law Prof Facing French Criminal Libel Trial Appeals for Help

A New York University law professor who refused to remove a critical book review from a website is facing accusations of libel in a French criminal court. Law professor Joseph Weiler says he’s confident he will be acquitted, but he’s appealing for “moral and material assistance” to help fight the…

Feb 26, 2010 7:53 PM CST

Harvard Prof Tribe to Join DOJ to Help Boost Legal Access for Poor

Noted constitutional casebook author Laurence Tribe is headed to the U.S. Justice Department. The Harvard Law School professor and U.S. Supreme Court litigator will take a leave of absence to focus on increasing legal access for the poor, the Washington Post reports. The story is based on information from two…

Feb 26, 2010 12:04 PM CST

Cravath Fires Back in Conflict Case, Says Ex-Client is Doing Battle in Wrong Court

Responding to a former client’s claims of a conflict of interest that could potentially derail Cravath Swaine & Moore’s representation of a current client in a hard-fought $5.1 billion corporate takeover battle, the law firm says in a reply brief that ex-client Airgas Inc. is pursuing the issue in the…

Feb 22, 2010 2:00 PM CST

Law Dean Chemerinsky Says Yelling Hecklers Not Protected by First Amendment

A loud and disruptive protest during a speech last week at the University of California at Irvine has divided students and other observers. Some say members of the Muslim Student Union should be expelled for disrupting the speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren, while others say they should not be…

Feb 18, 2010 12:47 PM CST

Law Prof Backs First Amendment Over Ban of R-Word

A law professor who researches taboo language is taking issue with a campaign to discourage use of the word “retarded.” In a Washington Post column, Ohio State law professor Christopher Fairman notes a campaign by the Special Olympics to eliminate derogatory use of the word and promote understanding of people…

Feb 18, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Law Prof Faces Uncertain Future After Learning of Parkinson’s Risk

A law professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego faces uncertainty amid growing evidence about health risks for carriers of genetic diseases. Kenneth Klein, a law professor and former litigation partner at Foley & Lardner, learned he was a carrier for Gaucher disease 13 years ago when…

Feb 17, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Ken Starr to Leave Law School Deanship to Become Baylor President

Former independent counsel Kenneth Starr will give up his post as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law to become the new president of Baylor University. In his six years as dean at Pepperdine, Starr helped raise the law school’s ranking in U.S. News & World Report to 55th place,…

Feb 16, 2010 1:04 PM CST