Law Professors

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

Prop 8 Case Puts Judge’s Sexual Orientation in the News

The claimed sexual orientation of the federal judge overseeing the so-called Prop 8 case is a nonissue, writes Erwin Chemerinsky in an opinion column in the Advocate. “Female judges of reproductive age are allowed to decide cases involving the availability of abortion,” points out Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar who is…

Feb 11, 2010 12:46 AM CST

Denver Law School Names New Dean

The University of Denver has named Martin Katz dean of its Sturm College of Law. Katz, who has served as interim dean since July, has been a member of the law school faculty since 2000, according to a law school news release. Before joining academia, Katz was a partner in…

Feb 10, 2010 1:14 PM CST

DOJ Report Won’t Trigger Ethics Referral for Authors of Terrorism Memos

Former Justice Department lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo are likely to be relieved by a forthcoming report that concludes they exercised “poor judgment” in legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques. The report by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has been rewritten to eliminate a finding that Bybee…

Feb 1, 2010 12:59 PM CST

Law Prof Says Underwater Borrowers Suffer from ‘Norm Asymmetry’

Why are so many underwater borrowers continuing to pay their mortgages, even though it would be cheaper to just walk away? Millions of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth, but most continue to pay, the New York Times reports. Lenders on the other hand, feel free to play…

Jan 29, 2010 11:30 AM CST

John Yoo Defends Secret Class, Says Protesters Can Enroll if They Want to Attend

In an apparent effort to deter protesters potentially seeking to make a scene at a state constitutional law class taught by the controversial John Yoo, the University of California at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall kept its location on campus a secret. At least temporarily stymied, some 25 individuals gathered earlier this…

Jan 25, 2010 11:08 PM CST