Law Professors

Furman Official Says Talk of New S.C. Law School Is Urban Legend

Furman University officials say the hire of a leading law dean as its new president doesn’t signal an intention to form a third law school in South Carolina. Furman’s new president, Rodney Smolla, was dean of Washington & Lee University’s law school, where he led an innovative program that pushes…

Jan 7, 2010 1:26 PM CST

Law Prof’s Advice to Suspended Wizards Guard: Turn Off Twitter

Providing a legal analysis tonight of the National Basketball Association’s stunning indefinite suspension today, without pay, of Gilbert Arenas, a Vermont Law School assistant professor offered a succinct suggestion to the star Washington Wizards guard: Turn off your Twitter account. It was bad enough to bring guns, which apparently may…

Jan 7, 2010 1:39 AM CST

Almost 1/3 of Law Students Expect to Graduate with $120K Debt

The percentage of law students expecting to graduate with more than $120,000 in student debt is continuing its upward climb. Twenty-nine percent of law students surveyed said they expect to owe more than $120,000 at graduation, up from 23 percent in 2008, 19 percent in 2007 and 18 percent in…

Jan 6, 2010 2:23 PM CST

Palin Says US Needs a Leader, Not a Law Professor

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin isn’t impressed with President Obama’s past experience as a law professor at the University of Chicago. In a note posted yesterday on Facebook, Palin complained that Obama’s “fundamental approach to terrorism is fatally flawed,” according to the CBS News blog Political Hotsheet. “The real nature…

Jan 6, 2010 1:28 PM CST

The Job Market Is Tough for Law Grads in China, Too

A new study supports the tales of woe told by recent law graduates in China. It is more difficult to find a job in law than any other profession studied, the China Daily reports. The story cites a June 2009 study by China’s Academy of Social Science and the Mycos…

Jan 5, 2010 12:42 PM CST

Dean: Despite Discord, Ave Maria’s Fla. Move Went Well

Despite some dire predictions and discord over the relocation of Ave Maria School of Law’s campus from Michigan to Florida, it has turned out well, the acting dean says. After moving over the summer, the school greeted 210 first-year students this fall, up from 126 last year, acting dean Eugene…

Jan 4, 2010 7:22 PM CST

Law Prof Writes ‘Explosive’ New Book on Whitewater, Lewinsky Probes

Duquesne University law professor Ken Gormley has written a new book about the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations that alleges near-indictments, prosecutorial mishaps and another affair by former President Bill Clinton. The “explosive” book says prosecutors considered indicting Hillary Clinton and her former law partner Webster Lee Hubbell, allegedly for…

Dec 21, 2009 4:36 PM CST

New Exam Issue Tests NYU Law School: How to Grade, When Some Saw Questions Earlier?

In at least the second such snafu reported this month concerning a law school exam, New York University administrators are now pondering how to handle a situation in which some of the students in a law school class, through no fault of their own, saw the questions in advance. Earlier,…

Dec 19, 2009 12:41 AM CST

Younger Well-Dressed Law Prof Notes Clothing Generation Gap

Fashion observers are noting something of a clothing generation gap between baby boomer men given to wearing sloppy dressed-down duds and the younger generation of men who are embracing cutting-edge fashion. Among the observers is Samuel Rascoff, a 36-year-old law professor at New York University who sports a tie and…

Dec 17, 2009 7:29 PM CST

Washington & Lee’s New Curriculum Will Go On Without Innovative Dean

As news broke of Dean Rodney Smolla’s imminent departure from Washington & Lee University School of Law to become the president of Furman University, concerned law students worried about the fate of the school’s 3L curriculum reform, which launched this fall. The program eliminates traditional coursework and focuses on the…

Dec 16, 2009 6:31 PM CST

Oops. Accidental Posting of Exam a ‘Teachable Moment,’ Law Prof Says

Updated: An accidental posting of a law school exam on a University of Oregon School of Law e-mail discussion list last week offered students an opportunity to apply legal ethics rules in real life, their professor says. The advance distribution of Professor John Bonine’s administrative law exam tested the moral…

Dec 15, 2009 12:51 AM CST

Suspension Likely for Lawyer Who Made Improper Remarks to Female Clients

Seven years working on Wall Street in the banking industry gave David Witherspoon the impression that bad behavior was tolerated, his lawyer says. But now the “totally remorseful” New Jersey lawyer understands the seriousness of attorney ethics rules and is ready to accept a three-month suspension recommended by the state…

Dec 8, 2009 7:45 PM CST

Georgetown Law Dean Snags U.N. Post

The dean of Georgetown University Law Center let students and faculty know that he’s leaving in January to take a post with the United Nations. T. Alexander Aleinikoff, who’s been dean since 2004, sent an e-mail announcing the news that he’d accepted the position of deputy high commissioner in the…

Dec 2, 2009 9:59 PM CST

Illinois Law Prof Launches Give Blog, Plans to Donate Up to $50K

University of Illinois law professor Suja Thomas has launched a blog with her husband to motivate themselves and others to give away more money to charity. The blog is called The Give Blog: Conscious Living and Giving, according to TaxProf Blog. Thomas and her husband, Scott Bahr, write in their…

Nov 24, 2009 6:19 PM CST

NU Law Dean Adjusts ‘Super Lawyers’ Rankings to Reflect Law School Size

A new ranking of law schools by the Super Lawyers magazine admittedly didn’t take into account the number of graduates. And class size does matter, according to Northwestern University School of Law Dean David Van Zandt. So he has reconfigured the rankings, which are based on the number of Super…

Nov 19, 2009 9:25 PM CST