Law Professors

Tom Cruise Makes Surprise Visit to Harvard Entertainment Law Class

Attendance was way up yesterday at a Harvard Law School entertainment law class after Tom Cruise made an unexpected appearance along with a celebrity lawyer who was serving as a guest lecturer. Some 30 minutes after entertainment attorney Bertram Fields, who graduated from the law school in 1952, took the…

Oct 6, 2009 8:15 PM CDT

Most Competitive Law Students at Baylor, Most Liberal at CUNY, Survey Finds

Prospective law students who relish a competitive environment may want consider to Baylor University’s law school, according to a new survey. Law students there are the most competitive, according to a survey by the Princeton Review. Meanwhile, the best quality of life for law students is at the University of…

Oct 6, 2009 1:36 PM CDT

Ex-Clinic Director Kyndra Rotunda Sues George Mason for Sexual Harassment

When constitutional law scholar Ron Rotunda and his wife departed George Mason University School of Law last year for new jobs at Chapman University School of Law in California they were “pleased to be leaving,” he told the local Washington, D.C., area legal community in an e-mail. Now his wife,…

Oct 5, 2009 10:00 PM CDT

Ex-Prof: I Left UVa for Georgetown Due to Anti-Gay Bias, ‘Tantrum’ & Insults

An almost 25-year-old law school tenure decision is suddenly controversial, following testimony by a now-high-profile professor before a Congressional committee last month that he was denied fair consideration due to his sexual orientation. In response, the law school’s dean says it does not discriminate and strives to maintain a welcoming…

Oct 5, 2009 5:55 PM CDT

Nixon Peabody Hiring Partner: Student Recruitment Model Is ‘Antiquated’

The hiring partner of Nixon Peabody says the traditional law firm recruitment model needs to be changed, and his law firm is already examining alternatives. Hiring partner John Snellings told the Boston Business Journal that his firm is considering an apprenticeship program. The old recruitment system “is antiquated,” he told…

Oct 5, 2009 3:58 PM CDT

Law Librarians ‘Delighted’ About Online Changes to Federal Register

Past issues of the Federal Register dating to 2000 go online today in a new format that makes the data easier to be moved, reorganized and customized. The new XML format makes it easier for users to find the topic they want to research without having to sift through large…

Oct 5, 2009 12:05 PM CDT

Matching Program for Med Students Is Good Model for Legal Hiring, Prof Says

A Harvard law professor is backing a new method for hiring law students that is modeled on the way medical students find jobs. Law professor Asish Nanda says the matching procedure would work for law firms, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports, noting a reference to Nanda’s idea in…

Oct 2, 2009 1:29 PM CDT

Law Prof Says Students Saved His Life

A judge who teaches a trial techniques class at the University at Buffalo law school says seven students who didn’t listen to him ended up saving his life. Judge Richard Kloch Sr. experienced overwhelming pain in his knee and a wave of weakness when he was teaching a class about…

Sep 28, 2009 1:19 PM CDT

Harvard Law Prof Mentioned, But Not Named, as Kennedy Successor

Updated: A Harvard law professor had been mentioned as a possible successor to Edward M. Kennedy, but the nod has gone to another lawyer. Paul Kirk Jr., a lawyer who is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has been tapped to temporarily fill the Senate seat of the…

Sep 24, 2009 3:45 PM CDT

Law Prof Says Students Should Be Forewarned About Practice Perils

Brooklyn Law School professor Anita Bernstein believes that forewarned really does mean forearmed. Toward that end, Bernstein advocates warning law students about the perils of law practice. She says student cynicism and lawyer malaise might be remedied if would-be lawyers learn up front about the profession’s perils. Bernstein outlines her…

Sep 22, 2009 6:48 PM CDT

Law Prof Who Wrote of Schizophrenia Battle Wins Genius Grant

A law professor who succeeded despite her schizophrenia is among 24 winners of genius grants by the MacArthur Foundation. Winner Elyn Saks has been a law professor at the University of Southern California for 20 years and is an associate dean overseeing research and grants. She wrote about her battle…

Sep 22, 2009 12:05 PM CDT

Fired Ave Maria Law Prof Gets Tenure in Whistle-Blower Settlement, Lawyer Says

A much-watched whistle-blower lawsuit by three former faculty members at Ave Maria School of Law is now concluded without ever having the central legal issue publicly addressed. A settlement by Stephen Safranek ends the Michigan state-court case, since the two other plaintiffs settled earlier this year according to the Naples…

Sep 21, 2009 6:18 PM CDT

Law Prof to Head New SEC Division Regulating Risky Financial Products

A banking law expert at the University of Texas School of Law will head a new division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that will assess and address risks posed by innovative financial products. The SEC announced today that professor Henry Hu will oversee the new Risk, Strategy and…

Sep 16, 2009 10:32 PM CDT

Love Stuff Loses Challenge to Sex-Toy Ban in Alabama Supreme Court

The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled against a store called Love Stuff in a suit challenging the state’s ban on sex toys. The 7-2 decision held that people have a right to use sex toys in private, but the legislature may ban public distribution of the devices, the Birmingham News…

Sep 16, 2009 2:34 PM CDT

CivPro Prof Channels Dr. Seuss with ‘There’s a Pennoyer in My Foyer’

A Florida State University law professor is using Dr. Seuss to deliver kernels of civil procedure wisdom. “It’s civil procedure galore as you’ve never felt it before,” law professor Elizabeth Chamblee Burch writes in an essay titled “There’s a Pennoyer in My Foyer: Civil Procedure According to Dr. Seuss.” Burch…

Sep 15, 2009 4:15 PM CDT