Law Professors

Accused Pot Dealer Says Law Prof Stepdad Helped Build Grow Room, Shared Profits

A 20-year-old Massachusetts man arrested on drug charges has told police that his mother and stepfather, a prominent lawyer and a law professor, were aware he was selling pot from the home where they all lived together, and his stepdad even shared in the profits. The couple—Suffolk University law professor…

Aug 20, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

Protesters Greet Law Professor John Yoo at UC Berkeley

At least four protesters were arrested in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday after they refused to leave the lecture hall where former Justice Department official John Yoo was teaching a civil law class. Protesters shouted “war criminal” as Yoo entered the building at the University of California Berkeley’s Boalt Hall law…

Aug 18, 2009 11:43 AM CDT

Dayton Law Prof Sang for Sha Na Na at Woodstock

A University of Dayton law professor performed at the Woodstock music festival just before Jimi Hendrix took the stage. Law professor Dennis Greene performed with the 1950s revival group Sha Na Na in a Woodstock performance that offered quite a contrast to Hendrix. Greene called the festival “an amazing moment”…

Aug 14, 2009 2:21 PM CDT

N.J. Lawyer Plans Suit Over Best Buy’s $9.99 Price Flub; Law Prof Is Skeptical

Updated: Any consumers thinking about suing Best Buy for refusing to honor a listed price of $9.99 for a flat-screen TV should think again, according to one law professor. But a New Jersey consumer lawyer has already done some thinking, and he plans to file a lawsuit today. Best Buy’s…

Aug 13, 2009 12:37 PM CDT

Pepperdine Law Prof Is New Ambassador to Malta

A conservative Pepperdine University law professor who supported Barack Obama during the presidential campaign has a new job as ambassador to Malta. Professor Douglas Kmiec won confirmation Aug. 7, the National Law Journal reports. The island nation off the coast of Sicily is a good fit for the professor, according…

Aug 12, 2009 12:41 PM CDT

Law Prof: Outside Ownership Could Help BigLaw

Cutting costs and discounting legal rates aren’t a cure for what ails big law firms, a law professor asserts. University of Illinois law professor Larry Ribstein told the Philadelphia Inquirer that big law firms need a more creative approach to their current woes—one that might include selling shares to outside…

Aug 11, 2009 1:05 PM CDT

Stanford Law Prof Dies from Bike Accident Injuries

A professor emeritus who taught at Stanford Law School since 1969 has died from injuries he suffered in a July 14 bike accident. John Barton wrote the undergraduate textbook International Arms Control, considered the standard, the Mercury News reports. He died at the age of 72 from brain injuries suffered…

Aug 7, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

Former U of I Law Dean Says She Was Victim of Admissions Scandal

Former University of Illinois law dean Heidi Hurd says she was a victim—rather than a perpetrator—of the school’s admissions scandal. In a letter to a commission investigating admissions practices, Hurd, now a law professor at the school, said public officials abused their power when they forced her to admit students…

Aug 6, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

Suspect in Murder of Law Prof’s Daughter Could Have Been in Jail, Absent Error

A clerical error may have led to the early release of a repeat offender suspected of killing 17-year-old Lily Burk, the daughter of an adjunct professor at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. Charles Samuel is accused of kidnapping Burk on Friday near the law school before killing…

Aug 4, 2009 12:32 PM CDT

Irvine by Erwin

Can a top legal academic create a law school that is both innovative and elite?

Aug 2, 2009 4:00 AM CDT

The Sound of Muzika

When Hank Perritt went to war-torn Kosovo in 1998 to help create computer databases to track supplies for refugee camps, armed with nothing more than an MIT master’s degree and a J.D. from Georgetown, his friends thought he was brave and dedicated for taking on the task.

Aug 2, 2009 3:10 AM CDT

Tenenbaum Must Pay $675K, Jury Says, But Judge Will Consider Reduction

A graduate student in physics who illegally—and willfully—downloaded 30 songs on the Internet must pay $675,000 in damages, a federal jury in Boston decided today. That amounts to $22,500 per song, notes Ars Technica. The maximum the jury could have awarded reportedly was $4.5 million. Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law…

Aug 1, 2009 12:20 AM CDT

Tenenbaum Admits Music Downloading, RIAA Plaintiffs Move for Directed Verdict

After years of high-profile litigation, Joel Tenenbaum came clean today in his testimony in an ongoing federal trial over illegal music downloading. “I used the computer. I uploaded and downloaded music. This is how it is. I did it,” he told a packed courtroom. It included as spectators copyright scholars…

Jul 30, 2009 11:42 PM CDT

Prof’s Daughter, 17, Is Murdered After Alleged Kidnap in L.A. Law School Area

The murder of a California attorney’s 17-year-old daughter after she was allegedly kidnapped near Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles has stunned the local legal community. Lily Burk never returned home after running an errand for her mother at the law school Friday. Her body was found in…

Jul 29, 2009 10:52 PM CDT

ABA Task Force Hears Alternatives to Law School Accreditation Role #ABAChicago

The ABA should either get out of the federal law school accreditation process altogether or seek a waiver from a Department of Education rule requiring the association to steer clear of the work of its accrediting body, an ABA task force on accreditation was told Wednesday. Gary Palm, professor emeritus…

Jul 29, 2009 10:40 PM CDT