Law Professors

Catholic Law School Claims Profs Are Ministerial Employees

The Ave Maria School of Law claims in court papers that three former professors suing the school were ministerial employees, making the Catholic institution exempt from their legal claims. The school contends it is protected from suit by the professors under the First Amendment’s establishment and free exercise clauses, the…

Jul 10, 2009 3:59 PM CDT

U of I Law School Got Scholarship Cash for Clout Admissions

The University of Illinois law school got $300,000 in university scholarship money in exchange for admitting politically connected applicants, according to newly released documents obtained by a Chicago newspaper. The law school got the discretionary funds over four years to lure better qualified applicants to attend the school, the Chicago…

Jul 9, 2009 4:34 PM CDT

Law Prof Backing Sotomayor Offers Explanation for Short Ricci Opinion

New York University law professor Arthur Miller has offered a possible explanation for a controversial short opinion joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor in which the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the city of New Haven, Conn., to throw out a fire department promotional exam because…

Jul 8, 2009 6:54 PM CDT

Harvard Prof Counsel in RIAA Case Ordered to Show Cause

A judge told Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson that he has until Thursday to explain why he should not be sanctioned for his “blatant disregard” of her court orders. Nesson is representing Joel Tenenbaum pro bono in the second file-sharing lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.…

Jul 7, 2009 10:14 PM CDT

Law Prof Sees ‘Wake-Up Call’ in Report on How to Guess Social Security Nos.

An Ohio State law professor who served as the Clinton administration’s chief privacy counselor says a new report on identity theft weaknesses in the Social Security system should serve as a “wake-up call.” The report by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found it is possible to guess many, if not all,…

Jul 7, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

Are Law Schools Like GM? Why Profs Should Mull End of ‘Salad Days’

Indiana University law professor William Henderson remembers his youth in Cleveland during the 1970s and ’80s. Many of his friends’ parents worked for General Motors, which offered high pay, amazing benefits, predictable hours and long vacations. “I remember thinking at the time that GM was both complacent and invincible,” Henderson…

Jul 7, 2009 1:50 PM CDT

RIAA Wants Harvard Prof to Take Case Recordings Off the Web

The Recording Industry Association of America says that Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson is violating court orders and privacy laws by posting recordings of pretrial hearings and depositions to his blog and to the Berkman Center for Internet and Society website. Wired’s Threat Level blog provides links to examples of…

Jul 6, 2009 8:25 PM CDT

Villanova Law Dean Resigns; Name Surfaces in Prostitution Probe

Villanova law dean Mark Sargent, who abruptly resigned last week, had been identified in a police report as a prostitution customer, according to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sargent and another customer provided information to police after a raid of the prostitution business, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports in a…

Jul 6, 2009 2:41 PM CDT

Law Profs on Clout-Influenced Admissions: Everybody Does It

A group of law professors at the University of Illinois is taking exception to a Chicago Tribune series showing Illinois politicians and fundraisers used their clout to pressure the university and its law school to admit students. The letter to the Tribune, posted by law professor Larry Ribstein at Ideoblog,…

Jul 6, 2009 1:12 PM CDT

Lawyers Remember Michael Jackson for ‘Smooth’ Shoe Patent

As many remember Michael Jackson for his Thriller work or read his will in the Smoking Gun today, some lawyers recall him for an innovative dance shoe patent. The design, which was patented in 1993 by the pop singer and two partners, contains a special heel slot. Retractable pegs in…

Jul 1, 2009 11:27 PM CDT

Faculty Protest DePaul Dean’s Ouster; Ill. Appeals Judge Named as Replacement

A 76-year-old Illinois Court of Appeals judge has been appointed to a two-year term as acting dean of DePaul University College of Law after the sudden removal last week of Glen Weissenberger in the middle of his second five-year term as dean. But the appointment of Judge Warren Wolfson appears…

Jun 22, 2009 8:17 PM CDT

Lippe: What’s Wrong With Legal Ed & How to Fix It

In its current state, legal education is growing increasingly distant from the profession and is more like a scholarly pursuit. So says Legal OnRamp founder Paul Lippe in his most recent column published in the Am Law Daily blog. From Lippe’s perspective, there are a number of things wrong with…

Jun 22, 2009 6:24 PM CDT

Con Law Scholar to Replace Harold Koh as Yale Law School Dean

Constitutional law scholar Robert Post will replace Harold Koh as dean of Yale Law School, the president of Yale University announced in a e-mail to the academic community today. Post, who is 61, has been on the law school faculty since 2003, following a 20-year stint as a law professor…

Jun 22, 2009 4:44 PM CDT

DePaul Dean Is Removed, Cites Letter to ABA as Reason

Updated: DePaul University College of Law has removed its law school dean, after seven years on the job, because he and the law school’s administration were no longer working in synch, a DePaul law school spokeswoman says. Glen Weissenberger, who is now in his mid-60s, remains a tenured faculty member…

Jun 19, 2009 4:25 PM CDT

Judge Axes Grad Student’s Counterclaim for ‘Abuse of Process’ in RIAA Case

An attempt by a Boston University graduate student who is a defendant in a high-profile music downloading case to turn the tables on the Recording Industry Association of America has been blocked by the federal judge overseeing the case. In a ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner rejected defendant…

Jun 16, 2009 10:01 PM CDT