Law Professors

Running for Election Requires Attorney to Disclose Client List, Law Dean Says

Should a lawyer running for election as city attorney have to disclose to the public a list of the clients he represented in private practice? There’s only one answer to that question: Yes, writes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the new law school at the University of California at Irvine, in…

May 1, 2009 6:56 PM CDT

Fordham Law Class Collects Personal Info About Scalia; Supreme Ct. Justice Is Steamed

Last year, when law professor Joel Reidenberg wanted to show his Fordham University class how readily private information is available on the Internet, he assigned a group project. It was collecting personal information from the Web about himself. This year, after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made public comments…

Apr 29, 2009 6:58 PM CDT

Are Law Schools Like Automakers? Dean Says Some Educators Will Fail

The law school dean in the news earlier this year for his charge that some law schools are “exploiting” unsuccessful students is getting more press attention for his predictions about the future of legal education. This time, Dean Richard Matasar of New York Law School was responding to an audience…

Apr 29, 2009 1:03 PM CDT

Law Prof Says Scalia Will Love His Original Intent Claim in Iraq Case

Rutgers University law professor Frank Askin contended in court arguments yesterday that the Iraq invasion violated the framers’ original intent. Askin contends the Iraq war is unconstitutional because Congress did not declare war on the country, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports. U.S. District Judge Jose Linares is considering whether to…

Apr 22, 2009 6:29 PM CDT

New Online Legal Magazine Is Launched By Big-Name Law Reviews

A new legal publication is being launched today by a group of influential law reviews. But, unlike traditional law reviews, the Legal Workshop isn’t intended to speak only to a small circle of academics. “We think this project will significantly help bridge the gap between the legal world and the…

Apr 22, 2009 12:36 AM CDT

Obama Won’t Rule Out Prosecution of ‘Torture’ Memo Authors

President Obama says he wants to look forward rather than backward in the controversy over harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects—but he’ll also look to his attorney general for a decision on whether to prosecute Department of Justice lawyers who wrote memos authorizing the tactics. Obama didn’t rule out the possibility…

Apr 21, 2009 6:40 PM CDT

Profs Jump Ship at Nevada Law School Facing Big Budget Cut

Three professors have announced plans to depart from a Nevada law school following a proposed 36 percent cut in the state’s higher education budget to help deal with a revenue shortfall. And other faculty members reportedly may soon follow their lead. Rising stars Raquel Aldana and Tuan Samahon say the…

Apr 21, 2009 6:02 PM CDT

Role-Playing Game Suggests Lower-Paid Future for BigLaw Lawyers

A sort of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game at a law school last weekend shed light on a possible future for BigLaw that includes lower salaries and more training for associates. The game was led by Indiana University law professor Bill Henderson and Anthony Kearns, the lead risk manager for…

Apr 21, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

Law Prof Wins Pulitzer

A professor at New York Law School has won a Pulitzer Prize for her book exploring the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. Annette Gordon-Reed won in the history category for her book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.…

Apr 21, 2009 11:03 AM CDT

Prof’s Tragedy Inspires Law Grads to Seek Spirit of True Success

Colin Colverson thought he’d made a good career move by shifting from home building to law school just before the recession hit. Now he’s on the verge of graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law. And about all he has to show for it, right now, in…

Apr 17, 2009 5:50 PM CDT

1st Circuit Nixes Webcast of RIAA Hearing

Ruling on a writ of mandamus seeking to quash a federal judge’s plan to allow a gavel-to-gavel webcast of a hearing in a hard-fought case over music downloading, the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held today that a webcast falls squarely within an existing ban on cameras in…

Apr 16, 2009 9:16 PM CDT

Law Profs Sue West, Say ‘Sham’ Pocket Part Identified Them as Authors

Two law professors who wrote a treatise on Pennsylvania criminal law claim in a lawsuit that West Publishing falsely identified them as the authors of a poorly researched “sham” pocket part. The professors, David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania and Leonard Sosnov of Widener Law School, are seeking an…

Apr 16, 2009 3:22 PM CDT

Law Prof Writes Berkeley Students About ‘Food, Vermin and You’

For those who didn’t get the message from their mothers while they were still living at home, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley has circulated a memo to students on “Food, Vermin and You.” “This is not a complex message: clean up after yourselves,” writes Bob…

Apr 15, 2009 11:11 PM CDT

Judge Unseals Testimony of Hoffa Witness

A federal judge has agreed to unseal the grand jury testimony of a key witness in the indictment of former Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa for obstruction of justice. U.S. District Court Judge Todd Campbell of Nashville agreed to unseal testimony about jury tampering by Walter Sheridan, a top aide to…

Apr 15, 2009 6:07 PM CDT

Law Prof Suggests Justices May Need to Be Nudged into Retirement

A Duke University law professor says U.S. Supreme Court justices “often cling to their offices until they die,” but suggests that there is a better way. Writing in a New York Times op-ed, law professor Paul Carrington says justices are supposed to serve during “good behavior,” but some don’t know…

Apr 13, 2009 2:39 PM CDT