Harvard Law Dean Picked for Solicitor General

Updated: Harvard law dean Elena Kagan is President-elect Obama’s choice for solicitor general. Kagan told associates the news in an e-mail today, according to the Boston Globe’s Political Intelligence blog. She wrote that the position offers the opportunity to “help advance this nation’s commitment to the rule of law at…

Jan 5, 2009 1:35 PM CST

Fighting Fallout from Dean Ouster, Duquesne Appoints Alumni Panel

Apparently seeking to contain damage from its abrupt and controversial ouster of now-former dean Don Guter last week, Duquesne University School of Law has appointed a new alumni panel. The star-studded membership list for the 14-person panel includes includes two state senators and two retired Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, as…

Dec 18, 2008 10:47 PM CST

Georgetown Law Prof Nominated to Federal Reserve Board

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Georgetown law professor Daniel Tarullo to a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board. Tarullo teaches in the areas of international economic regulation, international law and banking law, according to Georgetown’s website. He was a top adviser on international economic policy to former…

Dec 18, 2008 2:50 PM CST

Hot HLS Hiring Streak Continues: Lessig to Leave Stanford for Harvard

A renowned cyberlaw expert is leaving Stanford Law School, after nearly nine years, to return to Harvard Law School. Lawrence Lessig will not only serve as a law professor at Harvard but direct the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, reports the Harvard Crimson. Elena Kagan, the Harvard Law…

Dec 16, 2008 12:53 AM CST

Students, Alumni Protest Ouster of Duquesne Law Dean

Angered by the abrupt demotion of a popular law school dean at Duquesne University to a faculty post, students and alumni are protesting. Among those threatening to withhold donations is Robert Pierce Sr., a Pittsburgh attorney and DU law school graduate. He and his wife had pledged $500,000, in addition…

Dec 12, 2008 5:54 PM CST

Ex-Richmond Law Prof Robert Shepherd Dies

Former University of Richmond law professor Robert Shepherd Jr., known for his work on family and children’s legal issues, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 71. Law school dean John Douglass said in a press release that Shepherd displayed a “deep human compassion for those most in…

Dec 12, 2008 3:36 PM CST

New Idaho Law School Names Dean, Hopes to Open in 2010

Concordia University, a private religious-affiliated institution headquartered in Portland, Ore., has hired as the first dean of its planned new law school in Boise, Idaho. “Cathy Silak, 58, will take the helm on Monday, though the law school won’t open until the fall of 2010 at the earliest,” reports the…

Dec 10, 2008 11:55 PM CST

Duquesne Ousts Law Dean

Updated: Given a choice between resigning his post within 24 hours or being removed from the position, the dean of Duquesne University School of Law reportedly has opted to step down and return to a teaching job there. “My reaction to this is shock. The school—really by a lot of…

Dec 10, 2008 11:01 PM CST

Local Lawmakers to Weigh in on War Crimes Charges against Law Prof

The Berkeley, Calif., City Council has scheduled a vote next week on a war crimes resolution targeting a law professor who wrote a so-called torture memo while working in the Justice Department. The Berkeley measure demands that the United States bring war crimes charges against John Yoo, a constitutional and…

Dec 5, 2008 2:12 PM CST

AG Says Obama May Not Get Sensitive Legal Opinions Till January

Barack Obama’s Justice Department transition team may not be able to see some sensitive legal opinions until after the January inauguration, even though some of the members have received security clearances. At a news conference yesterday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said other entities that sought legal opinions by the Office…

Dec 4, 2008 2:01 PM CST

Law Prof to Head White House Military Office

This week President-elect Barack Obama announced that University of New Mexico Law Professor Louis E. Caldera will head the White House Military Office. In the role, Caldera, a former Clinton secretary of the Army, will oversee all White House military operations, including Air Force One, Camp David and presidential trips…

Dec 3, 2008 7:59 PM CST

Ann Althouse Reads With an ‘Eye for the Bloggable’

Dec 2, 2008 5:38 AM CST

Paper Chase is ‘Doing Public Service,’ Sharing Info Real Time and For Free

Dec 2, 2008 5:20 AM CST

Extreme Makeover: Textbook Edition

Does Apple’s wildly pop­ular iTunes website hold the key for the fu­ture of legal education? Some educators think so, and at a recent gathering at the Seat­tle University School of Law on the future of the legal course book, a variety of legal education reformers, publishers and technology firms suggested…

Dec 2, 2008 3:30 AM CST

Law Prof Stuck with $75K in Auction-Rate Securities

A law professor at Southern New England law school is stuck with $75,000 in auction rate securities that she can’t redeem. Immigration law professor Irene Scharf bought the securities, at one time said to be relatively safe, to pay the college tuition of her two sons. But the market for…

Dec 1, 2008 5:44 PM CST