Ariz. Justice Project Expands, Moves to Law School

The Arizona Justice Project, which for the last 10 years has worked on a shoestring to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, is getting a makeover and a new home thanks to a $150,000 grant from the state bar’s foundation. With the grant money, the Justice Project will move from the firm…

Apr 23, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Berkeley Dean Supports ‘Torture Memo’ Author

The dean of the University of California-Berkeley law school says he doesn’t agree with the legal analysis of the author of one of the so-called torture memos, but that doesn’t mean he should be fired from his post as a law professor. Dean Christopher Edley Jr. stated his views in…

Apr 15, 2008 1:22 PM CDT

‘Epidemic’ Leads to UofC Law Web Ban

The University of Chicago Law School has shut down Internet access for most of its classrooms because too many students were surfing the Web instead of taking notes on their laptops. U of C law Dean Saul Levmore told students and faculty in an e-mail that he took action after…

Apr 11, 2008 6:28 PM CDT

Legal Writing Instructor Among Pulitzer Winners

A Harvard University law grad who teaches legal writing and literature at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York is among the Pulitzer Prize winners announced this week. John Matteson won for a biography, Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, the Associated Press…

Apr 10, 2008 2:41 PM CDT

Letters from Law Deans, Real and Imagined, Tout Schools’ Strengths Despite Rankings Drop

A law school professor has penned a parody of letters from law deans defending their schools’ rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Gregory Stein, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, saw the letters circulating on the legal blogs and parodied them in two tongue-in-cheek letters to be…

Apr 7, 2008 12:15 PM CDT

U.S. News Rankings Czar Extends Olive Branch

Tropical Storm Allison blasted through Houston killing 22 people, flattening homes and drenching the University of Houston Law Center in mud and floods. That was 2001, closing out Nancy Rapo­port’s first year as law school dean.

“Our computers survived only because our IT director risked his life to move classroom PCs to higher floors through the night of the storm,” Rapoport says.

The faculty and staff—some of whom lost their own homes—removed debris from buildings, scrounged supplies and aided students displaced by the storm. Despite the stress, Rapoport was exhilarated by the camaraderie. She never shed one tear of frustration…

Mar 29, 2008 3:01 PM CDT

Troubled American School of Law Gets New Dean, New Name

Troubles for the Kentucky-based American Justice School of Law are far from over, despite its new owners and settlement of a student-led lawsuit. Indeed, the school’s interim dean has resigned, citing a failure by the new owners to provide funding, pay bills or recruit students. Even creditors are knocking and…

Mar 28, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

Drug Companies Beware: FTC Commissioner Kovacic Gets Promoted

William Kovacic, a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, has been named chairman of the agency. He will replace Deborah Platt Majoras, who is leaving to join the legal department at Procter & Gamble. Kovacic is former general counsel of the agency, the Associated Press reports. He also taught at…

Mar 27, 2008 1:33 PM CDT

Editorial Denounces Boston Law Profs’ Mukasey Disinvite

The Wall Street Journal is criticizing law professors at Boston College for using religion to justify their opposition to Michael Mukasey’s upcoming commencement speech. In “a discourteous bit of political theater,” 22 law professors signed a letter asking the attorney general to withdraw, the Wall Street Journal editorial says. The…

Mar 21, 2008 2:11 PM CDT

Harvard Law Group Rallies Against Bill to Ban Online Poker

A group formed at Harvard Law School that backs poker as an educational tool rallied outside the Massachusetts State House yesterday to oppose a bill that would impose criminal penalties for playing the game online. About three dozen people turned out for the rally, CardPlayer.com reports. It was organized by…

Mar 19, 2008 10:35 AM CDT

Law Profs Tell Mukasey He’s Not Wanted as Commencement Speaker

Twenty-two law professors at Boston College Law School are sending a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking him to withdraw as a commencement speaker. The letter (PDF from Eagleionline) is the latest in a simmering controversy over the decision by law school dean John Garvey to invite Mukasey to…

Mar 13, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Law Prof’s Sarcastic Op-Ed Cites ‘Mukasey’s Paradox’

Law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University is taking aim at recent decisions by the attorney general by giving a name to the legal reasoning that spurred them: Mukasey’s Paradox. Turley makes his points in an op-ed published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He says he once was troubled by…

Mar 10, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Lawyers in ‘Ethical Minefield’ in $8.4M Detroit Settlement Scandal

An exploding scandal in Detroit over an $8.4 million settlement apparently intended to cover up misconduct by city officials now involves claimed false testimony, concealment of information from the city council and possible destruction of evidence. All create an “ethical minefield” for the lawyers involved, according to legal experts interviewed…

Mar 6, 2008 4:35 PM CST

Comcast Hit for Sending Seat Warmers to Hearing at Harvard Law

An organizer of a federal hearing held at Harvard Law School yesterday is criticizing a cable company for using “seat warmers” that prevented some people from attending. The hearing before the Federal Communications Commission concerned charges that Comcast Corp. was blocking file-sharing by some Internet users. The company contends its…

Feb 27, 2008 6:49 PM CST

NYT Supports Bill Allowing Bankruptcy Judges to Rewrite Mortgages

The New York Times is urging passage of a law that would allow bankruptcy courts to rewrite the terms of borrowers’ mortgages. An editorial says some big banks are getting behind other bailout proposals in an attempt to head off passage of the legislation. If the measure passes, it would…

Feb 27, 2008 2:56 PM CST