Law prof stumbles upon story of early black Cornell law grad, the topic of his new book

Taking a break from proofreading his new book on civil procedure in 2004 proved fortuitous for a Cornell University law professor. Looking through the school’s digital card catalog, Kevin M. Clermont discovered a law school thesis written in 1890 by a man he had never before heard of, who would…

Jul 2, 2013 3:24 PM CDT

Want career satisfaction? Don’t chase money and prestige, lawyer survey suggests

Money and prestige aren’t key to career satisfaction, according to findings from a multiyear survey of University of Michigan law grads. Instead, work satisfaction is more closely related to the law grads’ perceptions of the social value of their work and the quality of their relations with co-workers and superiors,…

Jul 1, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

Dershowitz: Knock-knock joke could be grounds for mistrial motion

A knock-knock joke by George Zimmerman’s lawyer was neither funny nor appropriate, according to Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. The defense lawyer, Don West, began his opening statement on Monday with a joke intended to highlight the difficulty of choosing a jury in his client’s high-profile trial for the shooting…

Jun 26, 2013 11:05 AM CDT

Law faculty perk at NYU includes loans for pricey vacation homes

New York University has loaned money to some of its star professors—including law faculty—to buy expensive vacation homes in places such as East Hampton, Fire Island and Litchfield County, Conn. University spokesman John Beckman confirmed such loans in an interview with the New York Times, but said they represent only…

Jun 18, 2013 3:28 PM CDT

Law school offers a three-day taste of campus life for about $1,000

William & Mary’s law school has launched a new program aimed at helping nonlawyers understand the law—and offering a taste of law school to those who are considering entering the profession. The course, “Introduction to the U.S. Legal System,” has two parts, Law Technology News reports in a story noted…

Jun 7, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Suit claims law profs were fired after opposing proposals to discourage student transfers

Updated: Two tenured law professors at Phoenix School of Law have filed a suit claiming they were fired after objecting to proposals making it more difficult for students to transfer to other schools. Michael O’Connor and Celia Rumann, who are married, claim they were fired after objecting to the anti-transfer…

Jun 4, 2013 5:09 PM CDT

Singapore law prof gets prison time in sex-for-grades corruption case

A former law professor at the National University of Singapore will go to prison in an alleged sex-for-grades corruption case. Tey Tsun Hang was sentenced to five months in prison after he was convicted on corruption charges, according to Bloomberg News, the Straits Times, Agence France Press and Channel NewsAsia.…

Jun 3, 2013 5:03 PM CDT

Legal education section announces new staff director during a time of close scrutiny

Jun 1, 2013 6:40 AM CDT

Compliance class is a gateway to legal work for new law grads, teacher says

As both law students and law schools struggle to develop a game plan for a new reality in which legal work and what corporate clients are willing to pay for it has become something of a scarce commodity, an adjunct law professor at the University of Houston Law Center says…

May 31, 2013 4:10 PM CDT

TaxProf blogger is now sole owner of Law Professor Blogs Network

The law professor who writes TaxProf Blog is also an entrepreneur who is now sole owner of the Law Professor Blogs Network. Paul Caron, a visiting professor at Pepperdine law school, launched the network with Joe Hodnicki about nine years ago. Caron has now purchased Hodnicki’s 50 percent interest, according…

May 29, 2013 1:12 PM CDT

Elite law schools are letting down their students because of ‘intellectual homogeneity,’ op-ed says

Elite law schools are “bastions of liberalism” that are failing their students because of their “intellectual homogeneity,” according to an op-ed by a Harvard law student. Joel Alicea, organizer of a Federalist Society conference on intellectual diversity, says the lack of conservative views means that many students at top law…

May 29, 2013 11:10 AM CDT

US government is ‘dangerously off kilter’ because of growing administrative state, law prof says

The administrative state is a growing fourth branch of government that is negating our constitutional system of checks and balances, according to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley. Writing in the Washington Post, Turley asserts that the federal government “is not just bigger, it is dangerously off-kilter.” The fourth…

May 29, 2013 10:40 AM CDT

Are you still in touch with any of your law school professors?

It’s graduation season, so you might find yourself attending one soon–or graduating yourself! So this week, we’d like to ask you: Are you still in touch with any of your law school professors? If so, have they continued to be of help to you as you advanced in your law…

May 22, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Why not let nonlawyers help regulate the legal profession? Law prof makes case for change

Lawyers are not all-knowing and could benefit by allowing nonlawyer outsiders to help regulate the profession, a law professor says in a law review article. Washington and Lee law professor James Moliterno tells the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.) that nonlawyers should be allowed to serve in leadership…

May 20, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Law prof confesses: I am a sociopath

Corrected: Could this have been written by one of your law professors? “Remorse is alien to me. I have a penchant for deceit. I am generally free of entangling and irrational emotions. I am strategic and canny, intelligent and confident, but I also struggle to react appropriately to other people’s…

May 17, 2013 1:11 PM CDT