Law Professors

Legal Reform Needed So Pampered Pets of the Well-to-Do Inherit as Planned, Law Profs Say

Setting up an estate plan to take care of Fido and Fluffy can be more complex than one might think. Money to care for a beloved pet must be left in trust, with a designated caretaker. And even with all the high-priced legal talent available to Leona Helmsley, the hotel…

Aug 16, 2011 6:48 PM CDT

Solidarity Singer Calls Blogging Law Prof Althouse ‘Socially Retarded’ in Video Dust-Up

Wisconsin law professor and political blogger Ann Althouse is offering proof that a pro-labor protester was the aggressor in a Capitol clash on Friday—a video of the incident. The protester was a member of the Solidarity Singers, who meet in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda to sing pro-union songs, according to…

Aug 16, 2011 3:35 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: A Law Prof Scamblogger?; Trying Cases and Doing Triathlons

‘Inside the Law School Scam’ An anonymous tenured “LawProf” at a school “located within a good regional university with some nationally recognized departments” who asserts that he is tenured has gone into the confessional to author Inside the Law School Scam, which launched this week and is six posts strong…

Aug 12, 2011 2:57 PM CDT

Altruistic Filicide? Boy’s Drugging Death Was a Mercy Killing, Dershowitz and Kuby Assert

Lawyers defending a millionaire mom accused in the drugging death of her 8-year-old son claim the alleged crime was a justified mercy killing. The defendant, Gigi Jordan, is represented by Ron Kuby and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. They are not using an…

Aug 11, 2011 2:28 PM CDT

Embattled Widener Law Prof Suspended for 1 Year Without Pay, Ordered to Get Psychiatric Treatment

Twice exonerated by faculty panels of making racist and sexist statements, a Widener University law professor was, however, found by the second panel to have retaliated against the students who made the accusations against him. Now Lawrence Connell, who taught at the school for 26 years, has been suspended for…

Aug 9, 2011 2:46 PM CDT

Law Professor Surveys Which Schools Generate the Most Partners

Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and New York University School of Law generate the most partners, according to a recent law review article by Theodore P. Seto. The Loyola Law School in Los Angeles professor’s work also suggests that hiring is “markedly regional.” Seto’s research surveyed the country’s…

Aug 8, 2011 7:01 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Snitching Suffers a Blow; Lawyer’s Name-Your-Own-Price Experiment

Taking on Jailhouse Snitches and Confidential Informants The anonymous blogger “Gideon” at a public defender and Loyola Law School Los Angeles law professor Alexandra Natapoff at Snitching Blog both noted a bill signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown that requires testimony by witnesses in prison or police custody to be…

Aug 5, 2011 1:52 PM CDT

Good Samaritans Sue Woman They Rescued From Burning Hummer, Seek Compensation for Injuries

Hailed as heroes for rescuing an Ohio woman from a burning SUV in 2009, David Kelley, 39, and Mark Kinkaid, 43, are now suing her over their injuries. The two say in their Marion County Common Pleas Court suit that they suffered disabling injuries after breaking the window of Theresa…

Aug 1, 2011 9:10 PM CDT

Former ND Attorney General Alleges 100-Plus Law Schools Discriminated Against Him

Former North Dakota Attorney General Nicholas Spaeth believes more than 100 law schools discriminated against him by refusing to consider him for teaching jobs because of his age. Spaeth has sued one of the schools, Michigan State University College of Law, the National Law Journal reports. He alleges the school…

Aug 1, 2011 12:05 PM CDT

Law Dean Hits University Tuition Grab in Widely Distributed Resignation Letter

The dean of the University of Baltimore’s law school has agreed to resign, but he’s not going quietly. The dean, Phillip Closius, emailed a resignation letter to the law school community on Friday that aired his differences with university officials, Above the Law and the Baltimore Sun report. In particular,…

Aug 1, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Love Hurts: Mich. Law Prof Explores Love and Heartache in Japanese Culture

By any measure, the murder of the Japanese woman named Yuriko and her two children was a grisly one. Yuriko endured an abusive marriage that included a forced abortion and a philandering husband who repeatedly left her and threatened her with divorce. The two fought continuously over Yuriko’s demand that…

Aug 1, 2011 7:40 AM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: How Much Should a Solo Charge? Did Ex-Law Dean Make ‘Unfortunate Comment’?

How Much Should a Solo Charge? At My Shingle, Washington, D.C., solo Carolyn Elefant distinguishes between advice on how solos should price their services and actual benchmarks. For benchmarks, she has some suggestions: • The Laffey Matrix lists available reimbursement rates under fee-shifting statutes. Though the rates skew high and…

Jul 29, 2011 2:32 PM CDT

Daniel Rodriguez, Former ‘Transformative Dean’ at San Diego, to Take Helm at Northwestern Law

A former law dean at the University of San Diego who is presently on the law faculty at the University of Texas will soon take the helm at Northwestern University School of Law. Daniel Rodriguez will start his position as NU’s new law dean on Jan. 1, the National Law…

Jul 27, 2011 4:59 PM CDT

Goodwin Liu Nominated to California Supreme Court After GOP Scuttles Federal Judicial Bid

University of California at Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu will likely be a judge after all. Liu’s nomination to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was blocked in May by a Republican filibuster. On Tuesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced his nomination of Liu to the California…

Jul 27, 2011 11:59 AM CDT

Law Profs Debate Whether 14th Amendment Makes Debt Ceiling Unconstitutional

Law professors disagree on whether the debt ceiling is unconstitutional under an obscure provision of the 14th Amendment. On Friday, President Obama rejected the idea, the New York Times reports. “I have talked to my lawyers,” he said. “They are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.” At issue…

Jul 25, 2011 4:48 PM CDT