Law Professors

Slain law professor’s wife testifies that she knew nothing about alleged murder-for-hire plot

The former wife of slain law professor Daniel Markel testified Friday that she wasn’t involved in a plot to kill Markel, and she doesn’t know who killed him.

Sep 30, 2019 2:57 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge refuses to step down from opioid litigation; BigLaw joins law profs in climate change fight

Judge overseeing nationwide opioid litigation refuses to step down The federal judge overseeing more than 2,000 lawsuits over alleged opioid addictions and overdoses refused to remove himself from a bellwether trial scheduled to begin Oct. 21 in Cleveland. Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern…

Sep 27, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Man acquitted for Facebook rants about judge; trial to begin in law prof’s slaying

Jurors acquit Michigan dad in connection with Facebook rants about judge Jurors in Michigan deliberated for 26 minutes before acquitting a dad charged for his angry Facebook posts about a judge he blamed for his son’s death. Jonathan Vanderhagen, 35, was acquitted on a misdemeanor charge of malicious use of…

Sep 20, 2019 4:15 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Ex-law dean Norman Lefstein dies; inmate who got life for stealing $50 is released

Former law dean Norman Lefstein dies at age 82 Norman Lefstein, a former dean of Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law, died Thursday at age 82. Lefstein has been described as one of the giants in the legal profession and the architect of the modern indigent defense reform movement. He…

Aug 30, 2019 2:32 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer accused of deducting kickbacks; Greenland purchase was exam hypothetical

Lawyer is accused of claiming illegal kickbacks as business expenses Houston personal injury lawyer Jeffrey Stern is accused of paying kickbacks to case runners who illegally solicited clients and then deducting the payments as business expenses. He is also accused of trying to conceal the scheme by tampering with evidence…

Aug 21, 2019 4:26 PM CDT

Controversial Penn law prof is under fire for remarks about third-world immigration

Updated: Controversial University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax is back in the news for recent remarks about the dangers of “cultural-distance” immigration.

Jul 22, 2019 11:55 AM CDT

Seeing Red: A professor coexists with ‘MAGA’ in the classroom

Jeffrey Omari understands the complexities of academic freedom and free speech. But just as faculty and staff are required to maintain professional formalities, it seems only logical that students, too, should maintain similar businesslike etiquette.

Jul 3, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Closing Time: As Whittier Law School prepares to close, its dean tries to soften the blow for students

Jul 1, 2019 12:16 AM CDT

University of Idaho law professor sues school for racial and gender discrimination

A black female law professor alleging race and gender discrimination in employment and education has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Idaho College of Law. In her complaint filed June 19 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, Shaakirrah Sanders, the first black person to…

Jun 24, 2019 2:40 PM CDT

After tenure removals, Vermont Law School is now on sanction list of professors’ organization

Vermont Law School has been placed on the American Association of University Professors’ sanction list, a year after the private, stand-alone school stripped 14 professors of tenure. The decision was made by a member vote Saturday at the AAUP’s annual meeting, Inside Higher Ed reports. Being placed on the AAUP’s…

Jun 19, 2019 10:46 AM CDT

Judge’s cases under review after relatives cite severe alcoholism in guardianship petition

Ohio’s public defender is planning a review of as many as 2,700 cases overseen by a retired judge after the judge’s daughter and mother filed a petition for guardianship alleging advanced alcoholism that was a problem when he was still on the bench.

Jun 17, 2019 11:31 AM CDT

A year after ‘tiger mom’ law prof praised Kavanaugh in op-ed, her daughter gets clerkship with him

A year after Yale Law professor Amy Chua wrote an op-ed article praising U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh as a mentor to women, her daughter is beginning a clerkship with him. Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, a Yale Law graduate, begins clerking for Kavanaugh this summer, the Associated Press reports in…

Jun 11, 2019 2:33 PM CDT

Another University of Denver law professor sues school alleging gender and wage discrimination

A tenured associate professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law has filed an Equal Pay Act complaint, claiming that she earns significantly less than others in her academic category.

Jun 10, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Former ABA president dies at 85; he was ‘a champion’ for the rule of law and open government

Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte—a former ABA president who championed the rule of law throughout the world—died Monday at age 85. D’Alemberte was ABA president from 1991 to 1992 and helped found the ABA’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative in 1990 to help former Soviet bloc countries rebuild their court systems.…

May 21, 2019 2:30 PM CDT

Harvard Law professor leaves Harvey Weinstein defense team, then loses faculty dean post

Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., a Harvard Law School professor, resigned last week from Harvey Weinstein’s criminal defense team. However, that didn’t stop the university’s decision to remove him and his wife, lecturer Stephanie Robinson, from their roles as faculty deans for undergraduate student housing.

May 16, 2019 1:25 PM CDT