Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

10% Budget Cut at Harvard Law School

Story here.   That's quite a bit larger than what's going on here or other schools I've heard about.

Prakash from San Diego to UVA

Sai Prakash (constitutional law) at the University of San Diego School of Law has accepted a senior offer from the law school at the University of Virginia.  The UVA press release is here.  A couple of years ago, USD was fortunate to retain Prakash in the face of an offer from Northwestern.  This solidifies UVA's position as having the strongest conservative public law contingent in the country (though Northwestern is a close second).

McConnell to Resign from Bench and Join Stanford Law Faculty

Michael McConnell, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and a distinguished constitutional law scholar, will resign from the bench and join the full-time faculty at Stanford Law School.   The Stanford news item is here.  That is, indeed, a very significant appointment for Stanford, though Dean Kramer's hyperbole (in the press release) calling him "the preeminent legal scholar writing about the religion clauses of the United States Constitution" would surely embarrass Judge McConnell, who knows as well as anyone that his former Chicago teacher, Douglas Laycock (emeritus at Texas, now at Michigan), has as much or more claim to that distinction.  In any case, it's an excellent appointment for Stanford, and more than off-sets the loss to Stanford's public law group from Larry Lessig's recent move to Harvard.

So who should President Obama Pick to Replace Justice Souter?

With nearly 470 votes from readers of this blog, the results are in:

1. Elena Kagan  (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices)

2. Sonia Sotomayor  loses to Elena Kagan by 187–143

3. Diane Wood  loses to Elena Kagan by 189–159, loses to Sonia Sotomayor by 170–161

4. Kathleen Sullivan  loses to Elena Kagan by 224–104, loses to Diane Wood by 204–123

5. Pamela Karlan  loses to Elena Kagan by 220–98, loses to Kathleen Sullivan by 140–131

6. Harold Koh  loses to Elena Kagan by 238–91, loses to Pamela Karlan by 147–132

7. Cass Sunstein  loses to Elena Kagan by 253–77, loses to Harold Koh by 164–136

8. Jennifer Granholm  loses to Elena Kagan by 267–48, loses to Cass Sunstein by 161–109

9. Leah Ward Sears  loses to Elena Kagan by 253–57, loses to Jennifer Granholm by 105–98

10. Neal Katyal  loses to Elena Kagan by 262–44, loses to Leah Ward Sears by 99–98

I was surprised that readers didn't gravitate to some of the less conventional, but more interesting, choices offered, like Catharine MacKinnon or Marty Lederman.  Make of it what you will.

Karlan for the Supreme Court

Bill Stuntz (Harvard) makes the case.  Unfortunately, I fear that President Obama does not, in fact, want a "Scalia of the left."  Alas.

Mann from Columbia Back to Texas

Ronald J. Mann, one of the leading scholars in commercial law of his generation, at Columbia Law School has accepted a senior offer to return to the law faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught prior to moving to Columbia.  (Mann may not return full-time until 2010-11.)  That's a big coup for Texas, and comes on the heels of two lateral hires from Northwestern earlier this season.

Girona, May 2010

It's the place to be for legal philosophers.  Girona is lovely, the food is great, and Bulygin, Guastini, Shapiro, and Waluchow will be worth the price of admission!  Some of the others are OK too!

Who Should Replace Justice Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court?

I have it on good authority that President Obama's advisors will be watching the results of this poll carefully.  I have listed all the obvious choices, plus some dark horse candidates.

Chicago's Nussbaum Wins Phillips Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Jurisprudence from the American Philosophical Society

The Chicago press release is here and a list of past winners is here.