Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

Kant and evidence law in Bulgaria in the 18th-century

At last!

A sober and impartial analysis of the recent ranking of the "top 50" law faculties...

...from Professor Bainbridge at UCLA.

Too busy to be funny today...

...but others, fortunately, aren't:  see Dan Filler, Jeffrey Harrison, Larry Solum.

UPDATE:  And Michael Dorf (thanks to Kent McKeever for the pointer).

Volokh blog to go behind a paywall in six months!

Praise be to Jesus! 

But, seriously, it seems a surprising decision.  Even I will miss reading a couple of those folks now and then (and not simply for head-shaking amusement!).

Judge Baer vs. Justice Alito

From a Reuters item:

A federal judge this week defended his custom of urging lead law firms in class actions to staff the lawsuits with women and minority lawyers, two weeks after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took the unusual step of criticizing the practice....

Alito likened the practice to "court-approved discrimination" and said it might warrant further review by the high court.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Baer, 80, said that Alito lacked "either understanding or interest" in the discrimination faced by blacks, Latinos and women....

In court orders, Baer has written that the practice is warranted under a federal rule governing the certification of class action lawsuits. The rule says a judge may, among other things, "consider any other matter pertinent to counsel's ability to fairly and adequately represent the interests of the class."

In the interview, Baer said that he does not require the firms to assign minority and women lawyers to cases. Instead, he said he notes the value of taking race and gender into account, and only in cases where the plaintiffs are mainly minorities and women.

If plaintiffs were "all white Anglo-Saxon Protestants," Baer said, "I would not likely be making these comments."

Baer, whom President Bill Clinton nominated to the bench in 1994, said Alito's salvo did not surprise him.

"I think the tongue-in-cheek answer would be that I was surprised because of how much he's done in the way of supporting anti-discrimination laws over the years," Baer said. "But that would be just a facetious comment."

Judge Baer for the win!

Stuff faculty appointments commitees say...

...courtesy of Christine Hurt (Illinois).  This is pretty funny and apt.

April Fool's Day at Legal Theory Blog

Larry Solum always has some very funny parodies.  This is my favorite from yesterday's batch.  Several years ago, Solum published such a good April Fool's parody of me that for two years afterwards I would get e-mails from overseas asking for copies of the paper!

Paul Campos admits he doesn't "even [know] what it means" to think like a lawyer

This probably explains a lot.  Fortunately, Fred Schauer has recently written a book that could help him with his questions, like, "What does it mean to teach people to think like lawyers?  How is thinking like a lawyer different from ordinary thinking?" 

(Thanks to Nick Smith for the pointer.)

UPDATE:  A senior legal academic, who has been involved extensively with legal education reform, writes:  "Keep up the Campos bashing.  I think that some of the law school critics have done a good service.  Even when I don't agree with everything, it was necessary for legal educators to give up a bit of complacency.  I've never met Campos, but he is disgraceful."  It's hard to disagree with any of that, but I don't really plan to keep up the "bashing," since, as we saw a few weeks back, by Campos's own admission, there really isn't much content to his routine. 

 

Loans and the end of the world: legal issues

Reader Ben Schewel shares this handy "Default Clause" just in case (author unknown):

12.7 END OF WORLD.  In the event that the world as known to mankind shall come to an end, whether through natural forces (including, without limitation, plague, drought, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods), manmade forces (including, without limitation, nuclear or biological war, pollution and global warming), or divine forces (including, without limitation, the Second Coming, the Mayan Cataclysm, and the Rapture, regardless of religious affiliation of Bank or Borrower), then, in such event, all outstanding principal, interest, fees and charges remaining under the Loan Documents shall immediately become due and payable to Bank at Bank’s offices or designated shelter, without notice of any kind of character, all such notice being hereby waived by Borrower, and Borrower agrees that the end of the world shall not be deemed or construed to constitute a valid excuse or defense to payment; provided further, that in the event that the end of the world shall be divinely inspired, then, in such event, Borrower further agrees that Bank shall be aligned with forces of goodness and light, and Borrower shall be aligned with the forces of evil and darkness, and that Borrower shall be cast into a pit of fire until all sums owing under the Loan Documents, including attorney fees, shall be fully paid; provided further, that in the event that Borrower should be reincarnated subsequent to the end of the world, whether as an animal, vegetable or mineral, then, in such event, Bank shall have and possess, in addition to the collateral stated in the Loan Documents, a security interest in all of Borrower’s useful products, including, without limitation, any and all fur, hide, meat, edible portions, medicinal properties, and mineral rights, to further secure the prompt payment of all sums owing under the Loan Documents.  

More cutting-edge empirical work

"Please pass the salt":  Download SALT research

(Thanks to Richard Stith for the pointer.)