Brian Leiter's Law School Reports

For your amusement...

Knowing my affection for law professor blogs by right-wing crazies, several different readers sent me this link, so I dutifully post it for your amusement.

Michael McConnell Embarrasses Himself

Sam Bagenstos (Michigan) comments.

DeFranco for Senate

I was interested to learn that Elizabeth Warren (Harvard) has a challenger for the Democratic nomination for Senate in Massachussetts, whom I would gladly vote for given her stands on actual issues relevant to human well-being.  Of course, Professor Warren is preferable to any Republican, but Ms. DeFranco seems the better candidate on the issues.

Law School Dean Searches - Final Update

I've posted my final update to this year's dean search list here.  There were roughly 25 searches by existing law schools, which suggests that the oft repeated rule of thumb - the average law dean lasts five years - is probably a canard.  Based on this year, at least, that the average tenure appears more like eight years and this seems about right to me.

For UK readers interested in the debate about gay marriage

Don't miss this event, there's nobody better or smarter than Les Green thinking about this topic.

Corporate Practice Commentator: Top Articles of 2011

You can access the full list via Professor Thompson's homepage (at the bottom).  The winning articles are by Afra Afsharipour (UC Davis); Stephen Choi (NYU); Marcel Kahan (NYU) and Edward Rock (Penn) (they had two co-authored articles this year!); Donald Langevoort (Georgetown); Donna Nagy (Indiana); Hillary Sale (Wash U/St. Louis); Randall Thomas (Vanderbilt) and Harwell Wells (Temple); Andrew Tuch (SJD candidate, Harvard); and Charles Whitehead (Cornell).

Law school commencement speakers

What a curious assortment throughout the land, ranging from the natural choices to the surprising!

Todd Zywicki Jumps the Shark on his Elizabeth Warren Obsession

This (from yesterday) is bizarre.  (I know, in cyber-time, I'm late!)

Zywicki says, falsely, that "in the past Warren identified herself as a Native American in order to put herself in a position to benefit from hiring preferences (I am certain that Brian knows this now too)."  Since I don't know this, indeed don't even believe it, I have no idea how he can be "certain" about it.  I hope he'll retract it quickly or explain how he is "certain" that I "know" something I believe is false.  Evidence please?

He says, "[I]f a very prominent conservative law professor (say, for example, John Yoo) had misrepresented himself throughout his professorial career in the manner that Elizabeth Warren has would Brian still consider it to 'the non-issue du jour'? Really?"  Yes.  Here's the proof:  many people thought John Yoo should be put "on trial" by Berkeley for his alleged war crimes during the Bush Administration, and I stated clearly, and to my mind (still) quite correctly, that there were no grounds for Berkeley to proceed against him.  Perhaps Zywicki thinks allegations of war crimes are not as serious as allegations of misreporting one's ethnic status.

Zywicki is puzzled why I compared him to the Stalinists of yesteryear.  Here's why:  (1) everything is political for him; (2) he's motivated by ideology and nothing else; and (3) he wants to destroy his political enemies, no matter what.  He's now proved the point even more clearly.  What an embarrassment for George Mason.  What an embarrassment for the legal academy.

UPDATE:  And since the non-story du jour is back on top here, I'll just repost the link to this sober commentary by Carl Bogus (Roger Williams), which is consistent with all the evidence I've reported, and with what her former colleagues at both Texas and Penn have told me--as well as being consistent with the crucial fact, namely, that elite law schools are not out looking for Native Americans.  Will the ideological zealots let it rest?  I doubt it.

Congratulations to my colleague Martha Nussbaum...

...on this major recognition of her work from Spain.

Law School Salaries and U.S. News Rank

Alfred Brophy (North Carolina) examines some recent SALT data.  Since per capita expenditures on instruction play a huge role in the U.S. News ranking formula, the results are hardly surprising, but it's useful to see it laid out systematically.