The Faculty Lounge

Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

Bessie Smith's 1929 recording is still the definitive rendition of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," which was written by Jimmie Cox six years earlier. It is interesting that both versions preceded the Great Depression, when the lives of millionaires actually did end up down and out. 

Audio only:

University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Seeks Externship Director

Externship Director

Responsible for overall design and operation of the externship program, including the program’s fit in the overall educational program for JD students, ensuring high-quality placements and compliance with ABA Standards. Work collaboratively with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Success in the design and operation of the program including the following components.

Leading an Externship Program that builds on classroom learning and fosters students’ professional identities including assisting students’ in placement in externships. Such placements may eventually include all types of legal practice, including public service, private practice, and industry. mentoring students as they develop a professional identity and their lawyering skills; working with students to develop individual learning plans for their externship semester(s); supervising externship credits, including reviewing written submissions from students about the experience at their placements and regular meetings with students to support their learning; communicating with field placement supervisors to develop an appropriate three-way agreement and on a regular basis about student’s progress.

Contributing to a successful professional identity program including coordinating and leveraging career services programs and opportunities with the externship program; participating in advising through developing resources for advisors, students, and advising individual students; working with faculty and assistant deans to develop and execute a plan for programming focused on students’ professional identity and lawyering skills; maintaining regular communications with the bar and bench, including visiting students enrolled in the program and coordinating other visits by law school faculty or assistant deans.

Other Job Functions for this position include general faculty and administrative responsibilities as assigned in the appointment letter, which may include working with administration to determine appropriate staffing for the educational and administrative aspects of the program; supervising administrative staff to ensure records of the work with each student in the program; providing reports to Deans and faculty as requested and appropriate; communicating with faculty and deans at other law schools, including attending and participating in appropriate conferences; developing a communications plan for the externship program with the support of the Communications Director; developing and managing the externship budget; demonstrated ability and willingness to teach in the program year-round.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school
• Admission to practice
• At least five years of experience as a practicing lawyer
• Demonstrated strong interest in all aspects of legal practice and the profession
• Demonstrated comfort with technology

Preferred Qualifications:

• Clinical or externship teaching experiences

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including listening skills and ability to work with students at times of high stress in their lives
• Ability to and interest in in-state and national travel, as necessary

Salary Information: Commensurate with education and experience

Required Documents to Apply: Cover Letter/Letter of Application, Curriculum Vitae, List of three Professional References (name, email, business title)

Optional Documents: Proof of Veteran Status

Recruitment Contact Information: Steve Clowney, Professor of Law, [email protected]

All application materials must be uploaded to the University of Arkansas System Career Site https://uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UASYS  

How American Progressives Normalize Anti-Semitism

As explained by me in a new essay on The Hill.  Here is the gist (but there is lots more exposition, and the full piece is not paywalled.) 

How American progressives normalize anti-Semitism

BY STEVEN LUBET, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 12/15/21 08:30 AM EST 

Just as critics of Israel should not reflexively be accused of bad intentions, neither should expressions of anti-Semitism be brushed off as only anti-Zionism. Regrettably, there is a demonstrated tendency among American progressives to make excuses when their confreres use overtly anti-Jewish memes or stereotypes directed at Israel, to the point that anti-Semitism is becoming a normalized aspect of liberal discourse in the United States.

In reasoning all too common among American progressives, anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, steeped in millennia of persecution, become merely “dubious arguments.” Intellectually severed from existential threats to an endangered minority, they are recast as mere rhetorical excesses of the sort routinely endured in everyday politics. That is the definition of normalization. 

It has become commonplace on the American left to condemn anti-Semitism among neo-Nazis and white supremacists, while viewing its anti-Israel instantiations as only overheated taunting, or perhaps just an expression of poor taste. There is painfully scant realization, for whatever reason, that ambient anti-Semitism has never in history led to anything truly progressive. It is a short step from normalizing anti-Semitism to enabling it, which will assuredly be worse. 

Steven Lubet is Williams Memorial Professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. His new book is “The Trials of Rasmea Odeh: How a Palestinian Guerrilla Gained and Lost U.S. Citizenship.”

Miami Law Seeks Dean

This just in:

The University of Miami invites nominations and applications for the position of Dean of the School of Law. We seek a dean who is an experienced administrator in legal education, an innovative thinker, a community builder on a hemispheric scale, a seasoned fundraiser, and an inspiring leader who 1) welcomes the opportunity to articulate a vision for the law school that builds upon its rich history and 2) is ready to face the challenges of modern legal education and lead the law school forward in the twenty-first century.

The University of Miami

The University of Miami, located at the gateway to the Americas, is a nationally and globally recognized top tier institution of higher education that is known for its academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and commitment to international study, collaboration, and exchange. The University of Miami is the largest private research university in the southeastern United States and comprises twelve degree-granting schools and colleges: Architecture, Arts and Sciences, Miami Business, Communication, Education, Engineering, Graduate School, Law, the Miller School of Medicine, the Patricia and Philip Frost School of Music, Nursing and Health Studies, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

The core of the University is its 2,660 full-time faculty housed in three academic campuses within the greater Miami area, a location at the crossroads of the Americas that allows the University to engage with the larger hemispheric community. The University receives over $400 million annually in external research funding and has been classified as a Doctoral University with Highest Research Activity (R1) by the Carnegie Commission. We are committed to creating a respectful and supportive working environment that reflects our values of Diversity, Integrity, Responsibility, Excellence, Compassion, Creativity, and Teamwork (DIRECCT).

The Law School

The University of Miami School of Law, located on the 239-acre main campus, has over 100 faculty members and an enrollment of about 1200 students. The curriculum of the juris doctor (JD) degree includes the teaching of diverse subject areas at the highest levels of excellence, with a faculty devoted to teaching, researching, and advancing the art and practice of the law. The JD curriculum also includes award-winning clinical programs, a nationally-recognized litigation skills program, a newly-created transactional skills program, and externship opportunities for the development of legal skills. The law school’s large network of alumni, as well as its international profile, has resulted in a diverse assortment of high-quality adjunct course offerings.

St. John's Faculty Hiring Announcement

Is here.

Law Faculty Statement on BDS Resolution by NYU Review of Law & Social Change

The student editors of the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change (RLSC) recently endorsed the academic boycott of Israel in its "Statement of Commitment to the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions Movement." In response, the Academic Engagement Network, of which I am a member, drafted this statement, which urges the RLSC to reconsider this misguided decision and recommends several next steps and measures for NYU and the NYU School of Law to consider in light of the journal’s now non-compliance with university policy.

Here is the AEN statement. To add your name, click here.

Faculty in Law Response to N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change
“Statement of Commitment to the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions Movement”

We write as professors in law across all ranks at U.S. campuses to express our deep concerns with, and opposition to, the “Statement of Commitment to the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions Movement” (“Statement”) recently issued by the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change (“RLSC”).[1]

As scholars who teach and train students who will enter the legal profession and the professoriate, we are disheartened and dismayed that the student-led RLSC has embraced and adopted policies that are antithetical to the principles of open inquiry, academic freedom, and the free and unfettered intellectual exchange of ideas.

The Statement issued by the RLSC presents an unprecedented and dangerous development—a decision by the Board and Staff Directors of an academic law journal to apply political censorship to their activities. This move is not only damaging to this particular journal, but must be strongly opposed by the community of legal scholars lest it become a trend.

We urge the RLSC to reconsider its misguided Statement and to rescind it for the following reasons:

1. An academic boycott of Israel’s institutions of higher education, in compliance with the Guidelines for the International Academic Boycott of Israel established by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (“PACBI”), runs roughshod over the commitment to the fundamental principles of the academy.[2] As noted by the American Association of University Professors and hundreds of university leaders, academic boycotts are inherently discriminatory and detrimental to the core values that define the academy, namely the open and unfettered communication of ideas and the academic freedom to conduct intellectual exchange and research without fear of retaliation.[3]
2. Adopting a unified viewpoint with respect to a controversial set of issues and a field of study is an intolerable stance for an academic journal to adopt and enforce (See Statement, Academic Boycott of Complicit Institutions, Article 5). The Statement explicitly states that those journal submissions which fail to conform to the virulently anti-Israel political viewpoints of the Board and Staff Editors will be summarily rejected. Academic journals do not typically articulate or adopt foreign policies in their mission statements. While many academics in Israel object to the Israeli government’s policies and practices, for the RLSC to require Israeli universities and academics to adopt a specific position on controversial political debate chills the free expression of viewpoint and is a serious infringement of academic freedom. Such political litmus tests impede the exchange of ideas and are reminiscent of practices in authoritarian regimes, where academic journals have established similar rules and requirements.[4]
3. The Statement’s assertion that the “academic boycott targets complicit institutions, not individuals” has been shown to be false. The boycott of Israeli universities cannot be meaningfully separated from the faculty and students who work, teach, and study in them. The BDS/PACBI boycott of Israeli academic institutions is therefore more aptly described as a blacklist which punishes and discriminates against individual academics on the basis of their nationality, political views, and the policies and actions of their employers and their government.[5] Furthermore, unless the RLSC is also committed to extending its boycott to Arab faculty of Israeli universities, the Statement should be seen as calling for discrimination on a religious basis as well, since only Jewish-Israeli academics will be ensnared by it.
4. In addition to impeding open intellectual inquiry and curtailing the personal academic freedom of Israeli academics, the RLSC’s commitment to “all” of the academic boycott Guidelines specified by PACBI (see Statement, note 7) will have a negative impact on NYU students. Implementing an academic boycott of Israel in accordance with PACBI Guidelines would include working to shut down study abroad programs; refusing to write letters of recommendation for students who wish to study in Israel; and “resisting” all educational activities involving collaboration with Israel’s universities, such as those that promote coexistence and which bring Israeli and Palestinian scholars together on joint projects. Consequently, the RLSC’s call for an “institutional boycott” would harm NYU students by denying them valuable educational opportunities.[6]
5. The Statement’s rhetoric disappointingly contradicts NYU’s aspirational community values which call for open expression within a climate that fosters tolerance and compassionate understanding, active listening and civil discourse, and self-awareness and mutual respect.[7] We recognize that the Board and Staff Editors of the RLSC have the right to express their solidarity with Palestinians by promoting the BDS narrative and its monochromatic characterization of Israel.[8] Nonetheless, by delegitimizing and demonizing Israel, BDS is inimical to the inclusive and respectful learning community to which NYU aspires. As has been documented in numerous studies and reports, while criticism of Israeli policy and actions is appropriate and warranted, BDS coarsens the discourse, and promotes prejudice and hate which isolates, demeans, and marginalizes Jews on campus. Quite frankly, BDS activism creates divisions and polarizes the campus community.[9] For example, research shows that pro-BDS student activism leads to a marked increase in antisemitic incidents and bias reporting on campus.[10]
6. The Statement inaccurately asserts that the Israeli academy is “complicit” in the oppression of Palestinians and is “profoundly implicated in supporting and perpetuating Israel’s systematic denial of Palestinian rights.” In fact, Jewish-Arab coexistence is modeled on Israel’s campuses. Israel’s higher education institutions are leaders in uniting diverse populations. In the past decade the number of Arab students in Israeli academia has doubled. At the University of Haifa, for example, Arabs make up 32% of the student body (while Arabs comprise approximately 20% of Israel’s citizenry) and there are multiple programs designed to foster multicultural engagements among students.[11]

We commend NYU and the NYU School of Law for conveying to the student-led RLSC, and the university community at large, that they are both “troubled and disappointed” by its recently issued Statement.[12] The university response helpfully reminds the campus that academic boycotts, such as the one proclaimed by the RLSC, are “antithetical to the precepts of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas.” Furthermore, NYU has reiterated its commitment to open inquiry and campus free expression by rejecting, “as a matter of policy,” the RLSC’s call for the academic boycott of Israel and the closure of the NYU Tel Aviv program, “to which it remains fully committed.”

Given that the RLSC’s adoption of the BDS/PACBI academic boycott of Israel puts it in non-compliance with NYU policy, we urge NYU and the NYU School of Law to take immediate measures to dissociate from the journal. We recommend for their consideration the following next steps:

• Instruct the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change to remove the university’s logo from its masthead and its materials;
• Ensure that any university funding or use of facilities provided to the N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change will not be used to implement the academic boycott of Israel.

UA Little Rock Law Seeks Director of Business Innovation Clinic

This just in:

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law is seeking a new director for its Business Innovation Clinic. The Director of the Business Innovation Clinic is a non-tenure track, full-time, nine-month position as a visiting assistant professor of clinical education. The Business Innovation Clinic provides free and low-cost legal services to qualified start-up businesses, small businesses, innovators, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations. The position is available beginning July 1, 2022 and will be an appointment for a two-year term. The position may be extended beyond the initial two-year term if additional funding for the clinic is obtained. The Director of the Business Innovation Clinic is responsible for managing the operations of the clinic, representing clients, and teaching and supervising clinical students. This position is governed by state and federal laws and agency/institution policy.

Required Education and/or Experience:

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school;
• Admission to the practice of law and good standing in at least one state or the District of Columbia, and demonstrated experience in transactional and corporate law;
• Candidates must either be admitted to the Arkansas bar or capable of admission within one year of hire.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

• At least three (3) years of experience in the practice of law;
• Experience in collaborating with community partners;
• Experience in either clinical teaching of law students or supervising other attorneys.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a metropolitan research university that provides an accessible, quality education through flexible learning and unparalleled internship opportunities. Committed to its metropolitan research university mission, UA Little Rock is a driving force in Little Rock's thriving cultural community and a major component of the city and state's growing profile as a regional leader in research, technology transfer, economic development, and job creation.

The Bowen School of Law is located in revitalized downtown Little Rock, less than two miles from the state capitol, the federal, state, and county courthouses, the largest law firms in the state, and the Clinton Presidential Library. The law school is situated within the historic Quapaw Quarter, next to MacArthur Park, the MacArthur Museum of Military History, and the Arkansas Arts Center. 

Please apply using the following link:

https://uasys.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UASYS/job/Little-Rock/Visiting-Assistant-Professor-of-Clinical-Education_R0007675