The Faculty Lounge

Love and Marriage

Songs idealizing marriage -- if sometimes only fleetingly or implicitly -- used to be pretty common in popular music, even in '60s rock. I am insufficiently up-to-date to know whether that's still the case, but here are some old examples, with a bonus or two at the bottom of the post. (Happy anniversary, Linda, a few days early.)

"Wedding bells are going to chime":

Another Paper on AI and Law School Performance

I previously blogged about AI and law school performance in AI Gets Its First Law School A+. Here is another paper recently posted on LLMs and law school exam performance, this one from a team at ETH Zürich: LEXam: Benchmarking Legal Reasoning on 340 Law Exams https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5265144.

From the abstract:

Long-form legal reasoning remains a key challenge for large language models (LLMs) in spite of recent advances in test-time scaling. We introduce LEXam, a novel benchmark derived from 340 law exams spanning 116 law school courses across a range of subjects and degree levels. The dataset comprises 4,886 law exam questions in English and German, including 2,841 long-form, open-ended questions and 2,045 multiple-choice questions. Besides reference answers, the open questions are also accompanied by explicit guidance outlining the expected legal reasoning approach such as issue spotting, rule recall, or rule application. Our evaluation on both open-ended and multiple-choice questions present significant challenges for current LLMs; in particular, they notably struggle with open questions that require structured, multi-step legal reasoning. Moreover, our results underscore the effectiveness of the dataset in differentiating between models with varying capabilities. Adopting an LLM-as-a-Judge paradigm with rigorous human expert validation, we demonstrate how model-generated reasoning steps can be evaluated consistently and accurately. Our evaluation setup provides a scalable method to assess legal reasoning quality beyond simple accuracy metrics. Project page: https://lexam-benchmark.github.io/

Read the whole thing here.

Hiring Announcement: University of Oklahoma College of Law

From a recent email message:

The College of Law at the University of Oklahoma (OU Law) welcomes applications and nominations for an outstanding faculty member in the area of constitutional law for the Puterbaugh Foundation Chair, to begin in the Fall Semester of 2026.

OU Law has a renowned reputation for scholarly excellence in constitutional law, which it aims to strengthen through the holder of this endowed position. OU Law is committed to attracting and retaining exceptional faculty with summer research grants, publication placement bonuses, and course reductions based on scholarly productivity. The Puterbaugh Foundation Chair comes with a competitive salary along with significant support for research and travel.

OU Law is a high-quality, affordable, and forward-looking institution. It boasts world-class facilities, a commitment to technological innovation, and a varied student body. OU Law sits on the university’s main campus in Norman, a college town alive with entertainment, arts, food, and sports. A perennial “best place to live,” Norman has excellent public schools and low cost-of-living. Neighboring Oklahoma City features a dynamic economy, outstanding cultural venues, and a major airport. For additional information regarding the university, Norman, and Oklahoma City, visit: https://www.ou.edu/facultyrecruitment https://www.visitnorman.com/ https://www.visitokc.com/

 

Normalize Answering “For Money”

And do it for the repugnant jobs too.

 

Normalize answering "Why do you want this job?" with "Because I don’t currently have a job."

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— John Holbein (@johnholbein1.bsky.social) June 6, 2025 at 9:41 AM

Hiring Announcement: University of North Dakota School of Law (Dean Search)

The University of North Dakota is seeking candidates for the position of Dean of the School of Law. Located on an active 516-acre campus in Grand Forks, ND, a vibrant college town of 60,000 residents, UND has a student enrollment of over 15,000 and offers more than 225 fields of study across nine colleges. UND is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and has achieved the Carnegie classification of Very High Research Activity (R1) with over $182 million in research expenditures.

Reporting directly to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Dean is the leader of the state’s only law school. The Dean will provide leadership and facilitate an environment for accomplishing strategic goals, as well as aligning the functioning of the School of Law with UND’s broader academic integrity and strategic planning: UND LEADS. The dean is responsible, in cooperation with the Provost, for the academic and administrative planning; budgeting; administration and implementation of school and university policies; and fundraising and external relations. The Dean, in partnership with the faculty, is responsible for academic program development and review; faculty and staff recruitment; development and evaluation of faculty; and student relations.

UND seeks an exceptional, focused, and creative leader who will build upon the School of Law’s strengths to continue its growth and expansion, provide world-class educational experiences, recruit and develop outstanding faculty, and promote faculty-driven scholarly and creative endeavors within the School. The next Dean will be a committed team player who is devoted to excellence and shared governance. The selected individual will be a consultative decision-maker and will work collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, administrators, and community and industry partners. The Dean will have unquestioned integrity and exemplary interpersonal and communication skills.

The next Dean of the UND School of Law will be joining the University during a dynamic period. Under the leadership of President Andrew Armacost (who joined UND in 2020) and Provost Eric Carl Link (who joined UND in 2021), the campus is experiencing enrollment growth and major campus improvements with several buildings currently under construction and/or renovation. Significant investments in terms of research development in critical areas are propelling the University forward as the flagship research institution in the state of North Dakota. Meanwhile, the University’s ongoing commitment to student success at both the undergraduate and graduate levels continues to elevate the tradition of educational excellence at the institution.

The incoming Dean of the School of Law will have the opportunity to build on the long-standing tradition of excellence within the School; to work alongside both internal and external partners and stakeholders to increase and enhance the mission of the School; and to lead the School through a period of enrollment growth, program expansion, and increasing visibility across the state of North Dakota. Enhancing access and opportunity for students and faculty through alumni and donor relations will be essential in the coming years as the University engages in robust capital campaigning and relationship building, as will bringing key programmatic opportunities to the students of the School that will position them — and the School — for ongoing service to the state and the region.

The successful candidate must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or other terminal degree in law and at least ten years of accomplishments in progressive and increasingly complex leadership roles in higher education, the practice of law, or a related field. They must also be licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction in the United States.

Click here for additional information.

Hiring Announcement: University of San Francisco School of Law

From a recent email message:

The University of San Francisco School of Law is in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic and progressive cities, which gives our community a global perspective and access to a vibrant legal community, premier arts and culture, as well as centers of innovation in tech, finance, environmental justice, and more. The campus is located in a beautiful neighborhood just north of Golden Gate Park and halfway between Ocean Beach and the Financial District.

The University of San Francisco School of Law is steeped in the hallmarks of a Jesuit education with an unwavering commitment to social justice and a focus on training skilled, ethical, and community-engaged lawyers. The Law School has a proud 110-year history of preparing its diverse graduates to be excellent and ethical attorneys who serve their clients and communities with integrity.

The Law School is seeking entry-level tenure track and lateral tenured applicants for three positions on our full-time faculty to begin in the fall of 2026. USF Law welcomes outstanding candidates in all areas but is especially interested in the fields of criminal, property, and civil procedure law, with secondary interests in environmental, employment, and international law. Practice experience is especially valued for candidates seeking to teach civil procedure, criminal, and employment law. Applicants should demonstrate a record of professional excellence, including: scholarly achievement or the potential for scholarly excellence; strong classroom teaching skills; and a commitment to serving the Law School and the community. Experience teaching diverse student populations is a plus.

Applicants should include a cover letter, C/V, research agenda, statement of teaching philosophy, and, if applicable, their most recent teaching evaluations (up to three years). Contact: USF School of Law, Office of Faculty Services [email protected].

Doctors Were Preparing To Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

This disheartening story comes from The New York Times, via Al Roth’s Market Design Blog. As Roth notes on BlueSky: “Organ donation from deceased donors relies on the assurance that the donor's death was in no way hastened by the subsequent donation. Today's NYT has a report suggesting that careful guidelines were sometimes almost breached.”

From the article:

Four years ago, an unconscious Kentucky man began to awaken as he was about to be removed from life support so his organs could be donated. Even though the man cried, pulled his legs to his chest and shook his head, officials still tried to move forward.

Now, a federal investigation has found that officials at the nonprofit in charge of coordinating organ donations in Kentucky ignored signs of growing alertness not only in that patient but also in dozens of other potential donors. . . .

Although the surgeries didn’t happen, the investigation said multiple patients showed signs of pain or distress while being readied for the procedure. (emphasis mine)

And also:

But the investigation found that the organization’s employees repeatedly pressured families to authorize donation, improperly took over cases from doctors and tried to push hospital staff to remove life support and allow for surgery even if there were indications of growing awareness in patients.

To emphasize (again), none of these organ retrievals went forward. The report is obviously disturbing, nevertheless.

 

Organ donation from deceased donors relies on the assurance that the donor's death was in no way hastened by the subsequent donation. Today's NYT has a report suggesting that careful guidelines were sometimes almost breached. #medicine #transplants #death

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— Al Roth (@alroth.bsky.social) June 6, 2025 at 10:45 AM

Is It Okay For AI To Write Science Papers?

Nature recently polled 5000 researchers on when “it’s acceptable to involve AI and what needs to be disclosed.” From the article:

With generative AI tools such as ChatGPT improving so rapidly, attitudes about using them to write research papers are also evolving. The number of papers with signs of AI use is rising rapidly (D. Kobak et al. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/pkhp; 2024), raising questions around plagiarism and other ethical concerns. 

To capture a sense of researchers’ thinking on this topic, Nature posed a variety of scenarios to some 5,000 academics around the world, to understand which uses of AI are considered ethically acceptable.

The survey results suggest that researchers are sharply divided on what they feel are appropriate practices. Whereas academics generally feel it’s acceptable to use AI chatbots to help to prepare manuscripts, relatively few report actually using AI for this purpose — and those who did often say they didn’t disclose it.

Despite the statement that “researchers are sharply divided,” I actually thought the results showed quite a bit of agreement on the acceptability, or not, of certain uses. But you should read it and decide for yourself.

Related Posts:

"Where Others Flinch, I Footnote"

Using AI to Write Letters of Recommendation

AI Gets Its First Law School A+s

Pat Oglesby Appointed to Marijuana Legalization Commission

The governor of NC, Josh Stein, has come out in favor of marijuana legalization and formed a commission, on which my co-teacher, Pat Oglesby, has been tapped to serve, to study the issue and make recommendations.

This is an outstanding choice! Pat knows more about marijuana legalization, taxation, licensing, and related issues than anyone I know. We co-taught a course, Cannabis Legalization, at UVA Law that was a huge success, due to Pat’s knowledge and connections to industry experts, regulators, and researchers (and to our excellent students, of course).

The official press release is here, which includes the full list of commission appointees.