The Faculty Lounge

Texas Tech Seeks Associate Dean and Director of Law Library

From colleagues at Texas Tech:

Texas Tech University School of Law invites applications for Associate Dean and Director of the Law Library. The Associate Dean and Director is a fully engaged member of the Law School community and the principal architect of the Library’s engagement within the Law School. The Associate Dean and Director serves as the Law Library chief administrative officer, ensuring broad and deep support of the research, educational, and information needs of the faculty, students, and staff at Texas Tech University School of Law. The Associate Dean and Director is also a tenure-track faculty position in the School of Law, with rank to be determined commensurate with experience.

The Law Library’s primary mission is to support the curricular and scholarly activities of the faculty and students at the Law School. The Library has 5 full-time professional librarians (including the Director) and 6 full-time and 1 part-time support staff members. The 47,000 square foot library houses a collection that includes 780,000 volumes and equivalents and 640,000 titles.

The Associate Dean and Director has broad responsibility for managing all aspects of the operation of the Law Library including: collection development and management; personnel management; supervising implementation and maintenance of library technology; advising the Dean on the Library budget and implementing the budget once approved; and instituting new procedures as conditions warrant. The Associate Dean and Director is responsible, in collaboration with the Dean and faculty, for establishing and implementing both technological and traditional methods of information to support the research and curricular needs of faculty and students. The Associate Dean and Director also manages the physical space of the library to preserve and enhance its central role in the life of the Law School.

Candidates must have a JD degree from an ABA approved law school and an MLS or equivalent degree from an ALA-accredited institution plus substantial experience in library administration with at least seven years of progressively responsible experience working in a law library. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to manage a complex organization, including planning, goal-setting, budget and financial management, and supervisory and human relations skills; an understanding of the innovative and enhanced role law libraries play in legal education; a history of outstanding service to all parts of a law school; the ability to work in a collaborative environment that fosters cross-departmental endeavors to advance the goals of the Law School. Preferred candidates will have a strong record of scholarship, as well as experience building and delivering courses and strong records as teachers. Experience working with diverse student populations and first-generation students is highly desirable.

Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, is a state-supported National Research University with an enrollment that exceeds 38,000 students. The law school has approximately 445 students and 42 full-time faculty members. The law school is an integral part of the University and offers 10 dual-degree programs with other Texas Tech schools and colleges. The Lubbock metropolitan area is home to almost 300,000 people, enjoys affordable housing, abundant sunshine, friendly people, and offers easy access to other parts of the country. For more information, visit our website at www.law.ttu.edu.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, Texas Tech University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. We actively encourage applications from all those who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community at Texas Tech University. The university welcomes applications from minorities, women, protected veterans, persons with disabilities, and dual-career couples.

Please submit your cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references electronically to the attention of the chair of the Personnel Committee, Professor Stephen Black, at the Texas Tech Jobs website careers.texastech.edu, or at www.workattexastech.com. Please reference Requisition Number 16466BR. You may contact Professor Black directly at stephen.black@ttu.edu. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until March 8, 2019.

Kathryn Stanchi from Temple Law to UNLV

Kathryn M. Stanchi, currently the Jack E. Feinberg '57 Professor of Litigation and an Affiliated Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at Temple University Beasley School of Law, will be joining the faculty of the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, beginning with the 2019-2020 academic year. At UNLV, she will be the E.L. Cord Foundation Professor of Law.

Congratulations, Kathy, and congratulations to UNLV!

 

MTSU College of Law?

In a press release I first saw last night on Paul Caron's TaxProf Blog, Valparaiso University's Board of Directors and Middle Tennessee State University's Board of Trustees have announced an agreement to transfer Valparaiso's law school to MTSU.

The transfer agreement, however, still needs the approval of the ABA and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission before it can go into effect. 

Here is a Nashville Public Radio Story on the move:

"The Middle Tennessee State University board unanimously approved plans Wednesday to transfer Indiana-based Valparaiso University’s law school to its Murfreesboro campus. The school’s leadership says the move makes sense for its mission and the region’s needs.

But before the transfer can officially occur, MTSU has to convince the state the law school is actually necessary. It’s now moving forward to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and Valparaiso’s accreditor, the American Bar Association, for final review.

They will determine whether the school is necessary in Middle Tennessee, given that three other law schools already exist in the region. But, those schools are all private, says MTSU Provost Mark Brynes, and the region needs a public law school option."

How the Legal Academy Has Changed Since the Great Recession (Hint-It's Probably a Lot More Than You Think)

I’ve had the privilege over the last year of working with two exceptionally skilled and thoughtful empirical investigators—Jerry Organ of the University of St. Thomas School of Law; and Emma Rasiel, Associate Chair of the Duke University Department of Economics.  The question that brought us together, which began with a conversation Jerry Organ and I struck up when we found ourselves stranded in New York by the blizzard at the end of the 2014 AALS conference, is whether we could develop reasonably rigorous but accessible ways of describing quantitatively how the American legal academy had changed in recent years in reaction to the circumstances changing around it.

As our work unfolded, the task became twofold:  First to depict how the academy had changed; and then to see if we could find any patterns in the changes (whether or not consciously strategic) among law schools with shared characteristics.  The result is our new paper Competitive Coping Strategies in the American Legal Academy: An Empirical Study.  It will be published by the good folks at the Nevada Law Journal early next year, and a draft is now posted on SSRN here.  We think that many interested spectators will find some of the paper’s observations surprising. 

We start with a description of how—and importantly, how much—the legal academy has changed.  Most readers of this space and other legal education enthusiasts are aware of the contraction in the new-graduate job market that began after 2007, and the substantial decline in both the number and the conventional qualifications of applicants to law school that began after 2010.  But you may not appreciate how widespread and serious its effects have been.  For the vast majority of American law schools, those effects have been somewhere between significant and devastating.

From 2010-11 through 2016-17, the number of unique applicants to accredited law schools fell 36%, and the number of applications fell a little less than 44%.  The conventional metrics by which most admissions decisions are made—Law School Admissions Test (“LSAT”) scores and undergraduate grade-point average (“UGPA”)—declined even more, as more highly credentialed applicants disproportionately stayed away.  For example, while the number of applicants overall fell 36%, the number of applicants with LSAT scores greater than 160 (roughly the 80^th percentile of all test-takers) fell 46%, while those with scores under 150 (roughly the 44^th percentile) fell only 27%.  All this has been widely discussed.

But the effects on the academy have been profound, and far more widespread than many realize.  By 2016-17, the average accredited American law school had an entering class that was nearly one-third smaller and had a median LSAT score seven percentiles lower than in 2010-11.  And while Base Tuition (a school’s published “sticker price”) had risen 15% on average over that period, the average tuition discount per student had doubled, causing the average net tuition paid per student to fall over 6% in constant dollars. 

Unsurprisingly, these effects were not distributed evenly across the academy.  Instead, sectors of the academy distinguished by their relative overall reputation for quality were affected quite differently.  Yes, a small handful of super-elite law schools were essentially unaffected, but that handful is smaller than you may think.  A number of top-20 law schools had to substantially increase their tuition discounting in order to maintain their entering-class LSAT scores.  More generally, the entering classes of the top-third strongest schools reputationally shrank on average only 13% and dropped 3 LSAT percentiles, while the reputationally weaker two-thirds on average shrank by over a third and nearly a half respectively, while dropping 14-15 LSAT percentiles.  Effects on tuition revenue were also pronounced.  Even top-third schools reputationally lost an average of $5.9 million per school in annual tuition revenue comparing 2016-17 with 2010-11, while reputationally weaker schools lost on average $11 million to $12 million annually each (in constant 2018 dollars).  We estimate that aggregate annual tuition revenue for all accredited American law schools fell over $1.5 billion in current dollars between its inflation-adjusted peak in 2011-12 and 2016-17. 

We offer a chart with details on the changes by reputational group and further discussion of what's happened in the last ten years after the jump.

Fellowship Opportunity: The Petrie-Flom Center and Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics Fellow-in-Residence

Another announcement from our friends at Petrie-Flom

Each year the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics hosts several fellows-in-residence.  For 2019-20, they are concentrating their fellowships on the Ethics of Technological and Biomedical Innovation.  One of these will be a joint fellowship with the Petrie-Flom Center for a legal scholar interested in this topic.  We welcome applicants who are eager to work at the intersection of the law, bioethics, and biomedical innovation and pursue their independent research while taking advantage of the resources both Centers have to offer

For more information, please visit the Safra Center website.  Applications are due November 15, 2018.  Scholars interested in the joint fellowship should hold a JD (or an equivalent legal degree from their home country) and be in the early years of a tenure track position.  Scholars who do not have a legal background may apply for the other fellows-in-residence positions available through the Safra Center.  This will be a one year fellowship.

Hiring Announcement: St Thomas University School of Law

ST. THOMAS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW seeks to fill entry-level tenure-track or, lateral tenure-track,-position(s) beginning in Fall 2019 in the areas of: Contracts, Business Associations, Tax Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Health Law, Tax Clinic, Academic Support and Bar Prep. Other doctrinal areas may be considered depending on the institutional needs. All applicants must have a strong academic record and be committed to outstanding teaching, scholarship and service. Prior teaching experience preferred.

St. Thomas University School of Law trains lawyers capable of applying legal principles to address and solve problems in an increasingly complex and changing society. The rigorous academic program of the Law School emphasizes lifelong learning and scholarship in a personalized, caring environment under Catholic auspices with a diverse student body and faculty. To this end, the Law School remains committed in teaching, scholarship, and service, to fostering a public order of human dignity, to training lawyers sensitive to the needs of the region’s underrepresented communities, and to expanding access to professional opportunities which includes active partnerships with business, government and the South Florida community.

St. Thomas encourages applications from all candidates, including women and minorities, who will contribute to our stimulating and diverse cultural and intellectual environment.
The Faculty Recruitment Committee will review applications on a rolling basis, and anticipate attending the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference in October 2018. Applicants should send a cover letter indicating teaching and scholarly interests, a curriculum vitae to Professor Mark Wolff, Chair Faculty Recruitment Committee at St. Thomas University School of Law, 16401 NW 37th Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33054 or email mwolff@stu.edu.

Visiting Positions in Commercial, Business and Corporate Law (University of Pittsburgh)

The University of Pittsburgh School of Law invites applications for visiting positions beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year. Candidates should have a J.D. or equivalent degree. The School of Law will consider candidates in Commercial Law and Business/Corporate Law. 

The School of Law is located on the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh, one of the nation’s top public research universities, close to state and federal courts, major corporate headquarters, and local, national, and international law firms. The University is one of the anchor institutions of Pittsburgh, a city that has enjoyed a remarkable transformation and continues to reinvent itself as a world-class center of education, medicine, and technology.

The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, veteran status, disability, national origin, creed, marital status, age, gender identity or sexual orientation in its hiring.  In furtherance of our strong institutional commitment to a diverse faculty, we particularly welcome applications from minorities, women, and others who would add diversity to our faculty.  Recruitment is subject to approval by the University’s Provost. 

Contact: Grant MacIntyre, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.  Email:  macintyre@pitt.edu.   Email submissions are preferred.

More on Law Profs Taking Bar Exams

Back in July, Orin Kerr shared his experiences about taking the California Bar Exam as a 46 year old law professor (here's the  Volokh Conspiracy link ). I was so happy to read his post because I realized I was not the only law professor taking a bar exam later in life: for me, it was the NY Bar and it was my first U.S. Bar Exam because I initially qualified and practiced in Australia. So in a sense, I was taking the exam as a "foreign lawyer", at least that's how the NY BOLE classified my status. 

I echo a lot of what Orin said in his blog post. I'm also getting a little jaded and grumpy about this stuff, but, at the same time I was fascinated because I've never taken an exam quite like the Bar before. Back in the day in Aus, we had an "articles of clerkship" system where you basically interned with a partner of a law firm for a year and the partner certified you as qualified at the end of the clerkship.

I took the exam in Buffalo and was immensely grateful for the proctors, most of whom had been working there for 10+ years and were very sympathetic and comforting to those of us with nerves (yes, even law profs get nerves in a highly charged exam situation). I have to also agree with Orin that I found the "wearing of the school sweatshirts" a little obnoxious, although I also understand why people do it because it helps them find their group during break time. I mean, I had NO ONE from Melbourne University to hang out with over lunch! I did manage to find some other "foreign lawyers" to chat with, though.

One thing I've realized in the subsequent months since taking the exam is that, while it's obviously cramming a huge amount of pretty basic material into a confined space of time, it did re-awaken my interest in certain topics that I haven't thought much about since law school. Obviously, not the rule against perpetuities. Like, I'm never going to think fondly of that one! (Sorry, law profs who teach it.) But I've found myself thinking a lot more about the ins and outs of principles of contract, tort, and property law that I've really just taken for granted in recent years. The experience has in a way rekindled my interest in a number of topics, and their relationships with each other, that I haven't thought much about lately. Despite the stress, in the aftermath, I guess I'm saying that I really did learn something, although I'm sure I'll forget more than I learned! And bear in mind that, as a foreign lawyer, I was fascinated by different emphases in familiar subjects between the anglo-Australian approach and the U.S. approach. I've been teaching in the U.S. for many years now, but there are a bunch of subjects I haven't taught or really thought about much since my days in practice.

In any event, it was both a frustrating and enlightening experience for me and, now that I've passed, I guess I can say I'm glad for the experience.

And, like Orin, I did what y'all do and took a Bar Prep course. I can definitely recommend Themis for anyone taking the NY Bar. (No, they didn't pay me to say that. I just found that following a clear guideline and actually DOING all the practice questions was what got me through. I suspect the other Bar Prep courses work pretty much the same way.)

 

 

Results of Law Professor Twitter Census 2018-2019 Edition - 8/15/18

Below the fold are the results of the 2018-2019 Law Professor Twitter Census. You can also download the raw data here. New for this edition is the inclusion of areas of academic interest, for faculty who self-identified with that information. For the first time, the list is arranged by school, instead of individual users' last names.

Of the 1105 faculty members on this list, 636 (58%) are male; 469 (42.4%) are female; 921 (83.3%) are affiliated with U.S.-based law schools; 184 (16.7%) are affiliated with law schools outside the U.S.

Here are responses to some anticipated questions from inquiring minds who want to know:

1.  How was the census developed?

The list is based on previous censuses, conducted in 2012 and 2015. It was amended and updated by contributions from blog readers in response to this post earlier this month. I added additional names myself, based on law prof accounts that I have happened to encounter (typically because they follow me on Twitter or I follow them).

2.  How accurate is the census?

Not at all. If there are corrections, additions, etc., please feel free to email me directly at bcrawford at law dot pace dot edu.  I'll republish from time to time based on new data I receive.

3. How does this year's data compare to the numbers from prior years?

For an historical comparison, here's the data from prior years:

	2018-2019 Version (Aug 15, 2018)	2015 Version (1/23/2015)	2012 Version (7/26/2012)
Total  Number Users	1105	553	204
Male	636	330	142
Female	469	223	62
US-based	921	488	189
Based outside US	184	65	15

4.  Who is included in the census?

The list is meant to cover only individual tweeters who are full-time faculty members at law schools.  The list is not meant to be a comprehensive account of everyone (adjuncts, librarians, practitioners, programs, institutes, students, group blogs) publishing law-related tweets.

5.  What good is this information?

Not much, from what I can tell, but several people have asked me to update the census.

 

Full data below the fold and downloadable at link above.

Hiring Announcement: Director of UNH Law's Patent Practice & Procedure Program

The University of New Hampshire School of Law, a national leader in intellectual property and public interest with a commitment to inclusion, diversity, and quality engagement for all, seeks to hire a Lecturer to serve as Director of the Patent Practice and Procedure Program to begin in August 2019. 

The Director of the Patent Practice and Procedure Program is a full-time member of the law school faculty who oversees the most successful patent-practice-focused law school program in the country. The Director must be a strategic, innovative, and adaptive thinker who can successfully develop, update, and manage UNH’s world-class curriculum in patent practice, and ensure that it is attentive to modern trends in the practice, for both residential and online students. Specifically, the Director teaches courses centering on patent practice and/or related IP topics; oversees adjunct professors teaching and serving as section leaders for patent-practice courses; works with practicing attorneys and alumni to determine current needs in patent law and practice, including in international markets; strategizes potential marketing and development initiatives related to the program; represents the law school in the patent-law community; and participates in faculty governance.  UNH Law actively creates and nurtures a dynamic learning environment in which qualified individuals of differing perspectives, life experiences and cultural backgrounds pursue goals with mutual respect and a shared spirit of inquiry.  Entry-level and lateral candidates are encouraged to apply.  Salary will be commensurate with qualifications.

To be considered, applicants must:

• Have a J.D. or equivalent foreign law degree, with excellent academic performance;
• Have at least five years of full-time patent practice experience in law firms, in house, and/or for the USPTO;
• Have experience in patent prosecution along with one or more of patent litigation, post-grant proceedings before the USPTO, licensing, and portfolio management and development

• Have effective teaching skills, a commitment to excellence in teaching, and a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with diverse communities;
• Have ongoing connections and networks in the patent-law community to keep current on trends and best practices in patent practice; and
• Be familiar with innovation in legal education, including in seeking opportunities for the law school to pursue new academic programs and extend its brand to prospective students and donors.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Having experience with residential and/or online teaching (preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate an interest in, and willingness to, teach in both environments);

• Being licensed to practice law before the USPTO;

• Having training and significant experience in a scientific, engineering, or technical field; and
• Having an interest in producing and/or engaging with legal scholarship.

For complete details and to apply for this position, visit: https://jobs.usnh.edu/ and search for posting number PF0198FY19.  While all candidates are required to submit their applications via this centralized system, please feel free to direct any inquiries to Professor Ryan Vacca, Chair of the Appointments Committee, at ryan.vacca@law.unh.edu.  Review of applications will begin immediately.

UNH Law is situated in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire.  Concord is approximately an hour’s drive from Boston, the beautiful New Hampshire seacoast, and the White Mountains.  It is part of the University of New Hampshire - a major research institution providing comprehensive, high-quality undergraduate programs and graduate programs of distinction.  UNH’s main campus is located in Durham on a 188-acre campus, 60 miles north of Boston and 8 miles from the Atlantic coast.  UNH has a student enrollment of 13,000 students, with more than 600 full-time faculty, and offers 90 undergraduate and more than 70 graduate programs.

The University of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access/Affirmative Action institution. The University seeks excellence through diversity among its administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The university prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, or marital status. Application by members of all underrepresented groups is encouraged.

 

Law Professor Twitter Census 2018-2019 Edition: Call for Entries

Update 8/15/18: As of August 15, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern, the 2018-2019 ist is now closed. Anyone who wishes to add or make corrections to the list prior to the next edition, please contact bcrawford (at) law dot pace dot edu. The finalized 2018-2019 list will be published here at the Lounge this week.

It’s been more than three years since the last Law Prof Twitter Census here at the Lounge. My anecdotal impression is that the number of Twitter users continues to increase. (For prior surveys, see Version 1.0 here (2012), Version 2.0 here (2012) and Version 3.0 here (2015)).

As with prior versions, the list is meant to cover individual law professor tweeters only (not accounts of groups, programs, blogs, law schools, print publications, students, practitioners, staff).  Folks should be full-time law school faculty members (not, say, law-trained profs working in business schools).  Non-U.S. law profs very, very welcome.

For this version, I’m trying a new approach for gathering the data.  I’ve created a downloadable, sortable spreadsheet that can be edited directly by accessing this link. If you’d like to add your name, or if you would like to add to or modify your existing listing in census, the census calls for:

(a) Your name

(b) Your Twitter handle

(c) Your school affiliation

(d) Up to three subject-matter areas of interest that related to your teaching, scholarship or tweeting (note that the addition of subject-matter interests is new for this edition, so even if you're already included in the census, you may want to add areas of interest).

You can view the current list embedded below, too:

New entries and modifications due August 15, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.  All additions and edits to the list subject to the moderator’s approval. Please do not edit anyone’s information other than your own.  If you see errors or corrections that need to be made to a colleague’s entry, feel free to contact that colleague directly and ask the colleague to make the changes.

If the open-edit feature is abused, we’ll go back to the old system of requiring those who would like to be listed to provide their info in the comments to this blog post or to contact me directly: bcrawford (at) law dot pace dot edu.  If anyone has any questions about eligibility for listing in the census or any other topic, please also feel free to email me directly. In the meantime, we'll give this data-collection method a try.

No comments approved without a full name and valid email address.

7/30/18: Friendly reminder: please do not change anyone's entry other than your own. Someone seems to have changed the school affiliations of 200+ profs. I will try to fix it the best I can, but if problems persist, the spreadsheet will be made view-only.

Gaddis on Teaching and Writing

In a recent interview on CSPAN, the distinguished historian John Lewis Gaddis discussed his new book, On Grand Strategy. The book is based on Studies in Grand Strategy, a year-long course at Yale University that Professor Gaddis developed with his colleagues Paul Kennedy and Charles Hill. As the fall and spring syllabi demonstrate, it’s an extremely innovative course, with a great reading list and eclectic guest instructors including Paul Solman of the PBS Newshour and David Brooks of the New York Times. 

During the interview (which was hosted by CSPAN legend Brian Lamb), Gaddis discussed the course curriculum and structure as well as the ideas that inform the course as a whole. The interview is an hour long, but Gaddis is so learned and interesting, the hour flies by.

Midway through the interview, just after Gaddis answered a question about Winston Churchill’s reaction to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Lamb asked out of the blue a quite profound question: “How do you learn?”

Gaddis at first seemed surprised by the question, unsure who Lamb meant by “you.” But once he grasped what Lamb was asking, he gave a great answer. Here is what Gaddis said:

 “I like to think it is both by reading and teaching and then reading more and teaching more . . . because I don’t think you really know what you’ve read well until you try to teach it to a group of young people . . . [A]s you teach to a group of young people, you realize there are things you still don’t know enough about how to teach credibly, to teach fully, and so on. That drives you back to additional reading.”

That seems exactly right to me. It certainly has been my experience.

Professor Gaddis then went on to explain how the act of writing is essential to his own learning process.

“[T]he act of writing something down like this book is a working out of ideas in my own [mind] which is another approach to thinking. I really didn’t know what I thought about some of these issues that are discussed in this book until I wrote the book and now I can go back and see what I think. And so I think it’s a creative interconnection of all three of these things – reading teaching and writing ultimately.”

I could not agree more.

The whole interview is quite interesting, and it covers everything from Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln to Otto von Bismarck’s use of shock and awe to Isaiah Berlin’s essay on the Hedgehog and the Fox. You can find it here at the invaluable CSPAN website. 

Hiring Announcement: U. of South Dakota

The University of South Dakota School of Law is seeking a Lecturer of Experiential Learning. We will hire at either the Lecturer or the Senior Lecturer level, based on experience and qualifications. A Lecturer at USD Law is considered a full member of the faculty. The successful applicant will receive a 12-month appointment for the 2019-2020 year. The term is renewable and evaluated annually.

The position will be responsible for developing and overseeing experiential learning compliance programs in the areas of trust, banking and health. The position will also assist the Experiential Learning Director in the supervision, coordination, and continued development of the pro bono program. Developing additional clinics, practicum courses, and other experiential learning initiatives is also a possibility. The successful applicant will likely assist with a limited number of co-curricular events, may advise one of the major co-curricular activities, and may teach an experiential course. A significant amount of the work will occur in Sioux Falls, the surrounding communities, and potentially around the state.

The successful applicant must be a licensed attorney in a United States jurisdiction (a state or the District of Columbia) by the time of the appointment.

Depending on experience and expertise, teaching other substantive courses is negotiable.

All applicants must apply online. For more information, and to apply, visit http://yourfuture.sdbor.edu/postings/10896. Applications should include: an application letter, vita, and the names and addresses of three current references. For application assistance or accommodation, call 605-677-5671.  The position is open until filled.

Inquiries may be directed to Tiffany C. Graham, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, University of South Dakota School of Law. You may reach her at Tiffany.Graham@usd.edu, or 605-677-5393.

Hiring Announcement: Lewis and Clark Law School

LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL invites applications from entry level or experienced candidates for one position to begin in the 2019-20 academic year. We seek candidates who could teach administrative law and constitutional law, as well as courses in one or more of the following areas: energy law, environmental law, food law, or health law. Lewis & Clark is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applications from candidates who would enhance the diversity of our community. Information about the Lewis & Clark Law School is available at https://law.lclark.edu/. Interested persons should send a resume or c.v., references, a writing sample, and an indication of teaching interests to Kerry Rowand, Executive Assistant, by email at rowand@lclark.edu, or by postal mail at Lewis & Clark Law School, 10015 SW Terwilliger Boulevard, Portland, OR 97219.

Hiring Announcement: Willamette University College of Law

Willamette University College of Law seeks applicants for up to two full-time, tenure-track faculty positions beginning in the fall of 2019.  While the focus of our search is for entry-level candidates, we also welcome applications from early-career lateral candidates.  Our curricular interests include Business Associations, Commercial Law, and Health Law, as well as Trust & Estates, Property, Family Law, Tax, Torts, and Criminal Law.  Applicants must possess strong academic credentials and a proven ability to produce thoughtful scholarship, as well as the skills necessary to communicate their expertise to colleagues and their students.  The Faculty Appointments Committee will begin reviewing applications in the late summer and will continue to do so until the positions are filled.

Willamette University is committed to the academic excellence and rich and rewarding communities that a diverse faculty, staff and student body brings.  We welcome candidates whose work furthers equity and diversity and who bring to campus a commitment to sharing varied experiences, perspectives and backgrounds.  Applicants demonstrating these qualifications are particularly encouraged to apply.

Contact:  Please use the AALS submission process to apply; questions can be addressed to Jeff Dobbins, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, Willamette University College of Law, 245 Winter Street, Salem, OR 97301, or jdobbins@willamette.edu.

Hiring Announcement: Seton Hall University School of Law

Seton Hall University School of Law welcomes applications for tenure-track positions to begin July 1, 2019. Candidates should have a J.D. or equivalent degree and a record of academic excellence. Candidates should be able to demonstrate both extraordinary scholarly promise and the ability or potential to be an outstanding teacher who can motivate students while preparing them for the practice of law in the twenty-first century. The School of Law will consider entry-level and junior lateral candidates in a variety of subject areas with particular focus on 1) Law and Technology, including data analytics/AI as it intersects with law and compliance, social media and electronic discovery, and ethics in the intersection of law and technology; 2) Business Law, preferably with a focus on Securities Regulation; and 3) Health Law, preferably with a focus on Healthcare Fraud or Food and Drug Law.

Seton Hall Law School offers a vibrant, energetic academic environment. Located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, approximately 20 minutes from Manhattan, Seton Hall Law is especially well-regarded in the health and life sciences law, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and privacy arenas, and it is in the process of expanding its role in energy, technology and data analytics. The faculty includes nationally recognized scholars and teachers with expertise in a wide range of areas.

Seton Hall Law School is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We welcome applications from minorities, women, and others whose background and experiences will contribute to institutional diversity.

To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Professor Marina Lao, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, Seton Hall Law School, at lawfacultyappointments@shu.edu.

Visiting Instructor of Legal Research and Writing - Willamette University College of Law

Willamette University College of Law invites applications for a full time position as a Visiting Instructor in Legal Research & Writing beginning in the fall of 2018. This is a one-year, non-tenure-track, visiting faculty position. Primary responsibilities include teaching two courses per semester, most likely one section of Legal Research and Writing to first-year law students and one section of Applied Legal Analysis for first- and second-year law students. In addition, the visiting instructor will contribute as a valued team member to the advancement of the legal research and writing and bar preparation programs. This position requires excellent legal research and writing skills, experience in law practice and/or law teaching, a passion for student success, and strong communication and counseling abilities. Interested individuals should submit their application materials via the Willamette University human resources website:  http://willamette.edu/offices/hr/jobs/index.html.

Additional information regarding the position may be obtained from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Prof. Norman Williams, who may be reached at normanw@willamette.edu. Interested candidates should apply prior to July 6th, 2018, and the successful candidate must be ready to start by August 15, 2018. Believing that diversity contributes to academic excellence and to rich and rewarding communities, Willamette University is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student body. We seek candidates, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups, whose work furthers diversity and who bring to campus varied experiences, perspectives and backgrounds

Not a humblebrag, just a brag. This Building Rocks.

A couple of years back, Drexel University School of Law received a huge naming gift from Tom Kline - which is while we're now the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law.  One element of that gift was Horace Trumbauer's landmark and imposing Ionic-style Beneficial Bank Building.  The University has spent time and treasure turning it into a one-of-a-kind law school building (a supplement, not replacement, for our main facility.)   It rocks.  But as much as we admire it, there remained the question of whether it would be too modern or brash or different to please the architecture crowd.  The first returns are in - in the form of Inga Saffron's review in the Philadelphia Inquirer - and they're very good.  Saffron is no pushover so - yeah - we're pleased.

We'll have more on this building, its history, and its architect, in Issue One of our new mag, Lex, out this fall. 

Are You Willing to Ask About the Diversity of an Academic Panel Before Accepting a Speaking Invitation?

If you are invited to speak on an academic panel, are you willing publicly to commit to asking panel organizers what efforts they have made to seek "diversity" among panel members, whatever that term means to you? If yes, please add your name to the public list here.

The background to this request for a public pledge from fellow legal academics originates at least in part from a tweet I made last week via Feminist Law Professors. I tweeted a link to an article about Spanish academics who have taken a public pledge against speaking on all-male panels. I followed up with some additional tweets asking whether any male academics would be willing to take the lead on something similar in the U.S. I forwarded the tweet to ten prominent male bloggers. Here's the series of tweets sent by me:

Michael Dorf posted some thoughtful reactions on "Diversifying Academic Panels" here.  Over at Prawfsblawg, Paul Horowitz has some further contributions here. Orin Kerr and others have added constructively to the conversation in the comments to Paul's post (here).

Because there's no clear consensus on what "diversity" an academic panels might look like, my on-line list/pledge is intended to simplify things.  If you are a legal academic, and you are invited to speak on a panel, consider asking the organizers what attempts they have made to seek diversity among panel members.  For me, that means gender, race and range of schools, foremost. But whatever "diversity" means to you, if you're willing to commit to asking the question, please add your name!  All legal academics of all genders very welcome to sign.

Cooley vs. the ABA – The Plot Thickens

I was wrong.  WMU Thomas Cooley School of Law and the ABA haven’t settled their lawsuit after all.  After I wrote the column on April 28 speculating that they had, there was no action in the lawsuit for a couple of weeks, so it seemed like the parties might be biding their time waiting to inform the Court that they had reached a settlement.  But today, I went onto Pacer and found that both parties are still actively litigating, with a recent flurry of motions and replies and responses.  In fact, Cooley filed a response to the ABA’s motion for summary judgment yesterday, and it’s a doozy.