George Washington And Illinois Seek To Hire Entry Level Or Lateral Tax Profs

George Washington Law, Associate Professor or Professor of Law: 

The George Washington University Law School invites applications for multiple tenure-track or tenured faculty appointments, at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, beginning as early as Fall 2025. The school may hire in any area based on a candidate’s overall strength. Areas of particular interest include 1L classes (torts, contracts, criminal law, civil procedure, property, legislation & regulation, and constitutional law); business and finance, including corporate governance, tax, and bankruptcy; civil rights law; cybersecurity; environmental law; government contracts; health law; international law; intellectual property; labor law; privacy and technology; and trusts and estates. ...

Please email questions to [email protected]. Review of applications will begin August15, 2024 and continue until the positions are filled. Only complete applications submitted either through GW’s online system or email will be considered.

University of Illinois Law, Tenure/Tenure Track Professor of Law: 

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Jesus And The Powers: Christian Political Witness In 2024

Christianity Today Book Review:  T. Wright: What Jesus Would Say to the ‘Empire’ Today (reviewing N.T. Wright (University of St Andrews) & Michael F. Bird (Ridley College), Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (2024):

In a year seeing over 50 countries at the polls—half of which could shift geopolitical dynamics—the timing of Jesus and the Powers’ release was no accident.

A few years ago, N. T. Wright (author of Surprised by Hope) and Michael F. Bird (Jesus Among the Gods)—who had collaborated on The New Testament in Its World—realized there was a lack of biblical guidance on how Christians should engage with politics, and they decided to do something about it.

“We both had the sense that most Christians today have not really been taught very much about a Christian view of politics,” Wright said. “Until the 18th century, there was a lot of Christian political thought, which we’ve kind of ignored the last 200–300 years—and it’s time to get back to it.”

The “gateway” to political theology, Wright believes, is the idea that, until Christ’s return, “God wants humans to be in charge.” And while all political powers have in some sense been “ordained by God” according to Scripture, he says, Christians are called to “take the lead” in holding them accountable.

“The church is designed to be the small working model of new creation, to hold up before the world a symbol—an effective sign of what God has promised to do for the world. Hence, to encourage the rest of the world to say, ‘Oh, that’s what human community ought to look like. That’s how it’s done.’”

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NY Times Op-Ed: Catholic Converts Like JD Vance Are Reshaping Republican Politics

New York Times Op-Ed:  Catholic Converts Like JD Vance Are Reshaping Republican Politics, by Matthew Schmitz (Founder & Editor, Compact):

Despite institutional decline and internal conflict, Catholicism retains a surprising resonance in American life — especially in certain elite circles. It has emerged as the largest and perhaps the most vibrant religious group at many top universities. It claims six of the nine Supreme Court justices as adherents. It continues to win high-profile converts, and its social teaching exerts an influence (often unacknowledged) on public debates, inspiring political thinkers who seek to challenge both the cultural left and the laissez-faire right.

The Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism after attending Yale Law School, exemplifies this phenomenon. When he was baptized into the church in 2019, he joined an influential group of conservative converts, including the legal scholars Erika Bachiochi and Adrian Vermeule, the political scientist Darel Paul, the Times Opinion columnist Ross Douthat, the theologian R.R. Reno and the writer and editor Sohrab Ahmari, one of my colleagues at the online magazine Compact. (I am also a convert to Catholicism, and I work or have worked with many of these figures.)

Such thinkers disagree, sometimes sharply, on important matters, not least the value of populism and the merits of Donald Trump. But all share a combination of social conservatism and a willingness to question many of the free-market orthodoxies of the pre-Trump Republican Party. In doing so, they can claim justification from Catholic social teaching, a body of thought that insists on a traditional understanding of the family while embracing a living wage and trade unions as means of promoting “the common good.” See, for example, Mr. Vance in 2019: “My views on public policy and what the optimal state should look like are pretty aligned with Catholic social teaching.”

This group’s economic thinking distinguishes its members from an earlier cohort of conservative Catholic intellectuals such as William F. Buckley Jr. and Michael Novak. Those men laid a stress on free markets, in part because the threat of Soviet Communism had led Catholic thinkers to emphasize the relative virtues of a liberal and capitalist system that had long been subject to Catholic critique.

By contrast, for Mr. Vance and others like him, Catholicism seems to be a resource for pushing back against the excesses of cultural and economic liberalism. As for so many converts before them, the church represents an alternative to the dominant ethos of the age. ... Many of today’s converts look to resist the left-right fusion of libertarian cultural attitudes and free-market economics that has reshaped Western society over the past three or four decades. But rather than precipitating a radical overhaul of society, as some fear and others hope, they have exerted a subtler influence that is nonetheless significant: altering how the Republican Party approaches policy, and in some cases helping build a new consensus across party lines. ...

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Fall 2024 Pepperdine Law & Religion Workshop Series

Surf Report, Nootbaar Institute Course, Current Issues in Law, Faith, and Religion, Invites Leading Scholars to Pepperdine Caruso Law:

Expanding on Pepperdine Caruso School of Law’s many law, faith, and religion courses, the Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics offered a groundbreaking new course in fall 2023, Current Issues in Law, Faith, and Religion. The course, returning in fall 2024 in partnership with the recently launched Ken Starr Institute for Faith, Law, and Public Service, features bi-weekly discussions by leading law and religion scholars, enriching academic discourse by bringing diverse perspectives on the intersection of law, faith, and religion into the classroom. Michael Helfand, co-director of the Nootbaar Institute, taught the course in its first year alongside fellow co-director Jennifer Koh, and notes that the guest speakers have been key in expanding students' understanding of complex and evolving issues.

“This unique and engaging course provides students with regular exposure to diverse perspectives and specialized knowledge in law and religion while maintaining the continuity of their ongoing coursework,” says Helfand. “We believe that incorporating speakers on important law and religion topics in the classroom not only enriches the educational experience but is also a testament to our commitment to fostering a culture of innovation, diversity, and excellence within our academic community.” ...

For fall 2024, the course will focus on topics such as religion in the workplace, religion and family law, the Supreme Court's historical and traditional approach to the Constitution’s religion clauses, and new trends in Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Helfand and Caruso Law professor Donald "Trey" Childress will host this year’s colloquium. ...

• Aug. 29:  Jessie Hill (Case Western; Google Scholar), The Puzzling Submergence and Reemergence of Religious Freedom Arguments in the Abortion Cases
• Sept. 12:  James Nelson (Houston; Google Scholar), Disestablishment at Work, 134 Yale L.J. ___ (2025)
• Sept. 26:  Stefan McDaniel (Notre Dame), Disclosing the Ministerial Exception, 58 Wake Forest L. Rev. ___ (2024)
• Oct. 10:  Stephanie Barclay (Georgetown; Google Scholar), A Crust of Bread: Religious Resistance and the Fourteenth Amendment
• Oct. 24:  Marc DeGirolami (Catholic; Google Scholar), Establishment as Tradition, 134 Yale L.J. F. ___ (2025)
• Nov. 7:  Elizabeth Katz (Florida; Google Scholar), Baptized by Law: Religion and Adoption

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St. Thomas College of Law Reinstates Fired Tenured Professor, Will Start Termination Hearings

Following up on my previous post, Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College of Law After Firing:  ABA Journal, St. Thomas College of Law Reinstates Fired Tenured Professor, Will Start Termination Hearings:

After firing a tenured professor in July, the St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law has reinstated her for the purpose of formally terminating her via the due process rights spelled out in the faculty handbook.

On Tuesday, the Florida-based school sent a letter to professor Lauren Gilbert signed by David A. Armstrong, the university’s president, spelling out the plan.

“Based on the foregoing instances of your demonstrated misconduct and/or disregard for university and law school policies, the law school believes that your dismissal from employment with the university is warranted,” wrote Armstrong in the Aug. 27 letter.

According to the July termination letter, grounds for firing Gilbert include an altercation in which she grabbed a security guard in 2010, as well as more recent incidents, among them being dismissive of rumors about an active shooter on campus. This week’s letter adds an “inappropriate relationship” with a student.

“Professor Gilbert categorically denies having any inappropriate relationship with any former student, ever,” wrote David Frakt, Gilbert’s attorney who specializes in academic cases, via email to the ABA Journal. “This accusation is completely fact-free. The alleged student is not named, and no details are provided as to what made the alleged relationship inappropriate.”

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This Week's Ten Most Popular TaxProf Blog Posts

Legal Education: 

1. USA Today Op-Ed (John Yoo, UC-Berkeley), The Leftward Ideological Slant Of Law Schools Will Degrade American Law And Erode Fundamental Rights
2. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Fall 2024 Law School Admissions Season: Applicants Are Up +5.7%, With Smallest Increase Among White Applicants
3. Chronicle of Higher Education, Nearly 20% Of University Of Florida Faculty Flunked Post-Tenure Review
4. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), Legal Ed News Roundup
5. Reuters, Ex-Bank Robber, Now Georgetown Law Prof, Charged With Felonies In Domestic Abuse Case
6. Keith Hand (UC-San Francisco), California Law Schools Must Encourage Viewpoint Diversity
7. ABA Legal Education Section, Law School Accreditation News
8. Robert Nelson (Northwestern), Ronit Dinovitzer (Toronto), Bryant Garth (UC-Irvine), Joyce Sterling (Denver), David Wilkins (Harvard), Meghan Dawe (Harvard) & Ethan Michelson (Indiana), The Making Of Lawyers’ Careers: Inequality And Opportunity In The American Legal Profession
9. New York Times, Harvard Names Conservative Law School Dean John Manning University Provost
10. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Most-Cited Deans At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools

Tax:

1. New York Times, What We Know About Kamala Harris’s $5 Trillion Tax Plan
2. TaxProf Jobs 
   • American
   • Boston College 
   • Chicago-Kent 
   • Connecticut 
   • Dayton
   • DePaul
3. Andy Grewal (Iowa), Tax Regulations After Loper Bright
4. Chris William Sanchirico & Reed Shuldiner (Penn), Deferring Income With Tiered And Circular Partnerships
5. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), Tax Policy In The Biden Administration
6. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Most-Cited Tax Faculty At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools
7. SSRN, The Top Five New Tax Papers
8. Ari Glogower (Northwestern) & Andrew Granato (Yale), Reforming The Taxation Of Life Insurance
9. Susan Morse (Texas), How Late Is Too Late To Challenge Old Tax Regs?
10. Penn Wharton Budget Model, Analysis Of Budget Implications Of Harris And Trump Taxing And Spending Plans

Faith:

1. Washington Post Op-Ed (Allison Raskin), Why Don't I Have Any Close Friends? I Live In Los Angeles.
2. Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk’s Walk With Jesus
3. Christianity Today, The Olympics’ Most Iconic Photo Has A Christian Message
4. Zach Rausch (NYU), Religious Teens Are Happier Than Their Secular Peers — Dramatically So For Religious Conservatives
5. Michael Reneau (The Dispatch) & John Inazu (Washington University), Not Everything Is Cancel Culture

July Multistate Bar Exam Mean Score Is Highest Since 2013

NCBE Announces National Mean for July 2024 MBE:

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) announced today that the national mean scaled score for the July 2024 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) was 141.8, an increase of about 1.3 points compared to the July 2023 mean of 140.5 and the highest July MBE mean since 2013, excluding the summer and fall 2020 administrations. The MBE, one of three sections that make up the bar exam in most US jurisdictions, consists of 200 multiple-choice questions answered over six hours.

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Weekly Legal Education Roundup

• ABA Journal, New Metric Inspired by Baseball Stats Aims to Measure Real Value of Lawyers' Work
• ABA Legal Education Section, Law School Accreditation News
• Nikita Aggarwal (Miami), Survey of Law Fellowships and VAPs
• Alabama Symposium, Legal Education: Our History, Our Future
• Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Fall 2024 Law School Admissions Season: Applicants Are Up +5.7%, With Smallest Increase Among White Applicants
• Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Most-Cited Deans At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools
• Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), The Most-Cited Tax Faculty At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools
• Chronicle of Higher Education, Why U. of Florida Professors Decry ‘Chaotic’ Post-Tenure Review That Failed Nearly a Fifth of Those Evaluated

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Next Week’s Tax Workshops

Tuesday, September 3: Goldburn P. Maynard, Jr. (Indiana-Kelley; Google Scholar) will present Penalizing Precarity, 123 Mich. L. Rev. ___ (2024) (with Clinton Wallace (South Carolina; Google Scholar)) as part of the UC-San Francisco Tax Speaker Series. If you would like to attend, please contact [email protected]. 

Friday, September 6: Emily Satterthwaite (Georgetown; Google Scholar) will present Taxing Nannies (with Ariel Jurow Kleiman (Loyola-L.A.; Google Scholar), Shayak Sarkar (UC-Davis; Google Scholar)) (reviewed by Michelle Layser (San Diego; Google Scholar) here) as part of the Florida Tax Colloquium. If you would like to attend, please contact Yariv Brauner. 

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The Most-Cited Deans At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools

Following up on last week's post, The 64 Most-Cited Law Faculties: here are the 22 deans among the 10-most cited faculty at the Top 64 law schools:

6. UC-Berkeley: Erwin Chemerinsky
9. Vanderbilt: Chris Guthrie
18. UC-Davis: Kevin Johnson
20. Texas: Robert Chesney
23. Minnesota: William McGeveran; St. Thomas-MN: Daniel Kelly; William & Mary: A. Benjamin Spencer
26. USC: Franita Tolson
27. Boston University: Angela Onwuachi-Willig
30. Utah: Elizabeth Kronk Warner
34. Florida State: Erin O'Hara O'Connor; Ohio State: Kent Barnett; San Diego: Robert Schapiro
38. University of Arizona: Marc Miller
43. Case Western: Paul Rose; UC-San Francisco: David Faigman
47. Georgia: Peter Rutledge; San Francisco: Johanna Kalb; Temple: Rachel Rebouché
56. Iowa: Kevin Washburn
60. Pittsburgh: Mary Crossley; SMU: Jason Nance

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Dayton And DePaul Seek To Hire Tax Profs

Dayton Law, Assistant Professor: 

The University of Dayton School of Law invites applications for multiple tenure-track Assistant Professor positions to begin August 16, 2025. Areas of need include contracts, business organizations, torts, criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, family law, property, wills and trusts, secured transactions, and tax. The School of Law has a history of innovation and is a leader in international education. ... 

DePaul Law, Assistant/Associate Professors: 

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ABA Law School Accreditation News

Managing Director’s Guidance Memo Standard 305 (August 2024):

Standard 305. Other Academic Study
(a) A law school may grant credit toward the J.D. degree for courses that involve student participation in studies or activities in a format that does not involve attendance at regularly scheduled class sessions, including, but not limited to, moot court, law review, and directed research.
(b) Credit granted for such a course shall be commensurate with the time and effort required and the anticipated quality of the educational experience of the student.
(c) Each student’s educational achievement in such a course shall be evaluated by a faculty member. ...

Three Matters for Notice and Comment:

Standard 206: Access to Legal Education and the Profession (previously titled “Diversity and Inclusion”) — Comment Deadline: September 30, 2024:

Background: Due to changes in the law resulting from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College concerning college and university admissions decisions, the Council concluded that revisions to Standard 206 were needed. The revisions below were approved by the Council after the Standards Committee reviewed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, consulted with outside counsel, researched state law, and looked for other accreditors’ policies in this area. After much deliberation, the Standards Committee gave the Council two options for revisions to Standard 206. The Standards Committee recommended one of these options, which the Council approved for Notice and Comment.

Explanation of Revisions: The new title of Standard 206, “Access to Legal Education and the Profession” (formerly titled “Diversity and Inclusion”) focuses on achieving access for students, faculty, and staff. The revisions to the Standard remove references to race and ethnicity, as well as other specific identity characteristics, from the text of the Standard.

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Chicago-Kent & Connecticut Seek To Hire Entry Level Or Lateral Tax Profs

Chicago-Kent Law, Faculty Posting: 

Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law is conducting two searches for candidates to join our faculty.

Chicago-Kent seeks to hire one or more additional faculty members. This general search will focus on entry- level or junior lateral candidates. We have hiring needs in a variety of areas, including (but not limited to): commercial law, labor and employment law, administrative law/legislation regulation, property/land use, torts, antitrust, health law, race and the law, criminal law, civil procedure, international law, and tax law. 

While we will be consulting the Faculty Appointments Register (FAR) through the American Association of Law Schools (AALS), inquiries can be sent to Greg Reilly. ...

Connecticut Law, Associate Professor: 

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California Law Schools Must Encourage Viewpoint Diversity

Keith Hand (UC-San Francisco; Google Scholar), California Law Schools Must Encourage Viewpoint Diversity:

Many law schools operate in a manner that reinforces ideological orthodoxy and chills dissenting views.

In June, the deans of over 100 law schools published a joint letter affirming that legal education should teach students “to disagree respectfully and engage with one another across ideological lines.” As thousands of new law students begin their professional education, in the midst of a divisive election cycle and debate over another round of contentious U.S. Supreme Court decisions, are law schools doing enough to train advocates for a pluralistic society in practice? ...

Educational institutions, especially those training the nation’s future lawyers and judges, should work to counter the groupthink and polarization degrading our civic life. But in practice, many law schools operate in a manner that reinforces ideological orthodoxy and chills dissenting views on contentious legal issues.

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The Most-Cited Tax Faculty At The 64 Most-Cited Law Schools

Following up on last week's post, The 64 Most-Cited Law Faculties:  here are the 13 Tax Profs among the 10-most cited faculty at the Top 64 law schools:

3. Harvard: Louis Kaplow
4. NYU: Daniel Hemel
14. Michigan: Reuven Avi-Yonah
18. UC-Davis: Darien Shanske
22. UC-Irvine: Victor Fleischer
23. Minnesota: Kristin Hickman
34. Cardozo: Edward Zelinsky; Florida State: Steve Johnson
42. BYU: Cliff Fleming
47. San Francisco: Joshua Rosenberg
56. Boston College: Diane Ring
60. Pittsburgh: Anthony Infanti; Santa Clara: Patricia Cain

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Moneyball For Lawyers: Should ‘Relative Performance Measure’ Replace Billed Hours In Determining Attorney Productivity?

ABA Journal, New Metric Inspired by Baseball Stats Aims to Measure Real Value of Lawyers' Work:

The Thomson Reuters Institute is introducing a new metric that measures how well lawyers are generating fees and collecting them by comparing them to their peers.

The “relative performance measure,” abbreviated as RPM, can be used to measure a lawyer’s performance compared to other lawyers in the same segment, practice group, office location or lawyer title, according to an Aug. 14 press release.

American Lawyer, With Hours Tenuous, New Metric Looks to Baseball to Assess Lawyer Productivity:

Researchers assert the new metric is more strongly correlated to profitability.

Similar to professional baseball, where players’ production is often gauged by their performance relative to a standard “replacement-level” player at their position, the RPM uses timekeeper-level data on hours worked, rates charged, fees generated and collection speeds to compute a “replacement-level” score among categories of lawyers to calculate the over- or under-performance of timekeepers in those areas.

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Professional Identity Development In The 1L Legal Writing Curriculum

Charles Oldfield (Akron), Entertaining and Embracing Professional Identity Development in the 1L Legal Writing Curriculum, 59 Tulsa L. Rev. 415 (2024): 

Because of their already heavy workload, legal writing faculty sometimes resist taking on new curricular responsibilities, including calls to incorporate ethics and professionalism training in the first-year legal writing curriculum. But the ABA now requires law schools to provide students with opportunities to develop their professional identities throughout their time in law school. This requirement means that faculty will need to add professional identity development to their courses. Rather than resist this change, firstyear legal writing faculty should embrace the opportunity by using the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to incorporate concepts of ethics and professionalism in their firstyear courses.

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Alabama Symposium: Legal Education — Our History, Our Future

Our History, Our Future, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 555-817 (2024): 

• Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean, UC-Berkeley; Google Scholar), The Challenges Facing Legal Education, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 555 (2024)
• Eli Wald (Denver), A Liberal Theory of Legal Education, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 563 (2024)
• Paul M. Pruitt Jr. (Alabama; Google Scholar), Capstone Law: The University of Alabama School of Law, 1873-2023, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 607 (2024)
• Melissa H. Weresh (Drake; Google Scholar), Hidden Lessons, Unforeseen Consequences: Interrogating the Hidden Curriculum in Legal Education and Its Impact on Students from Historically Underrepresented Groups, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 655 (2024) 
• Angela Onwuachi-Willig (Dean, Boston University; Google Scholar), Moving Beyond Statements and Good Intentions in U.S. Law Schools, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 691 (2024) 
• Danielle M. Conway (Dean, Penn State-Dickinson), Institutional Antiracism and Critical Pedagogy: A Quantum Leap Forward for Legal Education and the Legal Academy, 75 Ala. L. Rev. 717 (2024) 

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Survey Of Law Fellowships And VAPs (2022-23 & 2023-24)

Following up on my previous post, Fellowships For Aspiring Law Professors (Updated 2024-25 Edition):  Nikita Aggarwal (Miami; Google Scholar), Survey of Law Fellowships and VAPs:

If you completed a law fellowship or VAP program in the last  two years (AY 2022-23 or AY 2023-24), please consider filling out the Google form available at this link. Your responses will be aggregated, anonymized, and published in a searchable database, along with publicly available information about fellowship and VAP programs. Your name and email address will be collected to confirm your identity and mitigate fraudulent responses. But all personal identifiers, including your name and email address, will be removed before publication.  

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Chronicle: Nearly 20% Of University Of Florida Faculty Flunked Post-Tenure Review

Chronicle of Higher Education, Why U. of Florida Professors Decry ‘Chaotic’ Post-Tenure Review That Failed Nearly a Fifth of Those Evaluated:

The striking results from the first round of Florida’s controversial state-mandated post-tenure reviews have confirmed the fears of many faculty advocates at its flagship campus, who criticized what they saw as a rushed and unfair process and top-down evaluation criteria. In interviews with The Chronicle, several scholars at peer institutions faulted the metrics as narrow and inflexible.

At the University of Florida, more than a quarter of faculty members who were identified for review either didn’t measure up, resigned, or retired.

The process, which took place this spring, initially identified 262 tenured faculty members to undergo post-tenure review, though 226 were ultimately evaluated. Of those who were formally reviewed, 17 percent didn’t pass muster: Five received the lowest possible ranking, “unsatisfactory,” and were issued a “notice of termination,” according to a July 1 memo obtained by The Chronicle through a public-records request. Thirty-four were classified as “does not meet expectations” and will be placed on a one-year performance-improvement plan. Ninety-eight were rated as “meets expectations” and 89 as “exceeds expectations.” Another 31 professors weren’t reviewed because they “either retired, entered retirement agreements, or resigned during the review period,” while five faculty members will be reviewed later because of a concurrent performance review or medical issue.

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Boston College Seeks To Hire An Entry Level Or Lateral Tax Prof

Boston College Law, Faculty Posting: 

Boston College Law School has added 12 tenure-track faculty appointments during the past two years, continuing our appointments momentum as we welcomed Dean Odette Lienau in January 2023.

We expect to make multiple tenure-track faculty appointments for Fall 2025, entry-level through to senior- tenured level. We welcome applications from candidates across all areas of law, and particularly invite expressions of interest from scholars teaching and writing in environmental law, professional responsibility/ legal ethics, family law, technology/privacy/cybersecurity, tax, commercial law/related areas, and social justice, including racial and economic justice. ... 

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The Making Of Lawyers’ Careers: Inequality And Opportunity In The American Legal Profession

Robert L. Nelson (Northwestern), Ronit Dinovitzer (Toronto), Bryant G. Garth (UC-Irvine), Joyce S. Sterling (Denver), David B. Wilkins (Harvard), Meghan Dawe (Harvard) & Ethan Michelson (Indiana), The Making of Lawyers’ Careers: Inequality and Opportunity in the American Legal Profession (University of Chicago Press 2023) (reviewed by Eli Wald (Denver) here):

An unprecedented account of social stratification within the United States' legal profession.

How do race, class, gender, and law school status condition the career trajectories of lawyers? And how do professionals then navigate these parameters?

The Making of Lawyers’ Careers provides an unprecedented account of the last two decades of the legal profession in the United States, offering a data-backed look at the structure of the profession and the inequalities that early-career lawyers face across race, gender, and class distinctions. Starting in 2000, the authors collected over 10,000 survey responses from more than 5,000 lawyers, following these lawyers through the first twenty years of their careers. They also interviewed more than two hundred lawyers and drew insights from their individual stories, contextualizing data with theory and close attention to the features of a market-driven legal profession.

Their findings show that lawyers’ careers both reflect and reproduce inequalities within society writ large. They also reveal how individuals exercise agency despite these constraints.

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Integrating Legal Research Into The Law School Curriculum

Denitsa Mavrova Heinrich (North Dakota) & Tammy Pettinato Oltz (North Dakota; Google Scholar), Legal Research Just in Time: A New Approach to Integrating Legal Research into the Law School Curriculum, 88 Tenn. L. Rev. 469:  

This Article discusses an innovative way of integrating legal research instruction into the law school curriculum without detracting from the time and resources necessary for intensive legal writing and analysis instruction. Building on the concept of "just-in-time" learning, a pedagogical method based on the theory that students learn better when there is an immediate need for the information they are receiving, this Article proposes infusing legal research instruction into the law school curriculum at key moments, or "checkpoints," rather than in isolated blocks of time. 

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Legal Ed News Roundup

• ABA Journal, 5 Of 6 Lawyer Presidents Graduated From T-14 Law Schools; Harris Wouldn’T Be In That Group If Elected
• ABA Journal, Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College Of Law After Firing
• Arkansas News, Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson to Join School of Law Faculty as Executive in Residence
• Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Former Brooklyn Law School Dean Discusses Lawyers' Role in Upholding Rule of Law
• College Consensus, 50 Best Law Schools for 2025 (Methodology)
• Daily Mail, How Kamala Harris 'Inspired' a Poem Comparing Her California Law School to a Slave Ship and 'Intellectual Apartheid'
• High Point University, Law School Welcomes First Class of Students

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American Seeks To Hire An Entry Level Or Lateral Tax Prof

American University Careers, Applicant Pool for Tenured and Tenure-track Positions: 

American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) seeks applications for the 2025-2026 academic year for six entry-level or lateral tenure-line positions, with interest in torts, environmental law, criminal law, criminal justice clinic, data privacy, law and government, international law, and tax law. We have particular interest in entry-level or lateral candidates who would teach in and administer the Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic. We are especially interested in candidates who will contribute to our vibrant and diverse community. ...

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Yoo: The Leftward Ideological Slant Of Law Schools Will Degrade American Law And Erode Fundamental Rights

USA Today op-ed:  Why I'm Worried as a Conservative About America's Future Under the Constitution, by John Yoo (UC-Berkeley):

The leftward ideological slant of law schools, if left unbalanced, will continue to degrade American law and erode fundamental rights.

Donald Trump’s conviction in May on frivolous criminal charges in New York shows that the legal establishment not only has fallen prey to our extreme politics but also has become a willing coconspirator in it. Law school deans and faculty members should have stepped forward to act as a brake on a radicalized profession.

Sadly, many of our leading law schools have lost their bearings. Law school leaders and faculties have steadily disavowed teaching the constitutional text and structure to instead promote the latest fads in diversity, equity and inclusion. Faculty hostility toward true academic freedom, a content-neutral approach to free speech and study of the Constitution’s text has gone so far that law schools are now rejecting donors who wish to support research in separation of powers, federalism and constitutional interpretation.

Not surprisingly, their students have become increasingly ignorant of, and disrespectful to, constitutional values – exacerbating the disorder on campus. ...

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The Fall 2024 Law School Admissions Season: Applicants Are Up +5.7%, With Smallest Increase Among White Applicants

We are now 100% of the way through Fall 2024 law school admissions season. The number of law school applicants reported by LSAC is up 5.7% compared to last year at this time:

128 of the 197 law schools experienced an increase in applications. Applications are up +10% or more at 64 law schools:

Applicants are up in all regions and are up the most in Mountain West (+12.0%), Other (+11.0%), and Far West (+7.0%): 

Applicants' LSAT scores are down -0.4% in the 170-180 band, up +6.6% in the 160-169 band, up + 6.6% in the 150-159 band, and up + 3.7% in the 120-149 band:

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TaxProf Blog Weekend Roundup

Saturday:

• Miss-Stake By IRS: Proof-of-Stake's Underinclusive Regulatory Guidance
• Ex-Bank Robber, Now Georgetown Law Prof, Charged With Felonies In Domestic Abuse Case
• This Week's Ten Most Popular TaxProf Blog Posts

Sunday:

• The Top Five New Tax Papers
• Federal Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Bar's Diversity Clerkship Program
• WaPo Op-Ed: Why Don't I Have Any Close Friends? I Live In Los Angeles.
• NY Times Op-Ed: What The Olympics Can Teach Us About Excellence
• WSJ: Elon Musk’s Walk With Jesus

WSJ: Elon Musk’s Walk With Jesus

Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk’s Walk With Jesus:

Elon Musk is publicly offering his own interpretation of Jesus’ teachings with an Old Testament twist.

“Christianity has become toothless,” the billionaire posted recently on his X social-media platform. “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.”

As Musk tweeted about Christianity, a friend of his, Jason Calacanis, replied jokingly: “If you’re going into your born again era we’re so here for it.”

Responded Musk: “I believe in the principles of Christianity like love thy neighbor as thyself (have empathy for all) and turn the other cheek (end the cycle of retribution).”

 For all of his pursuits, Musk isn’t generally thought of as theologian. 

With the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive’s recent political transformation, however, we are increasingly seeing Musk invoke religion as he discusses his worldviews on topics ranging from parenthood to freedom of speech.

He has talked about his core beliefs several times this summer, including this past week when describing how he defines empathy and its place in governing. ...

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NY Times Op-Ed: What The Olympics Can Teach Us About Excellence

New York Times op-ed:  What the Olympics Can Teach Us About Excellence, by Brad Stulberg (Michigan; Author, The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds — Not Crushes — Your Soul (2021)):

We are drawn to stories of individuals who not only embody the pursuit of excellence, but also have humility.

Think of the American gymnast Simone Biles, who worked through mental health issues that kept her mostly sidelined at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and went on to win three gold medals at the Paris Games. Perhaps the most iconic image from these Games occurred after one of the few gymnastics events she didn’t completely dominate, the individual floor competition. At the awards ceremony, Biles, who earned silver, and her teammate Jordan Chiles, who took bronze, bowed to show respect to the gold medal winner, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. ...

Excellence is not perfection or winning at all costs. It is a deeply satisfying process of becoming the best performer — and person — you can be. You pursue goals that challenge you, put forth an honest effort, endure highs, lows and everything in between, and gain respect for yourself and others. This sort of excellence isn’t just for world-class athletes; it is for all of us. We can certainly find it in sports, but also in the creative arts, medicine, teaching, coaching, science and more.

Understanding that excellence lies in the pursuit of a lofty goal as much as in the achievement of that goal allows us to expand our definition of success. Excellence is a process. That process can, and must, be renewed every day. The real reward for excellence is not the medal or the promotion, but the person you become and the relationships you forge along the way. In 2007, the psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar coined the term “arrival fallacy” to describe the trap of thinking that reaching a goal will bring lasting contentment or fulfillment. Anyone who has ever thought, “If I achieve such-and-such goal, then I’ll be happy,” understands this. ...

Pursuing excellence is, at its core, retaining respect, compassion and empathy for others even in pursuit of being your best, and, sometimes, winning. Yes, you must be driven and fierce and at times try so hard that people may think you are crazy. But it’s precisely because of this determined commitment — and the recognition of how hard it can be — that you gain immense empathy and respect for others in the arena. ...

The Olympics may be an example of excellence and achievement at a pinnacle few of us can imagine, but they do offer us a moment to reflect on our own versions of excellence. How should I spend the time I have? How do I summon the focus to pursue my interests with care? What does this say about the values I hold and my desire to practice them? At a time of disconnect and alienation, the pursuit of excellence offers a powerful and necessary path to intimacy with ourselves, our work and our communities. It is, at root, what it means to be the best humans we can be.

Editor's Note:  If you would like to receive a weekly email each Sunday with links to faith posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here. 

WaPo Op-Ed: Why Don't I Have Any Close Friends? I Live In Los Angeles.

Washington Post Op-Ed:  Would You Be Mine? Could You Be Mine? Won’t You Be My Friend?, by Allison Raskin (MPsych 2023, Pepperdine):

My dad was in town recently, and one morning I had to take him to urgent care. He had felt a shooting nerve pain in his arm for a few months, and it had reached the point of agony. As we were driving there — following a delicious breakfast at IHOP, because even bad days can have glimmers of joy — he told me that I should just drop him off so I could go back home and do my work. I replied, “Would you just drop me off?” Game point. Discussion over.

I was raised in a family that prioritized taking care of one another. When my mom had knee surgery in 2018, I flew home to take care of her. And when I had knee surgery in 2022, both my parents flew out to take care of me. There is an underlying understanding that loving someone means being there for them both emotionally and physically whenever possible. I feel so grateful to have this type of dynamic ingrained in me. But I have struggled as an adult to re-create it in my friendships. Especially after I left the chaos of my 20s and our lives became more and more separate.

There was a popular TikTok making the rounds a while ago in which content creator Amelia Montooth discussed how, due to capitalism and an obsession with prioritizing our productivity, we have moved away from the “small-favors economy.” Basically, in past generations, it was more normalized to rely on people in our community to help us out. Asking for a ride to the airport wasn’t a great offense but an opportunity to show someone that you cared about them.

@ameliamontooth if ur my friend and ur seeing this lets b radical anticapitalists together while you drive me home from LAX 😈 #wlw #friends #friendship #20s #femalefriends #friendgroup ♬ original sound - Amelia

But as independence has become more and more glorified, people have been less likely to ask others for help. This limits how close we are able to get to the people we care about so much.

For years, I have tried to figure out how to feel more connected to my friends. Instead of just catching up every few weeks (or, more honestly, every few months), I want to re-create the dynamic I have with my family. Where if someone has a bad day, they feel comfortable calling me to vent. Or if they really need help with something, they just ask me because that is what we do for each other. I have seen other people have these types of friendships (my sister and mother included), and I’ve often worried that the issue is me. That I am not the type of person people want to get that close to, even though I am often waving my hands and basically shouting, “Let me love you!” Maybe something in my nature prevents the level of intimacy my older sister has curated through her multiple group texts and seemingly endless backyard BBQs.

But, in an effort not to be so mean to myself, I have tried to take a step back and see other explanations. This exercise helped me land on a less personal reason for my lack of strong connections.

To put it simply, I live in Los Angeles, which is a large, sprawling city that makes it difficult to just pop in on a friend because they live 50 minutes away.

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Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Bar Mandatory Membership Over Diversity Programs

Reuters, Wisconsin Bar Can't Dodge Challenge to Mandatory Membership over Diversity Program:

A federal judge on Monday allowed a lawsuit to move ahead that alleges mandatory membership in the Wisconsin State Bar violates the free speech rights of members who object to certain initiatives of the association including diversity programs.

U.S. Magistrate Stephen Dries on Monday denied the Wisconsin State Bar's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Daniel Suhr, a Wisconsin attorney represented by the conservative legal advocacy group Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) [press release]. 

Suhr alleged that requiring him to join a bar association that uses mandatory dues for diversity programs that he claims discriminate against white men violates his First Amendment rights. Suhr claimed that any dues-funded political activities that the bar undertakes violate his First Amendment rights.

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This Week's Ten Most Popular TaxProf Blog Posts

Legal Education: 

1. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), Fellowships For Aspiring Law Professors (Updated 2024-25 Edition)
2. ABA Legal Ed Counsel
• Changes to Proposed Accreditation Standards On Diversity, Rights Of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty
• Proposed Accreditation Standards On Learning Outcomes, Assessment, And 1L Faculty Sent To ABA House Of Delegates
• Summary Of Actions Taken At August 16 Meeting
3. Gregory Sisk (St. Thomas-MN), Adam Bent (Florida), et al., The 64 Most-Cited Law Faculties
4. Symposium, Teaching Legal Research, Writing, Communication, And Feedback
5. Symposium, Deans' Leadership In Legal Education 
6. Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), Weekly Legal Education Roundup
7. Law.com, Kamala Harris (UC Law SF) Would Be Second Lawyer-President With A Non-T14 Degree; Joe Biden (Syracuse Law) Is The Other
8. Joe Regalia (UNLV), From Briefs To Bytes: How Generative AI Is Transforming Legal Writing And Practice
9. UC-Berkeley, UC-Berkeley Is First Law School To Offer AI-Focused Degree
10. ABA Journal, Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College of Law After Firing
    New York Times, Harvard Names Conservative Law School Dean John Manning University Provost

Tax:

1. Tax Prof Jobs
• Albany
• Washington & Lee
2. David Gamage (Missouri-Columbia) & Ari Glogower (Northwestern), The Policy And Politics Of Alternative Minimum Taxes
3. Informa, Evan Gershkovich, Other Freed Hostages Hit With IRS Tax Penalties For Their Time As Russia's Hostages
4. Jack Bogdanski (Lewis & Clark), Supreme Court's Tax Decisions (Moore, Estate Of Connelly) Undercut By Non-Tax Decisions (Loper Bright, Cover Post, Jarkesy)
5. Brigham Brau (North Carolina), Jeffrey L. Hoopes (North Carolina), Junyoung Jeong (North Carolina) & Mark H. Lang (North Carolina), Crime And The EITC
6. Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan), July's Tax Reflections With Reuven Avi-Yonah
7. David Weisbach (Chicago), An APA For Tax
8. Richard Kaplan (Illinois), Analyzing The New Planning Opportunities In SECURE 2.0 For Retirement Plan Participants
9. David Hasen (Florida), Update: Florida Tax Review Symposium On Moore v. United States
10. Mirit Eyal-Cohen (Alabama), Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup: Eyal-Cohen Reviews Weisbach's An APA For Tax

Faith:

1. Newsweek, Conservative Christian Colleges Are Facing Cancel Culture Problems
2. Christianity Today, The Olympics’ Most Iconic Photo Has A Christian Message
3. Ryan Burge (Eastern Illinois University), Do Educated People Believe In God More Or Less?
4. Zach Rausch (NYU), Religious Teens Are Happier Than Their Secular Peers — Dramatically So For Religious Conservatives
5. Michael Reneau (The Dispatch) & John Inazu (Washington University), Not Everything Is Cancel Culture

Ex-Bank Robber, Now Georgetown Law Prof, Charged With Felonies In Domestic Abuse Case

Reuters, Ex-Bank Robber, Now Georgetown Law Prof, Charged With Felonies in Domestic Abuse Case:

Georgetown law professor Shon Hopwood, who spent 11 years in prison for robbing several banks in the 1990s and was later celebrated for turning his life around, is slated to be arraigned on felony charges Monday in connection with an ongoing domestic violence case, according to court records.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia on Wednesday charged Hopwood with two counts of obstruction of justice and five counts of contempt for violating the conditions of his release. Those are in addition to four previously filed misdemeanor charges for simple assault, each connected with 2023 incidents at the Washington home of Hopwood and his wife, Ann Marie Hopwood. 

Hopwood’s attorney, Phil Andonian, said on Friday that his client will plead not guilty, as he did with the earlier charges. The U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

Police went to the couple’s home on Sept. 24 after receiving a call that Ann Marie Hopwood had been locked in the basement. Shon Hopwood allegedly told police that she was out of town, but an officer eventually found her with a broken finger and chipped tooth, which she said she sustained during a fight several days earlier. In an application for a temporary protection order, Ann Marie Hopwood detailed four instances in which she said Shon Hopwood hurt her.

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Weekly Legal Education Roundup

• ABA Journal, Legal Ed Council Broadens Proposed Accreditation Standard Addressing Diversity
• ABA Journal, Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College of Law After Firing
• ABA Legal Ed Council, Summary Of Actions Taken At August 16 Meeting
• Berkeley Law, UC-Berkeley Is First Law School To Offer AI-Focused Degree
• Paul Caron (Dean, Pepperdine), Fellowships For Aspiring Law Professors (Updated 2024-25 Edition)
• Harlan Grant Cohen (Fordham), A Short History of the Early History of American Student-Edited International Law Journals
• Law.com, Kamala Harris Would Only Be the Second Lawyer-President With a Non-T14 Law Degree
• Chance Meyer & Nicole Noël (New England), The Gray Box Of Legal Analysis: Disentangling Knowledge And Skill

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The 64 Most-Cited Law Faculties

Gregory C. Sisk (St. Thomas-MN; Google Scholar), Adam Bent (Florida), et al., Scholarly Impact of Law School Faculties in 2024: Updating the Leiter Score Ranking for the Top Third:

This updated 2024 study explores the scholarly impact of law faculties, ranking the top third of ABA-accredited law schools. Refined by Brian Leiter, the “Scholarly Impact Ranking” for a law faculty is calculated from the mean and the median of total law journal citations over the past five years to the work of tenured faculty members. In addition to a school-by-school ranking, we report the mean, median, and weighted score, along with a list of the tenured law faculty members at each school with the ten highest individual citation counts.

The law faculty at Yale continues to hold the top ranked position in the 2024 Scholarly Impact Ranking, with the University of Chicago at second, Harvard at third, New York University at fourth, and Columbia at fifth. The University of California-Berkeley remains in the sixth position with Pennsylvania moving up one spot to seventh. Stanford is at eight, and Vanderbilt remains at nine. Virginia, which had climbed from sixteenth in 2018 to ninth in 2021, remains in the top 10. ... 

Rank	School	Most Cited Scholars (* indicates 70 or older in 2024)	U.S. News Peer Rank	U.S. News Overall Rank
1	Yale	*Ackerman, Bruce A.; Amar, Akhil R.; Ayres, Ian; Balkin, Jack M.; *Eskridge, William, Jr.; Gluck, Abbe R.; Macey, Jonathan R.; *Post, Robert C.; *Resnik, Judith; Siegel, Reva B.	3	1
2	Chicago	Baude, William; BenShahar, Omri; Bradley, Curtis A.; Ginsburg, Tom; Huq, Aziz; *Nussbaum, Martha; Posner, Eric; *Stone, Geoffrey R.; Strahilevitz, Lior; *Strauss, David A.	3	3
3	Harvard	Bebchuk, Lucian A.; *Fallon, Richard H.; Goldsmith, Jack Landman; Kaplow, Louis; Klarman, Michael; Lessig, Lawrence; Manning, John F.; *Shavell, Steven M.; *Sunstein, Cass R.; Vermeule, Adrian	1	4
4	NYU	Barkow, Rachel E.; Choi, Stephen; *Epstein, Richard; Friedman, Barry; Hemel, Daniel; *Issacharoff, Samuel; Kahan, Marcel; *Miller, Arthur R.; *Miller, Geoffrey Parsons; Pildes, Richard H.; *Waldron, Jeremy	3	9
5	Columbia	*Coffee, John C., Jr.; Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams; *Fagan, Jeffrey A.; *Gordon, Jeffrey N.; Greene, Jamal; Hamburger, Philip; *Merrill, Thomas W.; Metzger, Gillian E.; Pozen, David; Wu, Timothy	3	8
6	UC-Berkeley	Bridges, Khiara M.; *Chemerinsky, Erwin; *Farber, Daniel A; Haney Lopez, Ian F.; Kerr, Orin; Menell, Peter S.; Merges, Robert P.; *Samuelson, Pamela; Solomon, Steven Davidoff; Yoo, John Choon	7	12
7	Penn	Coglianese, Cary; Fisch, Jill E.; Hoffman, David; *Hovenkamp, Herbert; Mayson, Sandra G.; Parchomovsky, Gideon; Pollman, Elizabeth; Roberts, Dorothy E.; *Robinson, Paul H.; Skeel, David Arthur	10	4
8	Stanford	Engstrom, David Freeman; Karlan, Pamela S.; Lemley, Mark A.; McConnell, Michael W.; O’Connell, Anne Joseph; Ouellette, Lisa Larrimore; Persily, Nathaniel; *Polinsky, A. Mitchell; *Rabin, Robert L.; Sklansky, David Alan	1	1
9	Vanderbilt	Bressman, Lisa S.; Guthrie, Chris; King, Nancy J.; Rossi, Jim; *Rubin, Edward L.; Ruhl, J.B.; Sitaraman, Ganesh; *Slobogin, Christopher; Stack, Kevin; Thomas, Randall S.	17	19
10	Virginia	Cahn, Naomi R.; Citron, Danielle K.; Duffy, John F.; Gulati, G. Mitu; Nelson, Caleb E.; Prakash, Saikrishna; Re, Richard M.; *Schauer, Frederick; *Solum, Lawrence B.; *White, G. Edward	8	4
11	Duke	Adler, Matthew; Blocher, Joseph; *Cox, James D.; Garrett, Brandon; Lemos, Margaret H.; Purdy, Jedediah; Rai, Arti K.; *Schwarcz, Steven L.; Siegel, Neil S.; Young, Ernest A.	10	4
11	UCLA	Bainbridge, Stephen M.; Carbado, Devon Wayne; Crenshaw, Kimberle W.; Cummings, Scott L.; Eagly, Ingrid V.; Harris, Cheryl I.; Hasen, Richard L.; Kang, Jerry; Schwartz, Joanna; Winkler, Adam	13	13
13	Cornell	*Clermont, Kevin M.; Dorf, Michael C.; Grimmelmann, James; Heise, Michael; *Johnson, Sheri Lynn; Lahav, Alexandra D.; Omarova, Saule; Pasquale, Frank; Rachlinski, Jeffrey J.; Rahman, K. Sabeel; Tebbe, Nelson	13	14
14	Michigan	Avi-Yonah, Reuven S.; Bagley, Nicholas; Crane, Daniel; Fletcher, Matthew L.M.; Litman, Leah; *MacKinnon, Catharine A.; Mortenson, Julian Davis; Price, Nicholson; Primus, Richard; Schlanger, Margo; Walker, Christopher J.	8	9
15	Georgetown	*Barnett, Randy E.; Butler, Paul; Cohen, Julie E.; Cole, David D.; Goodwin, Michele; *Gostin, Lawrence O.; *Langevoort, Donald C.; Ohm, Paul; *Thompson, Robert B.; Vladeck, Stephen	13	14
16	Northwestern	*Black, Bernard; Calabresi, Steven G.; Clopton, Zachary; *Diamond, Shari; Koppelman, Andrew M.; McGinnis, John O. ; Pfander, James E.; *Redish, Martin H.; Schanzenbach, Max M.; Schwartz, David L.; Tuerkheimer, Deborah	10	9
17	George Washington	Abramowicz, Michael; Dodge, William; Franks, Mary Anne; *Glicksman, Robert L.; *Kovacic, William E.; Lee, Cynthia; Murphy, Sean D.; *Pierce, Richard J., Jr; Rosen, Jeffrey; Solove, Daniel J.	27	41
18	Emory	Ajunwa, Ifeoma; *Fineman, Martha Albertson; Hutchinson, Darren; Jacobi, Tonja; Nash, Jonathan; Quinn, Kevin M.; Roberts, Jessica L.; Sag, Matthew; Shepherd, Joanna M.; Smith, Fred, Jr.; Witte, John, Jr.	19	42
18	UC-Davis	Amar, Vikram D.; Bhagwat, Ashutosh; Chin, Gabriel (Jack); Horton, David; Joh, Elizabeth E.; Johnson, Kevin R.; Joslin, Courtney G.; Lee, Peter; Shanske, Darien; Ziegler, Mary	24	55
20	Fordham	*Brudney, James J.; Capers, Bennett; Davidson, Nestor M.; Green, Bruce A.; Griffith, Sean J.; Kent, Andrew; Leib, Ethan J.; Pearce, Russell G.; Pfaff, John F.; Squire, Richard; Teachout, Zephyr; Zipursky, Benjamin C.	32	33
20	Texas	Chesney, Robert M. (Bob); *Forbath, William E.; Golden, John M.; Grove, Tara; *Levinson, Sanford; *McGarity, Thomas O.; *Sager, Lawrence G.; Silver, Charles M.; Spence, David B.; Wagner, Wendy E.	16	16
22	UC-Irvine	Baradaran, Mehrsa; Barnes, Mario; Fleischer, Victor; Gold, Andrew; Jiménez, Dalié; Lee, Stephen; Leslie, Christopher; *MenkelMeadow, Carrie; Reese, R. Anthony; Richardson, L. Song; Waldman, Ari Ezra; Whytock, Christopher	24	42
23	Minnesota	Bodie, Matthew; *Carbone, June; Cotter, Thomas F.; Hickman, Kristin E.; Hill, Claire A.; McDonnell, Brett; McGeveran, William; Parisi, Francesco; Schwarcz, Daniel; Wurman, Ilan	19	16
23	St. Thomas-MN	Berg, Thomas C.; Grenardo, David; *Hamilton, Neil W.; Kaal, Wulf; Kelly, Daniel; Organ, Jerome M.; Osler, Mark; Paulsen, Michael S.; *Reid, Charles J., Jr.; Sisk, Gregory C.	126	98
23	William & Mary	Bellin, Jeffrey; Bruhl, Aaron; Criddle, Evan J.; Devins, Neal E.; Gershowitz, Adam; Hu, Margaret; Larsen, Allison Orr; Porter, Nicole Buonocore; Spencer, A. Benjamin; Zick, Timothy	27	36
26	USC	Barnett, Jonathan; Clarke, Jessica; Epstein, Lee; Gruber, Aya; Guzman, Andrew T.; Keating, Gregory; Klerman, Daniel M.; Rasmussen, Robert K.; Sokol, D. Daniel; Tolson, Franita	19	20
27	Boston University	Beermann, Jack M.; *Fleming, James E.; Hartzog, Woodrow; Hylton, Keith N.; McClain, Linda C.; Onwuachi-Willig, Angela; Shugerman, Jed; Van Loo, Rory; Webber, David H.; Meurer, Michael J.	19	24
28	Washington University	Boyd, Christina; Epps, Daniel; *Joy, Peter A.; Kim, Pauline T.; *Kuehn, Robert R.; *Levin, Benjamin; Levin, Ronald M.; Richards, Neil M.; *Seligman, Joel; Tamanaha, Brian Z.	18	16
29	Brooklyn	Araiza, William D.; Baer, Miriam H.; Bernstein, Anita; Godsoe, Cynthia; Janger, Edward J.; Kim, Catherine Y.; Ristroph, Alice; Roberts, Anna; *Schneider, Elizabeth M.; Simonson, Jocelyn	74	114
30	Florida	Bambauer, Derek; Bambauer, Jane; Lawson, Gary; Lidsky, Lyrissa Barnett; *LoPucki, Lynn M.; Maclin, Tracey; Noah, Lars; Rhee, Robert J.; Stinneford, John F.; *Wolf, Michael Allan	32	28
30	George Mason	Bernstein, David; Butler, Henry; Garoupa, Nuno; *Ginsburg, Douglas; Greve, Michael; Kleinfeld, Joshua; *Lund, Nelson; Mossoff, Adam; *Muris, Timothy; Somin, Ilya; Zywicki, Todd	64	28
30	North Carolina	Ardia, David; *Conley, John M.; Coyle, John F.; Gerhardt, Michael J.; *Hazen, Thomas L.; Hessick, Carissa Byrne; Hessick, F. Andrew; Jacoby, Melissa B.; Jain, Eisha; *Marshall, William P.; Su, Rick; Wilson, Erika	24	20
30	Utah	Anderson, Jonas; Anghie, Antony T.; Brown, Teneille Ruth; Cassell, Paul G.; Contreras, Jorge; *Francis, Leslie; Jones, RonNell Andersen; Peterson, Christopher L.; Tokson, Matthew; Warner, Elizabeth Kronk	44	28
34	Cardozo	Gilles, Myriam; Herz, Michael Eric; Levine, Kate; Markowitz, Peter; Reinert, Alexander A.; *Rosenfeld, Michel; Schneider, Andrea Kupfer; Sebok, Anthony; *Sterk, Stewart E.; *Zelinsky, Edward	51	61
34	Florida State	Bayern, Shawn J.; *Johnson, Steve R.; Landau, David E.; Logan, Wayne A.; Morley, Michael T.; O’Hara O’Connor, Erin A.; Ryan, Erin; *Seidenfeld, Mark B.; Slocum, Brian G.; Tsesis, Alexander	47	48
34	Ohio State	Akbar, Amna; Barnett, Kent; Berman, Douglas A.; Colker, Ruth; Foley, Edward B.; Garcia Hernández, César; Schmitz, Amy J.; Simmons, Ric L.; Strang, Lee; Yearby, Ruqaiijah A.	27	26
34	San Diego	*Alexander, Lawrence A.; Bell, Abraham; Dripps, Donald A.; Fox, Dov; *Hirsch, Adam; Lobel, Orly; McGowan, David; Ramsey, Michael D.; Rappaport, Michael B.; Schapiro, Robert; Sichelman, Ted; *Smith, Steven D.	51	68
38	Illinois	*Finkin, Matthew W.; Hurd, Heidi M.; Lawless, Robert M.; Mazzone, Jason; *Moore, Michael S.; Robbennolt, Jennifer K.; Sherkow, Jacob S.; Thomas, Suja A.; Wilson, Robin Fretwell	38	36
38	Notre Dame	Alford, Roger P.; Bellia, Anthony J., Jr.; Bray, Samuel; Garnett, Nicole S.; Garnett, Richard W.; Kozel, Randy; Miller, Paul; Muller, Derek T.; Pojanowski, Jeffrey; Tidmarsh, Jay	19	20
38	University of Arizona	Coan, Andrew; Engel, Kirsten H.; Miller, Marc L.; Orbach, Barak Y.; Puig, Sergio; Sepe, Simone M.; Tsosie, Rebecca; Williams, Robert A., Jr.; Woods, Andrew Keane; Woods, Jordan Blair	38	55
41	Colorado	Anaya, S. James; Carpenter, Kristen A.; Gulasekaram, Pratheepan; Kaminski, Margot; Krakoff, Sarah; Norton, Helen; Roithmayr, Daria; Schlag, Pierre; SkinnerThompson, Scott; Surden, Harry	38	48
42	BYU	Asay, Clark D.; Baradaran Baughman, Shima; *Fleming, J. Clifton, Jr.; Grow Sun, Lisa; Jennejohn, Matt; Jensen, Eric Talbot; Lee, Thomas R.; Plamondon, Stephanie Bair; Shobe, Jarrod; Smith, D. Gordon	51	28
43	Arizona State	Beydoun, Khaled; Bodansky, Daniel M.; Bublick, Ellen M.; Hodge, James G., Jr.; Luna, Erik; Marchant, Gary E.; Miller, Robert J.; *Saks, Michael J.; Selmi, Michael L.; *Weinstein, James	32	36
43	Case Western	Adler, Jonathan H.; Chaffee, Eric C.; Hill, B. Jessie; Hoffman, Sharona; Korsmo, Charles R.; Nard, Craig A.; Robertson, Cassandra Burke; Rose, Paul; Rosenblatt, Betsy; Scharf, Michael P.	64	89
43	Kansas	Bhala, Raj; Craig, Robin Kundis; Drahozal, Christopher R.; *Hoeflich, Michael H.; Jefferson-Jones, Jamila; Levy, Richard E.; Outka, Uma; Velte, Kyle; Ware, Stephen J.; Yung, Corey Rayburn	64	46
43	UC-San Francisco	Depoorter, Ben; Dodson, Scott; Faigman, David L.; Feldman, Robin; *Marcus, Richard; Ming H. Chen; Owen, Dave; Price, Zachary; Reiss, Dorit Rubinstein; Short, Jodi	64	82
47	Chicago-Kent	Baker, Katharine K.; Dinwoodie, Graeme B.; Heyman, Steven J.; Katz, Daniel; Kim, Nancy; Krent, Harold J.; Marder, Nancy S.; Reilly, Greg; Rosen, Mark D.; Schmidt, Christopher W.	90	108
47	Georgia	Bruner, Christopher M.; Burch, Elizabeth Chamblee; Cade, Jason A.; Chapman, Nathan S.; *Coenen, Dan T.; Foohey, Pamela; Levin, Hillel Y.; Rodrigues, Usha; Rutledge, Peter B.; *Wells, Michael L.; West, Sonja R.	27	20
47	San Francisco	Bazelon, Lara; Dibadj, Reza R.; Freiwald, Susan A.; Harris, Lindsay M.; *Hing, Bill Ong; Kalb, Johanna; Kaswan, Alice; Leo, Richard A.; Nice, Julie A.; *Rosenberg, Joshua D.	138	165
47	Temple	Burris, Scott C.; Dunoff, Jeffrey L.; Gugliuzza, Paul R.; Hollis, Duncan B.; Lin, Tom C.W.; Lipson, Jonathan; RamjiNogales, Jaya; Rebouche, Rachel; Spiro, Peter J.; Wells, Harwell	51	54
47	Washington & Lee	Drumbl, Mark A.; Fairfield, Joshua A.T.; Haan, Sarah; Hasbrouck, Brandon; Malveaux, Suzette; Miller, Russell A.; Seaman, Christopher B.; Smith, Catherine E.; Trammell, Alan; Woody, Karen	38	33

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The Gray Box Of Legal Analysis: Disentangling Knowledge And Skill

Chance Meyer & Nicole Noël (New England), The Gray Box of Legal Analysis: Disentangling Knowledge and Skill, 101 U. Detroit Mercy L. Rev. 101 (2024):  

Problem-solving abilities critical in legal analysis are thought to be transferable skills when, according to cognitive science, they are benefits of domain knowledge. As a result, learners and faculty attempt to improve through practice-based skill-development abilities that can only be improved through domain-specific schema-development. Domain knowledge facilitates critical thinking, issue-spotting, reading comprehension, and test-taking speed by optimizing use of working memory, semantic inference-making, and analogical transfer of solution models from precedent cases to isomorphic fact patterns. Because knowledge-based problem-solving abilities depend on deep, structured, functional packages of knowledge, we recommend schema-development through ECHO outlining (Elaborative, Contextualized, Hierarchical, Operative). 

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Book Awarded Endowed Professorship At Villanova

Leslie Book (Villanova; Google Scholar) has been named the inaugural John H. Buhsmer Esq. '84 Endowed Professor of Law: 

The Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law recently announced the John H. Buhsmer Esq. '84 Endowed Professor of Law. The new position is made possible by a $1.5 million gift from John (Jack) Buhsmer ’84 JD, ’89 LLM. Professor Leslie Book, a national authority on tax procedure and tax administration, is the inaugural professorship holder. ...

“The tax law faculty at Villanova was top-notch and made a big impact on me,” Buhsmer explained. “I built my whole career off the technical framework of the LLM. It gave me such an advantage. I could work with any technical guru on Wall Street or anyone in the big law firms.” ...

As he grew his career, Buhsmer also grew his relationship with Villanova, giving back as a committed alumnus and donor. He knew he wanted to make an even more significant impact when he learned that endowed faculty positions are a priority. He also knew he wanted to recognize a tax expert.  

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Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College of Law After Firing

ABA Journal, Tenured Professor Sues St. Thomas College of Law After Firing:

A tenured professor filed a civil lawsuit against the St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County after being fired, claiming she did not receive due process in violation of her contract.

Lauren Gilbert, who received full tenure in 2009, received a letter July 18 signed by Tarlika Nunez-Navarro, dean of the Miami Gardens, Florida-based law school, stating that Gilbert—who taught contracts, constitutional law and family law—was terminated immediately and given one day to clear out her office and return university property.

According to the letter, grounds for the firing include an altercation in which she grabbed a security guard in 2010 as well as more recent incidents, among them being dismissive of rumors about an active shooter on campus; emails that disparaged the hiring of one adjunct professor; and behavior at faculty meetings that included “directing comments toward the dean that were inappropriate and inconsistent with the standards of conduct and professionalism.”

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Albany Seeks To Hire An Entry Level Or Lateral Tax Prof

Albany Law, Faculty Posting: 

Albany Law School, in New York’s Capital City, invites applications from entry-level and lateral candidates for multiple faculty positions beginning in July 2025. We are committed to the diversity of our student body and faculty. We seek candidates with experience in teaching and mentoring students from groups historically excluded from higher education and the legal profession and whose work advances critical thinking on questions of importance to society. We welcome applications from qualified candidates across all areas and specializations, from core first-year classes to specialty upper-level courses. 

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Deans' Leadership In Legal Education Symposium

16th Deans' Leadership In Legal Education Symposium, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 159-294 (2023):

• Gregory W. Bowman (Dean, Roger Williams), Strategic and Operational Leadership: Building a Diverse and Talented Leadership Team, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 155 (2023)
• Todd J. Clark (Dean, Widener-DE), Reversing DEI: The Consequence - "IED" Indoctrination and Elimination of Diversity, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 169 (2023)
• Courtney A. Griffin (Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Detroit Mercy), Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Legal Education: A Critical Imperative in Challenging Times, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 195 (2023)
• Kevin R. Johnson (Dean, UC-Davis), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as an Institutional Imperative, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 207 (2023)
• Michelle M. Kwon (Interim Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, Tennessee), Tapping Into The Talent Pipeline While Repairing The Leaky Pipe, 55 U. Tol. L. Rev. 219 (2023)

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Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lynn Linne

ABA Section on Taxation, Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea: Lynn Linne (registration):

You're invited to join the next Women in Tax Forum Zoom Tea on Thursday, August 22 at 3:00 pm ET with Lynn Linne. Take a 45-minute tea break with us as we chat on Zoom with leading women tax lawyers from a variety of fields who will share stories of success and struggle as we explore individual paths to professional and personal fulfillment.

Lynn Linne is a shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis, MN. She represents clients in state and local tax disputes and litigation, including property taxes, sales and use taxes, corporate and franchise taxes, and individual income taxes.

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From Briefs To Bytes: How Generative AI Is Transforming Legal Writing And Practice

Joe Regalia (UNLV), From Briefs to Bytes: How Generative AI is Transforming Legal Writing and Practice, 59 Tulsa L. Rev. 193 (2024): 

ChatGPT is having a moment in the legal field. And for good reason: Generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) was already disrupting the practice of law before OpenAI’s new chatbot came on the scene. But ChatGPT marks a new era. The brain behind OpenAI’s latest AI contains up to a trillion artificial neurons and was trained on hundreds of billions of pieces of text gathered on the web. All that data makes for the smartest AI ever.

But what’s more important is that all that computational muscle is aimed at things lawyers do every day: (1) Understanding complex concepts, (2) analyzing convoluted language, and (3) conveying that understanding effectively in writing. The result is technology that can understand text, parse it for insights, and apply those insights with striking competence—just like lawyers do. And now, these tools are multi-modal: They can see, hear, and speak. They can carry out complex tasks and integrate with all the other technology lawyers use. They can program new software, analyze legal data, and create stunning visuals for the courtroom. And new features and functions and integrations are released daily. Perhaps most exciting (and scary): Generative AI (“GAI”) greatly enhances the evolution of legal technology itself. In other words, GAI is rapidly increasing the speed at which we develop new technology relevant to legal practice. If experts are right, we are on the cusp of a legal technology revolution.

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ABA Legal Ed Council Summary Of Actions Taken At August 16 Meeting

Following up on my previous posts:

• In Response To Criticism, ABA Legal Ed Council Changes Proposed Accreditation Standards On Diversity, Rights Of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (Aug. 19, 2024)
• Legal Ed Council Sends Proposed Accreditation Standards On Learning Outcomes, Assessment, And 1L Faculty To ABA House Of Delegates (Aug. 20, 2024)

Summary of actions of the section’s Council at its public meeting Aug. 16, 2024:

The Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met both virtually and in person in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 16, to consider matters on its agenda including recommendations, reports, and other issues. The Council took the following actions:

• Approved for notice and comment proposed recommendations from the Standards Committee for revisions of Standards 206 and 405.

The proposed change for Standard 206 (a) focuses on “access to the study of law and entry into the legal profession” for all qualified aspiring lawyers. The proposed change eliminates any reference to student identities, such as race or nationality, and is intended to be consistent with the June 2023 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court barring race-conscious admissions policies in colleges and universities. Standard 206 (b) focuses on creating and maintaining a supportive learning environment for all students in part by providing access to faculty and staff positions to all persons.

The recommendation for a revised version of Standard 405 expands job security to additional faculty members in the law school community to secure academic freedom and attract and retain a competent faculty. The revisions add more detail and clarification as to what law schools are required to provide to all full-time faculty members in terms of tenure or security of position reasonably similar to tenure, governance rights, and non-compensatory perquisites. An additional requirement is that the director or supervisor of the academic success, bar preparation, field placement, and legal writing programs have tenure or a form of security of position reasonably similar to tenure.

• Approved proposed recommendations from the Standards Committee for revisions of Standards 204, 301, 302, 314, 315 and 403 that relate to learning outcomes. The proposal will now be sent to the ABA House of Delegates, which meets next in February 2025.

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Fellowships For Aspiring Law Professors (Updated 2024-25 Edition)

For practitioners and others contemplating joining the law professor ranks, many law schools offer wonderful opportunities to transition into the legal academy with one- or two-year fellowships which allow you to enter the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference (the "meat market") with published scholarship (and in most cases teaching experience) under your belt. Below is an updated list of the law schools with fellowship and VAP programs. Please contact me with any corrections or additions.

General Programs:

	Program Name
Boston College	Drinan Scholars Program
BYU	Visiting Fellowship Program
Cardozo	Harold A. Stevens Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Chicago	Earl B. Dickerson Fellowship
Chicago	Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellowships
Chicago-Kent	Visiting Assistant Professor Program
Columbia	Academic Fellows Program
Connecticut	Stuart F. Smith Teaching Fellowship
Connecticut	Visiting Scholars Program
Cornell	Visiting Assistant Professorships
Duke	Visiting Assistant Professor Program
Federalist Society	Faculty Division Olin-Searle-Smith-Darling Research Fellowship in Law (Full-Time)
Federalist Society	Faculty Division Clinical Fellowship in Law (Full-Times)
Federalist Society	Faculty Division Research Fellowship (Part-Time)
Georgetown	Georgetown Law Research Fellowship
Harvard	Climenko Fellowship
Harvard	Rappaport Fellowship
Illinois	Illinois Academic Fellowship Program
Indiana-McKinney	Future Faculty Visiting Assistant Fellowship
Iowa	Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship
Loyola-New Orleans	Westerfield Fellows Program
Maryland	Murray Fellows
Michigan	Michigan Faculty Fellows Program (VAP)
Michigan	Michigan Society of Fellows Program
Mississippi	Visiting Assistant Professor
Northwestern	Marti Family Fellowship Visiting Assistant Professor
NYU	Furman Academic Fellowship Program
NYU	Acting Assistant Professor
Pennsylvania	The George Sharswood Fellowship
Pepperdine	Ken Starr Faculty Fellowship
South Texas	Visiting Assistant Professor
Stetson	Bruce R. Jacob Visiting Assistant Professor
Texas	Texas Law Academic Fellowships
Tulane	Forrester Fellowships
UC-Hastings	Visiting Foreign Scholars Program
Washington	Visiting Scholars Program
Wisconsin	The Hastie Fellowship Program

Subject Specific Programs:

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SSRN Tax Professor Rankings

SSRN has updated its monthly ranking of 750 American and international law school faculties and 3,000 law professors by (among other things) the number of paper downloads from the SSRN database.  Here is the new list (through August 1, 2024) of the Top 25 U.S. Tax Professors in two of the SSRN categories: all-time downloads and recent downloads (within the past 12 months):

		All-Time			Recent
1	Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan)	235,201	1	Jonathan Choi (USC)	22,115
2	Daniel Hemel (NYU)	135,034	2	Amy Monahan (Minnesota)	12,679
3	David Gamage (Missouri-Columbia)	129,675	3	Reuven Avi-Yonah (Michigan)	12,008
4	Dan Shaviro (NYU)	129,413	4	Zachary Liscow (Yale)	5,831
5	Lily Batchelder (NYU)	128,564	5	Kristin Hickman (Minnesota)	5,638
6	Darien Shanske (UC-Davis)	121,656	6	David Gamage (Missouri-Columbia)	4,323
7	David Kamin (NYU)	115,341	7	Daniel Hemel (NYU)	4,175
8	Cliff Fleming (BYU)	109,263	8	Bridget Crawford (Pace)	4,172
9	Manoj Viswanathan (UC-SF)	105,340	9	Kim Clausing (UCLA)	3,809
10	Ari Glogower (Northwestern)	105,084	10	Darien Shanske (UC-Davis)	3,720
11	Rebecca Kysar (Fordham)	104,670	11	D. Dharmapala (UC-Berkeley)	3,504
12	D. Dharmapala (UC-Berkeley)	54,562	12	Brad Borden (Brooklyn)	3,422
13	Michael Simkovic (USC)	50,775	13	Louis Kaplow (Harvard)	3,225
14	Louis Kaplow (Harvard)	44,151	14	Robert Sitkoff (Harvard)	3,052
15	Paul Caron (Pepperdine)	42,434	15	Jordan Barry (USC)	2,942
16	Bridget Crawford (Pace)	41,078	16	Michael Simkovic (USC)	2,712
17	Jonathan Choi (USC)	40,849	17	David Weisbach (Chicago)	2,644
18	Richard Ainsworth (Boston Univ.)	40,412	18	Ruth Mason (Virginia)	2,601
19	Robert Sitkoff (Harvard)	35,738	19	Kyle Rozema (Northwestern)	2,585
20	Brad Borden (Brooklyn)	34,536	20	Brian Galle (Georgetown)	2,456
21	Amy Monahan (Minnesota)	33,750	21	John Brooks (Fordham)	2,240
22	Ruth Mason (Virginia)	32,904	22	Ellen Aprill (Loyola-L.A.)	2,234
23	Vic Fleischer (UC-Irvine)	31,261	23	Young Ran (Christine) Kim (Cardozo)	2,221
24	Kim Clausing (UCLA)	30,927	24	Richard Ainsworth (Boston Univ.)	2,151
25	Ed Kleinbard (USC)	30,422	25	Dan Shaviro (NYU)	2,089

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The History Of American Student-Edited International Law Journals

Harlan Grant Cohen (Fordham; Google Scholar), A Short History of the Early History of American Student-Edited International Law Journals, 64 Va. J. Int'l L. 357 (2024):

While to some the “invisible college of international lawyers” may invoke images of open spaces between buildings and airy quads, to others the picture will be something much more clubbish and cloistered. And at least at their start, American student-edited international law journals decidedly resembled the latter. The Harvard International Law Journal began as the Bulletin of the Harvard International Law Club. Its first issue in 1959 detailed the club’s lectures and events, including a sherry party and membership growth from thirteen to thirty-three. “The principal function of the Club [was] the sponsorship of talks both by men actively engaged in the field of international law and by graduate students of the Harvard Law School.” (Its first two editors were future Boston College Law Professor Charles Baron and Wilmot Reed Hastings, a future Nixon administration lawyer whose son would co-found Netflix.) 

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Update: Florida Tax Review Symposium On Moore v. United States

Following up on my previous post, Florida Tax Review Call For Papers: Symposium On Moore v. United States:  From David Hasen (Florida; Google Scholar):

I bring you a brief update on our upcoming symposium on Moore v. U.S.

The symposium will take place on Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. We will also have an informal conference dinner on Thursday, Oct. 31. Kindly note the following:

1. The deadline for paper submissions has been extended to September 15.
2. We have expanded the scope of the symposium to include papers on Loper Bright and Corner Post, two decisions also handed down last term that have significant implications for the federal tax system. Papers focusing on either (or both) of these cases may be on any topic as long as it bears on some aspect of the federal tax system.

Submissions need not be in final form, but they should be well developed. They should not exceed 20,000 words in length (though we may make exceptions); 12,000 to 15,000 words preferred.

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Will AI Write California's Bar Exam?

The Recorder, Will AI Write California's Future Bar Exams?:

California’s state bar is asking those who took the July bar exam for their views on artificial intelligence, suggesting the fast-emerging technology could be used in crafting future tests.

Along with typical questions about exam-takers’ experiences with testing centers and test-related materials, a 21-page survey recently sent to applicants also asked for their views on AI’s potential use in all facets of the twice-yearly licensing exam.

“There are a variety of new artificial intelligence (AI) tools created to aid in exam development, grading, and proctoring,” the survey question stated. “To what extent do you agree that the following AI tools can emulate human development, proctoring, and grading of the bar exam?”

Survey-takers were then asked for their thoughts on AI’s use to “help develop new bar exam questions,” to “proctor the bar exam by flagging potential violations for review” and “to help grade bar exam essays.” ...

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Legal Ed Council Sends Proposed Accreditation Standards On Learning Outcomes, Assessment, And 1L Faculty To ABA House Of Delegates

Reuters, Law School Courses to Become More Uniform Under New ABA Accreditation Rule:

Law schools will soon be required to set “minimum learning outcomes” for every class they offer and ensure those outcomes are the same across all sections of required courses.

The American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar on Friday adopted a series of changes, opens new tab to its student learning outcomes standards, aiming to clarify law schools’ obligations. The changes also seek to ensure more conformity across required classes at law schools that have more than one section each term such as Contracts or Torts and are usually taught by more than one professor.

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