tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114884162024-03-19T04:33:02.579-04:00CLASS BIAS AND RANDOM THINGS LAW REVIEWThis blog is no longer devoted exclusively to discussion of class bias in higher education although it is pervasive. But then, again, it is pervasive everywhere in the US. I've run out of gas on that. Not only that, I've lost some of my rile about my own law school. So I'm just winging it. Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.comBlogger626125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-42858788731848744402023-04-02T13:41:00.006-04:002023-10-03T20:36:49.574-04:00Class Bias and the Deanship of Laura Rosenbury<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSIVmGdeR7-3aMVfS-O3UK8TpAFOakzmRl4ytLX0tbSYW6sA-IHUD4Apjm3op9Du5X4i6HiSQu2ni2E_ak4F7MpIZBK92ao_AL90xR8ZSvwwjImKJpxEOR5nwThJYsIMBwIWZj_zZo0DCUsPbiWWxbBxd9qGVPzMO_WNK9EiP9x6YzxvTeUE/s259/bndownload.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="194" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwSIVmGdeR7-3aMVfS-O3UK8TpAFOakzmRl4ytLX0tbSYW6sA-IHUD4Apjm3op9Du5X4i6HiSQu2ni2E_ak4F7MpIZBK92ao_AL90xR8ZSvwwjImKJpxEOR5nwThJYsIMBwIWZj_zZo0DCUsPbiWWxbBxd9qGVPzMO_WNK9EiP9x6YzxvTeUE/s1600/bndownload.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> Laura Rosenbury became the Dean of UF law after a failed search in which the central administration was pushing of all people, Alex Acosta. Why she was selected in the second search no one knew. Her faculty interviews were fine but not unusual. Now as everyone knows, she will be the President of Barnard. Quite a step up I would say and a little mysterious since she has had no experience with undergrads, has only a law degree, and writes for non referreed journals. </p><p>Still, when she was hired the Law School was pretty much a wreck and, therefore, the Provost must have seen in her a grittiness that would lead to risk taking and major changes. He was right. The improvements she made cannot be underestimated. When she was hired the Law School was an outlaw operation. It ignored University policy on most things and that was corrected. It had so-called centers in specific areas of law that made no sense in terms of UF's mission and were out of compliance with what it meant to be a center according to University regulations. Most were abolished. </p><p>When she arrived students wanting to be associated with a journal by writing on had to write on a different topic for each journal. It made no sense to put then through this torture. That changed. The primary law review advisor, a non scholar, had a vise like grip on the job. He was replaced by a scholar and some practices that I never quite understood were ended. </p><p>The LLM in Tax was a sleepy little segment of the law school. It was highly ranked because there were so few LLMs in tax and had at times some big names in the area. When she arrived the applicant pool was poor, few people were regarded as nationally know tax scholars, and there was talk of disbanding it all together. One way or another (there is a whole story on this) the program came under intense scrutiny, Changes were made.</p><p>For the first time in 10 years committee assignment began to make sense. This too is a long story but I will cut it short by saying the former dean seemed to have a single objective -- to keep being dean. Consequently, committee assignments appeared to be driven by political considerations.</p><p>I am positive there are more things she accomplished and I cannot say what role any of these factors entered into her "promotion" to Barnard. Also these changes did not require an infusion of funds from the central administration.</p><p>So was there a down side? She was known to lose her temper sometimes and at others break out in tears when things did not go her way. She vetoed faculty candidates, so I have been told, that did not attend the "right" schools. I have heard of but was not witness to instances of abusive behavior toward staff -- only those beneath her, if course. As far as those above her he was the ultimate yes person. As an example, when here only a short time she was introduced to a group as young a vivacious, This was a big deal to her an she even wrote about it. But within a few years she was carrying out DeSantis' orders and labelling the new hand picked right wing President the "embodiment of academic freedom." Ambition breeds hypocrisy.</p><p>Her biggest public claim to fame came by raising the Law School ranking from the mid 40s in the USNews rankings to the high 20s. This is where class bias and ambition over all come in. The large part of raising the ranking was to raise the average LSAT scores of the entering class in two steps. First, she lowered the size of the class. This does not mean she rejected unqualified candidates. Plenty of qualified candidates were rejected. "Qualified" took on a new definition. It was not longer qualified to successfully complete law school and become a productive attorney. No, qualified became who would make Laura Rosenbury look good. </p><p>The second step, was to enter the market for high LSATs and GPAs. I mean literally buying students with high scores by paying them thousands of dollars in tuition waivers and stipends. I asked many of them why they chose Florida and the consistent answer was "it made me the best deal." </p><p>What does this have to do with class bias? I know of no studies that do not show a positive correlation between socioeconomic class and standardize tests scores like the LSAT. I do not know you how GPA correlates with socioeconomic class but I suspect it is also positive.</p><p> Where does the money come that is used to subsidize students who already have advantages over the less affluent. Quite honestly, I do not know. Clearly the Provost presented her with something like a blank check. But that does not really account for the source of the funding. Maybe some comes from law students and others stuck with paying tuition and taking out loans to do so. Some from grants from alums and some from taxpayers. If it all comes from wealthy alums that is one thing although it still seems crazy to subsidize those who least need it. I doubt Rosenbury gave a damn where it came from. If any comes from taxpayers, no matter how laundered by the State or the University, then it becomes a redistribution from those in lower socioeconomic classes to the relative well off. In short, as all elitists, Laura Rosenbury used those less well off to promote herself and, in some measure, catch the eye of Barnard. The elites always figure out a way to engage in a reverse Robin Hood scheme.</p><p><br /></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-22069060156285849412022-10-16T12:45:00.010-04:002022-10-17T11:12:01.889-04:00Ben Sasse and Paper Tigers in Academia<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3asLBwR-tdatJE-Ckmx1_BLPa-_FvxoUJ9p5rKvMlSOBvyKVMADuCoI4uYj9iQF6NyDtQH6X9e8A4Uu34gfgTUa04heqCnuL-aVr9mUwHPWH0h1rM_dMlXL5f_7PHXndXXAHNKpP9IKVNoIqr7csAdBEVFoquy5B9AYPZaJ8G0GG9FtXAtk/s749/BN-SF432_zimmer_P_20170223111424.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="749" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3asLBwR-tdatJE-Ckmx1_BLPa-_FvxoUJ9p5rKvMlSOBvyKVMADuCoI4uYj9iQF6NyDtQH6X9e8A4Uu34gfgTUa04heqCnuL-aVr9mUwHPWH0h1rM_dMlXL5f_7PHXndXXAHNKpP9IKVNoIqr7csAdBEVFoquy5B9AYPZaJ8G0GG9FtXAtk/s320/BN-SF432_zimmer_P_20170223111424.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p> This quote caught my eye in the Gainesville Sun today. It is about, Ben Sasse, the likely new president of UF, and faculty opposition: "I think many of my colleagues feel that his academic credentials are not where we would have wanted them to be."</p><p>I've deleted the name of the person quoted because that quote is representative of law professors speak. They say things that mean nothing or, put differently, allow for total deniability while at the same time stirring the pot ever so gently. It's the reason I was always an outsider in the Ivory Tower. </p><p> The statement, and that of law professors' generally, reminds of a something John Cage said, "I have nothing to say and I am saying it."</p><p>For example, note the speaker only "thinks" this could be the case. This leaves room to say, if asked to defend the statement, "It's only what I thought or the impression I had. I could be wrong."And then there is the word "many." What is "many?" Is it 12? Could be. Is it a majority? Maybe, maybe not. </p><p> This reminds me of what I call faculty trolling. For example, say you think someone up for tenure does not deserve it but you are too much of a wuss to say it. You go office to office and say, "I have heard that some people are concerned about Joe's (the candidate) scholarship." Not you, of course, unless the person you are talking to says someone like "Yes, I too was wondering about this." If that is the response, the troller has has hit pay dirt and gets a movement started without ever actually taking a position. If the answer is "I have not heard anything about that." The troller moves on to the next office.</p><p>And could someone tell me what "where we would have wanted them to be" means. How about, "are not satisfactory" What on earth does "where we would have wanted them to be" actually say. "We would have/" Would have what? In a different universe? On Mars?</p><p>But wait. In the same passage the writer does use the word "we" which includes "I." So it could say "I wish his credentials were better." The problem is nearly everyone wishes everything were better. I wish my car got better mileage but what it gets is fine. I wish my dinner was better last night but it was fine. Wishing for better or wanting better is saying nothing. </p><p>So what would my quote have been of the Sun had asked me? "I can't speak for everyone but his academic credentials make him unfit. In addition, he is obviously the product of a rigged search that was guaranteed to produce a candidate to the liking of our right wing, mean spirited Governor."</p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-1716183574793634792022-05-02T14:01:00.006-04:002022-05-04T11:26:25.738-04:00No Heroes at UF: The DeSantification of a University<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTGP-gdvdZ8S8PSHJcZtbCOgkUAq2FLoPEnK77PfZmIxq9E63nLP5Ob3ZL3P-WbrClfkayMU-q0rN-pgVJYTgWWMp7z8UlhshUkZnjZ-FIB6ZhAr4i9Q36qzZvxOS9ZlEucS0_GZ0JhcJUsRm8wPRD2pgCiJxQc_YTJhRK_ylDF3K2meyCC0/s356/Kent_Fuchs_at_2017_National_Science_Board_(cropped).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTGP-gdvdZ8S8PSHJcZtbCOgkUAq2FLoPEnK77PfZmIxq9E63nLP5Ob3ZL3P-WbrClfkayMU-q0rN-pgVJYTgWWMp7z8UlhshUkZnjZ-FIB6ZhAr4i9Q36qzZvxOS9ZlEucS0_GZ0JhcJUsRm8wPRD2pgCiJxQc_YTJhRK_ylDF3K2meyCC0/s320/Kent_Fuchs_at_2017_National_Science_Board_(cropped).jpg" width="289" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OnSbrLTkO8SUm6V3xvHNYJlc9gXU9K5ZGMkPXge27wgB9D6YR-KH6xu75NBsTUeMRCug82uOnJSD7ELBaX3t4tk0HVXp11Aiex-WPcmHALZAh_POx4uSkusuOvtEVAT_ZJLjnjbVdgMVbzyDwdVd72wyx-YD4S5c9CRQ3BOfCBGdpXVeXnM/s300/Joe-Glover-Resized-200x300.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OnSbrLTkO8SUm6V3xvHNYJlc9gXU9K5ZGMkPXge27wgB9D6YR-KH6xu75NBsTUeMRCug82uOnJSD7ELBaX3t4tk0HVXp11Aiex-WPcmHALZAh_POx4uSkusuOvtEVAT_ZJLjnjbVdgMVbzyDwdVd72wyx-YD4S5c9CRQ3BOfCBGdpXVeXnM/s1600/Joe-Glover-Resized-200x300.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTntFNWxorSf-QG1ZO1eQ2hI_UMVuwSMmdzT24SG6pUaya-M6ZKJa3-4T46Qxs_AwjcJ7IRF-VqfSNCbZVzv5TjtVU4tLeRC_87TcFn_JhZ3BRFqRrgMpHhcOh9JHq9RG9lsmgnT8yDSd33sUMRbpeQDmspwllDbjMJ3hiABtp3zs0h14SEQk/s500/Laura.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTntFNWxorSf-QG1ZO1eQ2hI_UMVuwSMmdzT24SG6pUaya-M6ZKJa3-4T46Qxs_AwjcJ7IRF-VqfSNCbZVzv5TjtVU4tLeRC_87TcFn_JhZ3BRFqRrgMpHhcOh9JHq9RG9lsmgnT8yDSd33sUMRbpeQDmspwllDbjMJ3hiABtp3zs0h14SEQk/s320/Laura.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> I cannot help but think of Joseph Welch and his historic face off with Joseph McCarthy when he finally said, in effect, ENOUGH, "Have you no sense of decency." The answer was obvious, Joseph McCarthy had no such thing.</p><p>Nor does the despicable, demagogue Ron DeSantis who will do anything to appeal to the worst values in people. Rather then lead people to embrace the moral high ground, he encourages people to wallow in the mud of racism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Rather than ask people to be better he asks them to be worse, much worse.</p><p>And among his staunchest enforcers is the University of Florida particularly President Fuchs, Provost Glover, and Law School Dean Laura Rosenbury. With respect to the latter especially, one would expect some sense of decency, or at least the courage to resist what is clearly a case of moral lawlessness. But no, in the Desantification of the University of Florida, rather then stand up against a bully, as did Joseph Welch, these so-called leaders cowered and when ask to jump simply asked "how high." Any one of them could have been a hero in the world of higher education if they had simply said I will resign before I follow the orders of a maniac.</p><p>So, at the height of the covid crisis faculty were allowed to teach remotely but only after weeks of in person teaching. In the next year, while other schools required masks -- a small price to pay perhaps to save a few lives -- UF did not require masks. Fuchs, Glover, and Rosenbury were just trying to keep Florida's McCarthy happy. And then, when professors were asked to testify as experts witnesses, they all folded again and decided it would displease their master if a word were uttered to upset his seemingly fascist agenda. </p><p>When the Desantis' bizarre choice for Surgeon General appears to have needed a little extra dough, he was appointed to UF Med School. Not sure if the opening was announced ahead of time or whether a search took place. But who cares when it is to please the Governor. What was Fuchs' response? Once again he simply said "how high."</p><p>And remember, this cowadise occurred in the context of administrators who all had a guarantee of life time employment. In fact, even their professional aspirations might have been enhanced if they stood up against a demagogue. In short, some show of courage would have been easy but, then again, there are no heroes at UF. </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-28401732666016912582022-04-18T11:51:00.000-04:002022-04-18T13:21:39.601-04:00NO, You Cannot be a Law Professor<br />
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About once a year a student comes to my office to ask about becoming a law professor. I have to tell him or her there is virtually no chance and that may be overly optimistic. The reason, of course, is that they are not attending one of a tiny handful of -- mainly expensive private -- law schools that produce what people who went to those schools, and are in charge of hiring, regard as good enough to be law professors. This always seemed odd to me since some of the smartest people I know went to mid level law schools and some of the dumbest and most narrowly educated (including some law professors) went to the fancy schools.<br />
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Even if they apply to be a law professor they will be quickly vetoed -- without so much as a second look -- by someone who did go to one of those law schools. Strange isn't it. The privileged attend the fancy schools, get all puffed up about it but they actually do not think they are very good teachers. How do we know this? Because rarely, if ever, do they think they have been effective enough in class to elevate even the smartest student to be a potential law professor. They must be lousy teachers since they cannot even explain to others what they claimed to have learned in law school themselves.<br />
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So what is up with this. It's either about rankings or some delusional notion that you have to have gone to a fancy school to be an effective teacher and researcher. I've said enough in other blogs about how law schools will sacrifice everything to advance in the rankings. It is the least ethical conduct I have seen in legal education. And, I do not know whether going to a fancy school is correlated with good teaching and research. I once attempted an empirical study of this but could not find enough people who went to non fancy schools to make the study valid.<br />
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So what's is it really about? It's about status and preserving status-- anyway you can. Think about it. You've spend a few hundred thousand to attend a fancy school and you are a law professor. (And you are sure to remind the students of your days at Harvard or Yale,) Then someone is hired who did not go to a fancy school and is running circles around you both teaching-wise and research-wise. What does that mean about you? It may mean that you are not so hot after all since some poor schlub from the University of Florida is kicking your elitist ass.<br />
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So don't feel bad. It's just a way elitists ensure that the caste system is perpetuated. It has nothing to do with your merit and, most definitely, nothing to do with theirs.<br />
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<br />Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-45302367615706033752021-09-22T16:50:00.001-04:002021-12-22T20:06:41.939-05:00Something is Wrong at UF LAW<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwZFkOKsnWXbaueXtkgCDoegaMvttX_9lC1nfB5BpKao_Esso4jANHC8tqAvQAAwjVWIjsgbKhmZVlkB_v6wbEpahhGGVkb5X_SpS2yYsq0W-q8OUy-8MXhyNo19tgbtrUZ41Ag/s425/242526580_10166444510600500_3343770497479790921_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="425" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwZFkOKsnWXbaueXtkgCDoegaMvttX_9lC1nfB5BpKao_Esso4jANHC8tqAvQAAwjVWIjsgbKhmZVlkB_v6wbEpahhGGVkb5X_SpS2yYsq0W-q8OUy-8MXhyNo19tgbtrUZ41Ag/s320/242526580_10166444510600500_3343770497479790921_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The latest Bar exam results show that about 1 of 5 UF law grads fail the bar exam. Maybe that is not so bad but something is amiss.</p><p>First, remember that these students are hand picked because of their high LSAT scores and GPAs in order to raise the school's ranking. And it has worked. When last reported the School was ranking 21st.</p><p>But there is more. The school, in order to raise its ranking by also increasing bar passage, has an army of people working to make sure students prepare for the bar by pre testing and attending help sessions. But there is more. Students who are in jeopardy of failing are activity encouraged not to take the exam. Yes, if they fail he passing percentage will decline and the ranking might suffer so they are, in effect, urged to put their own goals aside because perusing them might reflect badly on the School, the elitist, rankings-obsessed dean, the University, and even Desantis yes man, Fuchs. </p><p>At this point in this little exercise I suppose I am supposed to say what I think is the problem. Frankly, I do not know. The smartest admitted class in the State, educated at a School ranked leaps and bounds above any other in the State, with extreme hand-holding when it comes to bar prep, and with a relentlessly elitist hiring policy still does so poorly. Actually, maybe I did just say what is wrong. You've got to wonder what is going on in the classroom. </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-43698479442893077682021-08-25T16:57:00.001-04:002021-08-25T16:57:31.943-04:00I Was Following the Fuhrer's Orders<p> Just heard on the radio that Scott Strickland, UF athletic director (salary in excess of $1 million a year), announced no LSU like restrictions for admission to the Swamp. In fact, no mask requirements as far as I can tell. It's just going to be a total Covid-fest. I guess if you are in the hospital and on a ventilator you are invited too if you can find the right outlets to hook up to. This follows along with Ken (No Spine) Fuchs' (million dollar salary too) refusal to buck Fuhrer Deathsantis and require masks while on UF campus much less so vaccinations like many other universities. </p><p>On the other hand, there are several school boards in Florida that have decided that life is more important than pleasing the Fuhrer. Their salaries are on the range of $40-50K per year. They risk everything to save the lives of children. </p><p>You have got to wonder, seriously, why some people have the courage to do the right thing even though it may hurt them individually in the long run. And others just follow orders. The distinction is everywhere. Take UF Law's elitist dean. She cuts off no less than 200 hard working, highly qualified, law school applicants because they might cause the US News rankings to go down. Yes, you hear it correctly. It is not because they are not up to doing the work! Oh, and when hiring, if you did not go to a top ranked Ivy League School, so I have heard, do not apply for a job. She will axe you with the same level of concern you might apply when rejecting a rotten tomato in the produce section, I guess she would regard Deathsantis and Ted Cruz as highly qualified faculty if only their politics were more acceptable.</p><p>What is the common factor in all three cases -- Strickland, Fuchs, the law dean? They are just following orders, right. And that makes it OK? Not in my book. </p><p> You gotta wonder if there are any orders they would not follow. As for Strickland and Fuchs, they are clearly willing to carry out the orders of the Fuhrer when it comes to risking lives. The Law Dean, I think not. She just jeopardizes the careers of hard working students and the fortunes of their families and their families' families. </p><p>I wish I could identify what the difference is between poorly paid school board members and highly paid, tenured school administrators. Was it their parenting? Is the blind ambition? Is it because they always pleased those who could advance them personally that that got them where they are now? Hopefully, their cowardice will come back and bite all three of them in the ass. But I doubt it. There is always a market or toadies ("<span style="background-color: white; color: #101518; font-family: Roboto, "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a person who behaves obsequiously to someone important</span>." </p><p> </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-32742813470141816072021-08-18T13:10:00.000-04:002021-08-18T13:10:27.760-04:00Structural Nepotism: On the Reluctance of Law Schools to Include Social Class Origins among their Faculty Diversity Goals<p>Excerpt for Ken Oldfield's, "Structural Nepotism: On the
Reluctance of Law Schools to Include
Social Class Origins among their
Faculty Diversity Goals"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>VII. Confess’n the Blues </p><p>Jeffrey Harrison was someone who saw beyond the cultural and social
boundaries of his time. In 1992, nineteen years before Mertz et al. conducted
their research, he published “Confess’n the Blues: Some Thoughts on Class
Bias in Law School Hiring.”88 Harrison was a professor of law at the University
of Florida College of Law when his paper appeared in a symposium issue of
86. Id.
87. Id. at 237, 238; see also Eric J. Segall & Adam Feldman, The Elite Teaching the Elite: Who Gets Hired
by the Top Law Schools, 68 J. Legal Educ. 614 (2019).
88. Jeffrey L. Harrison, Confess'n the Blues: Some Thoughts on Class Bias in Law School Hiring, 42 J. Legal
Educ. 119 (1992).
252 Journal of Legal Education
the Journal of Legal Education. The theme of the law review edition was diversity.89
Harrison’s informal writing style illustrates how sometimes a work such as his
can expose an issue or issues in a way data rarely can. Once these writings
gain a wider audience, they can prompt reformers and their allies to rectify
the problem that concerned the author or authors. Unfortunately, Harrison’s
folksy piece never found the reception it deserved, given the issue bothering
him. Perhaps there is good reason for this oversight. First, he directed a
sharp pen at those colleagues he held responsible for the problem he thought
deserving of a remedy. Second, he was contradicting the nation’s bootstraps
folklore, the idea that the United States is a land where those born of the
poorest of circumstances can be anything they choose if only they will work
hard enough.</p><p> Harrison began his piece by recounting a conversation he had had with a
colleague about faculty hiring. He wrote,
I telephoned an old friend the other day at another law
school.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Faculty retreat,” he replied.
“Sorry to hear it. Any topic, or just a weekend of touchy feely?”
“Serious business,” he said. “The theme is ‘Recruiting for
Diversity.’ One session on race, one on gender.”
“What about class—you know, poor and working-class
candidates?”
“Are you kidding?” he responded. “Too important.”90 </p><p>Believing class origins should be weighed as a diversity criterion, Harrison
said when he interviewed someone applying for a position in his program,
he looked for signs the person likely grew up working class.91 (Apparently
he did not feel comfortable asking for this information directly.) Harrison
said he regarded a candidate’s class background as a worthwhile concern
because faculty of humble origins can bring novel perspectives to the study
and teaching of law.92 During his formal and informal interactions with every
applicant, he looked for social class markers. He listed a few examples, such as
89. Mertz et al., supra note 78 (did not cite Confess'n the Blues: Some Thoughts on Class Bias in Law School
Hiring in their study).
90. Harrison, supra note 88, at 119.
91. Id. at 120.
92. Id.
Structural Nepotism 253
whether the person had a crooked or discolored tooth,93 had been an assistant
manager at a fast-food restaurant,94 wondered out loud whether a relative
is entitled to food stamps95 and if a nephew might be paroled soon.96 If he
detected any signs the person had likely overcome long odds to earn a law
degree, he considered this evidence the applicant had the qualities necessary
to become a successful academic.97</p><p> Harrison saw his thinking as synonymous with that of his colleagues, only
upside down.98 He interpreted a candidate having grown up disadvantaged
as evincing merit, while the others were relying on traditional indicators,
such as a high GPA from a top law school or a clerkship.99 Drawing on his
then fourteen years of teaching law, he argued that his colleagues favored
the standard determinants of what it means to be qualified as nothing more
than an excuse for hiring the people Mertz et al. depicted as coming from
“educated and privileged backgrounds.”100 Harrison characterized the other
faculty’s reasoning as little more than an “instance of self-referential wishful
thinking,”101 or just another case of like hiring like.102 Harrison believed his
approach mirrored that of his colleagues in the sense he and the others were
playing the odds, only he was betting on a different set of odds. In his mind,
he was willing to wager that his approach would yield a hire who could bring
some long-underrepresented thinking to the profession. Harrison, like Bowen,
Kurzweil, and Tobin, preferred to put a thumb, or a thumb and a half, on the
scale in favor of what he called “blue-collar diversity.”103 </p><p>Harrison was not done. He went on to suggest why law schools, and so
many people in the United States for that matter, are leery about questioning
the effects of social class inequalities on various aspects of life. This reticence
discourages most law school professors from weighing socioeconomic origins
in faculty hiring. Harrison said this same hesitancy helps explain why working class people generally fail to see “themselves as victims of any sort.”104 They
tend not to envision how “the opportunity deck” has been stacked against
93. Id. at 121.
94. Id.
95. Id. at 123.
96. Id.
97. Id. at 122.
98. Id.
99. Id.
100. Mertz et al., supra note 78, at 7.
101. Harrison, supra note 88, at 122 (citing Derrick Bell, Application of the "Tipping Point" Principle to Law
Faculty Hiring Policies, 10 Nova L.J. 319 (1986)).
102. Schmidt, supra note 8, at 64; Michels, supra note 2, at 245.
103. Harrison, supra note 88, at 122.
104. Id. at 124.
254 Journal of Legal Education
them.105 Instead, the American dream misleads them to believe they are fully
responsible for their station in life. They are never urged to examine critically
how structural classism, although he did not call it that, influences their
mobility chances, versus those who inherit considerable sums of Bourdieu’s
three elements of wealth. He reasoned that people born working class think
if they exert enough effort, they will make it to the top or, if nothing else, get
there by winning big money in the state lottery.106 Unlike other disadvantaged
groups, working-class people have not established “consciousness-raising
groups.”107 Failing to question the consequences of inherited advantages,
versus inherited disadvantages, working-class people assume, according
to Harrison, that without enough labor, they will not get a high-status job,
or maybe become a law professor (if they even know about this possibility
to begin with).108 Meanwhile, today’s law faculty “wallow in the benefits of
[these] . . . misconception[s] and most know that it is in their interest to leave
well enough alone.”109 This willingness to “leave well enough alone” is another
example of Bachrach and Baratz’s second face of power: preventing an item
from being considered.110</p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-4952300510257983962021-08-12T11:46:00.000-04:002021-08-12T11:46:25.730-04:00Legal Scholarship, Citations, and the Rankings Obsession<p> </p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0drnyTpyv_pyvsBlWh_GzpyOry4iBBw-zwrqa1mEDB7mEXzDUBnLcKCJTg2le-j8a0ggOcRspZwa9vAnBntjHBL5dih2FG7DMIxeNzdOJTuZQx9auwWmW9_r2RIr1JGemi8NSA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="146" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0drnyTpyv_pyvsBlWh_GzpyOry4iBBw-zwrqa1mEDB7mEXzDUBnLcKCJTg2le-j8a0ggOcRspZwa9vAnBntjHBL5dih2FG7DMIxeNzdOJTuZQx9auwWmW9_r2RIr1JGemi8NSA/" width="159" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>I have not thought much about legal scholarship lately but a few months ago my elitist and ratings-obsessed former dean send out a memo to the faculty promoting the idea of writing things that will be cited. The reason -- think about it. It is in the air that USNews rankings may soon use citations as one of the measures in determining rankings.</p><p>This brought to mind an empirical work my coauthor, Amy Mashburn, and I did a couple of years ago. Citations were correlated at statistically significant levels with the ranking of the school from which you graduated, the ranking of the school at which you teach, and the ranking of the law review where your article was published. Why is this? Likely because law students making publication decisions know they do not know much about law and rely on institutional authority. In fact, it is a common practice when a manuscript arrives to check where the author has published before and their citations. </p><p>This means that citations have almost nothing to do with the quality of the work. Yet, in the rankings-obsessed world of my former dean, (who I am told also vetoes any entry level candidate who does not come from a ivy league school) quality is irrelevant. </p><p>But maybe it does not matter that quality is all but irrelevant because law professors rarely engage in scholarship. By that I mean actually trying to discover something that advances our understand of anything. Instead they write OP-ED pieces or legal briefs that are devoted to one side of the story. That is what they were trained to do in law school.</p><p>But the whole citation based on where you went to school or are teaching gets worse -- much worse. When Mashburn and I did our study we examined what a citation really meant. Did it mean that the cite work was thought provoking, engaging, controversial, or whatever. No. Citations were almost always just for some fact the cited work cited mentioned whether or not the cited work was also just citing another work that had cited another work, none of which had actually done any legitimate research. In other words, rarely did one law professor give a hoot about what another one said. </p><p>What this means is that professors at less than top 20 schools should probably be devoting more time to teaching and less to writing. It also means, when and if USNews starts counting citations, the ranking will not change. But, don't be surprised if raises and promotions for law professors become dependent on number of citations. </p><p>As an aside, Malcolm Gladwell, in his series of podcasts now has 2 devoted to the rankings. He notes that in the 70s when there was a battle between Time, Newsweek, and US News which US News was losing badly, the whole ranking thing that new rules higher education was a marking gimmick. </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-31805407872427595322021-05-31T20:43:00.003-04:002021-05-31T20:43:35.271-04:00Excerpt from "In the Company of Thieves": Cutting In Line for Faculty Appointments<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrD3VhHiovowFeJiESQmInW9b8sdBfMzj356IDOnCHo03C9HoFBKK3BLnaMJKRpR6Kq9q5VIN7Ho2BRfZUiZVHb4ytPpYHP-AQhzClwxTXffN3cOmb6TLjR1WWYAUXix3snZo4Q/s259/cuttingth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrD3VhHiovowFeJiESQmInW9b8sdBfMzj356IDOnCHo03C9HoFBKK3BLnaMJKRpR6Kq9q5VIN7Ho2BRfZUiZVHb4ytPpYHP-AQhzClwxTXffN3cOmb6TLjR1WWYAUXix3snZo4Q/s0/cuttingth.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cutting in Line</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">You
might think that law professors are sticklers for following the rules. In fact,
the opposite is true. They do not regard rules, and especially University
Regulations as applying to them. I have seen this applied to tenure standards
and the composition of committees. I’d have to say in fairness to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>law professors, it is clear that Universities
ignore their own rules and even state law when it suits them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">There
are many example, but one that stands out is hiring spouses. Under state and
federal law as well as university regulation when a position is open it must be
publicly advertised. This is in part to make sure there is no favoritism and so
that people of all genders and races have a chance to apply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
usual hiring season takes place in the fall and winter. So it was with some
surprise that Dean Bob came to the faculty with a candidate for an
environmental law position in the Spring. He said the University President wanted us to hire
her. She<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had not gone through the usual
recruitment process, we did not need a teacher in the area, and we had not
given public notice of the availability of a position. The faculty resisted so
to some extent and the Dean explained that the medical school wanted to hire
her husband and part of the deal was that we hire his wife. When asked what the
consequences were if we did not hire her his answer was “catastrophic.” The
faculty voted to make an offer although no one knew what catastrophic meant.
She accepted the offer, basically saying to other would be applicants "Get the fuck out of my way? Don't you know who I sleep with?" and<span> </span> with the understanding most or all of her salary would
be paid by the central administration and the med school. In effect, a job for
her was part of the salary of the hot shot med school hire. No way around this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">After
she was hired, in order to “comply” with State, federal and university
regulations, a public notice of the job was issued. Twenty people applied. What
they did<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not know is that the School had
violated the law and already hired someone for the job opening they were just
hearing about. I raised the issue with several people in an effort to determine
who had made the decision to violate the law and the response was dead silence. Law schools are experts at the "coverup." But this story has an even less happy ending. Within two years the hot shot med
school hired decided he hated it at the med school and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the school was left with someone who would not
have been hired teaching in an area that was already covered. The last I heard
she had moved to who knows where with her husband but was still on the faculty
teaching remotely or occasionally. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">When
the rules are bent to allow spouses to cut in line one question that comes up
is what to do if the couple splits up. Actually there is answer to that – you
do nothing. So, in many instances, the spouse cuts in line through some
unlawful act of the university or law school, is hired and then stays even
though the rationale for hiring him or her has long since disappeared. Remember
that the trailing spouse’s job was a form of income the person who was sought
after. Evidently, that income is retained even who the sought after person is
divorced, quits, or dies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Often when the spouse is hired he or
she is in a different department. This raises the question of what happens of
one spouse gets tenure and the other one does not. If one department really
wants to retain the performing spouse, then the standards have be lowered for
the other one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maybe the most unusual spouse issue
I have seen involved a professor who was hired on the merits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wife was hired to take the position as a
legal writing instructor which is lower paying job with no promise of eventual
tenure. The wife and husband desperately wanted for the wife to be elevated to
a regular faculty position. She wrote articles and applied through the normal
process. The husband was a decent teacher and good scholar but a bit of a jerk so
there was not going to be a free pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After going through the process and being interviewed, she was not made
an offer. It is entirely possibly that the collective hope was that if she were
rejected maybe the husband would leave. The problem was his jerkiness was
pretty widely known and he was not likely to be recruited. Personally, I liked
him because, in his own way, he too was an outsider and spoke truths no one wanted to hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is an understatement to say they
were bitter. It was a great example of the sense of entitlement of people who
graduate from elite schools have. She was very upset about being a lowly
writing instruction although their combined income was quite high. For some
reason and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>am not sure why, their
bitterness became aimed at each other. Their divorce would make most messy
divorces seem amicable. She eventually did get a regular teaching position at a <br /> low ranking school.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Remember those articles she wrote while
hoping for a job at her ex husbands school?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Well
shortly after the breakup he began listing them as having been “ghost written”
or ghost co-authored by himself. In short, he was now claimed that they had
dishonestly represented as her work he had done as her work. The raised a bit
of an ethical question. Were they both lying or just him when he claimed to
have written he article with her name on them. Always wishing to make a bad
situation worse, the battle between exes took to the internet when he sent an
email with the subject “ungrateful bitches.” That pretty much put an end to any
chance he had to move up through the law school ranks. In fact, when this all
happened it was rumored that he had a visiting offer from Harvard. That was
withdrawn. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-8972749547144114542021-05-07T13:40:00.000-04:002021-05-07T13:40:00.446-04:00Excerpt from In The Company of Thieves: Conferences and Vacation: Confercationing<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHaxanTCJ1s6hB3K4h6cFmzhSFlNJceUT30C2jbH67grpcCsC67NwNTYYIAN7-IkXoCBD1uHleUuFHBuF0ToSe45AJrTB5Zg1dNqwBXl5VTjVKtBd2l-F2Tz1c9DKy4VnlcebQw/s1024/United_Airlines_B777-200_N780UA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAHaxanTCJ1s6hB3K4h6cFmzhSFlNJceUT30C2jbH67grpcCsC67NwNTYYIAN7-IkXoCBD1uHleUuFHBuF0ToSe45AJrTB5Zg1dNqwBXl5VTjVKtBd2l-F2Tz1c9DKy4VnlcebQw/s320/United_Airlines_B777-200_N780UA.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Confercationing is </span> when law professors claim to be going to a conference on the law school’s dime but are really on a
one to 5 day vacation. The biggest on of these for law professors takes place
in early January when the Association of American Legal Schools meet. Not as
big but easily a bigger boondoggle is the Southeastern Association of Law Teachers Conference
which conveniently takes place in the summer in a family friendly location. Palm
Beach is a favorite destination as is Orlando. Since Universities pay for
transportation, meals, and lodging for faculty, the only cost to the vacationer and his or her family is transportation for the partner and kids and their meals. Pretty good deal for a week in Florida. I will say this about this meeting. There is very little hypocrisy. No one attending pretends to be doing anything other than vacationing on the school's dime. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Three</span> things characterize
these meetings. Since law professors are, by nature, climbers whenever you are
talking to someone at these meetings they are always looking over your shoulder to
see if there is someone more important in the room they could attempt to smooze
with. The second is a contest over who know the best ethic restaurant in town.
So people with gather in hyped up groups decided were to go eat. The discussion
invariable comes down to who know the hippest place to go that no one else has
discovered. Third, at</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> these conferences members of</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">panel present papers to groups ranging from 0 to 50.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the presentation people can
ask questions The questions rarely indicate something the questioner wants to
know but is for the questioner to impress the rest of the audience with how
much they should be reckoned with. It's actually pretty easy to seem impressive
because the papers are almost always duds. The papers</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">drawn from already published articles or
recycled from previous talks. The main idea is be able to put on your resume
that you presented a paper at such and such a meeting.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These conferences are pretty much a waste in terms of
producing anything for the money spend <b>but there is a even bigger sham than these two main conferences.</b> These are the manufactured conferences, Someone gets the
idea to have a conference on British contract law or South American
Comparative. The law school provides a grant that could be used for almost
anything else that would be more<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>useful.
The conferences always take place in exotic places; not some small retreat
where there is little to do but actually confer but in Rio, London, Amsterdam,
Geneva, Paris, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Here is an example of one
of these manufactured conferences:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">International
Conference on Latin American Issues<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rio de Janerio <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">June 10, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Friday June 10 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">8:30 AM Coffee and
Pastries in the Lobby<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">9:30-10.30 AM Session 1. Evolution of the
Peruvian Constitution, Room 23<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Co
Chairs: Eve St. John, Berta Hurns, Georgio Penata, Julio Peso, J.J. Fields<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Presenters:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Coby
Claster: Early Peru<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sylvia
Macado: Peru After the Early Years<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paco
Smith: Peru in the 1930s: Penises<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joan
Streeter: Peru and Constitutional Reform<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miquel
Mendoza: Consolidation <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Audience
comments and questions</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">10:40
– 11:40<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Session 2. Brazilian
International Policy, Room 56<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Co
Chairs: Zeke Palmer, Ted Crammer, Luigi Longo, Roberto Santos, Carmen Zips</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Presenters:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lonnie
Funk: Brazil and Slavery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Festus
Johan: Brazil and Argentina: History and Perspectives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chester
Bores: Brazil and Acai: The Importance of the Smoothy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Constance
Vaya: Brazil in 2024<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pepe
Vargus: Looking Forward<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Audience
Comments</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">11:40
- 1:00 Lunch: Box Lunches Provided in the Lobby<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">[there
are also two afternoon sessions, a time for a reception and then dinner at a
posh restaurant]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This looks pretty good, right? Maybe
even interesting. But let’s take a closer look. Notice the location. Rio! Who
does not want to go to Rio. Since the airfare is the same if you stay one day
or two weeks, no one in his right mind would only be going to the conference.
So this has convercationing all over it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You may also notice the number of co
chairs of each session. A Chair is someone who contacts and schedules the
panels. Having 5 co chairs is a sure sign of a boondoggle. Each co chair can
list on his or her resume that they were a co chair without revealing that they did
next to nothing and also justify the law school footing the bill. Perhaps
their duties involved making one phone call to ask something else if he or she
too could be a co chair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now look at each session. They have
5 speakers. The session is an hour long. Take some time for introductions and
then some time for audience questions and the speakers are left with about 40
minutes to present their “papers.” That’s 8 minutes each. So let’s say the
airfare is about $1200. Two nights at a Rio hotel is $400 and meals, say, $100 a
day. Is an 8 minute talk or listening to other 8 minute talks worth $1700. Put
it another way. Each session has a total of 10 people involved and there are 4
sessions for the one day conference. That comes out to 40 people at $1700 each
or $108,000 for participants costs only not counting any charge for the rooms
and meals. There actually may also be a fee to attend. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>You will notice that there is time
for audience participation. What audience? There is actually<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no audience other than the people who are participating on other sessions who may or may not show up for anything other than their own 8 minutes, It’s not like a show for
the purpose of advancing the understanding of anything by anybody. In fact, I
personally have been a panelists when there was no audience at all. But the
school still paid for my confercation. Thanks, taxpayers!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-22647499808297896512021-05-03T11:54:00.002-04:002021-05-03T12:50:37.433-04:00Excerpt from In the Company of Thieves: The Senator's Visit<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2bPqLE2TMappKfpNEmAr1_R8owA3SL6uieyayVk-9NXZemoFwlT8OYukV6zXFDxwBrJzS5_49wuATU9XHaz14VnLLA9TesXGCH1Q12teab5Jr-ZIBerf0xKZUnm8RczIBDMcmA/s445/91-W3RBvloL.__AC_SY445_QL70_ML2_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2bPqLE2TMappKfpNEmAr1_R8owA3SL6uieyayVk-9NXZemoFwlT8OYukV6zXFDxwBrJzS5_49wuATU9XHaz14VnLLA9TesXGCH1Q12teab5Jr-ZIBerf0xKZUnm8RczIBDMcmA/s320/91-W3RBvloL.__AC_SY445_QL70_ML2_.jpg" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Senator<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[This is an an excerpt from the diary of one of
my more elitist colleagues. (Reprinted with Permission) The particulars of the story were generally well
know<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by every one including me but I
will let him tell it in his own words. [I have changed the name of the Senator involved because I cannot guarantee all the facts.]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At Nine couple of weeks ago, I received the following
from Dean Bob:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Memorandum<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">To: Professor Harris<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">From: Dean Bob<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Date: February 7, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Re: Visit of Senator Faceworth<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As you are aware [I was not aware]
the Law School has invited Senator Jerry Faceworth to guest lecture for two
weeks on the subject of Labor Law. I would like to you to serve as his host
during this time. I know you have many commitments [actually I don’t] but we
need to put our best foot forward given that Senator Faceworth has recently
announced his candidacy for President of the United States.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Please advise me of your availability
as soon as it is convenient. Senator Faceworth arrives on February 15th.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
responded right away feeling kind of honored. Playing host to an honest to
goodness presidential candidate sounded like it would be fun.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">So let's start with Senator Faceworth. First you should know that I read in the Times
that in response to some questions about his private life he dared reporters to
follow him around. "You will regret it. The boredom will be
intolerable."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><v:rect alt="http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs9/300W/i/2006/066/2/a/Black_Heart__by_lolliepop_gurl.jpg" filled="f" href="http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs9/300W/i/2006/066/2/a/Black_Heart__by_lolliepop_gurl.jpg" id="Rectangle_x0020_11" o:button="t" o:gfxdata="UEsDBBQABgAIAAAAIQC75UiUBQEAAB4CAAATAAAAW0NvbnRlbnRfVHlwZXNdLnhtbKSRvU7DMBSF
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" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" stroked="f" style="height: 23.9pt; mso-left-percent: -10001; mso-position-horizontal-relative: char; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: line; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-top-percent: -10001; mso-wrap-style: square; v-text-anchor: top; visibility: visible; width: 23.9pt;"><v:fill o:detectmouseclick="t"><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"><v:textbox><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">He
arrived by private jet. A squadron of reporters arrived soon thereafter and
more were waiting at the hotel when I took him there at about 8 P.M. I gave him
my cell number and the phone rang a midnight just as I was dozing off.
"Let's have a drink," he said. "I'll be at the service ramp. Be
here in 15 minutes" I was and found him, a knit cap pulled low and
wrap-around sun glasses. He was very direct about wanting to go to a student
"club." I had no idea where to take him but drove him to a part of
town with student bars. We parked and went into something called the
"Music Store." Average age 21. By now, if you know Senator Faceworth,
you know what happened. After 30 minutes he found me. He wanted to go back to
his room. "Of course," I said, not realizing that the two coeds - one
on each arm - were to accompany him. So, at 1:00 A.M. I left him as he and his
new playmates quickly scrambled from the car and darted for the service
elevator. This cannot be good. And, he is here for three weeks.</span></v:textbox></o:lock></v:fill></v:rect><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /><span> </span><span> </span>The
next night the same midnight call and it was off to the same bar. This time he
emerged with two more pals. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day Dean Bob picked up the Senator in the hotel lobby – again was the ever
present<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>swarm of reporters-- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and took him to school. My assignment? Go to
the service entrance and pick up his two companions from the previous night --
Heather and Misty. They piled in the car and immediately said. "Jeffy, Gar-Gar told us you
would take us to breakfast and for tanning." And I did. What could I do? I
wore dark glasses but I was a little nervous about the car that seemed to be
following.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>So you get the drift. The
man who said people would be bored if they following him was and absolute hound
for college girls. And this went on non stop. Well non stop until some rapidly
unfolded events. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
Senator is off to Bimini for the week end and I am sleeping.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Senator
Faceworth evidently came back late last night, having taken Monday off. Judging
by his sun burn, the trip to Bimini was a success. Now he is followed by a
caravan of pink faced reporters. The cocktail party in is honor is this
Thursday. He has not thanked me for the selection of single malt scotches in
his office. I am beginning to look forward to his departure. I have had
way too many Heathers and Jennifers to escort back to their apartments or
dorms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Two
more midnight calls from Faceworth and four more Gingers or Kimberlys -- who
knows, who cares. Even though I pick him up at the loading dock of the hotel
and he has his stocking cap pulled low, it is not always fool proof. Last night
at what has become his favorite bar I spotted a pink-faced reporter who I
recognized from the caravan of cars that following us each day. He definitely
saw Faceworth and then left hurriedly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Faceworth
finally made his break back to Bimini for the weekend. This time he took two
Jennifers who were on the same flight to Miami. I took all three to the airport
but dropped them at different places. At one point we were almost spotted by
reporters and Faceworth hit the floor while the Jennifers giggled and did other
unmentionable things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not cut out for this!! Word has leaked
out among the faculty and today someone accused me of "pimping" for
Gerard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">You know the routine. A
midnight run and two Jennifers each night.<br />
I find it very annoying that on our trips to the clubs the Senator sits in the
back seat and rarely speaks to me. On the way back, he is in the back with his
pals.<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span> Faceworth </span> left Thursday late for Binimi, too early the see the following article in
today's Ivyville Sun. First you should know that that there is big photo on Faceworth on the front page leaving his regular bar at 1:00 with two Jennifers,
miniskirts and cowboy boots. I am in the photo just barely. The caption:
Senator Gerard Faceworth parties with friends and an unidentified law
professor.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The article:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .6in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.6in 8pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"Senator Gerard Faceworth, a
visiting professor at the Ivyville Law School, has been photographed with two
companions leaving the Campus Buzz, a popular late night gather place for
Ivyville singles. Senator Faceworth only recently challenged reporters to
follow him around after rumor emerged that he is something of a
"womanizer." According the regulars at the Buzz, Senator Faceworth
has been in the club several nights, usually escorted by a law professor. The
routine is that he arrives soon after midnight and leaves by 1:00 A.M. with one
or two college aged women. The hotel management where the Senator is staying
declined comment. The identity of his law professor host is currently being
examined."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>I am happy to report that Faceworth called in Monday morning to say that he would be unable to finish his
three week teaching assignment here. The Ivyville Sun article about his late
night activities -- as surely you know -- has gone national, even
international.<br />
<span> </span><span> </span>Reporters are everywhere wanting to know the details and trying to identify his
mysterious law professor escort. So far no one on the faculty had identified
me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-26649557321922135762021-05-01T13:07:00.002-04:002021-05-02T21:25:44.191-04:00Draft Excerpt for In the Company of Thieves: Grade Appeals to Law Professors<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm-Mf75TyfPMm8r9NA04VsfzFdTqWbSacqqwurUhgYjo579y3CtxwSCH1iX9lBEVkYkeZvGNMBWeLfEfYf5c5a1TnklOCfLW8FWkIqcppKTHQWLc13rkeN_yLeMzZ0bJDPT6e2A/s344/100308palin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkm-Mf75TyfPMm8r9NA04VsfzFdTqWbSacqqwurUhgYjo579y3CtxwSCH1iX9lBEVkYkeZvGNMBWeLfEfYf5c5a1TnklOCfLW8FWkIqcppKTHQWLc13rkeN_yLeMzZ0bJDPT6e2A/s320/100308palin.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><br />Grade
Appeals<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">To
understand my stories is useful to know that law faculties, like most others,
are assigned to committees. There are committees assigned to propose
candidates to be hired, committees to approve new courses, committees to review
candidates for tenure and promotion. Some committees make long range plans,
some study how to increase publications. The one I am on this year is called
Academic standards. We typically handle appeals from students when something
has been declined by an administrator. For example, a student can take a course
at another law school and transfer the credit as long as they got a C. Those
who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>get a D or lower, which takes more
effort than making a B, invariable appeal to Academic Standards to have the
grade transferred. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Today
the committee met<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and had two appeals I
had never encountered before. One was from a student who had just finished the
first year of school and had received and A in Contract Law. She complained
that the A grade, the highest you could get, was unfairly granted. Her story
was that in the class she had become friendly with the teacher Ed Freddy, who
we all refer to a Mr. Freddy. The friendliness led to lunch which led to dinner
(all without the knowledge of Mrs. Freddy) and well you can guess where this is
going.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">They had falling out somewhere near the end of the semester and their fling was
over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the final exam came. In law
school in most courses the final exam determines the grade for the entire
semester. She took the exam and received her grade which, as I mentioned was an
A. Her petition to us was that she only got and A because of the “services” she
supplied to Mr. Freddy and that rather be treated like a prostitute she wanted
a grade no higher than a B. We tabled this case until our next meeting to give
a chance to evaluate her final exam ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Our
second appeal today was equally bizarre. First you have to understand that law
schools and other University department hire visitors who teach for a semester
or a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>year are not on the permanent
faculty. <a name="_Hlk61617535">Last year we hired Mary McCan to teach for a
semester.</a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61617535;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was young, an average teacher, ambitious, frumpy-looking, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lonely in our small college town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the petition on the last night
of finals she when out with a few students including the petitioner and she
brought<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one of them home with her. They
were evidently quite drunk. According to the student, when he got ready to leave she
blocked the door. In his words he then “obliged her as a courtesy”. The student
got a B in the course and complained he did not deserve a B. In his words he did
not know if he had “he’d fucked himself up from a C or down from an A.” He said
that neither was acceptable and he wanted us to read his paper to determine if
he deserved either and A or a C, which he was willing to accept. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-68208651513894034822021-04-26T20:30:00.000-04:002021-04-26T20:30:03.757-04:00Thieves, Monopoly, Law Professors, and Law Schools<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxtZbXLFvawUPK-FB9jgNZ8pn93MyNTa59BBgrsp7jSK3JCK4v1298jaepm0EIuyfoSOMTkbFzuNXCxiBVioKk-zoP7JyN2EfCdPO1c7kThXCKWpBOti5Nz25PeZvOky9Komnpg/s1600/Pumpkin-Pie-Whole-Slice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxtZbXLFvawUPK-FB9jgNZ8pn93MyNTa59BBgrsp7jSK3JCK4v1298jaepm0EIuyfoSOMTkbFzuNXCxiBVioKk-zoP7JyN2EfCdPO1c7kThXCKWpBOti5Nz25PeZvOky9Komnpg/s320/Pumpkin-Pie-Whole-Slice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
In his classic 1967 article on rent-seeking (which does not actually use the term because it had not been coined at that time) Gordon Tullock explained that the cost of theft was not that one person's property was taken by another. In fact, that transaction in isolation may increase welfare. The social costs were the reactions of those attempting to avoid theft and those refining their skills. Richard Posner extended the analysis when he wrote about the costs of monopoly. Again, it was not that some became richer at the expense of others but that enormous sums were invested in bringing about the redistribution. In neither case do the rent seeking, social-cost-producing efforts create new wealth.<br />
<br />
Still, in the case of Tullock and Posner the social costs were at least about something. There was a "there" there in the form of a chunk of wealth to bicker over. But now we come to law professors and law schools. <br />
<br />
Law professor efforts to self-promote have exploded. Included are repeated visits to the Dean asking for one thing or another, resume padding, massive mailings of reprints, posting SSRN download rankings, or, even better, emailing 200 friends asking them to download a recently posted article, churning out small symposia articles because deans often want to see lines on resumes as opposed to substance, playing the law review placement game, and just plain old smoozing ranging from name dropping to butt kissing. Very little of this seems designed to produce new wealth. If fact, think of the actual welfare-producing activities that could be undertaken with the same levels of energy -- smaller classes, more sections of needed courses, possibly even research into areas that are risky in terms of self promotion but could pay off big if something new or insightful were discovered or said. But this is the part that puzzles me. Whether the thief in Tullock's case or monopolist in Posner's, the prize is clear. What is the prize for law professors? Are these social costs expended to acquire rents that really do not exist or are only imagined? What are the rents law professors seek?<br />
<br />
Law schools make the professors look like small potatoes when it comes to social costs. Aside from hiring their own graduates to up the employment level, they all employ squads of people whose jobs are to create social costs (of course, most lawyers do the same thing), produce huge glossy magazines that go straight to the trash, weasel around with who is a first year student as opposed to a transfer student or a part time student, select students with an eye to increasing one rating or another, and obsess over which stone is yet unturned in an effort to move up a notch. I don't need to go through the whole list but the point is that there is no production -- nothing socially beneficial happens. That's fine. The same is true of Tullock's thief and Posner's monopolist. But again, and here is the rub. What is the rent the law schools seek? Where is the pie that they are less interested in making bigger than in just assuring they get the biggest slice possible? What is it made of? <br />
<br />
At least thieves and monopolists fight over something that exists. And they often internalize the cost of that effort. Law professors and law schools, on the other hand, may be worse. They do not know what the prize actually is; they just know they should want more; and the costs are internalized by others.Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-87313127233008136392021-04-21T12:48:00.001-04:002021-04-21T12:53:30.438-04:00Draft Excerpt From "In the Company of Thieves: The Character of Law Professors (most of them anyway).<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzv_WDavj3i2arFQkLJh7RCgu7nh61luvGSGAZ6VNbHfhxlKa8CjsvnehqJlVgg0VaXBO4ccmPaR1lhHY32ALZr7TjoE_xtAsngcTs2l1jzzBlo9n8mnpZVLO7hQBrAxrMYXheQ/s1499/13041428_10154121095538615_1296588592731807360_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1499" data-original-width="843" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzv_WDavj3i2arFQkLJh7RCgu7nh61luvGSGAZ6VNbHfhxlKa8CjsvnehqJlVgg0VaXBO4ccmPaR1lhHY32ALZr7TjoE_xtAsngcTs2l1jzzBlo9n8mnpZVLO7hQBrAxrMYXheQ/s320/13041428_10154121095538615_1296588592731807360_o.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For most law professors
I have known, life is an extended negotiation to advance one’s self interest. They
are their own clients. Their constant obsession about where they rank means a
complete lack of humility and the use of certain devices. The most common device
is to show no weakness. This leads to a number of things. One is to never seen to care very much about something, at least publicly. To show you really want
something is to reveal a weakness. For example, when I was chair of the appointments
committee, I asked members of
the committee who wanted to go to the meat market. This duty is something that
is usually coveted by mid or early career professors. No one said he or she wanted to go in the meeting. In a few hours after
that, every member of the committee called me privately to say they were
“willing to go.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This leads to the
volunteer scam. Law professors never want to demand to do something -- -- they
volunteer. When you volunteer it is not like you wanted something but you were willing
to help out. Helping out, in this life long negotiation, means you are owed.
For example, one of the plums of my teaching career was to be appointed to
summer abroad teaching program. One year the person who was set to go could not
go at the last minute. I called the person running the program to see if I
could go instead. I was informed it would not be necessary because the head of
the program had “volunteered” to take on the assignment himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another part of not
showing weakness is to try to get others to do work that might expose your own
weakness. This means office to office visits and indirection. Let’s say you
think someone who has been appointed to chair a committee is an awful choice.
You would go office to offices saying something like “what did you think of
those committee assignments.” In other words, you throw out the bait and see if
anyone bites. Eventually, you might find some people saying they were
disappointed and then you roam the halls saying to others “I heard that
several people are upset with that committee assignment.” You say "several" even if it is one. Note, you do not say
you are upset but that others are. You, of course, just want to be fair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are also ways of
disagreeing. Suppose Jack at a faculty meeting proposes that teachers have more
office hours than currently required. You hate the idea but you do not raise
your hand and say so. Instead you say something like “It’s wonderful to be
available to students but I have “concerns” about Jack’s proposal or “if gives
me pause.” These are ways of saying “that is the dumbest thing I have every
heard”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No matter what, you
are too busy. You have students, exams to write, phone calls to return, and
papers to grade. In reality you may be on Amazon looking for a new toaster or
frying pan. You may take a nap. But you never admit to anything other than
being overwhelmed with how much work you have. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Being sneaky is
important. You do not write down what you could say. If it is written down you
have accountability. If you say it, then if it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>is passed along you can claim you were misunderstood or taken out of
context. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Working the students
for high teaching evaluations. You can do this by being funny or radiating your
deep concern for their well-being. It does not hurt to bring cookies when their
evaluations of you are distributed. One neat ploy a colleague freely admitted
was designed to help is evaluations was passing out his own evaluation form
before the official. This communicate that you value the opinion of the
students and more or less lets them vent if they are inclined to as a way of
lowering the chance they will unload on you on the official evaluations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Information among law
faculty is power. If you have it, you can dispense it in the way that best
serves your ends. It may be rumor, it maybe something that has very little
foundation. Important things are generally bad news about someone else – their
article got rejected, they failed an interview at another school, the Provost
is angry with the Dean. You can use the information as currency and you spend it
to get what you want – usually that is a reaction that advances whatever is in
your self interest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Law professors call
what they do “scholarship.” It almost never is. You could count on one had the
number of times a law professor actually tries to find the answer to an
important question. Instead, consistent with their training they are advocates
for their own notions of what should be. Their research skills are limited and
the idea of putting anything to an empirical test is frightening to them. You might compare this with seeing a doctor. Usually you tell the doctor the symptoms and he or she tries to match with with a cause, Suppose instead you walked into the doctor and he or she said "you have typhoid fever" and then ignored every thing you said except those things that were consistent with typhoid fever. That's legal scholarship.</span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-58614180699230467122021-04-12T12:10:00.001-04:002021-04-12T19:38:41.600-04:00Draft Excerpt from "In the Company of Thieves:" Foreign Programs<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTX5EeOquba2_rqQTtL7AjQkbTOMJx9nE8wsg8ACnj_k4QE9HZH6crh_OvzJj80mWJjRPBrqjzOcfGaAUKChvX5miXucn2opbxMm6HUUt8zt-suAG_SJasZlatIkgEdZoFueBAA/s2048/IMG_20160414_165421816.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTX5EeOquba2_rqQTtL7AjQkbTOMJx9nE8wsg8ACnj_k4QE9HZH6crh_OvzJj80mWJjRPBrqjzOcfGaAUKChvX5miXucn2opbxMm6HUUt8zt-suAG_SJasZlatIkgEdZoFueBAA/s320/IMG_20160414_165421816.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Foreign
Programs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">One
way mid and lower level law schools compete with each other is by offering
foreign opportunities. In some cases the students can spend a semester studying
at a law school in France or Italy or Germany. They get a semester worth of
credit for traveling and drinking for 3 months. These are programs for the well
to do, of course because there are airfares, apartments to rent, etc. Nevertheless, they can be rewarding and informative.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">On the other hand, summer abroad programs are a bit of a scam. These are essentially law schools acting as
travel agencies. The idea is that a couple of professors travel to Paris,
London, Rome or where ever and take 15 or twenty students with them. Then the
students hang out with each other, drink, travel, and spend a modest amount of
time in the classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They, of course,
pay extra for this and that extra is what covers the housing and expenses of
their teachers. In short, the students subsidize the summer vacation of the
profs and they, in turn, get academic credit. Their actual emersion in local
culture is kept to a minimum as they search out the closest McDonalds. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Now
that you know the background, you should know that one of the committees I am
chair of is the “Programs Committee”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
summer program has to be OKed by the programs committee and then voted on by
the faculty. Very often it is a fait accompli. For example, one year at a mid summer faculty meeting 17 members
of the 60 person faculty voted by 9 to 8 to have a summer program in France.
Unusually only 2 faculty can go at a time but most deans also feel it is their duty to stop by, at the school’s expense, for a few days. And sometimes,
someone from the Programs Committee is also “obligated to go.” In the case of
the France program all 9 yes voters went at some point over the next three
years although at times the enrollment dwindled to 12 which was not enough to
cover their expenses. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Here
is the proposal the Programs Committee considered last October for
implementation next summer. I’ve inserted some information in brackets to help
you understand:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Re: Summer Program in Italy<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Date: February 12, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Supreme Senior Vice President of
Foreign Programs, Hugo Valencia and I [Chadsworth Feldman] are happy to propose
a new study abroad opportunity for our students. The details are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">A. Location:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Three weeks in Rome, three weeks in
Florence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">B. Expected enrollment and student
costs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">For the first year, expected
enrollment is 30 but the actual enrollment can exceed this. The program has no
upper limit on enrollment. The initial tuition is $3,000 per student. This
includes all housing and transportation, to the extent those are necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">C</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">. Need and
Opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This program will complement our
other excellent foreign study opportunities. Many of our students have
expressed a desire to study in Italy and to learn Italian law. Many of our
colleagues have connections with scholars in Italy and would gain a great deal
with respect to their work in comparative law. It is critical that we have a
presence in Italy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Several members of our faculty will
be invited to travel to Rome or Florence to serve as guest lecturers and to
attend graduation ceremonies at the end of the term.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">D. Staffing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Professor Feldman is the Director of
the Program and will go each year. In addition to the director, one other full
time professor will travel to the site. Two assistants will accompany the
professors. These will be the spouses of the professors as long as they accept
no salary. Of course, all their expenses will be paid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the initial year, it is anticipated
that the position of professor will be circulated among the faculty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">E. Students Activities<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Students will earn six credit hours.
In addition, they will be taken on several tours of important Italian sites.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">F. Budget:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Airfare for Professors and
assistants: $10,000<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Housing: $80,000<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">G. Impact<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This program will put us in the first
tier of foreign program offering schools. The net cost to the School, other
than trips of guest lecturers, is zero. The two professors involved will be
paid the usual stipend for summer teaching.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nothing seemed unusual about the program although
everyone knew it was the usual faculty boondoggle. The Committee approved it
and then then faculty. Then things started to unravel. By December several
students had put down their deposits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> O</span>ver the next few months some issues came
to light. Two stood out. One was that Hugo and Chad, with spouses, had already,
with the Dean’s permission and on the law school’s dime, spend 10 days in Italy
scouting out, as they put it, suitable restaurants, clubs, spas, and coastal
areas for the program. Ok, it’s like what we call in the trade convercationing.
That is you are paid for a business trip but you are really taking a vacation
while checking off the boxes to make it seem like business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
second matter had to do with the budget. Usually there is a host institution
that provides a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>low fee some classroom
space. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My curiosity piqued, I asked Chad
about this. He seemed a little sheepish but something you never do as a law
professor is show weakness or admit wrongdoing. His answer. “That is the beauty
of the Program. It will all be conducted by Zoom with the students staying at
home. Hugo and I will Zoom not just classroom activities but dining out,
clubbing, sight seeing, the works. It will be exactly like they are there.” He
went on. “I am sure it will be appealing to the students since they can stay in
the comfort of their homes and not worry about finding housing, eating in
strange places where no one understands a word they are saying.” Finally, “If
there are technological problems we will send them postcards.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I
was reeling from this revelation when I got back to my office. None of this was
revealed when the programs committee met or at the faculty meeting. Everyone
was too busy, I suppose, booking passage to Italy for some year in the future.
When I got back to my office, there was a phone message to call Linda James. I
knew I had a student in my class named Tom James but I did not make the
connection. I called and she told me that she had tried to reach Professor
Feldman but he was not in. The secretary had directed her to me since I was
chair of the programs committee and she had a question about the program since
her son James was going. She started by saying how excited James was and how she
and her husband planned to meet James for the portion of the course in Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Her
question was what types of things should James bring – clothing, dressy or not,
extra notebooks, computer, and so on. I lied, I told her that I did not know. I
did chair the committee that had approved the program but that she needed to
talk to Professor Feldman. I assumed she did eventually because I the next day
I received the following email from Chad:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Today Tom James’ mother called and asked what sort of
things he should bring from his summer in Italy. I told her that the students
were not actually going to Italy. She asked what the $3000 is for and I said
"expenses." Then she pressed me and asked about the $80,000 for
faculty. I told her that was the going rate for appropriate housing for the
Professors and any guest lecturers who might join us. She seemed miffed about
no students going. Isn't that just perfect!!! You try to do something for the
students and you get in hot water for it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Later the same day:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">So far two more <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sets of parents have contacted me. It seems to
have come as a surprise to them that the Summer Program in Italy does not
involve their dear children actually traveling to Italy. Hugo and I designed
the whole program on the theory that he and I and our spouses would go to Italy
and show the lectures and sights by Zoom (or postcard). We would do the heavy
lifting and the students would have time to study. Do they not get it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case the
“program” ran for one summer only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
revenue did not begin to cover the expenses which the law school ended up
eating. I suppose it was a success because I received the following email from
Chad: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Here is the great news. I am writing from Rome. Yes,
the summer program is in tact and Hugo, Marvel, Caroline and I are here working
hard for the students. It is true we are down to 5 students and it is true that
those five did not actually make the trip to Italy but we are working hard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As you know, some of the students were upset that the
Summer in Italy program did not actually mean they were going to Italy -- only
the professors. Some parents were quite rude and the initial enrollment dwindled
to 5. Good riddance I say. Those students obviously were not cut out for
foreign travel. The Law School decided we had to operate the program anyway
because the American Association of Law Schools had already purchased 30
tickets for a team to come and inspect the program.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We are doing our best for the five students. Each week
we send a postcard with some interesting fact about Italian law. In the
interest of giving the students what they want, we have decided not to
administer a final exam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">As for me, being a dedicated teacher of young people
is its own reward.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-73189734525902820182021-04-04T14:39:00.005-04:002021-04-04T17:08:00.391-04:00DRAFT Excerpt from "In the Company of Thieves": The Tenure Process<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyuIb9WtBkn6S2WoV2u6wpc-nh-fK6Va4wzi-zmX2pgB5xZIaLbl1orlo_XAfEb8jME1y_2R7wIMb5j9aiBCmQpncfITQ3XS5ZBjo7gXJTJolL2Y7Fm1hNUMGuGUuFS1-i2SiAw/s771/169369429_306115760882993_738214166218965404_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="771" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIyuIb9WtBkn6S2WoV2u6wpc-nh-fK6Va4wzi-zmX2pgB5xZIaLbl1orlo_XAfEb8jME1y_2R7wIMb5j9aiBCmQpncfITQ3XS5ZBjo7gXJTJolL2Y7Fm1hNUMGuGUuFS1-i2SiAw/s320/169369429_306115760882993_738214166218965404_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Law professors are evaluated to determine if they should be tenured. Supposedly you must excel in scholarship, teaching, and service. You would think that if someone actually excelled at all three, he or she would be hired away by better law schools. Very few are. Why? Because in actuality there are three requirements:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">1.
write something – anything would do, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">2.
be politically correct, (or very quiet),<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">3,
be acceptable socially. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">(4.
I have also heard isolated inane standards like “she is a good mother.” but these usually do not count.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As noted, decent teaching is supposed to count but I have seen many instances in which awful
teaching was explained away as actually an indication of good teaching. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">To
determine</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">a candidate’s teaching there
are class visitations by 2 or 3 professors and the students fill out anonymous
evaluation forms at the end of the semester. Not wanting to offend someone who
may get life time employment if they meet the above “standards” the visitors
uniformly say the teacher was brilliant, engaging, showed respect for the
students and so on. One has to keep in mind that the professor knows in advance
who is coming and when. Not to be well prepared and energetic those days would
mean you are an idiot. Still, there are some who go one step beyond. For
example, at one point several students asked me why their professor gave the
same lecture day after day. As it turns out these were the days when there were class visitation, and I suppose he had the one lecture down perfectly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
students fill out evaluations at the end of each semester. These are pretty
much ignored whether high or low if one passes the three part test above. On
the other hand, if they are low to average, they become the hammer to justify
getting rid of the candidate who fails the three part test. But even here, many
professors do not want to leave student evaluations to chance. I have seen
professors going into classes with the forms the students must fill out in one
hand and platters of cookies or boxes of pizza in the other. Sometimes the
bribes are so shameful that even the students know what is up but this does not
discourage them accepting the bribe. One professor would sponsor a softball
game in the afternoon for his class followed by cocktails at a local pub. The
tab could run in excess of $1000 dollars. There are far more subtle bribes like
not calling on students and appearing to be deeply concerned about their
welfare when you could not care less. One very subtle effort involves handing out your own evaluations a day
or two before the official ones. A colleague who does this says it takes the
sting out of what the students may say on the official evaluations and illustrates how seriously he or she takes teaching.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Faculty
who are able to turn evaluations into popularity polls take high evaluations to
mean they are good teachers. Yet, the vast majority of studies find that there
is no correlation between student evaluations and student learning. In fact, some
find students of the highly rated professors actually learn less than those who
have professors rated lower. Actually no one knows what student evaluations
indicate. One interesting study showed students very short silent movies of
teacher and asked them to evaluate them. After the course, they also filled
out evaluations and they were about the same as the first set. One
interpretation was that the students were responding to body language and
facial expressions as much as anything else.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">If
the whole evaluation of teaching process is a joke it stands right beside the
evaluation of scholarship. I am pretty sure if someone wrote nothing, not even
doodles in napkins at Starbucks he or she would not get tenure. I am just as
sure that a person who writes next to nothing but satisfies the three part test
described above will be tenured. There are two things at work here. Letters are
sent out to experts in the field. It’s a small honor or form of recognition to
be asked to review someone’s scholarship. Like many things in the law professor
world, it is something people want to be asked to do but pretend that it is
burdensome. And, it is actually burdensome to those who are popular reviewers.
Who are the popular reviewers? Typically, they are people who write positive
reviews. Who are the unpopular reviewers? Reviewers who are honest. The popular
ones use terms like “rising star,” “insightful,” “major contribution,” etc. The
unpopular ones are not afraid to say unoriginal, not carefully researched, a
repetition of his or her earlier work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It
is not a stretch to say there is something of a market for letters. Tenure and
promotion committees want positive reviews for those passing the three part test.
If someone fails the three part test they would prefer negative reviews. But
negative reviews are hard to come by. Why? Because if you write<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>negative reviews you may not be asked again
and, remember, being asked is a feather in your cap. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">There
s a second factor in this letter solicitation process. What happens if someone
passes the three part test and a negative letter slips through. The negative
letter is either ignored or is subject to scrutiny with the result being that is is rejected. Let’s take the case of a professor who I believe had the most expensive
education available in American – Exeter, Princeton, Harvard -- a nice
enough guy who fits in the category discussed later of law professors who
really do not want to be law professors so they change the job. He passed the
three part test. In fact, one colleague noted how upsetting it would be
<i>socially</i> if he were denied tenured. His specialty was writing about meditation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A negative letter came in observing that one of his articles was in large part the same as an earlier
article the reviewer had been asked to review for promotion. In this case, the faculty ignored
the letter. The recycling of an idea was not addressed. In some cases, the
treachery is especially extreme. We call the collection of review letters a “packet.”
I have seen packets that included quite negative reviews and the committee
making a recommendation to the faculty has said “all the letters were positive”
and no one uttered a word because the three part test was passed with flying
colors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Remember,
these are law professors so they will often game the system. They may tell the
committee doing the evaluations who not to ask for a letter and who to ask for
a letter. It can get pretty extreme. One well know professor/politician was
said to have mailed drafts of an article to possible reviewers before hand to make
sure when the reviewer received the manuscript to review they would, in effect,
be reviewing themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-29999204054251140702021-03-31T22:29:00.002-04:002021-03-31T23:06:58.966-04:00A People’s (with apologies to Zinn) Ranking of Law Schools<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXr0VDMNQIrbjSsK1mi_Lbwc4G9fyco8MRWUZwqS7-kyWTFWxAcR4_PlzPAmvPxkTcQsVtkQUxRAm-C4fD5d-0FWqVNR80VFPUhn7u8mKmYE9IARwrAYBxt-yhmcyAHjTh36_DQ/s960/kid149241040_10159365845368615_1153270082125583097_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXr0VDMNQIrbjSsK1mi_Lbwc4G9fyco8MRWUZwqS7-kyWTFWxAcR4_PlzPAmvPxkTcQsVtkQUxRAm-C4fD5d-0FWqVNR80VFPUhn7u8mKmYE9IARwrAYBxt-yhmcyAHjTh36_DQ/s320/kid149241040_10159365845368615_1153270082125583097_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Actually I cannot give you the rankings other than to say it would look nothing like the elitist, manipulation-prone ranking of US News. These are, however, the factors that would go into a true ranking of law schools.</p><p>1. Percentage of class with less than 160 LSAT score. Why? Dolts can and do teach students with over 160 scores. That does not take any real teaching ability. Those students will get it. Teaching them is like teaching native German speakers how to speak German. </p><p>2. Percentage of students with below 160 who pass the bar. This is the real measure of teaching effectiveness because those students may actually need teaching expertise.</p><p>3. Number of citations by <b>courts</b> of scholarly works per faculty member. In a prior study a colleague and I demonstrated that citations by other law professors are irrelevant. They generally do not rely on anything but factual assertions and rarely engage the thoughts of the works they cite. Let's face it. If courts do not cite your work, you are wasting your time and writing for a very small and irrelevant audience.</p><p>4. Percentage of students who are first in family college graduates. These people are likely to have a different perspective on virtually everything than the entitled ones, Want to have lively class discussion? Admit these people.</p><p>5. Percentage of faculty who did not graduate from top 15 law schools. Quite honestly, in 42 years of law teaching, the most poorly educated and laziest people I have met came from elite undergraduate and law schools. I could name names but that would take 5 blogs. They are the grade grubbers who focused on one thing -- what is on the test. Want some diversity away from the same old name dropping dolts, expand your hiring horizons. </p><p>6. Number of African-American faculty. I know there are all kinds of minorities these days but none come close to this group in terms of having been kicked around, discriminated against, and pushed aside. Want you students to be more well rounded, better able to interact with diverse clients, then hire these people.</p><p>7. Percentage of financial aid distributed on the basis of need. Yes, this is different from the School were I taught which engaged in a bidding war for high LSATs.</p><p>8. Percentage of graduates who opt for public interest employment. Hopefully, 3 years of exposure to law school and the way law is consistently applied to favor the haves would encourage some students to, at least for some period of time, do the right thing. </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-5832598500423084722021-03-17T21:16:00.007-04:002021-05-02T21:27:41.924-04:00The Bill Barr School of Law School Deaning<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiNeuuhxtKDbcboZzKJgo8g2gzDuVfMAUvZWiW3fVqjQGbU8XBgDCW1KXUFGHEWW5JXhe9c6cLNI2Z9TxG8EueBgNSf2v56UknASgUuCWgolURXpn_z4JiS4gYtsHD0G7DmnqUA/s1800/shutterstock_10062699r.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiNeuuhxtKDbcboZzKJgo8g2gzDuVfMAUvZWiW3fVqjQGbU8XBgDCW1KXUFGHEWW5JXhe9c6cLNI2Z9TxG8EueBgNSf2v56UknASgUuCWgolURXpn_z4JiS4gYtsHD0G7DmnqUA/s320/shutterstock_10062699r.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>BOOO Bill Barr, you unprincipled Trump sycophant. You rascal. All of us, (well not all, there are a couple of numbskulls who admire you ) principled law professors and administrators think you are an awful example of the profession.</p><p>But wait Billy Boy! There is a job for you. It's even better than Trump University. You open a school for wannabe Law school administrations. You know, Bill, the number one goal of any law school dean on the make is to climb the USnews ranking.</p><p>So that's what you teach. Some Units of the course would be:</p><p>1. Hire your own graduates to do something, anything, so you can report high post graduate employment rates.</p><p>2, Lower first year admissions but increase the number of transfers because the transfer LSAT and GPAs will not count against you.</p><p>3. Oh, what the hell. Just do what UF Law has perfected, However qualified a student, do not admit him or her unless he or she improves your ranking.</p><p>4, If a student is admitted and it looks like he or she, in hindsight, might lower your scores, pay them not to come.</p><p>5. Make sure all law school employees are called faculty. This will raise your teacher to student ratio.</p><p>6. Throw every cent you can get your grubby hands on to pay high scoring students to come to your school whether they need the money or not. </p><p>7, And Bill, here is what you can bring to the course your specialty. Just lie. What the fuck, you are not hurting anyone so it's not like a real lie.</p><p>But Bill, there is one catch, All of these things have already been done. Yes by the same people who say that you are the crook, not them.</p><p>So you will have to be imaginative. Your primary mission is to stay one scam ahead of what USnews is onto and cares about. This should be easy, They don't really care if they get it right as long as it sells, </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-31342451460282965792021-03-13T20:24:00.005-05:002021-04-17T16:12:52.999-04:00Law School Stimulus (Reparation) Checks to Come with Rejection Letter<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGHGEnvR80V0nR9XBSEOKsZf3GBwVIj1JL9QSPwhnMZEbpon6h0t0xDVvDXwwWBXqFPze-Ra0nKCt_RdRG_xz4CzvA25GhVGoduwgTaPUjeAcqV0-uaP9iLpACJ2XDDIwFRXRww/s327/719lUCF9F-L._AC_UY327_FMwebp_QL65_.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="254" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGHGEnvR80V0nR9XBSEOKsZf3GBwVIj1JL9QSPwhnMZEbpon6h0t0xDVvDXwwWBXqFPze-Ra0nKCt_RdRG_xz4CzvA25GhVGoduwgTaPUjeAcqV0-uaP9iLpACJ2XDDIwFRXRww/s320/719lUCF9F-L._AC_UY327_FMwebp_QL65_.webp" /></a></div><p> I've beefed about an obvious misuse of funds to fuel the egos of the privileged so I will try to provide a short version. UF law has the physical plant and faculty to admit 600 qualified students a year. By qualified, I mean those with high enough GPAs and LSAT scores to indicate they can do the work and become attorneys. Currently half that number are admitted each year. The reason is by rejecting highly qualified applicants the school can raise the average LSAT and GPAs of admitted students and rise in the US News Rankings. </p><p>This quest for rankings does nothing for the public but gives something for administrators to crow about. Who pays for this crowing? Rejected students who must go to more expensive schools, less prestigious schools, or farther away schools. And they may have fewer employment opportunities and lower life time incomes which may have implications for their families. Screw them is the attitude of UF and its Law School administration. After all, screwing them is a small price to pay to go from 49th to 25th. No one puts an asterisk by the ranking to note those school who did the equivalent of cheating on a test and then bragging about getting a higher score. </p><p>The qualified rejected students are like the residents close to a polluting factory, They suffer so the fat cats can get fatter. The solution? Stimulus checks equal to the damage done and it should come with the rejection letter.</p><p>Something like this:</p><p>Dear Mr. Zinn:</p><p>Unfortunately we cannot admit you to the UF College of Law. This not because you would not be a successful student and lawyer, It it because if we admit people like you our average LSAT would slip to 159 and our USNews ranking would go from 25 to 31. So you see it is simply not possible.</p><p>We know this means attending a lower ranked school, a possibly more expensive school, or one farther from home. Tough Luck! Maybe you should have spent a few thousand dollars like other applicants on preparing for the LSAT or not worked while an undergraduate so you would have had more time to raise your GPA. </p><p>Rankings mean more to us than anything and we owe our ranking to your extraordinary (albeit unwilling) contribution to UF LAW. We have, thus, enclosed a check to show our appreciate, to offset the damage done to you, and to atone for our hypocrisy by pretending not to be putting our obsession with rankings ahead your career.</p><p>Respectfully,</p><p>UF LAW </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-26740704713168409522020-09-25T15:16:00.001-04:002020-09-25T16:07:00.041-04:00UF Becomes the The New Trump University and the Sheep Who Work There<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYFX6NfeU3iyGjmcKYlkSd2XXf_TbnL-5KPeUnaR9ZS1j9OlFuUpvnWDmUYUhcEVPX3sqsNuQFM1IvJIc6nndSrJ6idiwHP5XLuDZLurb47TQ_J3v2es7rOZnZ2bnkxRw8UAQYA/s299/trdownload.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYFX6NfeU3iyGjmcKYlkSd2XXf_TbnL-5KPeUnaR9ZS1j9OlFuUpvnWDmUYUhcEVPX3sqsNuQFM1IvJIc6nndSrJ6idiwHP5XLuDZLurb47TQ_J3v2es7rOZnZ2bnkxRw8UAQYA/s0/trdownload.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In today's Gainesville Sun one of the main stories was about State and University pressure to have full scale in person classes in the Spring. Yes, that is before or shortly after a vaccine. Plus, Governor Deathsantis wants college kids to party because as he puts it "that's what college kids do." There is less important story about a doctor (well past his prime in terms knowledge and common sense) who refuses to wear a mask. I am not so interested in the idiot doctor but in the University. </p><p>I am truly mystified by what motivates the State and University to want warm bodies in seats when it could mean some get very sick and some (not many I know) could die. And why would a governor encourage students to party like its 1999? The only things I can think of are funding and ranking because its clear when one makes a cost benefit analysis, those two interests trump (pun totally intended) any interest at all in the heath and well-being of the students and townspeople who must interact with them in grocery stores, drug stores, and every other place it is difficult to avoid even if you are being careful. I mean, there must be some cost benefit analysis that goes on and avoiding death or severe illness get zero points when it comes to the state of Florida.</p><p>But there is a bigger problem. It's the administrators who just follow orders. What is wrong with these people? If a dean or two or three just said we are not doing it it would make a big difference. And what would happen to them. They all have tenure so the worst would be returning to teaching and writing (something they call swore they were devoted to before they tired of it and wanted to join management.) This goes for Fuchs right on down to the lowliest department head. DeathSantis says who cares if a few students get sick or even die or become carriers who then infect the townies. </p><p>DeathSantis says "kill a few" and UF administrators say "how many.'</p><p><br /></p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-88126864284014859232020-08-21T21:36:00.005-04:002020-08-22T18:34:53.017-04:00 The Life of Deans and Side Deals: A Theory<p> <img alt="Trump: The Art of the Deal" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71svwdMnivL._AC_UY218_.jpg" /></p><p>In my teaching career I have been through 9 law school deans. One thing I think is true is that there is an inverse relationship between the number of side deals a dean makes and how long they last. Lets see in order, 5 years, 8 years, 5 years, 5 years, 3 years, 4 years, 11 years, 1 year, 6 years. Now, in fairness, one was done in by an extramarital affair, one was an acting dean, and one is still running but is showing signs of being on the ropes.</p><p> Side deals are those that are made with individual faculty which could not be offered generally. Things like remote teaching during a pandemic but not because of an illness. Or, a one or two day teaching schedule because you live too far away to commute. Or, a special leave that could not be available to everyone or the doors would close. Or, a job because the University wants to hire your spouse. Some side deals are implicit. Like you can teach in our overseas program and I expect your loyalty Or you can have a program in Poland but that's because we are buds, right.</p><p>Before condemning deans for their side deals there are many things to keep in mind at least as a general matter. First, deans serve as long as a faculty lets them. In fact, some stop being effective deans well before they realize they are finished. Second, deans are generally people who have lost their taste for simply teaching and writing but have no market value as practitioners. Third, no dean I have known has had any training for or experience in a management position. In sum, they need the job. They got into one job and just did not like it. Deaning was the logical move. MOST important and certainly more important than any of these is that the work force they "manage" (or who manage them) possess the greatest sense of entitlement of any work force with the possible exception of the Trump family. I am talking generally now. There are some good ones and you can spot them -- they are the ones with footprints on their backs.</p><p>So what happens? The problem is that people without management training seem to have no concept of the long term. Sure, when young, vivacious, and perky Daisy asks to teach remotely from Kalamazoo because it would make her life less complicated you say yes. Then grumpy old Victor shows up and wants to teach from Rome because he has heard there are smoking hot chicks there you say no. Then people decide they really would like to teach remotely too because they do not want to risk dying. How do you say no? You can lie, admit you fucked up, or start putting your books in boxes. I do not mean to imply being caught once would do it. It's the accumulation of favors that cannot be generalized. When you give out favors that cannot be generalized it almost always comes back to bite you in the ass. Deans think that by making side deals, they are buying time but, in fact, they are sowing the seeds of the end of their deanships. Bye bye. </p>Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-34576300008416227212020-04-29T17:48:00.002-04:002020-05-06T11:55:50.502-04:00Commercial Arbitration Course<div style="background: white; color: #212121; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hi, I am writing here to rising 2 and 3 Ls in order to bring their attention to a course with the mysterious title "ICAM." That stands for International Commercial Law Moot but that does not tell you much.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first five weeks of the course are devoted the the study of the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the New York Convention, and the UNCITRAL Model Law. The CISG is the actual statutory law of the US and about 90 other countries pertaining to contracts between parties in different countries. You would not believe the number of attorneys who have blundered into attempting to apply the UCC. The CISG is much shorter than Article 2 of the UCC but covers basic contract law questions. At the end of the five weeks there is a short exam.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first Friday in October the international organization in charge of the Moot issues the CSIG problem for the year. It also includes a procedural issue. At that point the class does not meet on a formal basis. We may gather for brainstorming sessions. During that time, students write Claimant's briefs based on the problem. Those are due in mid November. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">At that point students make a 15 minute oral argument based on their brief to me and a couple of others. There is no final exam or further work.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">EXCEPT. Based on the briefs and oral arguments a four-person team will be selected to travel to the international competition in Vienna. The Law School covers all expenses. About 200 teams from 100 countries participate over a five day period in arbitration sessions. It is hard work and great fun. </span></div>
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Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-25469302200897090642020-03-15T18:17:00.002-04:002020-03-15T18:17:48.114-04:00Compensating the Victims of the Ratings Scramble<br />
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Most people know that negative externalities are costs of your activities that you impose on others. With the release of the new US News law school rankings it makes sense to think about whether there are negative externalities stemming from law schools competing with each other to rise in the rankings. And a related question, should those who suffer from these externalities be compensated by those causing them.<br />
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A complete analysis would focus on each factor US News reports considers and there is no denying that some of the pressures are beneficial. On the other hand, suppose a school tries to raise its perception by others. It publishes all kinds of crap in big glossy magazines that typically find their way into the trash without being read. Externalities? Of course. Probably at every stage from printing, delivery, and disposal.<br />
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What concerns me most are the externalities that fall on students. Take my school (I stress only as an example since this practice is evidently widespread) which shot up in the rankings in part due to the decision to lower the number of students from 300 to 180. Applicants now fall into three categories. Some with high LSATs scores are given generous scholarships. I do not know this but I assume some are admitted but receive less generous or no scholarships and rely on loans. And some applicants who would have been admitted<i> but for the rankings</i> are rejected in the interest of upping the average LSAT.<br />
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On top of all this is important to note that LSAT scores are correlated with socioeconomic class meaning that the externalities land disproportionate on those less able to absorb them. Plus, in the case of UF, there is massive excess capacity both with respect to faculty and physical plant. In short the marginal cost of admitting those students is close to zero.<br />
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So what happens to those 120 students per year who would have been admitted but for the rankings? (Please note that I am not worried about those who were made offers and did not come. Instead, these are people who would have accepted their offers.) They will attend another law school, delay admission and go later, or give up on the law schools idea. In all cases they are saddled with a less preferred outcome. In one way or another, the decision to reject them, even though they were acceptable imposes a cost on them. Sure, maybe they would have been admitted and not been subsidized like their privileged high LSAT classmates but Florida was still what they preferred.<br />
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The cost of the rankings is imposed on them as they must move to a less preferred choice. Maybe the other law school is lower ranked, maybe it is more expensive (meaning more student debt), perhaps it is farther from home meaning more expense to travel home over the holidays, perhaps its placement statistics are inferior to Florida, and it is possible that the quality of the teaching is lower than Florida's. Remember, these externalities last beyond three years. If they are at inferior schools, employment opportunities may be fewer and starting salaries lower. The implications could last a life time. And if they postpone law school or not go at all, the externalities are obvious.<br />
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Do any people gain? Sure, accepted students are better off because of efforts to raise bar passage rates and placement numbers and lower competition for jobs. Even with no extra effort one would expect these numbers to improve. Students with high LSATs are better off but they are not responsible for imposing the cost on the 120 who find the door shut. The ones responsible for closing the door and gain by doing so are administrators -- primarily, college Presidents, Provosts, and Deans. Their incomes, statuses, and job opportunities are dependent on having the power to bar qualified students from their favored law school in the interest of increased rankings. BTW, there is no known correlation between a law school's ranking and the quality of the education delivered.<br />
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I suggest that students that would have been admitted but for the ranking race receive compensation for the burdens that have been thrust upon them. I understand this cannot happen so a redistribution from qualified students applying to a school with excess capacity to barely higher LSAT students and administrators (the educational version of the top 1%) will continue.<br />
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Ironically this denial of opportunity takes place in the context of a profession that undeniably has a liberal (but definitely not leftist) slant. It's important to keep in mind the words of Phil Ochs on liberals: "ten degrees to the left of center in good times, ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally."<br />
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<br />Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-45741546682444379432020-03-04T19:52:00.001-05:002020-03-04T22:38:24.862-05:00Killing the Messenger<br />
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When a dean lasts five years at my law school, he or she is evaluated by the faculty in order to determine whether there should be another five years. I note that this evidently has no impact on the actual decision to retain the dean and it's not even clear that such a review complies with University policy.<br />
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In this year's evaluation, there were statements with which you could agree or disagree or anything in between. These questions showed signs of having been drafted by people unaccustomed to writing surveys but I hasten add that his year's committee was pretty much stuck with what prior committees had used. There was also space for comments. The results were mixed. The dean scored high on fund raising and elevating the reputation of the school. She did OK on issues like fairness in salaries and assignments. The comments were also mixed. Many faculty were quite happy with the dean, understood what she faced when coming here, and admired her energy and vision. Other comments were negative and not something many faculty, except for one or two of my more candid colleagues, would have the balls to say directly to anyone unless it was a secretary or grocery bagger. It was all public and some faculty quickly distributed the results to Above the Law and to the students. No doubt this was done to further disparage the dean. My estimate was there were 18 to 23 "haters" -- the title some of us attach to people who found fault with virtually everything. The dean scored weakest on style, transparency, and consulting faculty before making decisions.<br />
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I chose "Killing the Messenger" as the title of this blog because over 5 years the dean delivered a message many faculty did not want to hear. That message was basically that the law school, teetering on the edge of the top 50, was, after being run by the faculty for decades, not such hot shit. The title could have been "You Cannot Handle the Truth." And I could have gone with "Uncapturing the Law School." This was a particular apt title since until the not so new dean arrived, the School was clearly captured and run for the convenience and benefit of the faculty. Some examples are found in a article I wrote several years ago: "Faculty Ethics in Law School: Shirking, Capture, and 'The Matrix'", 83 U. Detroit Mercy L. Rev. 397. You know what I mean: foreign programs that made no sense other than someone wanted to do it; course offerings that were truly vanity courses; voting on tenure and promotion based on friendships or politics; reluctance to review clinical offerings, traveling to conferences on the school's dime when the real purpose was a vacation, starting centers that allowed students to concentrate in a area and receive an unofficial certificate without any proof that these opportunities accrued to the benefit of the students, publicly advertising jobs that did not exist.<br />
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Any of these titles would have worked. There was one comment that captured the sense of most negative comments:"Leave, please, please, please leave our College. Go on your way and leave us." Note the use of "our" and "us." The idea is that the law school is owned and operated for the benefit of faculty In reality the law school's stakeholders are students, taxpayers, and donors. Faculty are just hired hands and what makes them happy may have little to do with what makes the stakeholders better off. Generally trusting faculty to do right by stakeholders at a state school is foolhardy.<br />
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So, let's go back to style, transparency, and consulting. I personally do not understand the style issue but it seems to have something to do with saying fuck, maybe "pounding the table" (whatever that means), or being abrupt. I cannot address the style issue since I have not personally witnessed any of these activities. More interesting is the transparency matter. As far as I know, the dean has taken no major steps without informing the faculty. There were mutterings in the comments about not getting enough information about budgets. As best I can tell, no prior dean explained much about budget matters unless it was bad news with respect to raises or resources. I think the budget questions could be reduced to "you did not spend the money the way I would have" with the "would have" meaning on my pet project.<br />
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Congratulations if you made it this far because if you have followed the gist of this blog, which I assure you is boring me more than you. you may have noted that it comes down to "consulting the faculty." Here it gets tricky. Say the dean makes 4 decisions: a 10% raise for you, no more 7 AM classes, begin having a full range of classes on Friday afternoon, and exams must be anonymously graded. You like the first 2 and hate the second two. The ones you agreed with will get no complaints about consultation. The one you disagree with will irk you because you were not consulted. So really "I was not consulted" often comes down to "I disagree."<br />
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And in this case nearly all the "I was not consulted" versions of saying "I disagree" amount to being unhappy about changing from a sleepy, faculty-run, pet project tolerating, law school effectively "owned' by the faculty to something that is better for actual stakeholders.<br />
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<br />Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11488416.post-91006673798777786842020-01-05T17:17:00.000-05:002020-01-06T16:19:42.066-05:00I'd Do Anything for Rankings But I Won't Do That<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you are a law professor, take a good look at these shorts and assume USNWR added a new category for ranking -- number of faculty wearing see through shorts. If that happened, I promise you that you would be encouraged to wear them. Of course, wearing them would not mean your law school is actually better -- no, but the ranking would be higher and that is infinitely more important than actually being better.<br />
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OK, the shorts example is (I hope) not realistic but if it happened wouldn't we all agree that the rankings had become a joke. This begs the question. Aren't they already a joke? For example, take one of the recent ranking-increasing strategies -- lowering the size of the entering class. At my school the latest move was to lower the entering class from 400 to 300 to 180. And, get this. I am not kidding -- we regard it as a feather in our cap that the percentage of students accepted has gone down. Or to put it more accurately, we take pride in rejecting well-qualified applicants. Yes, we turn more students down not because it makes us a better school or that the public will be better served by fewer students. Naw, it's just to ratchet up our average LSAT scores and GPAs. At UF this is in the context of physical plant that was designed to serve 400 new students each year.<br />
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Think about it. Is a school training 200 students with LSATs averaging 158 somehow inferior to one with 100 students with an LSAT average of 159? By what possible definition is the first school worse than the second. In fact, rather than average LSAT why not rank schools based on the number of students times average LSAT score. (My apologies to utilitarians who see that I have adopted the utilitarian dilemma.)<br />
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It would be unfair to pick on my school. If you look at the selectivity rates recently published over on the <a href="https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/01/aba-509-report-data-selectivity-and-yield.html">tax prof blog</a> my hunch is that UF is far from alone. This ploy of lowering the entering class is off set at many schools by admitting transfer students whose scores do not count in the annual law school evaluations. And then there is counting people as faculty who were not previously faculty, rearranging finances so it appears that expenditures per student go up. (In fairness, I do not know whether my school does any of this.)<br />
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Schools go out in the market for students with high LSATs and GPAs and bid against each other to lure the students. The need of students is irrelevant, rich or poor, if you score high you get the dough. (I cannot prove it but I would bet high scores are correlated with higher socioeconomic class.) Law students are the equivalent of college football players. They are really not wanted because of <i>who</i> they are-- character, experience, probability of doing good deeds upon graduation -- but because of how many games they can win. They are means to an end.<br />
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Law schools now teach to the bar, offer courses on how to pass the bar, and activity discourage students who are at risk when taking the bar. No one knows how many are talked out of taking the bar exam who would have passed had their confidence and self esteem not been undermined. All in the interest of boosting rankings. If it were for the benefit of the students schools would have done it decades ago.<br />
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But is there a limit? I have not seen one yet. I predict that by 2030 the rankings race will tighten as every law school had an enrollment of 1 student with perfect scores, faculty student ratios of 50 to 1, expenditures of 10 million dollars per student, and plastic shorts. There is a good outcome when the rankings are finally regarded as a joke. Maybe law schools will stop spending millions of dollars on personnel, publications, and whatever with the sole purpose of moving up a slot or two.Jeffrey Harrisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11647017160134065739noreply@blogger.com3