The Faculty Lounge

Beth McCormack Named Dean of Vermont Law

Vermont Law School has announced that Beth McCormack will be its new dean.  McCormack joined the faculty in 2011 and has served as assistant director of the legal writing program, vice dean of students, deputy vice dean for academic affairs, interim president and dean.  She holds a JD from Vermont Law.   

2023 Emerging Immigration Scholars Conference Call for Proposals

The steering committee for the 2023 Emerging Immigration Scholars Conference is now accepting proposals for works-in-progress or incubator ideas.    

The 2023 Conference will take place June 15 and 16, 2023, at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. If you wish to be considered for a works-in-progress or incubator session, please submit your proposal to emergingimmscholars23@gmail.com. Historically, "emerging" has been interpreted to include scholars with 10 years or less of experience in academia; however, we aim to be more inclusive this year, as this is the first gathering since before the pandemic.

We are also seeking discussants who will read and comment on the works-in-progress or incubator ideas. 

If you want to propose a work-in-progress:

• Please put “ImmProf WIP [Lastname]” as the subject line
  • Please submit an abstract of no more than one page, with a title.

If you want to propose an incubator:
• Please put “Incubator [Lastname]” as the subject line
• Please submit a description of no more than one paragraph, with a title.

If you would be willing to be a discussant:
• Please email us by April 10 with a list of your areas of expertise.

Possibility of virtual attendance for limited sessions:
• We aim to hold this year’s conference entirely in person. However, we might offer virtual options for certain sessions if there are many people who can only attend virtually. If you believe you would only be able to attend or present virtually, please add “VIRTUAL” to your email subject line (i.e., “ImmProf WIP [Lastname] – VIRTUAL.”)

The deadline for submissions is Monday, April 10. We anticipate notifying accepted WIP or incubator proposals by April 24. Final papers will be due on June 1, 2023. Further information about the conference schedule and registration is forthcoming.

Please feel free to email emergingimmscholars23@gmail.com or contact any member of the conference steering committee directly with questions or concerns.

 
Sincerely,

The 2023 Conference Steering Committee:

Cori Alonso-Yoder, George Washington University Law School
Kate Evans, Duke University School of Law
Pedro Gerson, California Western School of Law
Annie Lai, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Tania Valdez, George Washington University Law School
Paulina Vera, George Washington University Law School

Kentucky Law Seeks Visitors in Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Commercial Law + More

THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY ROSENBERG COLLEGE OF LAW invites applications for one or more Visiting Professors for one or two semesters during the 2023-2024 academic year. The College is seeking to fill needs in several areas of law. Key subjects include Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Commercial Law, but we have needs across the curriculum and are therefore interested in considering candidates who teach in areas that are not included in this list of priorities. The successful candidate will teach two courses per semester, for either one or two semesters. The Rosenberg College of Law is an important part of a major research university and offers a collegial and supportive atmosphere for its faculty, staff, and students. Applicants should have a J.D. from an ABA accredited law school, a record of high academic achievement, and teaching or practice experience in the subject area of interest. Salary for this position will be commensurate with experience.

Lexington is in the center of the Bluegrass, an internationally acclaimed cultural landscape, and in close proximity to Louisville and Cincinnati. It is a community of 300,000 and is distinguished by its rating as one of the top 10 most educated cities in the nation (according to the U.S. Census), top 5 cities for young professionals (Kiplinger), top 3 mid-sized cities for lowest cost of living (KPMG LLP), and top 5 cities to raise a family (Forbes). More information on Lexington is available at http://www.visitlex.com and http://www.aceweekly.com.

The University of Kentucky is an Equal Opportunity University that values diversity and inclusion. Individuals with disabilities, individuals from minoritized populations, veterans, women, and members of other underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

To be considered, applicants must apply through the University of Kentucky’s Integrated Employment System. Please include a CV and cover letter along with the application. Please also include contact information for at least three references when prompted in the application system. Applications will be reviewed and accepted until the position is filled, with priority given to applications received by April 7th, 2023.

If you have questions concerning the position, please contact Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Jennifer Bird-Pollan via email at jbirdpollan@uky.edu.

Laura Rosenbury Named President of Barnard College

We're pretty late to the party on this but Barnard College has announced that Laura Rosenbury will be its next president.  Rosenbury is currently dean at Florida Law.  She will assume the Barnard Presidency on July 1, 2023.  

UA Little Rock Names Two Dean Finalists

University of Arkansas Little Rock has announced that their two law school dean finalists are Colin Crawford (Golden Gate University) and Christian Johnson (Widener).

Name Calling at Stanford

The Hill has published my take on the recent incident at Stanford, where students shouted down a federal judge who returned the rudeness in kind.

Here is the gist:

The Hill

Chaos and rudeness at Stanford 

 03/21/23 

It is unusual for a controversial event to end with absolutely everybody looking bad, but that is what happened on March 9 at Stanford University Law School, when the Federalist Society chapter sponsored a talk by Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, an ultra-conservative firebrand appointed by President Trump to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge, the student protesters and an on-scene administrator all played to type, exhibiting arrogance, intolerance, and irresponsibility, respectively, that combined to make the afternoon a fiasco for all concerned.

The loud heckling started almost as soon as Duncan began speaking, frequently drowning him out and making it impossible for the Federalist Society members to hear their guest. The insults ranged from pointed to shockingly vulgar, continuing almost nonstop for about 12 minutes until Duncan asked for an administrator to intervene.

Up stepped Tirien Steinbach, the associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

She commended the protesters for “what is going on here,” took a few more jabs at Duncan, and finally reminded the students that “you do not need to stay” and asked them to “give space” for Duncan to answer questions.

Although the heckling had abated and the most exercised students were gone, Duncan called the remaining questioners “infantile,” “ridiculous” and “a bunch of hypocrites,” singling out one as an “appalling idiot.”

In later interviews, Duncan continued to call the protesters idiots, their tactics “dogshit” and DEI Dean Steinbach “creepy.”

Going forward, perhaps we can hope that students will learn to exercise better judgment. We ought to expect it from administrators. We must demand it from judges.

You can read the entire essay in The Hill (no paywall).

Robert Macomb—Lawyer for the Ages?

In writing Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues, and Heroes Behind New York Place Names I discovered that ran out of space long before I ran out of words. So, I have taken to blogging because there are more stories I want to tell. This is one of them. 

If you drive up FDR Drive on your way to the George Washington Bridge, you will pass Macombs Dam Bridge (at one time there was an apostrophe--Macomb's Dam Bridge because it belonged to Robert Macomb--but the apostrophe was lost to history.) The current iteration of Macombs Dam Bridge is a swing bridge, built in 1896.  At the time, it was the worlds heaviest movable object. It is also very beautiful (photo of Edward Hopper 1935 photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

The story behind the bridge, like so much our our named New York infrastructure, is a window into history.  Few New Yorkers have even heard of the Macomb family, or the outsized role they played in New York and United States history.  While Naming Gotham goes into detail about Alexander Macomb Sr.'s shady financial dealings, and Alexander Macomb Jr.'s military exploits, today I want to talk about the youngest male member of the Macomb clan and his own special brand of sleaze.  Maybe a better name would have been Macombs Damn Bridge

Meet Robert Macomb: Grifter Extraordinaire  

Born in 1783, Robert Macomb was the youngest son of Alexander Macomb Sr., a Revolutionary war-profiter who made a fortune  supplying the British forces in Ohio with food and arms. After the war, Alexander moved his family to New York City where he turned his talents for grift to land speculation. For a brief period Alexander owned most of the Adirondacks, and all of the Thousand Lakes, until his scheme with William Duer to corner the US debt market backfired, causing the Panic of 1792 and landing him in debtors prison.

Despite his father's drama, Robert grew up in the lap of post-revolution luxury. In fact, the Macomb family house became the first official residence for President George Washington. The family enslaved at least 12 Black people, making them the third-largest slaveholders in New York City.

Robert studied law at Columbia. Family political connections got him appointed clerk of the New York criminal court in 1811.
This involved first ousting the sitting clerk, John W. Wyman a move the New York Morning Post called “an instance of injustice and oppression scarcely paralleled in the annals of our state affairs.” (Robert Macomb painting by Edward Green Malbone, CCO, donated to Wikimedia Commons by the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

He didn’t last long in the job.  

In 1817, the New York Evening Post published multiple articles accusing Robert of malfeasance, alleging that Robert was “prostituting” his office as clerk of court “to the vilest, meanest, most mercenary and even dishonest purposes.” Specifically, the paper alleged that Robert sold pardons to convicted criminals, and pocketed fines and bail money paid into the court. Robert brought a libel action and lost spectacularly—the paper’s editor easily persuading a jury to rule in his favor on the ground that that truth was an absolute defense to libel. (People v. William Coleman). Robert was forced to resign his post. Attempts to get him to pay back the money floundered, with the committee formed to recoup funds characterizing Robert as "shuffling and evasive."

 

Forced out of public service, Macomb turned his hand to industrial and land development. Most notably, he obtained legislative approval to build a dam across the Harlem River to power a grist mill his father had build and then lost in bankruptcy. Robert bought it at the Tontine House bankruptcy sale. Article II of the legislative act approving the dam expressly required "[t]hat said dam shall be made and built as to admit the passage of boats and vessels accustomed to navigating the same, by means of a good and sufficient lock, gate, or apron or other contrivance and the said Robert Macomb, his heirs and assigns, at his or their own expense, shall keep and provide a suitable person to attend the same, so that no unnecessary delay may happen to those who may have occasion to pass the same." Article III provided a fine of $5 per instance for every time someone incurred "unnecessary delay." And, he was denied permission to build a toll bridge atop the dam. Robert was never one to let a legal technicality (in this case an express limitation in his legislative deed) stop him from making a buck. So, he built Macombs Dam Bridge without a lock, low enough to block navigation, and then built a toll bridge anyway. 

 After all, when your father’s “mad speculation” caused the Panic of 1792, and you are continually overshadowed by your older brother’s military exploits that helped save the Republic, AND you’ve just been forced out of your cushy government job, why not build an illegal dam and then add an illegal toll bridge on top.

Ah New York  . . .  Lawyers deciding they are above the law.  Real estate developers doing whatever they please, regardless of the public’s interest. Well-connected grifters leveraging old family ties into sinecures and then abusing their authority to line their pockets.  Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.  

Next Installment—The Breaching of  Macombs Dam Bridge—Enter Lewis Gouverneur Morris.

UGA Law Seeks New Faculty for Emerging Scholars Program

This just in:

The University of Georgia School of Law invites applications to join our future law teachers’ program as a Limited Term Assistant or Associate Professor. Positions will begin August 2023 or January 2024, and are limited to two academic years. We welcome candidates with a J.D. who are applying directly from legal practice or from non-traditional professional careers in the legal field. A demonstrated interest in teaching a core course (e.g., any first-year course, criminal procedure, evidence, corporations, bankruptcy, or tax) is preferred. Diversifying faculty is an important strategic goal.

Applicants must be committed to producing world-class scholarship, providing first-rate legal training and engaging in meaningful service. Teaching two courses per academic year will be expected, beginning in the second semester of residence and after consultation with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Interest in pursuing a full-time, permanent job in legal academia and active participation in the Law School’s mentorship and faculty development program will be required.

All applications will be considered until the position is filled. Interested persons should submit a letter of interest and curriculum vitae/resume at https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/306433.

The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity or national origin, religion, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Persons needing accommodations or assistance with the accessibility of materials related to this search are encouraged to contact Central HR hrweb@uga.edu. Please do not contact the department or search committee with such requests.

Introducing Naming Gotham

Thank you Dan and Bridget for inviting me to step into the Faculty Lounge.  I am going to be blogging about my new book Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues, and Heroes Behind New York Place Names. One writing truth that I learned (relearned?) writing is that book publishers are serious about word limits. Unlike a law review article where the word limit is more of a suggestion, my publisher gave me a hard upper limit for words in the book. I ran out of space long before I ran out of words. So, I have taken to blogging because there are more stories I want to tell.

First let me introduce the project.  Then in subsequent blog posts, I will share some of the stories and details that I had to cut from the book because of space constraints.

About Naming Gotham

Each day, millions of people “take” the Major Deegan, the Hutchinson Expressway, the Outerbridge Crossing, and the Holland Tunnel. Few travelers remember that, before these names became an urban shorthand for congestion, they were actual people. This quirky New York City history uses the naming of New York City’s roads, bridges, and civic institutions as a unique window into urban social structure and the City’s ever-changing inhabitants. The lives of Revolutionary War heroes, robber barons and Tammany Hall politicos introduce readers to the outsized roles that power politics, corruption, and the slave economy played and continue to play in New York City.

The names in this book tell only a small sliver of the City’s story. To date, New York City has chosen to commemorate mostly white men. In a city as diverse as New York, that fact is telling. It reflects the historical balance of power in the City—both in terms of who had the power to name things and who got to define what counts as history. As I was researching and writing this book, that began to change. Most significantly, the Shirley Chisholm State Park, named after the first Black woman elected to Congress, opened in 2019. This shift in who the City memorializes reflects the changing narrative that New Yorkers tell themselves about their city. It remains to be seen how this changing story will translate into the policies the City adopts for its schools, its roads, and its neighborhoods.

Here is the short (very funny) book trailer that artist and writer Jeff LaGreca made for Naming Gotham. 

 

The Gambler

Don Schlitz wrote "The Gambler" in 1976, but at age 23 he had few contacts in the music business and could not find anyone to record it for two years. He finally got the attention of Shel Silverstein, who convinced a minor artist named Bobby Bare to release it as a single. That cut went nowhere, but a few other artists, including Johnny Cash, used it on albums. It took Kenny Rogers's single to turn it into a classic, reaching number one on the Country chart in 1978, and afterward taking a place as a staple in both the country and pop songbooks. Gambling has long been a subject in folk and popular music (there are some additional clips at the bottom of this post) but "The Gambler's" refrain is probably the most famous lyric ever written about poker or any other card game.

Hiring Announcement: Georgia Tech (Scheller College of Business)

From an email message I recently received:

The Law and Ethics Area in the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia is seeking to fill one tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor (junior or advanced level) with effective employment starting in fall 2023. The primary duties will be to conduct research, teach at the undergraduate and graduate level, and provide service to the College, the Institute, and the Law and Ethics academic community.  

Candidates should possess demonstrated potential for excellent scholarly research. Candidates should be sufficiently advanced in their work (J.D. required J.D./PhD welcome) and will need to complete their degree(s) by July 01, 2023, which are the minimum requirements for the position. Salary and a teaching load of three courses per year are competitive with leading research universities. 

The Georgia Tech Scheller Law and Ethics Area consists of 4 tenure-track and two non-tenure track faculty. They have diverse backgrounds and pursue a variety of research interests including artificial intelligence, corporate law, business ethics, cybersecurity, intellectual property, privacy, tax and other areas at the intersection of law and business. The faculty publish in the premier outlets and collaborate with disciplines in Georgia Tech’s other highly rated colleges.  

The Scheller College of Business’ Full-time MBA Program is ranked #4 among public universities by Bloomberg BusinessWeek (2022) and #9 U.S. News & World Report (2023). Its undergraduate program ranks #19. Georgia Tech is one of the nation’s leading research universities and consistently ranks among the top public universities in the country with its computer science program ranked #5 for undergraduate and #6 graduate studies. Atlanta is the 8th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and serves as a cultural and economic hub for the region. 

LSU Law Seeks Visiting Professors

This just in:

The Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center seeks visiting professors for the 2023-2024 academic year to teach Business Associations I (fall and spring) and Business Associations II (spring).  Additional courses, such as Mergers & Acquisitions or Securities Regulation will also be considered. Interested individuals should email Pamela Hancock at phancock@lsu.edu for more information, as well as to obtain a link and instructions for uploading a CV and cover letter.
 
LSU is committed to providing equal opportunity for all qualified persons in admission to, participation in, or employment in the programs and activities which the University operates without regard to race, creed, color, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, or veteran’s status. LSU is committed to diversity and is an equal opportunity/ equal access employer. LSU believes diversity, equity, and inclusion enrich the educational experience of our students, faculty, and staff, and are necessary to prepare all people to thrive personally and professionally in a global society.

Notre Dame Law Religious Liberty Clinic Seeks Transactional Fellows

This just in:

Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic is currently recruiting two talented junior attorneys to serve as legal fellows to help lead our transactional work in the Clinic.

These fellows will work alongside faculty and staff in the Clinic to mentor Notre Dame Law School students and to oversee their work advising religious organizations on an array of transactional matters, including issues related to real estate, tax structuring, and employment and management policies. Fellows will serve for a term of 1-2 years, and the fellowship will provide them with the opportunity to work under the guidance of the Clinic's experienced attorneys as they develop their own careers in service of religious or other non-profit organizations.    

Fellows will assist in all aspects of the Clinic’s transactional work, though the Clinic is recruiting for two positions: one with an emphasis on tax-related matters and a second with an emphasis on real-estate transactions.

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply to both positions. You may do so using the links provided below. The application period closes on Friday, March 31.

The application link for the tax fellow can be found here.

The application link for the real estate fellow can be found here.

Elaine Gagliardi Named Dean of Montana Law

The University of Montana School of Law has announced that Elaine Gagliardi will be its new dean.  She has served as interim dean since June 2022 and has been a faculty member at the school since 1995.  Gagliardi, who holds a JD from Montana Law, will also oversee the University of Montana's Department of Public Administration and Policy.

Yale Journal of Law & Feminism Symposium 3/31 - Meeting the Moment: Legal Frameworks for Feminist Futures

The Yale Journal of Law & Feminism invites you to register for its symposium: Meeting the Moment: Legal Frameworks for Feminist Futures. This event will be held on Friday, March 31—the last day of Women’s History Month—at Yale Law School from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public. 

Both globally and domestically, trans and nonbinary people, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and racially subjugated groups are under attack from political regimes hostile to our rights and liberation. Against this backdrop, it is vital that we envision and build feminist futures. The purpose of this symposium is to grapple with the relationship between feminist legal theory and practice, with an eye toward what you can do to meet the moment. We’re bringing preeminent feminist scholars together with legal advocates and practitioners to discuss some of the most pressing issues of our times. We hope you’ll join the conversation.

Meeting the Moment

Legal Frameworks for Feminist Futures

(This schedule is tentative. More speakers will be added!)

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Registration & Breakfast

(Registration will be open all day.)

Morning Panels

 

9:00 a.m. – 10:10 a.m.

 

We, the Feminists

The Symposium’s opening panel will reflect on how the field of feminist legal thought emerged and grapple with the question of which groups of people have been integral, or marginal, to its development.

Sarah Deer

University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas and Chief Justice for the Prairie Island Indian Community Court of Appeals

Deborah Dinner

Professor of Law at Cornell School of Law

Joanna L. Grossman

Ellen K. Solender Endowed Chair in Women and the Law and Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law

Serena Mayeri

Professor of Law & History at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School