Archive for June, 2009

In a stunning, heartbreaking and utterly tragic announcement for those who need their daily chicken avocado wrap, Yale Dining Services announced today that undergraduates on University meal plans will no longer be allowed to swipe at the Law School Dining Hall beginning this fall.

In an e-mail message to students, the executive director of dining services, Rafi Taherian, also announced several other changes, including improved buttery menus and the opening of a new “healthy, natural and sustainable convenience store.” In addition, Flex Points — renamed “Dining Points” — can now only be used on campus and not at Wall Street Pizza or Yorkside Pizza & Restaurant, where they previously had been accepted.

“Some of these changes, which come as a direct result of the financial challenges the university is facing, will have an impact in the way your meal plan is structured and we feel it’s important to keep you in the loop throughout this process,” Taherian wrote.

[Yale Daily News]

Dear Editor:

I write today because recently published articles threaten to tarnish the University of Illinois College of Law’s deserved stature in the eyes of the state’s citizens and within the larger academy, and they thus call for an immediate public response.

Contrary to recent headlines, the College of Law did not seek or receive any jobs from anyone in exchange for the admission of students. It did not enter into a “jobs-for-entry scheme” or engage in quid-pro-quo exchanges of admissions favors for employment favors. Indeed, it takes very little to make clear that the employment challenges of students who are not academically successful could never be overcome by anyone’s promises to furnish the College with job opportunities, as the recently published exchanges should have made clear. While my sarcasm was clearly lost on the tin ears of some reporters, my email exchanges in response to queries about this were on their face facetious.

[News-Gazette]

A task force of legal experts and community leaders will help Sen. Herb Kohl evaluate Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Kohl meets with the 11-member bipartisan panel at the Marquette University Law School.

President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor in May. She would be the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.

Sotomayor’s nomination hearings are scheduled to begin July 13 before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kohl and fellow Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold sit on that committee.

Both senators voted to confirm Sotomayor in 1998 when President Bill Clinton nominated her for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

[620WTMJ]

Citing personal and medical reasons, Mark Sargent has resigned as dean of Villanova University School of Law, effective immediately, the school said Tuesday.

In a statement, the school said Sargent offered his resignation Monday. University President Peter Donohue has appointed Associate Dean Doris DelTosto Brogan as acting dean.

Sargent had been Villanova Law’s dean since 1997, when he joined the school after service as a professor and associate dean at University of Maryland School of Law. He also taught at the law schools of American University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Baltimore. He was the longest-tenured law school dean among the six local schools.

[Philadelphia Business Journal]

Given the discouraging numbers, both law schools have been offering increased job resources to new graduates and alumni laid off due to the recession.

UW hosted a job fair in April that brought in 35 employers with temporary volunteer opportunities for unemployed graduates. Heymann said the school set aside $40,000 to provide small stipends for graduates who work as part-time volunteers for at least 10 weeks.

“It’s about $1,000 for graduates willing to volunteer with government agencies, district attorney’s offices or non-profit groups,” she said. “[But] it’s a way to stay connected and network until they hopefully find a full-time job.”

So far, 21 graduates have been “hired” as volunteers as a result of the job fair. Kidd originally interviewed with several agencies, including the Outagamie District Attorney’s Office, before securing a full-time paid position with Community Advocates.

Kidd, who makes $35,000/year, works with two other attorneys, primarily helping people appeal social security disability benefits denials.

[Wisconsin Law Journal]

I would be happy to clarify with the faculty any facts regarding my termination. I would be pleased to meet with you and set the record straight. The statements attributed to Mary Dempsey, John Simon and and Helmut Epp are misleading if not outright false, and I would happy to clarify what actually occurred in regard to every matter..

For now, let me assure you that I did not make unauthorized tenured offers. Early in the process I cleared these appointments with Kelly Johnson, and I have the e-mail to prove it. We also reported early in the process in writing that we would be making lateral, tenured appointments. New hiring protocols were subsequently rolled out this year, but we had already complied with them. Brian Havel is quite familiar with our compliance. Without checking the record, Provost Epp sent me an e-mail while I was at the AALS meeting in San Diego instructing me to rescind or withdraw our four offers within 24 hours and to demonstrate I had done so by sending him tracking receipts. I responded by e-mail and told him I would not do so. I frankly spent several days thinking I would be fired. When I returned to Chicago, I met with the provost, and he backed down. To suggest that this is a basis for my termination is false and disingenuous. Yes, I admit that many deans would have terminated the offers as directed to save their jobs, but in this case, the only thing I am guilty of is standing up to an abuse of authority. [...]

[TaxProf]

A second Miss Georgia has been crowned in two days.

One day after winning the title Saturday night at the annual pageant in Columbus, Gwinnett County school teacher Kristina Higgins relinquished the post, now filled by the runnerup, Emily Cook, a Marietta law student.

Higgins said she stepped down because her responsibilities as a middle school would not leave her time she would need to serve as Miss Georgia.

Cook was informed Sunday that she was the winner after Higgins turned down the prize.

The 22-year-old Cook is a recent graduate of the University of Miami and had been accepted into University of Georgia’s Law School. Instead she’ll be competing for the Miss America crown in January in Las Vegas.

[Macon News]