Jorg Fedtke (European Union law, comparative law, torts, public law), Professor of Law at University College London, has accepted a senior offer from the law school at Tulane University, where he will start in January 2009.  We had the pleasure of having Professor Fedtke as a visiting professor for a number of years here at UT, so I can speak from some personal knowledge in saying this is a very good appointment for Tulane.  It’s yet a further blow for the UCL law faculty, which seems to be in something of a crisis.  Sir Basil Markesinis, the distinguished authority on European private law, took early retirement from UCL not long ago, and now his successor, Professor Fedtke, is departing.

UPDATE:  A colleague elsewhere in the U.S. points out, fairly enough, that UCL still has the leading environmental law faculty in Britain, which seems right.  He also notes that UCL has just added a leading property theorist, James Penner, from King’s College, London.  On the other hand, the former Dean of the law faculty, Michael Bridge (whom I rather liked during the time I spent there), has decamped for LSE.  So it goes in London!