Of Academic Interest
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Is a law degree “worth” the cost in terms of return-on-investment?
The answer is still “emphatically” yes. Lawprof Sloan Speck reviews some recent research on the topic; an excerpt: Among eighteen graduate degrees, law provided the third-highest return to earnings (59%) and cost-adjusted returns (41%). Only medicine and pharmacy provided higher returns. Similar patterns held for gains in net present earnings (41% for law) and internal rate of return (22%).…
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Texas A&M Law “on the move”
I’m not talking about its much-improved USNews.com rank, which may help with student recruitment, but doesn’t mean anything. I’m talking about the faculty hiring bonanza that has seen the recruitment in recent years of William Sage (health law) from UT Austin, Neil Siegel (constitutional law) from Duke and, most recently, Larry Solum (constitutional law &…
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Twitter redux
Since I changed blog platforms, I’ve been back on the Twitter/X platform to try to get the word out about the new URL for the blog. This has reminded me, alas, of my prior observations about Twitter, all of which remain true unfortunately. Interacting with the members of the Strauss cult in recent days brought…
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Law professors write to the dishonorable Brendon Carr…
…the FTC Chair who is neither a public servant nor a good faith actor, or this letter would not be necessary.
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Even judges cannot figure out whether lawyers are incompetent or using AI!
Philosophy graduate student Charles Bakker sends me this interesting article from Canada about an “Ontario lawyer [who] filed seven completely fake quotations from court cases to a judge while arguing in court, but claims it was human error and not artificial intelligence tools behind it. A skeptical judge wonders if the lawyer’s claim makes things…
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New in online scams: “book clubs” that want to feature your recently published academic book (UPDATED)
I received the following regarding my new book: From: Heather Podruchny <info.sf.bestseller.book.club@gmail.com>Sent: Sunday, March 8, 2026 5:56 PMTo: Brian Leiter <bleiter@uchicago.edu>Subject: Invitation: Analyzing the “Realist Point of View” with the SF Bestseller Book Club Dear Brian Leiter, I hope this finds you well. My name is Heather Podruchny, and I’m the organizer of the SF…
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Being a law Dean in the age of AI
Dan Rodriguez, the former Dean at Northwestern and San Diego, comments.
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“The finance industry is a grift”
(MOVING TO FRONT, THIS MAY NOT HAVE PUBLISHED PROPERLY THE FIRST TIME) It’s not every day that the NYT publishes an article by an economist arguing that one of the main industries in NYC is a “grift.” Since many law professors study this “grift,” I’m curious to hear why the author is wrong or right.…
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The Mellon Foundation’s campaign to destroy the humanities?
From Tyler Harper in The Atlantic: Today, no single entity, including the federal government, has a more profound influence on the fiscal health and cultural output of the humanities than the Mellon Foundation. The National Endowment for the Humanities’ grant budget was $78 million in 2024 (its overall budget was less than half of what…
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Ambitious class action lawsuit against academic publishers dismissed
Here. (Earlier coverage.)
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Why the big decline in JD students transferring to another law school?
Lawprof Derek Muller explores some possible reasons. Comments are open here for those with additional hypotheses or thoughts.
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New Arkansas Law Dean has offer rescinded…
…after threats from state legislators to cut funding to the school in Fayetteville. Why? The candidate, Professor Emily Suski, had signed an amicus brief on behalf of transgender athletes. Not a good look for Arkansas, and it raises a serious question about who would want the job given this?
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Babies have an innate sense for numbers
Philosophers Jake Beck and Sam Clarke discuss the evidence (with reference to Plato, of course).
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Texas ousts the ABA from any role in lawyer admissions
The Texas Supreme Court will create its own list of accredited law schools whose graduates may practice in the state. Admittedly, Texas has not in recent years been at the forefront of human progress, but in this case, they may be the canary in the coal mine. Perhaps this will encourage the ABA’s Council on…
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“The Lost Generation,” i.e., white guys who couldn’t get jobs they once might have gotten, starting around 2014
Several readers sent this article which clearly describes a real phenomenon, although I’m skeptical 2014 is the relevant start date, although the “Great Awokening” circa 2011 certainly accelerated an existing trend (2014 was also, perhaps not coincidentally, the year the online philosophy profession went crazy). But the article does adduce some striking numbers: White men…
The Wisconsin legislature made UW system implement post-tenure (5-year) reviews several years ago. The statutory requirements were fed into the…