Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports

News and views about law school and law

  • Berlin and Hart, now Fuller and Kelsen

    I was teaching Kelsen last year (a big chunk of the 2nd edition of the Pure Theory), and while doing background research I came across this remarkable story (that called to mind Isaiah Berlin’s infamous “recommendation” of H.L.A. Hart). Roscoe Pound at Harvard Law School had, correctly, identified Hans Kelsen as the preeminent figure in…

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  • Rome redux

    As I noted, I was in Rome last week for a day-long workshop (which was great), but also had an opportunity to be a tourist. My wife and I have been to Rome at least four times over the last 30+ years, so we long ago exhausted the “obvious” attractions. Here’s three we saw last…

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  • DOJ’s Civil Rights Division now accuses UCLA Law of race discrimination in admissions

    DOJ announcement here.

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  • This is why things have been a bit quieter here…

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  • Do as I say, not as I do

    Via Moti Gorin: “At Dartmouth, Dr. Schnell’s A.I. use in public writing came up in an investigation in August by the news site Semafor about A.I.-created writing appearing in the opinion pages of major publications. That investigation said an Aug. 9 commentary by Dr. Schnell [the Dartmouth Provost] in The Washington Post was written by…

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  • Claude writes a law review article…

    …with a prompt and a blog post from Will Baude.

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  • A survey of academics about their AI use…

    …from Oxford University Press. Does this ring true to readers based on their experiences?

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  • 2026 Kluge Prize for the “Study of Humanity” goes to Martha Nussbaum

    I’m pleased to report that my friend and colleague Martha Nussbaum has been awarded this year’s Kluge Prize. Past philosophy winners include Anthony Appiah, Charles Taylor, and Jurgen Habermas. (Martha joked with me a few days ago that she hoped Trump wouldn’t try to take over the Library of Congress after this, but I assured…

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  • ABA actually proposes “deregulation” on certain fronts

    Lawprof Derek Muller (Notre Dame) comments.

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  • Lateral hires in law with tenure or on tenure-track, 2026-27

    These are non-clinical/non-LRW appointments that will take effect in summer or fall 2027 (except where noted); (new additions will be in bold.)  Last year’s list is here.  *Yonathan Arbel (commercial law, consumer law, law & economics, AI & law) from the University of Alabama to the University of Miami. *Sherif Girgis (constitutional law & theory,…

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  • UCLA Law School hosts a conference on the legal consequences of the response to 9/11…

    …on the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Right-wing garbage media go crazy, and UCLA Chancellor issues statement condemning the event at his own law school! UCLA law faculty issue their own statement in response. The Chancellor should resign, he has no business leading a serious research university.

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  • Dear AALS, your site isn’t working properly

    I’m trying to register, which requires me to update my password, but when I do that, I get a message of “error, token not recognized.” Please fix if you would like people to register!

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  • Does AI really pose an existential risk?

    MOVING TO FRONT FROM SEPTEMBER 14–UPDATED This is much in the news now. One “godfather” of AI, Yann LeCunn, famously thinks they are overblown, while another, Geoffrey Hinton, disagrees. This Axios piece offers a simple overview [link fixed]. This law professor thinks the “existential” risks are a bit of a distraction from much more immediate…

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  • In Memoriam: Paul Bender (1933-2026)

    Professor Bender, well-known for his work in constitutional law and also Federal Indian law, taught for more than two decades at the University of Pennsylvania, before becoming Dean at Arizona State University, where he spent the remainder of his academic career. The ASU memorial notice is here. (Thanks to Art Hinshaw for the pointer.)

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  • In Memoriam: Thomas S. Ulen (1946-2026)

    A leading figure in law and economics, Professor Ulen was a longtime faculty member at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was emeritus. My colleague Lisa Bernstein kindly shared this memorial notice from Nuno Garoupa, the President of the European Association of Law and Economics: It is with great sadness that we share…

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  • Trump DOJ accuses Berkeley Law of race discrimination in admissions

    Story here.

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  • Scam watch: “Book Carnival”

    Linguist Geoffrey Pullum (Edinburgh) shares another: The WAMC scam is aimed at tempting authors to think they have a publicity opportunity. A recent novel version of it involves an independently established website rather than one filched from some other organization. Yet it is just as much of a fraud. I recently received an email containing a polished and glowing summary of…

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  • How often is AI being used to write (some or all of) law review articles in top law reviews in 2026?

    Julian Nyarko took a look. From his summation of his findings (using Pangram, whose reliability he describes): In 2025, AI use was rare: 9 out of 273 articles (3.3%) have any AI signal, with 5 articles (1.8%) containing an estimated share of AI-generated words exceeding 5%. The estimated share of AI written words across all…

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  • In Memoriam: Robert Alexy (1945-2026)

    Professor Alexy, who was emeritus at the University of Kiel in Germany (where he spent most of his academic career), was better-known and quite influential throughout the civil law world (and especially in South America) for his formal theory of proportionality and balancing in constitutional adjudication. He was also a defender of an anti-positivist theory…

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  • One *real* radio book show flags the scamers impersonating them

    Useful about how these scams work. As this radio station notes, you can report these emails to the Federal Trade Commission: reportfraud.ftc.gov. I assume you should just forward the scammer’s email. (Thanks to Sebastian Greve for the pointer.)

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  • Scam watch continues: fake offers to translate

    Philosopher Eric Winsberg shares this gem. He contacted the real Professor Bernofsky at her university email address who confirmed this is a fraud (note, once again, the gmail address): From: Susan Bernofsky <bernofskysusan@gmail.com>Sent: 27 August 2026 07:50To: Eric Winsberg [omitted]Subject: A German-language opportunity for *Philosophy and Climate Science* Dear Eric, Your book Philosophy and Climate…

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  • “What do you do when you do jurisprudence? Challenges and New Paths”

    MOVING TO FRONT–THIS EVENT IS COMING UP NEXT WEEK This upcoming roundtable at the UK chapter of the IVR (the international association for legal philosophy), organized by Daniel Murata (Surrey), will be online, for those who might be interested:

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  • The latest transparent scam (from a gmail address, of course, using a real journalist’s name)

    In today’s inbox (at least this scammer puts the $$$ request up front): From: Stig Abell <stigabell.timesradio@gmail.com>Date: August 31, 2026 at 10:08:54 AM CDTTo: Brian Leiter <bleiter@uchicago.edu>Subject: Invitation to discuss From a Realist Point of View on Times Radio Dear Professor Leiter, I hope you’re well. I’m Stig Abell, a host and broadcaster with Times Radio.…

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  • Trump Administration targets ABA’s role as an “accreditor” of law schools

    CHE reports: A report from the Education Department is recommending that the accrediting arm of the American Bar Association lose its federal recognition. If approved, the accrediting agency, called the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, would no longer be eligible to serve as a gatekeeper of federal financial…

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  • UChicago Booth School of Business professor seems, shall we say, surprisingly productive

    Oh boy.

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  • Universities get a (partial) reprieve on the 100k H-1B visas, but international students will still face potential obsctacles

    IHE reports: After a federal court struck down the Trump administration’s effort to levy a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, the Department of Homeland Security is trying a different approach to impose a similar fee.  Under a proposal released Monday, new H-1B visa petitions will have to pay $103,265 in addition to the…

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  • Law schools that produce the most law professors, 2017-2026 (both gross and “per capita” as it were)

    Courtesy of Derek Muller. About what I would have expected, although Stanford’s recent performance is better than its historical performance (perhaps the change to USNEWS.com rankings several years ago which pushed Stanford to #1 and demoted Harvard to #5 have helped). I do expect Yale’s numbers to drop in the coming years. UPDATE: A more…

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  • Chicago Alumni and Fellows on the law teaching market, 2026-27

    MOVING TO FRONT FROM AUG 14 This post is strictly for schools that expect to do hiring this year. In order to protect the privacy of our candidates, please e-mail me to get a copy of the narrative profiles of our candidates who are on the entry-level market this year and participating in the FAR.…

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  • In Memoriam: Randal C. Picker (1959-2026) (UPDATED)

    I’m very sorry to have to report the sudden death yesterday of my esteemed colleague Randy Picker, who was well-known for his work on antitrust, bankruptcy, and intellectual property, among other topics. A triple Chicago grad (B.A., M.A. in economics, J.D.), he clerked for Richard Posner, and joined the Chicago faculty in 1989 after practicing…

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  • First FAR distribution has 380 candidates…

    …which is down slightly from last year. There were about the same number of jobs advertised in the first placement bulletin as last year. For amusement, I looked at the CVs of the 16 candidates who listed “Jurisprudence” as one of their preferred subjects. Of these, I would say two were qualified to teach legal…

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  • In Memoriam: Russell L. Weaver (1952-2026)

    Professor Weaver, who spent his academic career at the Univeristy of Louisville (with some visiting stints elsewhere), was a scholar of administrative law, law & technology, and the First Amendment, but may have been best known for his work with S.E.A.L.S. over many years. The S.E.A.L.S. memorial notice is here.

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  • 2003 survey of 150 leading legal academics evaluating faculty quality

    Someone should really do this again, since U.S. News reputational surveys are done so poorly. The Survey and the MethodBetween March 3 and March 21, 2003, more than 150 leading legal scholars from around the nation completed the most thorough evaluation of American law faculty quality ever undertaken.  Scholars were invited to participate in the…

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  • SCOTUS clerkship placement, 1991 through 2005 (from 1/16/2006)

    A propos this, here is an old study of placement in SCOTUS clerkships for 15 terms. Because of the small number of clerks chosen in a given year; because clerks are only chosen from the very top of any law school’s class; because current clerks participate in the process of selecting new clerks; and because…

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  • I am no longer using Twitter, I am back on Bluesky

    I will post links to the blog there, so if you followed me on Twitter, please follow me on Bluesky (if you are on Bluesky). I only returned to Twitter last year when the prior blog service provider shut down, and I moved to WordPress, and wanted to popularize the new location. That effort has…

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  • Illinois-Penn Seminar in Legal Theory on Zoom invites inquiries about attending

    Leo Katz (Penn) and Michael Moore (Illinois, formerly Penn) shared this announcement: This year’s iteration of the annual Zoom-only Illinois/Penn Legal Theory Seminar taught by Leo Katz and Michael Moore will be devoted to a chapter-by-chapter examination of a new book by Heidi Hurd and Michael Moore, The Morality of the Criminal Law (Edward Elgar…

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  • 2014 Scholarly Impact study: most cited faculty by area

    A propos this, here’s another older scholarly impact study (from June 2014): The last scholarly impact study, from 2012, conducted by Prof. Greg Sisk and colleagues at St. Thomas, using the methodology I have used previously, did not include a breakdown of highly cited faculty in various areas of specialization (as we had done in…

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  • “The Collective: Women in Legal Philosophy”

    Information about this organization and its events here. As legal philosopher Barbara Baum Levenbook (a member of the Executive Committee) wrote to me: The mission of The Collective is to promote and support women in legal philosophy and legal theory (broadly defined) who have a commitment to analytical methodology.  The Collective began in 2022 as the brainchild of…

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  • 10 lateral moves announced in 2025-26 that made law professors take notice

    Based on my in-box and conversations with others, these were 10 moves that transpired this past year that were thought to be the biggest hiring coups: *Alejandro Camacho (environmental law, natural resources law) from the University of California, Irvine to the University of California, Los Angeles (effective January 2026). *Katherine Mims Crocker (constitutional law) from…

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  • Illinois Institute of Technology declares “financial exigency” and begins firing faculty, including tenured faculty

    Up to one-third of the faculty may be terminated, although in the law school, Chicago-Kent, it appears the number is lower (maybe one-fifth by some accounts). If readers have more details, please email me. The main source of the budgetary crisis is the decline in the enrollment of international students, no doubt due to Trump…

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  • Blast from the past: when Penn abolished the right to extramural speech for faculty

    Back in 2024.

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