Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports

News and views about law school and law

  • More on the Franke case

    Steven Lubet, an emeritus law professor at Northwestern, has a piece at CHE with the unfortunate title, "No, Katherine Franke was not fired," which presumably was not his doing.  It's an unfortuante title since, as Professor Lubet fully acknowledges, "There is no way to know the details of Franke’s negotiation with the Columbia administration, which…

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  • More than 50 Columbia Law faculty call for a University Senate investigation regarding the treatment of Katherine Franke

    The full letter is here:  Download CLS faculty letter re Franke case As the letter aptly states: We do not know the full details of Franke’s disciplinary case; we hold a wide range of views on the recent protests, the University’s response, and the underlying conflict in the Middle East; and we have no common…

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  • What articles in general jurisprudence from the first quarter-century of the 21st-century should you read?

    Readers who want to keep abreast of what's going on in general jurisprudence (questions about law "in general," i.e., the nature of law and legal reasoning, the relationship between law and morality) occasionally ask what articles they should read from the "recent" literature or from the 21st-century.  I thought I'd check Google Scholar citations, and…

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  • Columbia law professor Katherine Franke forced to retire

    The NYT story is here, which recounts the relevant events precipitating this rather shocking outcome: A smelly substance had been released on pro-Palestinian students during a rally demanding the university divest from Israel. One student who was suspended in connection with the incident — and who subsequently sued the university — was identified as a…

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  • In Memoriam: Henry P. Monaghan (1934-2025)

    Professor Monaghan, who taught for more than forty years at Columbia Law School (and, before that, at Boston and Cornell Universities), was a leading authority on constitutional law and federal courts.  The CLS memorial notice is here.

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  • In Memoriam: George L. Priest (1947-2024)

    Professor Priest, a leading figure in law and economics, taught for many years at Yale, and before that at UCLA and the University of Puget Sound.  The Yale memorial notice is here. (Thanks to Daniel Crane for the pointer.)

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  • Law professors reading Marx

    A nice note from a law professor elsewhere: I wanted to pass on a note thanking you for your marvelous book with Jaime Edwards on Marx. The explanation of ideas is lucid and exactly what this non-expert needed as a clear and comprehensive introduction. Like many, I have read at one time the Manifesto and bits…

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  • Decline in Black and Hispanic students at elite law schools in the wake of SCOTUS decision

    Some details here.  Corporate America's commitment to "diversity" still seems to be strong, which leads me to think that insofar as clients demand "diverse" teams of attorneys from law firms, law firms will recruit more aggressively at schools outside the top ranks to find suitable candidates.  (I was amused the reporter used the even more…

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  • Projecting next year’s USNews.com law school rankings

    Derek Muller offers another prognosis, based on the existing formula and the public data.  Fluctuations in reputation scores, which do occur, will change the final results.  One thing we know from the past is that the "overall" rankings starts to influence the reputational survey rankings.   Will this start to affect schools like Columbia and NYU…

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  • Amy Wax threatens to sue Penn if the sanctions are not lifted

    Here's the lawyer's letter.  The breach of contract claim is straightforward, and she should prevail on it given the AAUP principles to which the university has committed itself:  as I've noted before, the University has made clear they are punishing her for her lawful but offensive extramural speech.   The letter's claim of race discrimination strikes…

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  • 20 most cited International Law/National Security/Foreign Affairs Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the twenty most-cited law faculty working in international law, national security law and/or foreign affairs law in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then). …

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  • Total law school applicants up 25% this year (and applications are up 35%)!

    A "Trump bump" no doubt!  This is good news for those who expect to be looking for law teaching jobs next year:  since most schools are tuition-dependent, a significant increase in applicants means schools can plan to hire.

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  • In Memoriam: Joan Shaughnessy (1953-2024)

    Professor Shaughnessy, well-known for her work in civil procedure, taught for nearly forty years at Washington & Lee University, where she was emerita.  There is an obituary here.

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  • What’s going on at St. Thomas in Miami?

    This account comes from a lawyer for the plaintiff, but the allegations recounted are rather concerning!  (Earlier coverage.) (Thanks to Paul Caron for calling this to my attention.)

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  • 10 most-cited Health Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023 (CORRECTED)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited health law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty for whom…

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  • Jones v. Vladeck

    Apparently things got a little heated at a panel on judicial independence at the Federalist Society national meeting last week.  Judge Edith Jones of the 5th Circuit took exception to Professor Steve Vladeck's criticisms of judge-shopping, especially vis-a-vis "the Supreme Court of Amarillo," as it's known on Twitter/X in lawprof circles.  Judge Jones did not…

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  • I’m moving from Twitter/X to Bluesky

    If you use X or similar social media to follow the blog, please follow me there.  Thank you. ADDENDUM:  Here's why you should move too:   Musk is manipulating the algorithms on his platform in service of Trump and the Republicans. ANOTHER:  Join the exodus to Bluesky: The platform formerly regarded [by ignoramuses-ed.] as a utopian…

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  • 15 most cited Law & Economics faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023 (CORRECTED)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the fifteen most-cited law faculty in law & economics (including behavioral law & economics) in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are…

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  • 10 most-cited Election Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023 (CORRECTED)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited election law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty for whom…

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  • The study of philosophy in law schools, and JD/PhDs in philosophy, 2024 edition

    For those who might be interested.

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  • AALS Faculty Study

    Coming soon.  I'll be participating in an online webinar on November 20 with BU Dean Onwuachi-Willig, AALS President and Dean Melanie Wilson, and LSAC CEO Kellye Testy about the report.  Research Katie Kempner will also present an overview of the study findings.  

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  • $45 million estate bequest to University of Washington’s law school

    A substantial gift, although fairly narrowly targetted in its purpose. (Thanks to Rob Grant for the pointer.)

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  • UC San Francisco (formerly Hastings) sees huge increase in applications…

    …thanks, it appears, to its most famous alumna.  Now I wonder whether Trump had a similar effect on Wharton applications?

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  • “Law and Historical Materialism”

    An interesting symposium at Jack Balkin's blog on a recent paper by legal historian Jeremy Kessler.  I found the contributions by Benkler and Syed most interesting, albeit misguided, and I thought Professor Kessler's responses were judicious and sensible.  Professor Kessler has done a real service in debunking the CLS critique of Marx, which was never taken…

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  • 10 most-cited Labor & Employment Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited labor and/or employment law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty…

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  • Trends in lateral hiring, 2019-2024

    Lawprof Derek Muller analyzes data from this blog.  It would be interesting to see how the lateral numbers compare to faculty size.  Bear in mind, too, that a school like Harvard, which had "zero" lateral moves from Harvard to another school in the last five years, did have many retirements, and sometimes lateral hires are…

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  • 10 most cited Family Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023 (CORRECTED AGAIN)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited family law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty for whom…

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  • 18% surge in registration for the LSAT

    A good sign for law schools, but also for those seeking law teaching jobs going forward.

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  • NY law firm drops client, Columbia lawprof Katherine Franke, when her views attract public criticism…

    …and the partner who was representing Professor Franke quits the firm, while Profesor Frank has filed an ethics complaint with the NY Bar.  Pretty slimy way to treat a client!

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  • 10 most-cited Legal History faculty in U.S. law schools, 2019-2023 (2nd CORRECTION)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited U.S. law faculty writing on legal history for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty for…

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  • JD/PhDs by PhD field

    Andrew Granato, a JD/PhD student at Yale, has compiled data from PrawfsBlog about all PhDs hired in law schools over the last 15 years, more or less.   This includes folks hired into non-US law schools. Here's the breakdown by PhD discipline: Political Science (71) Economics (65) History (59) Philosophy (48) Sociology (32) STEM fields (19)…

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  • 10 most cited Legislation (incl. statutory interpretation & legislative process) law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023 (CORRECTED–ONE ADDITION)

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited U.S. law faculty writing on legislation (including statutory interpretation and legislative process). for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to…

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  • More on the ABA’s proposed revisions to its former “diversity” standard

    Following up on last week's post, Dan Rodriguez, the former Dean at Northwestern, offers some thoughts of his own, and sheds interesting light on how the ABA "diversity" standard worked in practice.

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  • “The Law and Philosophy of Academic Freedom”

    Providence College has made available a video of a public lecture I gave last week, which may be of iterest to some readers.

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  • Opposition to ABA’s proposal to revamp its “diversity and inclusion” standards in the wake of SCOTUS decision in SFFA

    As Karen Sloan reports for Reuters: The proposed new standard—renamed the “access to legal education and the profession” standard—eliminates references to race, ethnicity and gender and instead requires law schools to provide access to “persons including those with identities that historically have been disadvantaged or excluded from the legal profession.” A letter from 44 Deans…

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  • 20 most cited Corporate Law & Securities Regulation faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023

    The Blog Emperor has the details.  Those are some big numbers!  Their Dean Ken Randall is experienced and savvy (he oversaw Alabama's rise to distinction in the early 2000s), but will have his work cut out for him. Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the twenty most-cited law corporate law & securities faculty…

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  • The new timetable of the law school hiring market

    Because I've been working with Chicago alums and fellows on the teaching market since 2008 (and doing the same at UT Austin before that), I've been witness to the changing timetable since the pandemic killed the "meat market" in Washington, DC (thank goodness!) and Zoom took over.  Here's my perception, but I've opened comments for…

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  • Academic freedom abolished at Penn

    IF YOU ARE COMING HERE VIA THE DISHONEST RICHARD PAINTER, SCROLL DOWN TO THE 6/12/2025 UPDATE. The University of Pennsylvania has sanctioned Amy Wax for her offensive extramural speech, even though it is clearly protected under the applicable AAUP standards governing extramural speech (earlier coverage).  (The sanction does not involve revocation of tenure, but rather…

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  • 10 most cited Tax Law faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited law tax law faculty in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.    Faculty for…

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  • 10 most cited Law & Philosophy faculty in the U.S., 2019-2023

    Based on the latest Sisk data, here are the ten most-cited law faculty in law & philosophy in the U.S. for the period 2019-2023 (inclusive) (remember that the data was collected in late May/early June of 2024, and that the pre-2024 database did expand a bit since then).  Numbers are rounded to the nearest ten.   …

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