Adjunct Law Prof Blog

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADJUNCT LAW PROFESSOR BLOG

  Today is a milestone. It marks our first birthday in the blogosphere. Sometime later today, we will pass    56, 000 visitors!!! That is amazing and speaks volumes about the strength of the Internet and blogs. When I started this, I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping for 25,000 visitors.  As you can see, we have more than doubled that.

I hope to significantly increase our readership. I need your help for that. Please pass my URL around to lawyers, professors and students whom you think might be interested. Additionally, if you have an idea about a story or want to publicize something of note, please send me an email at professorrubinstein@gmail.com. Some of our best posts have been from ideas that we have gotten from you.

I also wanted to thank our two wonderful contributing editors, Professor Eric Lustig of New England Law School and  Adjunct Professor Craig Estlinbaum who is also a Judge in Texas. Keep posting...

Thanks again for your support.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Adjunct Prof Blog Hits A Milestone By Surpassing 50,000 Visitors!!

I am delighted to report that Adjunct Law Prof Blog just had its 50,000 visitor! We have been up and running since May 14, 2007 which is less than one year. Please continue to send me your ideas and pass our URL around. Some of my best postings come from ideas generated by you.

This has been alot of work for me. However, I find it rewarding and hopefully we have been of assistance to other adjuncts, other scholars, lawyers and students.

Thank you for your contined support.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

 

William & Mary Adjunct Contributes to New Kosovo Constitution

Christie S. Warren, an Adjunct Professor of Law at William & Mary, will participate in the signing ceremonies next Monday for the newly certified Kosovo Constitution.  Warren, director of the William & Mary’s Program for Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Justice, was one of several American legal experts that assisted the Kosovo Government in drafting the new constitution.

Here is today's William & Mary press release describing Professor Warren's contribution toward this project.  Assisting a nation in drafting its constitution would seem to be one of the most challenging and potentially rewarding assignments an attorney could undertake.  Congratulations, Professor Warren!

Craig Estlinbaum

Federal Judge Blocks Whistleblower Website

A federal judge issued an injunction last week ordering a California domain registrar to block access to Wikileaks.org, a website that posts leaked materials, the New York Times reports.  From the Adam Liptak and Brad Stone story:

In a move that legal experts said could present a major test of First Amendment rights in the Internet era, a federal judge in San Francisco on Friday ordered the disabling of a Web site devoted to disclosing confidential information.

The site, Wikileaks.org, invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging “unethical behavior” by corporations and governments. It has posted documents concerning the rules of engagement for American troops in Iraq, a military manual concerning the operation of prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and other evidence of what it has called corporate waste and wrongdoing.

The case in San Francisco was brought by a Cayman Islands bank, Julius Baer Bank and Trust. In court papers, the bank claimed that “a disgruntled ex-employee who has engaged in a harassment and terror campaign” provided stolen documents to Wikileaks in violation of a confidentiality agreement and banking laws. According to Wikileaks, “the documents allegedly reveal secret Julius Baer trust structures used for asset hiding, money laundering and tax evasion.”

The story goes on to report that the injunction has been largely ineffective because Wikileaks maintains mirror sites that act as insurance against such legal actions.  Wikileaks supporters have apparently been hard at work publicizing these sites (and the article includes helpful links to these mirror sites as well).

Michael Froomkin (Miami), who writes extensively on cyberlaw issues, operates a blog called Discourse.net and there he has blogged frequently on the Wikileaks case (see for instance here, here, and here) since the injunction issued.  He interprets the injunction as a prior restraint on speech, which is presumptively unconstitutional, though he acknowledges that the law regarding free speech and stole materials may be somewhat unsettled.

Incidentally, the judge in the case, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, has served as an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall since 1979.  He teaches Civil Trial Practice.

This is going to be an interesting case to watch.

Craig Estlinbaum

Welcome to Judge Craig Estlinbaum, Our First Guest Blogger

     I am delighted to welcome Judge (and adjunct law professor) Craig Estlinbaum as our first guest blogger.

     Hon. Craig Estlinbaum is judge of the 130th Judicial Court of Texas and adjunct  professor of law at South Texas College of Law in Houston. He earned his B.S. and M. Agr. degrees from Texas A&M University, and J.D. from South Texas where he graduated with honors and was Editor in Chief of the South Texas Law Review.

     Judge Estlinbaum was elected to the bench in November, 2000. The 130th Judicial District court is a general jurisdiction state trial court. Since 2004, he has taught Damages at South Texas College of Law. South Texas is somewhat unique in that its traditional Remedies elective is divided into a three hour Remedies course and a two hour Damages course.

     Please join me in welcoming Judge Estinbaum. He will start posting shortly.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein

Adjunct Prof Blog Accused of "Misblawgary"

Simple Justice, a criminal defense blog has accused me of "misblawgary." This criminal defense lawyer criticizes me for raising questions about an adjunct requiring students to post comments on his blog. I have also been criticized by Susan Liebel on her web site Build a Solo Practice. My comments concerned Prof. Randaza over at Legal Satyricon .

I do not mind being criticized. In fact, I think a heathly debate in blogosphere is a good thing. However, I would wish that people would read what I wrote before they criticize. I meant what I said. Requiring a student to post comments on a blog raises issues. Is the Prof doing this to get more hits? Many Prof bloggers get paid from advertising. What about students who cannot afford internet access, do not have computers or have difficulty reading on line. I have had students who fall into each of these categories.

So, what do you think? Should Professors require students to post blog comments online?

Mitchell H. Rubinstein 

Interesting Article About Supreme Court's Pending Decision In Hall Street Associates Concerning Whether The Standard Of Judicial Review Of Arbitration Awards Can Be Altered By Contract

In a August 23, 2007 article by Justin Kelly appearing in www.adrworld.com (free trial available)entitled "Supreme Court Urged to Allow for Expanded Review Under FAA", Mr. Kelly does a nice job of laying out the important legal issues that are involved in the pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Hall Street Associates v. Mattel, Inc., ___U.S. ___, No. 06-989, cert granted May 29, 2007.

In this case, the Supreme Court will decide whether the parties by contract can alter the standard of judicial review under the FAA. Stated another way, the Court will have to decide whether freedom of contract principles allow parties to change the statutory standard of judicial review.

Mr. Kelly interviewed me and quotes me as follows:

Mitchell H. Rubinstein, an adjunct professor at St. John's Law School and New York Law School, said the issue of expanded review is "very important to the arbitration field because ADR is being used more often" to resolve a wide range of disputes.

Rubinstein said that if you tinker with the limited judicial review scheme, arbitration could become "a first level court" instead of a final and binding process envisioned in the FAA.

I have previously wrote a law review article about a similar topic which addresses this issue under the FAA, Altering Judicial Review Of Labor Arbitration Awards, 2006 Mich. St. L. Rev. 235 (Summer)and also blogged about Hall Street Associates here.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein 

Rutgers Law-Newark Adjunct Professor's Legal Problems

Professor Paul Caron, who runs the law professor blog network which hosts this blog, posted a report on his own Tax Prof Blog about a May 16, 2007 Tax Court decision concerning the failure of an adjunct law school professor at Rutgers Law-Newark to report capital gains from stocks. Remarkably, this professor did not even show up to her own hearing. Apparently, this adjunct professor together with her husband, a full-time law professor at Rutgers-Newark, are both leaders in the animal rights movement.

I guess sometimes you cannot make stuff up even about adjunct law professors!

Mitchell Rubinstein

Thanks Paul for the referral