TortsProf Blog

Goldberg Appointed Interim Dean at Harvard Law

Congratulations to Harvard on its decision to appoint John Goldberg as interim dean of HLS.  An excellent choice.  

There is something of a trend of tort scholars being named deans in recent months.  In addition to John, we have Leslie Kendrick (UVa), Andy Klein (Wake Forest), and Cynthia Nance (Arkansas) [she's more labor and employment, but she has enough of a torts background that I think we can legitimately claim her].  Am I missing anyone?

Breaking: Leslie Kendrick Appointed Next Dean of UVa Law

TortsProf Leslie Kendrick has been appointed the Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law.  From UVa's announcement:

The University of Virginia announced Monday that Leslie Kendrick has been selected to serve as the 13th dean of the School of Law. Her term begins July 1.

Kendrick, a 2006 graduate of the School of Law who joined the faculty in 2008, will succeed Risa Goluboff, the first woman to serve as dean. Goluboff, the Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law and a professor of history at UVA, plans to return to the faculty, which she first joined in 2002, at the conclusion of her eight-year term.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Leslie Kendrick as the new dean of the Law School,” said UVA President Jim Ryan ’92, himself a former School of Law professor. “She has a tremendous record of teaching and scholarship in torts and the First Amendment, and her University service has been invaluable. She ably led the committee that crafted UVA’s Statement on Free Expression and Free Inquiry and served as vice dean of the Law School during a time of rapid growth.

“I’m grateful to the search committee for their consideration in selecting Leslie Kendrick, as well as to outgoing dean Risa Goluboff, who has been an exceptional leader and has left an enduring legacy at UVA Law.”

Kendrick is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs, the Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Professor of Law, and director of the Center for the First Amendment at the Law School. She serves as a special adviser on free expression and inquiry to the University provost and served as the Law School’s vice dean from 2017 to 2021. She said she was “humbled and thankful” to be chosen as dean.

What an excellent choice!

Tortsprof Andy Klein is the New Dean at Wake Forest Law

Congratulations to Andy Klein, who has just been named the next Dean at Wake Forest School of Law!

Lahav to Cornell

Alexandra Lahav, an expert in mass torts, is moving to Cornell University.  

Brian Leiter's lateral hires list is here.

Duff to Saint Louis University

Mike Duff, the authority on workers' compensation law in the US, has accepted an offer at Saint Louis University to begin in fall 2022.

Stapleton Elected as Master of Christ's College Cambridge

Jane Stapleton, currently at ANU and Texas, has been elected the next Master of Christ's College Cambridge.  She begins in September.  The announcement is here.

(Via Jason Neyers on the Obligations list-serve)

Simons to UC Irvine

Ken Simons, who is a crim law as well as torts scholar, is moving from Boston University to UC Irvine.  (Via Brian Leiter's Law School Reports)

Oberdiek To Be Acting Dean At Rutgers-Camden

The Faculty Lounge reports that upon Dean Solomon's move to the Provost's office,  TortsProf John Oberdiek will become acting Dean at Rutgers-Camden next July 1, 2014.  Oberdiek teaches and writes in torts and tort theory.

- SBS

Pryor to Become Associate Dean at UNT

TortsProf Ellen Pryor (SMU) will become the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UNT Dallas College of Law in January 2013.  The announcement is here.  Pryor has a strong reputation for both teaching and scholarship in torts.

Via Brian Leiter's Law School Reports.

--CJR

Jeffrey O'Connell Retires from Teaching

Legislatures are still debating his ideas, but long-time UVa law professor Jeffrey O'Connell has retired from teaching.  I had the pleasure of having his Torts class in the fall of 1993.  He was truly a virtuoso classroom teacher.  Mary Wood has written a wonderful retrospective post for the UVa Law website.

--CJR

Farewell and Best Wishes to Bill Childs

As the academic year winds down, we want to wish Bill Childs, TortsProf's founder, all the best as he returns to practice.  Bill started the blog on January 15, 2006 with this post.  He said his farewell in this post back in March.  Along the way, Bill was a terrific blogger, actually engaging in original reporting and breaking several stories himself.  We hope Bill stays in touch and we can provide readers with periodic updates.

--Sheila and Chris

A Farewell

For over six years, I've been contributing to the TortsProf blog.  (Really!  Here's my first post, back when I was the only contributor, making a sorta snarky observation about tort reform.) 

In the years since then, I've posted about countless issues, ranging from amusement park safety to confidentiality in mass torts to the actual provenance of asbestos websites.  In 2007, Chris and Sheila joined the blog, bringing a broad range of valuable content to the site, and, in 2009, when I became associate dean at Western New England, my blogging slowed (though it didn't quite stop).  Thanks to them, the blog has remained current and a reliable source of information for academics and practitioners alike.

It's been a great experience.  My blogging influenced my scholarship, it resulted in many press appearances (including providing [but not serving as] the punchline to a New York Times piece), it was fun, and it kept me connected to the real world of litigation.

And it is to that real world of litigation that I am returning.  Starting in August, I will be joining the Austin office of Bowman & Brooke as senior counsel.  Bowman & Brooke is a terrific Minnesota-based firm that focuses largely on products liability work, and I'll get to spend some time working out of their Minnesota office during summers.  Since I will no longer be a TortsProf, I will, naturally, no longer be posting here.  I may still be posting at MassTort.org; we'll figure that out at some point.

It has been a tough decision.  I have loved teaching at Western New England, and my family and I adore the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts.  But I have decided that legal education is no longer the business for me.  I am excited for the next professional challenge, and to be much nearer my family.  And for good tacos.

So: Thank you to Paul Caron and Joe Hodnicki, thanks to Chris and Sheila, and most of all, thanks to all of you, the readers.  Hearing from you -- even (especially!) when you disagreed -- was a genuine highlight of our endeavor.  You made me think harder.  If you find yourself in Austin, get in touch and I'll buy you a taco.  My permanent e-mail address is [email protected].

--BC

Scales to Rutgers-Camden

Adam Scales, an expert in insurance as well as tort law, has joined the faculty at Rutgers-Camden.  The official announcement from Rutgers is here.

--CJR

Indiana-Indianapolis Advertises a Torts Position

Andy Klein passes on that Indiana-Indianapolis is hiring.  The AALS ad follows:

 

INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW-INDIANAPOLIS invites applications from entry-level and experienced candidates for tenure-track and tenured appointments beginning in the 2011-2012 academic year.  The law school seeks colleagues with distinguished academic records who are committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.  Our curricular needs include Torts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Commercial Law, Conflict of Laws, Trusts and Estates and Tax.

Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis also anticipates making a long-term contract clinical appointment for 2011-2012. Candidates with clinical teaching experience in the civil area and with at least five years of practice experience are encouraged to apply.  The appointment requires an Indiana law license or the ability to be licensed to practice law in Indiana upon appointment. It is possible that this appointment might include administrative duties with respect to experiential learning. 

We are strongly committed to achieving excellence through intellectual diversity and strongly encourage applications from persons of color, women, persons with disabilities, the LGBT community, and members of other groups that are under-represented on university faculties.  The law school is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution and offers domestic partner benefits. For more information about the school, visit http://indylaw.indiana.edu/.  To apply, contact Professor María Pabón López, Chair, Faculty Recruitment Committee, Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, 530 West New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3225; (317) 278-8440; [email protected].  Individuals who require a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in the application process must notify Professor López a reasonable time in advance.

--CJR

Torts Visitor Opening at FIU

From Howard Wasserman (FIU) comes news of a torts visitor opening at Florida International University in Miami:

 

Florida International University College of Law invites

applications from candidates for one or more visiting

faculty positions beginning in Fall 2010. Areas of

curricular preference include Property, Criminal Law,

Torts, Environmental Law, And Trusts and Estates. Visits

could be for either the fall or spring semester or for the

full year.

 

ABOUT FIU COLLEGE OF LAW:

Part of Miami's public research university, the College of

Law is a dynamic urban law school with approximately 600

students. FIU College of Law was established in 2000,

enrolled its first class in 2002, and currently has 30

full-time faculty members. In the spring of 2007, the FIU

College of Law moved into a new state-of-the-art building

at the heart of the main university campus. Over the past

two years, our FIU on-campus community has been enriched

through the addition of a new medical school and the

construction of the Frost Art Museum.

 

The FIU community and the College of Law are strongly

committed to the pursuit of excellence and the goal of

ensuring opportunities within the legal profession for

individuals who represent different groups as defined by

race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic

background, age, disability, national origin, and religion.

 

 

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Applicants should have a J.D. degree; applicants with

additional advanced degrees are also encouraged to apply.

Applicants must possess a strong commitment to teaching and

a record or the promise of outstanding scholarship.

Applicants interested in joining the FIU College of Law

faculty as a visiting faculty member should send a cover

letter expressing interest and a resume to:

 

CONTACT:    Associate Dean Joelle Moreno

    Chair - Faculty Appointments Committee

    Florida International University

    College of Law

    11200 S.W. 8th Street

    Miami, FL 33199

You may also send application materials electronically to

Email: [email protected]

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION:

For more information, please visit our website at:

    http://law.fiu.edu

Florida International University encourages applications

from candidates who would continue to enhance the diversity

of our College of Law faculty and university community and

does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national

origin, ancestry, sex, disability, religion, age, sexual

orientation or veteran status in its education and

employment programs or activities. FIU is also a member of

the State University System and an Equal Opportunity, Equal

Access, Affirmative Action Employer.

- SBS

Smolla to be President of Furman

W&L Law Dean Rodney Smolla, an expert on defamation, will become the 11th president of Furman University.  VLW Blog has the story. 

--CJR

Torts Prof Phoebe Haddon Named Dean At Maryland

Phoebe Haddon, a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, has been named Dean at the University of Maryland School of Law.   Haddon joined the Temple faculty in 1981, and taught torts, products liability, constitutional law, and a seminar on race and ethnicity.  She is also a co-author of the torts casebook, "Tort Law: Cases, Perspectives and Problems" from LexisNexis. 

Congratulations to Professor Haddon and Maryland!

- SBS

Goldberg Moves to Harvard

From Brian Leiter:  John C.P. Goldberg is moving from Vanderbilt to Harvard.

- SBS

Job: Visiting Position at Seattle

Seattle University School of Law invites applications for a visitor position to teach Torts in the fall and spring of 2006-2007.  We are seeking an experienced professor to teach this 5-credit first year course (2 credits in the fall, 3 in the spring); the other fall and spring course to be taught subject to mutual agreement between the visitor and the Law School.    

Seattle University School of Law, with 1,100 students and a current student-faculty ratio of 16-1, educates ethical lawyers who distinguish themselves through their outstanding professional skills and their dedication to law in the service of justice.  Faculty, students, and staff form a vibrant, diverse, and collaborative community that promotes leadership for a just and humane world. The Law School's commitment to academic distinction is grounded in its Jesuit Catholic tradition – one that encourages open inquiry, thoughtful reflection and concern for personal growth. Innovation, creativity and technological sophistication characterize our rigorous educational program, which prepares lawyers for a wide range of successful and rewarding careers in law, business and public service.

Seattle  University, founded in 1891, continues a 450-year tradition of Jesuit Catholic higher education.  The University’s Jesuit Catholic ideals underscore its commitment to the centrality of teaching, learning and scholarship, of values-based education grounded in the Jesuit and Catholic traditions, of service and social justice, of lifelong learning, and of educating the whole person.  Located in the heart of dynamic Seattle, the University enrolls approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students in eight colleges and schools.  Students enjoy a university ethos characterized by individualized faculty attention, a strong sense of community, a commitment to diversity, and an outstanding faculty.

Seattle  University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.  Finding prejudicial discrimination inconsistent with the mission of the University and the spirit of free academic inquiry, Seattle University does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, familial status, sexual orientation, or disability.  This policy complies with the spirit and the letter of applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Please send cover letter and curriculum vitae to:  Annette E. Clark, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law, 901 12th Ave,  Box 222000, Seattle, WA  98122.  Telephone:  (206) 398-4069; E-mail:  [email protected].  Email applications are welcome.