brazenandtenured- The New NormalSo is this the New Normal? The question gets asked about lots of things—Washington politics, the economy, terrorism, infrastructure, the financial markets. And the question gets asked anxiously because as a normal—as a baseline—this new normal (whatever it may be) … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Notes in Support of the Liberal Arts Law SchoolHere are a few ideas for how law schools that are not in the top ten (or not in the fifteen that are in the top ten) might respond to the structural forces bearing down on legal education. For those … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- Facts (The)These little items are trouble. Let me state right off that I have not always been on entirely friendly terms with “the facts.” We have had a long and, at times, uneasy relation. Things took a bad turn early. I … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Gun Culture, Part 2The national spotlight is on Colorado, where Governor John Hickenlooper, a moderate democrat, has endorsed the idea of tightening gun control regulations. Hickenlooper and members of the democratically-controlled state legislature have indicated plans to introduce laws that would require universal … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- Mayan End of the World Canceled (A Brazenandtenured Exclusive)Apparently, through some rather incredible and oddly parallel set of mistakes, the ending of the world will not happen on December 21st. Instead, it appears the world has already ended on November 10th. The mistake is a moment of some … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- The Great GOP Identity SearchIn the wake of the great Republican defeat (and despite the distraction of the Petraeus Affair) pols and pundits continue to offer advice to the Republican Party as to how it might reform itself in order to…. well, do better … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Sustainability and Equity in a Climate Changed WorldA small group of environmental law professors gathered recently for a two-day workshop on the concept and practice of sustainability. I was asked to lead a discussion about the relationship between sustainability and equity. The group decided to take the … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- Book Review (and subtext)The recent publication of [.......] by Professor X marks a moment in the history of [.......]. It establishes him as one of the leading, if not the leading, authority on the subject of [.......]. Professor X works at Zip Code Law … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- We Built It (Part II–Factors of Production)“We built it.” So runs the mantra of the GOP. To which there is only one possible response: Well, actually no you didn’t. And let me explain why since it’s not addressed in my last post on this subject. … Continue reading →Pierre Schlag
- Ryan’s Scariest LieI know sub-three hour marathoners, I am friends with sub-three hour marathoners, and I have run a sub-three hour marathon. Paul Ryan, you are no sub-three hour marathoner. To many, Paul Ryan’s marathon lie is probably the most innocuous one … Continue reading →Sarah Krakoff
- The New Normal
Category Archives: Experimental
Notes in Support of the Liberal Arts Law School
Here are a few ideas for how law schools that are not in the top ten (or not in the fifteen that are in the top ten) might respond to the structural forces bearing down on legal education. For those … Continue reading
Facts (The)
These little items are trouble. Let me state right off that I have not always been on entirely friendly terms with “the facts.” We have had a long and, at times, uneasy relation. Things took a bad turn early. I … Continue reading
Mayan End of the World Canceled (A Brazenandtenured Exclusive)
Apparently, through some rather incredible and oddly parallel set of mistakes, the ending of the world will not happen on December 21st. Instead, it appears the world has already ended on November 10th. The mistake is a moment of some … Continue reading
Book Review (and subtext)
The recent publication of [.......] by Professor X marks a moment in the history of [.......]. It establishes him as one of the leading, if not the leading, authority on the subject of [.......]. Professor X works at Zip Code Law … Continue reading
Posted in BAT Reviews, Experimental, Random Jurisprudence
Tagged decadence, jurisprudence, legal academia, pragmatism
1 Comment
We Built It (Part I Losing It)
We built it. It. We. Not you. Not the government. It belongs to us. It is ours. We work harder than you. You cannot know how hard we work to build our small businesses. (100 to 1500). We work harder than our workers who … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental
3 Comments
Quantitative Tie-Breakers (Theory Moves)
Quantitative Tie-Breakers: [kwon-ti-tey-tiv tahy brey-kers] Noun Phrase The fundamental issue in the final stages of appellate adjudication almost always takes the form, “How can something that is inescapably two or more things at once be only just one thing.” (Apologies to Thomas Reed Powell.) … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Theory Moves
Tagged jurisprudence, law, Teaching Moment, theory moves
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The Monty Python Example No. 3 (Analytical Philosophy in Law)
Too much of it arguably reads like this: In The Concept of Law, H.L.A. Hart once said something. This brilliant insight (BI) effectively corrected some fundamentally wrongheaded ways of thinking. Yet upon closer examination, BI encompasses a number of different ideas … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged absurd, jurisprudence, legal academia, philosophy
1 Comment
Waiting
I have been waiting. In an airport. For my flight. Before that I was waiting in line. For security. For passport control. For baggage drop-off. I have been waiting all morning. In line. My passport and my boarding pass … Continue reading
The Law Review Rejection
Yesterday, I received an email from a top fifteen law review: Dear Professor Schlag, We have carefully considered your article, [Title] Unfortunately, we cannot accept it for publication in the [Name] Law Review. We expect this year to receive well … Continue reading
Sh*t Law Professors Say
Strangely, this popular Youtube concept has not yet resulted in a video about law professors. We are here to fill the void. For those of you not familiar with the genre, here is an example, also produced in our home … Continue reading
The Monty Python Example No. 2 (With Special Reference to Constitutional Interpretation)
As suggested in a prior post, the British comedy troupe Monty Python is generally under-acknowledged for its jurisprudential insights. Nonetheless, these are occasionally quite sharp. Here, for instance, in the “The Argument Clinic:” we have a demonstration of a basic … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Politics, Random Jurisprudence
Tagged constitutional law, interpretation
2 Comments
Gingrich Rising
Some days you just know it’s going to be a really good day: The Sunday Times on the table. Espresso frothing in the kitchen. Sourdough pancakes on the griddle. And Newt Gingrich winning in South Carolina… Could things … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Nature/Culture, Politics
Tagged character, politics, presidential election
3 Comments
Got Knowledge?
In “The Meditations,” Descartes revealed his desire to make a “solid and lasting contribution to knowledge,” His problem, as he saw it, is that he had accumulated a large number of false opinions and thereon erected a flimsy structure. He … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
2 Comments
Law School Exam Last Minute Help
Random student (probably law) demonstrating how to study: First, of all, if you are a law student and still reading this post, you are in deep trouble. In fact, you really don’t have time for this and should really go away. If … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, The BAT Cave
Tagged absurd, law school, legal academia, Teaching Moment
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Simula Life
My local bookstore is a pretty good one—as book stores go. It regularly brings in authors (both renowned and good). Its reader recommendations are generally excellent. It purveys only a minimum of kitsch (greeting cards and such). Its shelves are … Continue reading
Law School Faculties and the Enneagram
Finally, the day came when Professor X retired. You and your friends on the faculty attended her goodbye party and smiled and clapped at appropriate moments. But inside, you whooped and hollered and sang a little song, something not quite … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, The BAT Cave
Tagged academia, culture, legal academia, psychology
2 Comments
Law School Hiring (The Faculty Meeting–Appointments)
“O.K. Let’s begin…. We have two agenda items: the promotion of Professor X which we will deal with first and the appointments matter–Frank Wright and Mary Prescott–which we will deal with second. Tony?” “I would just like to say, in … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged aals, absurd, academic appointments, law school hiring
11 Comments
AALS Law School Hiring and Recruitment: How to Get a Job as a French Intellectual (The Interview)
Today, there is a great wealth of advice available to faculty candidates who wish to become law professors. One of the little known avenues for becoming a law professor (much neglected in even the best existing literature) is to get … Continue reading
Religion, Sex and Politics
Aren’t those the three things not to discuss with friends and relatives? Yet all three were on my mind one winter afternoon in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy as I wandered lazily through rooms stuffed with iconic renaissance art. … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Nature/Culture, Politics
Tagged aesthetics, art, politics, religion, time
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Legal Formalism (A Refresher on Form)
O.K. for you law people, this will all be pretty familiar. For you non-law people, this is an acid challenge—a test of your tolerance for excruciatingly picayune legal exegesis. One bit of solace I can offer you is that, conveniently, … Continue reading
My Dinner at Langdell’s
It was one of those cold wet April Cambridge mornings. Too wet for fog, but too indifferent for rain. My head ached. My lips were dry and my tongue felt bloated. The fever had surely come back. Worse–the laudanum was … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged absurd, jurisprudence
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Kandinsky or Hart? Aesthetics. No. 1
Kandinsky or Hart? Pierre Schlag Beta Version 1.0 In 1927, Heisenberg introduced his uncertainty principle. By 1934, Wittgenstein was breaking with his early work. In 1923, Kandinsky was putting the finishing touches on Composition VIII: And in 1958, H.L.A. Hart, … Continue reading
Posted in Experimental, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged aesthetics, jurisprudence
3 Comments
The Monty Python Example No. 1
The British Troupe, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, is justly known for its biting and irreverent humor. But Monty Python’s send-ups have other virtues as well. By way of illustration consider a scene from the movie Life of Brian which shows the Brian … Continue reading
