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: The BAT Cave
Tracking for Law Students: Solution or Abdication?
Professors, journalists, and, most saliently, students have raised national awareness about the steep rise in college and post-graduate tuitions over the last thirty years. As someone who has a hard time remembering statistics, for me the easiest math on the … Continue reading
Grading is…
It’s grading time. Suddenly, doing anything other than reading exams takes on a new urgency. A neglected research project must be attended to. The laundry really needs to be folded. Student recommendation letters must be drafted. Even reading a blog … Continue reading
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
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Too Much Information, Not Enough Knowledge
If you wanted to disappear, where would you go? A small town in southern Utah is a good bet, at least according to its reclusive inhabitants. Yet they know that their days of being off of the information grid are … Continue reading
The American Law School (Tentative Notes for Stages of Evolution)
Pedagogy Stage 1: Socratic Stage 2: Soft Socratic Stage 3: Lecture/Student-oriented Learning Stage 4: Consumer Preference Advancement Societies: Stage 1: Old Boys Club/Old School Tie Stage 2: Political/Intellectual Interest … 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
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
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Coase and “The Problem of Social Cost” (Again)
I don’t know if other academics experience this, but I find that, in scholarship, I am drawn to certain texts or problems over and over again for reasons that remain elusive. And so here I am again, writing yet … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged academia, economics, jurisprudence
1 Comment
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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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
Hugo: A Love Affair with . . .
You thought I was going to say “cinema.” That would be too obvious. Yes, Martin Scorsese’s latest movie pays homage to the magic of film. For those who have not seen it nor read the many reviews, the plot revolves … Continue reading
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
David Segal’s Paper Chase and Some Musings on Legal Education
Legal education has changed a lot since its depiction in The Paper Chase, in which the imposing Professor Kingsfield grilled James T. Hart into “thinking like a lawyer.” But you could be forgiven for thinking that all law professors stalk around … Continue reading
Is Neuroscience the Death of Free Will?
So reads the title of a recent opinion piece in the New York Times by Professor Eddy Nahmias. It warrants a bit of attention if not for its substance, then at least for what it illustrates about the contemporary state of … Continue reading
The Critique of Normativity
OK—this one is deep inside the academy (and destined for the most inaccessible corners of the Bat Cave). A while back, I wrote “The Critique of Normativity.” It had thee parts (all three of which are on my law school … Continue reading
Posted in Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged law school hiring, legal academia, Teaching Moment
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Tips for Legal Commentators: How to Talk to the Press
Sometimes, legal commentators (law professors and whatnot) are ambushed by the press asking for commentary on a case just handed down. What to say? Sometimes one just doesn’t know. Here then, by way of suggestion, is a list of plausible … Continue reading
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
Remembering Derrick Bell
Derrick Bell died last week at the age of 80. Though his passing was overshadowed by the death of Steve Jobs, Bell’s achievements were recounted in the New York Times and elsewhere: First African American law professor to be tenured … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Random Jurisprudence, The BAT Cave
Tagged jurisprudence, legal academia, politics, race
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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
Some thoughts about bats
Bats in various parts of the world, including North America, are at risk from a lethal fungus that is killing them in droves. Elizabeth Kolbert has written eloquently about this in The New Yorker. We have not yet seen her or … 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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The Job Interview
Hiring season has arrived. Some law schools have already arranged for on-campus interviews of entry level candidates. Others have made their way through the applicant forms submitted through the American Association of Law Schools (the AALS FAR forms, in the … Continue reading
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
