And law students around the city collectively think, "Duh."

Apparently Prez Powers has asked Sager to assume duties as Dean, and Sager accepted.

Amicus Curiae congratulates soon-to-be Dean Larry Sager. *lights up cigar*

EDITED to add: I've already had a few IMs asking who my source is. I'm obviously not going to name him as he's asked not to be named. But he's on the Dean search committee and has proved reliable throughout the Dean search.

EDITED to add 2: And apparently this news came in the form of an email from "the top" that went out to all faculty. And an Anonymous in the comments informs that the press release should be around sometime this afternoon.

This just in (well, as of Friday): Anne Alstott has withdrawn from the Dean search. She's decided to stay at Yale. A pity. I kinda liked her.

And then there were four.

And now I return my attentions to my 24-hour exam.

Thanks to the Law School's oh-so-beneficial Reading Day, I was able to attend the candidate meeting today. Go me.

Getting the important stuff out of the way first, I'd like to say that Alstott was adorable. She has this cute button nose and a pretty smile. She keeps up with her highlights. Easily the most attractive candidate. Her picture with the side ponytail does not do her justice.

She talked about "the rankings game," and how the rankings were more important than they should be, and if we're going to play the rankings game, then in hiring, you hire for scholarship and reputation regardless of field. On the spectrum of hiring by field v. hiring for excellence in scholarship, Alstott is a self-proclaimed centrist.

When asked why she likes UT, she said that UT is arguably the best public university in the country. A student then corrected her by taking out the word "arguably."

She also expressed that she's excited about the challenges involved in transitioning form a private university that isn't really answerable to the state of Connecticut to a state university, and the public policy aspects of those challenges.

Then she dissed the USNWR rankings by saying it was not correct for UT to be ranked lower than UVA and UCLA. Then she gave a shout-out to Brian Leiter.

Twelve minutes into the meeting, the obligatory LRAP question was asked. Alstott said that Yale has one, which is very popular and very expensive. She expressed concern that it puts graduates who are on the program in tension with the law school. She also mentioned that LRAP programs are trendy--many schools have them just because everyone else has them. UT, says Alstott, should take advantage of the fact that so many programs are already in place and then really research to see whether it would be better to provide scholarships on the front end or LRAP on the back end. She also noted that Yale's program is based on solely on income, meaning that it doesn't matter whether you're actually public interest or not.

A student asked about what she'd like to be able to say she accomplished as Dean, five years from now. Alstott wants to hire 2 major tenured academic faculty each year and significantly increase fundraising in several areas that I did not write down. But she mentioned improving the library (a tech upgrade) and the possibility of a new building.

When asked about how the legal writing program should be handled. She gave a shout-out to Wayne Schiess, and said that she leans towards a beefed-up version of what we have now.

At this point in time, I found myself wishing I had a flask, so that I could play a drinking game--taking a swig every time she said "priors."

After wishing for a flask, I asked a question, and I would have felt rude to write while she was talking to me, and then the guy next to me asked a question and so I don't have notes for those. Then someone asked an affirmative action question that I didn't really understand what she was asking. Alstott apparently didn't either, and accordingly just dodged it.

Quote Paraphrase of the meeting: [The law school] needs to provide students with the skills they need to succeed in the profession that we promised them.

I'm easy to please, so my notes and comments aren't very critical. Your thoughts, as always, are welcome. Just try to play nice.

Weekend updates, re: the Dean Search.

First, we have our first Deathmatch casualty, as Jody Kraus of UVA has withdrawn his name from consideration. From what I gathered of student opinion, he won't really be missed. My connections did not know the reasons behind his withdrawal, but I'm sure everyone can expect wild speculation in the next day or so. I personally suspect he was kidnapped by aliens (and that they were the ones to withdraw his name), but I'm willing to entertain other theories.

Second, we have a new finalist added to the pot. I've been told that her addition to the pool is not related to Kraus dropping out, but I'm sure all my conspiracy theorist readers will think otherwise. ;) Anyway, here's Anne L. Alstott, Deputy Dean at Yale "Law" School. And, as always, if there is a Meet the Dean Candidate meeting, AC will bring you student thoughts on the candidate.

I was told that the faculty was going to submit names to Dean President Powers today. I'm assuming that they put that on hold with the addition of a new finalist?

Final Dean Search update: there has been lots of speculation about the late addition of Judge Levi and what it might say about the whole process. I'm sure this sort of speculation will only continue now that Alstott has been added. An Anonymouse left a helpful comment here, and it's quoted directly from an email from (whom I consider) a reliable source (the email was forwarded to me, but from another reliable source). So while it's a lot like hearsay within hearsay... well, whatever. Take it as you please. :)

And because I've been called "responsible" and "serious" twice in the past few days, I would like to point out that I accomplished little to no studying today whatsoever. Instead, I spent the day writing silly song lyrics and wrapped up the day with some Grey's Anatomy. So to all of you who think I've gone "responsible," I say... pfffft.

First, because some students suggested that they did not believe I was really interviewing Professor Sager, but just joking around, I want to first state that this is a real interview, during which I drank real espresso. So, here it is. All the important questions that you were too afraid to ask...

( Cut for length. )

Two options for filling out this poll:

1. Get a Live Journal account (it's easy and free). Click the boxes.

2. Leave a comment with your answers.

Poll #718167 Dean Deathmatch: Reader's Choice Poll
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

Pretend that you are in charge of picking the next UT Law dean. Who would you pick?

Don't like your options? Write in the candidate of your choice. After all, it's not like it's real.

Now, since you're NOT in charge of choosing the dean, who do you THINK will be chosen?

Tomorrow: The interview you've all been waiting for. Don't miss Ruth as she asks Professor Lawrence Sager all the tough questions that you were afraid to ask.

EDITED to add: I love gossip as much as the next girl, but the rumors about faculty members needs to chill a bit. Thanks.

AC again thanks E.C. for her notes. E.C.'s commentary in regular type. Ruth's in bold.

Intro

* Started off thinking that he’d be an academic – teach history, law – but became a prosecutor first to get some experience before teaching so he’d know what he was teaching [That's not how you become an academic. You (1) go to Yale "Law" School, then (2) publish a lot. Future lawyers have no use for professors who have, you know, actually been been lawyers. What was he thinking?]
* Thought he’d work 4/5 years and then teach, but became US Attorney and then judge [Hmmm... judge or professor? Life tenure with helpful clerks or lots of publishing with helpful law review kids to fix my sloppy citaions? Tough choice...]
* Wearing dark brownish rust tie [To bring out his green eyes. Incidentally, does he have green eyes?]
* Very soft spoken but communicates clearly and verbalizes well.

* Idea #1: Go with where you are – we should capitalize on our regional appeal, capital and assets. He would like to leverage UT’s inherent assets to make UT the dominant N. American law school. [He wants UT to be a dominatrix. Heh heh heh...]

*Idea #2: Since UT is in Austin, he would like to implement a formal program that allows students to work with the Texas legislature, like the program at Hastings. [Our internships don't count as a formal program?]

*Idea #3: Improve UT’s Intellectual Property program. There is a significant IP bar in Austin and UT should be a leading law school in IP Law, but is not. [One way to do that would be to give Professor Reese no reason to visit at NYU next year, but whatever. /bitter ]

*Idea #4: Beef up the endowment. UT Law’s endowment is too low, especially the annual endowment giving from alumni, given the size of UT Law’s alumni. The alumni give too little and should give more.

Q&As

Q: A student asked about his experience in hiring faculty.

A: He’s hired people before during his career, but professes to not being fully qualified to evaluate faculty hires. However, he’s intending to rely to the recommendations and insights of faculty members in the applicable fields. Well, we do have a faculty appointments committee. I'm sure they'll be on speaking terms with the new dean.

Q: What kind of administrative & managerial experience do you have and how would you adjust your style to fit the law school environment.

A: As chief judge, he’s dealing and has dealt with judges who are appointed for life. Their attitudes and egos are very similar to those of tenured faculty [snerk] so he should have little problems in adapting to the law school atmosphere. [Points for snarkiness]

Q: What are some important issues facing legal education?

A: Should provide programs that require students to work on their verbal communication skills. He’d like to make writing programs turn out better writers than they currently do. [Oooh, burn to the LRW program.] Would also like to see schools help students develop better legal judgment.

Q: Why do you want to become Dean?

A: This is a lateral move or voluntary demotion, depending on who you ask. **joke intended** He likes the university setting and law school atmosphere. Feels that it would be satisfying to guide a school.

Q: Does he support LRAP?

A: If the school is in the financial position to fund LRAP, he would do so

Q: What are your priorities as Dean, especially as related to rankings?

A: Increase the endowment significantly. Rankings pretty much follow how much $ is in the endowment.

Well, there you have it, folks. Five rounds of in-your-face mean dean fighting machines. Who will ultimately win? AC will be right here with you as it all plays out. Don't forget to stop by Friday for an AC exclusive interview with dean cadidate Professor Lawrence Sager.

I finally got some notes on Professor Jody Kraus from the University of Virgina. I'm expecting notes on Judge Levi soon. Today's notes come from E.C. Her notes are in regular print with my commentary in bold. Enjoy.

Why he wants to be a dean

* Loves being a professor, especially teaching and working with students [Who wouldn't love being a law professor? It's probably the best job in the world after maybe Vice President of the US.
* Wants to create the most vibrant intellectual place for faculty & students [By vibrant does that mean he'll put up more Susman & Godreyesque portraits? Because those are certainly vibrant, but I don't like looking at them.]
* Feels that students should have a say in the workings of the school [w00t! Laptops and wifi are here to stay!]
* Wants to help students in finding their intellectual niche and potential [Does he realize how many students we have at UT? I don't think he's going to be able to help all of us do that without a few assistants.]
* Very interested in scholarship and integrating that with teaching. Students should be able to participate in scholarship discussions

Experiences outside the classroom

* Has given sessions (10 hr) court on studying in law school, including studying for exams and developing legal reasoning [I'm not really sure how that will help him be dean]
* Has also given workshops and lectures on choosing a career. Is aware that our 1Ls have an elective in the spring semester [He took the time to learn about UT Law's inner workings! Hurrah!]
* Also aware that over 90% of UT grads go to law firms. [That almost makes me want to do something else... just to be different. Maybe I'll become a professional painter, specializing in named partner portraits to be displayed in law schools...]

Bulk of his intro message dealt with what school life should be like for law students. He’s all about the Socratic method. Could be just speaking to his student audience…or is really concerned about students’ welfare...

Q: What did his PhD offer him as a professor? How should having a PhD affect tenure and hiring decisions?

A: Helps to use related theories to explain and understand contract law. His scholarship has dealt with the debate between economic analysis theories of law and the philosophical theories of the law. Has also written an article defending economic analysis of the law. Interdisciplinary scholarship is helpful/important. Possession of a graduate degree apart from a law degree has 0 influence on hiring & tenure decisions

I must say that I'm a little disappointed in the lack of discussion about his outfit, hair, mannerisms, etc. But I like E.C., so I'll still let her collect her AC field reporter check. ;) There has already been some discussion about Kraus here, but feel free to add more thoughts for this entry.

---

Stay tuned for Dean Deathmatch Round 5: Judge Levi. I expect it to be posted by tomorrow. In the meantime, Judge Levi comments are welcome at amicuscuriae.blog @ gmail.com. Credit will be given unless you'd rather remain anonymous.

And be sure to tune in Friday for lots more fun as the search for UT Law Dean continues. First, stop by for an AC Exclusive, as Ruth chats with Professor Lawrence Sager and asks the hard-hitting questions on everyone's mind and enjoys a cup of espresso while she's at it. Later, a Reader's Choice poll. AC wants to know two things: (1) If you could choose the dean, who would you choose? and (2) Since you don't get to choose the dean, who do you think will be chosen?

Interest in the dean candidates seems to be fizzing out. Maybe we've had our fill, or maybe my 1L field reporters are just hard at work on their memos. Either way, this is all I got about Jody Krauss yesterday:

"He was really condescending and talked to us like we were 18-year-olds who need to be told what's best for us. I didn't like him at all. I'd vote for Sager... you know, if I had a vote."

Sounds like an impressive guy. Feel free to add your thoughts.

Deathmatch Round 5 takes place this afternoon at 3:00. Again, I'll be in class. I've heard from a prof that today's guy is good, so I'd like to see what the students think.

excollblog and K.G. sent in their thoughts about Maureen O'Rourke. We'll do a side-by-side comparison.

---

excollblog: Overall she impressed me.  I would not be disappointed at all if she was selected to be dean. From the people I talked to, they all agreed that she blew the others out of the water.

K.G.: She came across well as a person, but she seemed uninformed about UT. Given that she's a finalist, she should have been more up on the current issues.

excollblog: What impressed me most was that she actually had answers to the questions that were asked.

K.G.: She was remarkably non-responsive to most of the questions; a real talent for talking around a question without sounding combative or defensive.

excollblog: O'Rourke kicked it off by showing up 8 minutes late to the event. Not bad for a 30 minute show. The first thing that struck me about her was her hair; it was as if it were a helmet: too big for her head and never moving. Next was that she is very much a hand talker.

K.G.: she told us all about BU's public interest auction and how it works.

excollblog: What she did in Boston was take the money from the “annual” fund (I assume this is just their general fund) and put about 500k in there in an effort to get it up to about 3 mil. Ditto for the plan here. She said that the education you get should be a function of the money it cost (does that mean that SMU and St. Mary’s should get better educations than us?). (Ruth's Note: Baylor should be added in that list of schools as well.)

K.G.: She didn't seem to know she was in Austin ("when I worked at IBM, the plant we serviced was in Austin, and my sister lived there. I visited her there..."), and informed us that Texas is large. No, really. When asked to give her impression of Texas, she told us that Texas is large. She also made the (to my mind fatal) mistake of describing people as having the "Texas twang".

excollblog: Someone then asked what she knew about Texas. She said when she worked for IBM she oversaw some Texas operations (but not that she lived or worked here) and that she has family in Austin and Houston so she has spent a “fair” amount of time here. She didn’t think that would be an impediment to raising money. After all, Kay Hutchenson and Ann Richards managed to do it.

K.G.: When asked about difficulty raising funds and getting support as a non-Texan and a woman, she said somebody had told her there was still "a little bit" of an old boy network in Texas, but that Ann Richards and Kay Bailey Hutchison (whose name she got wrong) had managed to break into it, and she would too. Too bad both of them were actual Texans, and just had to overcome being female.

excollblog: She seemed focused on improving the faculty/student ratio. Not specific mention f how to do that. She did mention that if we decrease student size we loose out on the tuition and if we hire more faculty, there goes more money.

K.G.: She's big on revenue stream. Wouldn't want to reduce class size because that would harm revenue. Instead, wants to hire more profs to improve faculty/student ratios.

---

Thanks to excollblog and K.G., AC field reporters.

This post is brought to you in part from excollblog, AC field reporter.

We'll get the important stuff out of the way first. He looked way better in person than he does in his official picture. He was conservatively dressed, basic dark suit and sensible tie. I wasn't close enough to get a good look at his shoes. And shoes, as you know, can make or break a dean candidate.

He gave a quick intro that can be read on any official site, and then moved onto questions, the first being about LRAP. From excollblog: "He said that it was a good program and that he would look into it and see how other schools did it. He also mentioned some of the possible problems with it, for examplecontinually checking on people receiving it to make sure they stillneed it." I find this interesting, because I'd heard from some people who had talked to him prior to the Meet the Dean thingie that he didn't support it. I wonder if someone told him that the students really want this and whether he adjusted his answer accordingly. Hmmmmm...

No specific plans for fundraising. No specific plans for increasing diversity of the faculty. He just said that both ought to be done. (I feel the need to say, "Duh.") He said our fundraising was pretty good for a state school, but nowhere near what Cornell or Yale gets each year. He says we should look to get more annual gifts from alumni. But my question is, if we get more from alumni, are we going to have to hang more SusmanandGodfrey-esque paintings around the school? Will our unattractive war propaganda posters be replaced by unattractive portraits of donors? This, in my opinion, is a very legitimate concern.

He favors adding more international law classes. Big surprise, coming from an international law guy. I was certain he would support more classes like Changing American Schools. You know, since he's an international law guy.

He didn't seem concerned with our drop in the USNWR rankings. Said that fluctuations from year to year are normal, but that such rankings are pretty steady over time. I thought he should've gotten out his pitchfork and led a mob to the USNWR offices, because when you're ranked 16, you have to say that you're at a "Top 20" law school, because saying you're at a "Top 16" law indicates exactly where on that list you fall.

Over all, I wasn't really impressed by him. If I had to choose right now between Wippman and Sager, I'd choose Sager. So it's a good thing I'm in charge of this whole Dean search, right?

On a more eerie note, Wippman asked one of the students on the dean search committee if he knew about "this blog" that was "following the Dean search." Because I haven't seen any of my fellow bloggers discussing it, really, I'm assuming he meant me. So, all right, which one of you blabbed about the Dean Deathmatch to Wippman? :P

Thanks again to the AC field reporter for sending his notes on the meeting. I was only there for the second half. When we have a date/time for the next candidates, tune in for more Dean Deathmatch.

I was in class during the Meet the Dean stuff, so I couldn't attend. Accordingly, the following comes from others, and I've paraphrased, so don't let the quotation marks throw you off.

"The result for Sager is surprisingly thumbs up. He wasn't crazy, and seemed honest and sincere in his answers, especially about LRAP. He said that LRAP wasn't cheap, that he supported it, but that he may not be able to get something that expensive implemented immediately."

"He admitted that he doesn't have much solo fundraising experience, but did mention that he'd assisted with fundraising at NYU."

"Sager was sporting black jeans, a white shirt, and a red tie. In short, he looked his most professional in his entire career."

"The jeans were Levis. I saw the tag. I don't know what difference that makes, but thought people might want to know."

"He exceeded expectations. But keep in mind that the expectations were admittedly low."

"If we end up with him, it won't be the end of the world."

Readers, feel free to comment on what you thought about Professor Sager today. What did you like? What didn't you like?

Would it be completely inappropriate to start placing bets on the deanship? I'm mainly just interested in seeing what the odds would look like.

In other news, I'm at the library at 10:10 pm. I hate life. And life apparently hates me too.

So there are four candidates to fill the very big shoes left by our beloved Dean Powers. Sort of a Dean Final Four in a way. Or a Dean Idol, minus the singing. Let's pretend for a moment that my opinion in the search for dean actually matters, and take a look at who is in the running.

First we have Maurren O'Rourke, Dean ad interim of Boston University School of Law, with primary academic interests in intellectual property as it intersects with other fields, such as contract or antitrust. No indication on where she stands on the wireless internet in class issue. Her publications are void of clever titles. I'm not seeing any hints of a sense of humor. She's already got experience in the whole Dean-ship stuff, but at a school that is ranked at 22 (although we all know how full of shit USNWR's rankings are... 16?! WTF?). So UT would naturally be a step up for her. [/UT snob]

Next up is Jody Kraus, who looks more like a used-car salesman than a Dean, but whatever. I didn't think it was possible, but his publications sound even more boring than O'Rourke's. I just can't get past the semi-sleezy look though. I'll go ahead and assume he's just not very photogenic and withhold any opinions based on his appearance. After all, that would be superficial, and I'm trying to take myself more seriously these days. ;)

Moving right along to David Wippman (scroll down and click on his name), Vice Provost at Cornell. He looks like he hasn't been out of the Ivory Tower for some time. He's got some Washington connections, it looks like. And if that could somehow mean more money or more awesome people coming to UT, I can't really argue with that.

Lastly we have UT's own Larry Sager. I've never had Sager for any classes, and really don't know anything about him past the fact that he's Professor Cohen's husband. And that he could totally benefit from an Extreme Makeover.

So, America readers, call in your votes and weigh in on the finalists. I know I have a reader or two from each of the schools with a finalist. What's the word? What kind of reputation do these people have? Give us an idea of what we're working with.

Tune in tomorrow to see who's in the bottom three, and ultimately, who will go home... here on UT Law Idol! *cue music and credits*