Hope he held out for more money. He had 'em by the balls.

He should have told them to go f*ck themselves.

WOW, I'd love to have been a fly on the wall at this past weekend's Chemerinsky/Drake meeting....

He's a great fellow but this move is beyond naive on his part. When will Dems ever learn?

This is just *ss covering on the part of the Chancellor and for the UC system. I hope he has something very definitive in his contract guaranteeing said "freedoms".My guess is his academic life will now be lived in the professional (and OC) version of Dante's land.

"It has been one of the . . . most difficult weeks of my life."
. . .
Difficult is what happens to tier 2 grads. Burdened by debt, and the only jobs we can get are jobs like this:
Contact Name: xxx
Address: xxx, 20th Floor
City: xxx, CA xxx
Telephone: xx
Facsimile: xx
E-Mail: xx
Description: HOURS: Part-time. DURATION: Contract. SALARY: $12/hour. STUDENT LEVEL: 3L, Grads Awaiting Results, Grads Admitted to Bar. QUALIFICATIONS: Knowledge and/or experience with family law. JOB DESCRIPTION: Law clerk position in a family law firm, includes research, drafting, declarations and memorandum, as well as miscellaneous office duties. EMPLOYER PRACTICE/DESCRIPTION: Family law firm. FIRM SIZE: Solo practitioner. HOW TO APPLY: Submit resume, cover letter, writing sample and references via e-mail to xxx.
-----------------------------------------------
That being said, I wish UCI the best of luck. I hope their low in-state tuition drives some of these overpriced private law schools out of business.

That he would go to a school that has treated him so poorly thus far is surprising. I hope he enjoys his money and newfound lack of respect.

Changed my mind, Chemerinsky's fired again. This may get as good as Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner!

I had Chemerinsky for BarBri Con Law - funny, I remember him having more dignity.

There are only 2 reasons he can give for accepting the "renewed offer" that will satisfy my irrational bloodthirst: 1) he was offered twice the original salary plus a harem; or 2) he gets to kick Drake in the balls once a week.

If you love to teach, why would you want to become a dean?

Wow! After the week of controversy, I would have thought that Cherminsky had lost all interest in UC-Irvine. He must enjoy challenges...

Or maybe he really hates Duke.

1:51 -- I'm guessing both.

I hope these new challenges don't stop Chemerinsky from doing BarBri.

L2L, aren't you a 3L yet? Or did they hold you back a year?

Erwin did the BarBri con law lecture at my school. He stated numerous times that we should feel free to e-mail him with any questions. I sent him a question on a tricky con law issue, and I never heard back. Apparently he did not necessarily mean that he would answer our e-mails. Luckily, con law is the easiest subject on the MBE.

1:52 - deans often still teach. Actually, ours teaches conlaw.

also for 1:52 -
Our dean teaches Civ Pro.

Also, just because you love to teach doesn't mean that you wouldn't also love the opportunity to be the dean of a law school in its development stage. They're not mutually exclusive.

I know some deans teach. But most of their time and attention typically must be deovted to admin and other non-teaching duties.

Just because a dean might teach a class here or there doesn't mean he or she is still an academic. Being a dean is much more about glad-handing than it is about scholarship, which makes it surprising that Chemerinsky would want that.

I HATED the chemerinsky con law videos for barbri. His voice and inflection are the same no matter what he is talking about... it is hard to pay attention to.

He is probably better as a textbook writer or dean than in class if his in-person classes were in any way lectured in the same style as the bar bri lectures.

2:29-

1:52 was talking about teaching specifically, not about being an academic.

3:00 - I'm 1:52 and 2:29. I said teaching in both posts.

I meant to address my 3:00 comment to 2:40. Sorry about that.

Loyola 2L - please end your life

3:00 - So what? I was talking about being an academic, which is what Chemerinsky has made a career out of.

as the dean of a brand-new school, he not only gets to teach a class or two, but he gets to set the direction for the entire school. he's not limited to structuring a single courtse the way he wants, but the entire curriculum. that's a rare opportunity. the same thing happened at my UG school when they opened a college of engineering...they were able to attract professors they otherwise would not have had a chance at b/c they offered the opportunity to create a program from the ground up. if one is really interested in teaching, that's a golden opportunity.

The most recent edition of the Chemerinsky textbook was riddled with grammatical and typographical errors. I thought it was a lousy textbook.

I should note that the supplement was excellent.

Guy's still a hack...

I completely disagree. Whereas before this job would have been a headache for Chem, now the job has turned into an incredibly attractive one since Chem is going to have the freedom to do whatever he wants. After all the brouhaha, Drake can never fire Chem, which means that we'll be seeing the UCI "Chemerinsky School of Law." He'll have weekly seminars on the evils of rich conservative douchebag donors and force Drake to fetch him coffee.

Any word on whether Catherine Fisk (aka Mrs. Erwin) will be leaving? She was given a tenured position at Duke as part of a package deal when he went there.

I'll bet they're regretting that now . . . (nothing against Fisk, but I doubt Duke would have offered her tenure if not to grab Erwin).

Wait, Duke has a Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law and a Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law? Maybe Loyola 2L could get a job there as the D. Blount Maggs Professor of Law.

Since Chemerinsky has pretty much complete say over what faculty he hires at UCI (and he stated previously that his initial faculty will include many from T20 law schools), I assume that Fisk will be moving back to SoCal with him.

Score one for the Anteaters!

Haha, stupid Duke. No wonder they aren't a TRUE top-10.

Dude looks like a Saturday Night Live skit writer's wet dream. Pay for the Lasix and get that goofy bastard eye problem fixed.

Way to screw over Duke, Erwin. Thanks. It's not like Duke and its students haven't bent over backwards to keep you happy.

5:31 pm - Cry me a river. Duke screwed USC, where Chemerinsky was an institution unto himself and where he had resided for over 20 years. Boo freaking hoo if you lost him.

It was only a matter of time before he tired of the South, anyway. The guy might be originally from Chicago, but he is a California through and through. At the very least, he sure as hell ain't a small town Southerner.

5:31: Duke will do just fine without him. All signs point to Duke climbing in the rankings another spot in the next couple of years (given the strength of and increasing number of apps, plus when new facilities are complete, etc.).

Personally, I'm happy Duke didn't offer to make Chemerinsky dean after UNC almost snatched him. There are quite a few current Duke students who, frankly, felt he was overrated and overshadowing some other really incredible profs.

Zot! Zot! Zot!

8:25:

You are obviously a current Duke student so, as an alumn, let me give you some advice: stop drinking the kool-aid. Duke has great internal PR ("We're all winners! YAY!"), but don't believe it. I enjoyed my time there, but don't think that Duke is going to be the next Harvard. When was the last time Duke had a SCOTUS clerk? Yeah, I don't know either, but it was before my time, and it will probably be long after yours before the bleeding stops.

After losing VA, this is a HUGE hit for the Devils. Without a top-flight ConLaw guy, Duke's stock is not going up -- no matter how many square feet of building space/student they add.

Thanks Eriwn, for using us as a stepping stone.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Summers is still out of a job.

11:07pm:

SCOTUS clerkships are not and never were a reliable indicator of law school quality. It comes down to connections and/or one of three (maybe four) big names.

Duke will never be the next Harvard, but it's already slipping past UVA, and Michigan is next.

And really, is having a "top-flight ConLaw guy" really that important? It didn't help USC all that much.

10:42, that's 'cause U.Va blows.

Duke is not slipping past UVA, and it is most definitely not slipping past Michigan.

Ummmm... check US News rankings. Duke already beat UVA.

GO LAW SCHOOL GO!!! I MUST CHECK MY RANKINGS TO ENSURE THAT I AM A WINNER IN LIFE!!! LAW IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS!!! I WOULD KILL MY MOTHER TO BRING DUKE UP A NOTCH AND CLOSER TO THOSE HARVARD PIGS!

I had Erwin for several classes at Duke, and he is an amazing professor. I agree his BarBri lectures were a bit dry, but he's fantastic live. Also the nicest person I've met, perhaps, and completely giving of his time and energy.

(Not a fan of the bickering between schools. I'm sure we're all fine and we'll all have lovely careers . . . right now I'm clerking for a fantastic federal judge, and I know I owe that opportunity at least in part to Duke's name.)

I had Erwin for several classes at Duke, and he is an amazing professor. I agree his BarBri lectures were a bit dry, but he's fantastic live. Also the nicest person I've met, perhaps, and completely giving of his time and energy.

(Not a fan of the bickering between schools. I'm sure we're all fine and we'll all have lovely careers . . . right now I'm clerking for a fantastic federal judge, and I know I owe that opportunity at least in part to Duke's name.)