The Eyes of the Law: Legal Celebrities Descend on William & Mary
Okay, so the folks over at TMZ.com don’t chase them around yet. But here at ATL, we adore legal celebrities — and invite you to send in your encounters with them, for our Eyes of the Law sightings column.
Last Friday, for lovers of legal boldface names from the left or the right, William & Mary School of Law was the place to be:
William and Mary Law School (and the College) had a series of speakers of today, all wedged into a very tight schedule. They included:At noon, former Dean of UC Irvine School of Law Erwin Chemerinsky. Unfortunately, I didn’t go to his talk, so I can’t say whether he talked about the controversy.
At 1 PM, UC Berkley professor (and evil incarnate if you believe some blogs) John Yoo spoke. Yoo said in his introduction that he was being “wedged in” between “the former Dean of UC Irvine” and Stuart Taylor, who was speaking at 2 on his book on the Duke rape case, “Until Proven Innocent.”
We also had a panel on Saturday on “Judicial Modesty,” which included such leading lights as Dahlia Lithwick, Michael McConnell, Carter Phillips and Jeffrey Rosen. See here (PDF).
Quite the weekend for legal geeks! (Er. You know. If I was one of them).
Although this tipster wasn’t at the Chemerinsky talk, other ATL readers were. Check out this video, posted on the blog of the W&M chapter of the American Constitution Society. Isn’t Chemerinsky adorable?
Additional discussion of the Erwin Chemerinsky and John Yoo appearances, after the jump.
Here’s what one student had to say about Professor Chemerinsky’s noontime appearance:
I thought you might enjoy this footage of Prof. Chemerinsky signing his famous Con Law book at a recent ACS event on campus at William & Mary. The panel was called “A Progressive Vision of Constitutional Interpretation.”Even though one of the ACS members was brave enough to ask for the elusive Chemerinsky autograph, nobody was bold enough to inquire about the strange situation at UC-Irvine.
But apparently the subject did get raised at a later point in Professor Chemerinsky’s visit:
Yoo repeated the [“former dean”] joke when he was on a panel with Chemerinsky later that night, saying that he was pleased to be on the same panel as the “former dean of UC Irvine.” Chemerinsky laughed, but also looked quite embarrassed by the barb.Other panelists got their shots in at Yoo, though. Moderator David Savage on the panel introduced him as “professor of law at UC Berkley and … some sort of service in the Bush administration.”
Professor Chemerinsky can give as good as he gets (even if his target might be different):
At a panel about the Duke Lax case after the ACS event, Chemerinsky applauded Stuart Taylor’s new book for detailing the prosecutorial abuse in the legal proceedings. But he then politely ripped into the book, for baselessly blaming political correctness for everything wrong that happened in Durham.
Yoo snarking on Chemerinsky, Savage snarking on Yoo, Chemerinsky snarking on Taylor… Can’t we all just get along?
Prof. Chemerinsky Signs A Book [William & Mary ACS]
(30) 
Comments
Yoo is not evil incarnate. Rumsfeld already had that position.
::YAWN::
a W&M 3L
Tribe Pride!
Get some.
Williamsburg, VA is unbelievably boring. Those speakers must have gotten in and out as quickly as possible because I can't imagine they'd risk staying overnight in that place. Unless that is, they like hanging out at one of the 2 college delis that haven't gone out of business...yet. HAHA. Glad I didn't go there for law school.
NY to 190!
W&M GRAD,
Does the Leafe count as a deli? Because if it doesn't, they're down to 1.
Nothing interesting today, Lat?
ERWIN IS GOD!!! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US!!!
What?!? What deli went down?
Personally I had no idea how bad Williamsburg sucked until I went to _____ for law school. W&M is a lovely school...if only they could take the profs and some of the nicer buildings and put them somewhere THAT ISN'T A SWAMP FULL OF TOURISTS AND REDNECK FRAT BOYS.
12:23,
The Leafe technically is part of the deli's since it is right next to Paul's and across from the College Deli (which as of late, I heard was being bought out by Starbucks). In any event, the Leafe was the best of the 3, which isn't saying much. It did attract a celebrity or two in the past (such as Colin Farrell when he was filming that awful movie in Williamsburg, but that isn't saying much either)...
that's my two cents
- 12:14
12:48:
You went to _____ too? Holy shit that's awesome!!!!
Did you have _____ for Torts??? What a dbag! Am I right???
Late nights at the _____ I'm sure (wink wink, nudge nudge...)
Please stop using those pictures of Chemerinsky. They offend me. I put up with it before, but now you are scaring the new first years.
These pictures are much worse than the breastfeeding picture and I don't know why there isn't more of an uproar.
Lat, I know that in the past, readers have been critical of your "borrowing" material from the WSJ Law Blog.
You might want to wander on over there for a sec, though, as Drake has re-offered Chemerinsky the UCI Dean position. Maybe you could work YOUR sources on this and try and get us some more info other than the C-man's email (already posted on WSJ)?
LAT -
Pls. replace all pictures, going forward, with a picture of Chemerinsky breastfeeding.
It is not materially important which role Chemerinsky plays in said feeding.
Thanks.
1:07. Yeah, ok, would you prefer [university located in big college town]? Ok, whatever. Point is that where I went isn't important, what is important is that from my comparative perspective Williamsburg really doesn't support a great college experience. Now ____ off.
I remember one year at William and Mary we had visits from Justice Bryer, Souter, and Chief Justice Rehnquist over the course of the year with opportunities to interact with them. We had this Supreme Court preview event every year, and tons of others. My friends who went to school at city schools like NYU, Georgetown, or GW didn't know their professors or all of their classmates. Williamsburg may be a 2-hours/three-deli town (four if you count the Cheese Shop), but if you're into the whole law school thing you'll love it. That, and I've been making at least as much as the rest of you douchebags since I graduated. :)
Professor Chermerinsky is a really sweet guy. He does, however, always seem embarrassed at the fact that his books make money. When I had him for ConLaw, the first thing he did was apologize for the fact that he was having us use the casebook he wrote (he preferred it, for obvious reasons), and pledge that he would donate an amount to the Duke Public Interest Law Fund equal to the amount of royalties he expected to receive.
Oh the shame. The spelling and grammar errors in my post (above) are not typical of W&M's fine tradition of scholarship.
2-horse town.
W&M Tribe ain't nuthin' to F with.
Gene Nichols is a tool.
I'm a William and Mary UG alum (went elsewhere for law school), and I have to agree with the W&M alums who say that Williamsburg absolutely blows as a town (especially one for attending school.) That said, I think W&M is worth attending regardless. Who has the time to go out excessively in LS anyway?
Shame on Yoo.
1:40: Lat had his story (and Chemerinsky's email) posted a few minutes before the WSJ blog.
Apparently at W&M they don't quite know how to spell Berkeley
Why has the post centered on the merits of Williamsburg? I spend many of my weekends in DC anyways, but love the law school. The annual Supreme Court Preview is a veritable "who's who" of legal all-stars. This year's preview had an incredibly interesting moot court of Boumediene with Judge McConnell arguing on behalf of the government against Pam Karlan on behalf of the plaintiff detainees. Absolutely fascinating.
Two Friday's in a row for the two-time dean of UC Irvine's School of Law: he'll be speaking on a panel for the American University Law Review this Friday. The panel is called "Secrecy and Barriers to Open Government."
Just in case you're interested...
I heart Williamsburg and William & Mary Law. Go Tribe!
College Delly (yes, that is the correct spelling) became a Starbucks.
Anon 6:26-- Get a clue. College Delly is still up and running.
Any updates on Duke's best former Con Law professor from William and Mary? Not Chimey, the great William Van Alstyne.
Van Alstyne is married to hottie Prof and talented author Lan Cao. The woman rocks leather pants. I'd say he's doing really well.
Amen to that. Lan Cao is a godess amongst female law professors, and Van Alstyne a consummate legal mind.
As to W&M haters, not every law student yearns for the bright lights and late nights in DC and NY. If a quaint, sleepy town with a top rate law school isn't your cup of tea, that's your prerogative (read: shut your yap, you sound like you're jealous our school attracts such high profile speakers and is *that tight* with former Justice O'Connor).