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Judges as Public Figures: A Special Podcast

Richard Posner Richard A Posner Above the Law Legal Blog.jpgWe’ve been on the law school speaking circuit lately. At the start of this month, we served as keynote speaker of the Mid-Atlantic APALSA Conference, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School (conference description here, photos here). Next month, we’ll be speaking at Stanford Law School, about how the web is changing the legal profession.

Last week we were at the University of Chicago, for this event:

Richard Posner and David Lat: “Judges as Public Figures”

Last week, the University of Chicago’s chapter of the Federalist Society hosted a panel discussion on “Judges as Public Figures” with Judge Richard Posner and David Lat, author of two popular legal blogs, Above the Law and Underneath Their Robes.

David Lat’s relationship with Judge Posner began when he was the anonymous author of Underneath Their Robes, a blog supposedly written by a young and prestige-obsessed female lawyer. Judge Posner was the first to unmask “Article Three Groupie” (the anonymous author’s pseudonym) as being male. The discussion was moderated by Professor Lior Strahilevitz, and a recording is available here (mp3).

It was an honor and a pleasure to serve on a panel with Judge Posner and Professor Strahilevitz. The standing-room-only crowd was engaged and enthusiastic — and apparently entertained, based on the frequent outbursts of laughter.

You can access the podcast by clicking here (mp3). Thanks again to the University of Chicago Federalist Society for inviting us to participate in such a delightful event.

Podcast: Richard Posner and David Lat on “Judges as Public Figures” [University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog]
Emerging Asia: Shedding New Light on the Legal Landscape [University of Pennsylvania Law School]
How the Web Is Changing the Legal Profession [Stanford Law School]

Comments

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1 Posted by First | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:10 PM

f

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2 Posted by Second? | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:11 PM

TTT = yo momma

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3 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:35 PM

"The standing-room-only crowd was engaged and enthusiastic -- and apparently entertained, based on the frequent outbursts of laughter."

Wow, when did Aleksey Vayner start writing for ATL.

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4 Posted by sad, sad post lat | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:55 PM

it's true, the audible blasts emanating from their oral cavities indicated the humans' humor faculties were fully or near fully engaged.

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5 Posted by Anon | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 2:58 PM

I just listened to a part of the podcast and heard the sound of David Lat's voice for the first time--does anyone think he might, you know, be "not straight"?

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6 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:05 PM

2:58 - Uh, whoever said Lat was straight?

I read Underneath Their Robes back in the day. That blog is more gay than Queerty.

In the talk, Lat describes himself as a "drag queen of the legal blogosphere." How many straight drag queens do you know?

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7 Posted by Alex Kozinski | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:11 PM

After that comment, Dick Posner is off my Christmas card list.

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8 Posted by Adam Kirgis | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 4:01 PM

I really enjoyed the event and the podcast. We don't have anything like that back in Dublin (Ohio, not Ireland, LOL).

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9 Posted by Chicago 1L | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 5:59 PM

I was at this event. It was one of the more fun talks we have had this year. David Lat is an adorable adorable man. He is completely unpretentious, so forget the Vayner comparisons. The room really was packed.

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10 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:32 PM

Lat used to shit talk gays in college. Speaking of which...might it be about time to apologize for that?

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11 Posted by guest | Permalink Friday, February 29, 2008 9:49 PM

5:59 = "David Lat is ... completely unpretentious"

Are you serious? We must not be talking about the same David Lat. The one I'm talking about can't go a day without reminding a hundred thousand internet readers that he went to Harvard and Yale, clerked on the CoA, and worked for Wachtell. In fact, he doesn't just remind us that he worked for Wachtell, he reminds us that working for Wachtell involved six-figure bonuses, too! And, when he's not touting his resume credentials, he's reminding us that now he's hanging out with celebrities, giving interviews on CNN, getting written about in the WaPo (seriously, has anyone ever mentioned Lat's name without him pointing it out on his blog?), and making rooms full of people laugh. "Standing-room-only crowd" and "frequent outbursts of laughter" are not the words or someone devoid of pretense.

About the only person in the world who could read the above and conclude that the person it describes is "completely unpretentious" is Aleksey Vayner himself.

David Lat is many things. Funny? Sure. No one would read his blog if he weren't. Charming? Well, most gay men are. But, unpretentious he most certainly is not.

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