Word about Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe's rather odd commencement address at New York University is spreading rapidly throughout the blogosphere. It's already been picked up by Gawker and Instapundit. Here's an eyewitness account from an NYU alum:

Larry Tribe just gave a seriously weird commencement address at NYU -- especially the end, where he turns an amalgam of cosmologist / 60s love child, and tells all the grads to thank their mom and dad for screwing instead of watching TV, and thereby conceiving them....

Not to be too tough on Tribe, but I think the basic theme of the speech was that he's really, really smart and well read, and knows how to turn creative, even strange, phrases. (I thought we already knew that.)

How did Tribe get picked? Some speculation from our source:

I really think the only reason Tribe was honored, and got to speak, is that he was a key mentor to John Sexton, the president of NYU. Tribe probably recommended Sexton to be the NYU law dean, and then the NYU president, so this looks like payback.

Tribe has accomplished enough to have gotten the degree on his own merits, and I don't begrudge him it, but I'm sure the audience would have loved to have his co-recipient, Michael J. Fox, speak instead of Tribe -- Fox is vastly better known, and liked. On this point, see here.

Posted below is the "thank mom and dad for bonking" clip. A more detailed write-up from our tipster, after the jump.

Spring! Cherry blossoms, opening day, and pedigreed lawyers uniting in marriage. We're pleased to be back with another installment of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, featuring these three impressive couples:

1.) Susannah Foster and Kenyon Weaver

2.) Kathleen DeLaney and Courtney Thomas

3.) Heath Kern and Joseph Gibson

More on our finalists, after the jump.

Relax, folks. We are aware that the 2009 law school rankings of U.S. News & World Report have leaked, in advance of their official Friday publication date. They're all over the blogosphere and the message boards (links collected below).

We've been sitting on this item for a little while -- coordinating with our other posts this morning, taking into account our traffic patterns, etc. There is a method to our madness.

Ideally we'd hold this item even longer (which would allow us to do a more detailed write-up). But it's clear that you're all dying to talk about the rankings RIGHT NOW. And we don't want to get any more emails and comments of the "why aren't you writing about U.S. News" variety.

So here you go. Rankings and discussion, after the jump (i.e., click on the "Continue reading" link below).

Email screw-ups and law school listserves have provided us with tons of material in the past. Today's cautionary tale comes to us from NYU Law School:

"Reply all" has its pitfalls, but so does the "reply to" address. Yikes!

[This student] was replying to an email from the professor sent out after the semester was over. The prof had sent the email via a listserver, so even if you just hit "reply" instead of "reply all," everyone's going to see it. The very same pitfall with the very same listserve caused a smart kid to broadcast an email griping because he had too many circuit court clerkship interviews one day.

And here's the email that was sent to the listserv:

Prof. [xxxx],

I am writing to inquire about my grade in last semester's [xxxx] class. I turned in the exam feeling that I had under-represented what I actually learned, but I was still somewhat surprised to recieve a C in the course. If you get a chance (and it is appropriate), could you tell me if the grade was purely the result of a sub-par exam or if other factors were included?

Thank you,
[xxxx]

By the way, this is not very skillful grade-grubbing. An email is too easily ignored, and it lacks emotional force. If you want to grade grub, set up an appointment with your professor, and do it in person.

Let them see you, in the flesh -- and with tears in your eyes. Make them fully understand how they've shattered your dreams of a Vault 10 law firm job or a feeder-judge clerkship -- unless, of course, they revisit their prior determination, and give you a grade that more accurately reflects your true abilities....

NYU School of Law announced today that it has hired Professor Kenji Yoshino as a tenured faculty member. He was a Visiting Professor at the school last year and again this Spring. Kenji graduated from Yale Law in 1996 and is influential in the fields of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and law and literature. It’s quite a score for NYU. Read the original email announcement after the jump.

Yes, LEWW hears the howls of protest from our readers about the weeks we skipped recently. We'll do a makeup post soon, we promise. The weddings pages have been such a wasteland lately that it's been hard to pull together the kind of legal and nuptial excellence you've come to expect here. And it's crushing our spirit.

Take this week. The NYT featured just seven weddings total, with only two LEWW contenders and one Ivy degree (from U. Penn). Here are the two finalists:

1.) Robin Rosenthal and Richard Rothfeld

2.) Erin Conroy and Thomas Welling Jr.

More about these newlyweds, after the jump.

We wish we knew how to quit... finding legal angles to every story under the sun. One such story is the recent, tragic death of Heath Ledger, the celebrated young actor.

We've noted the news in passing. Now we offer more substantive, law-related discussion (beyond fleeting references to NYU law students who went from their seminars about Jesus to join the crowd of gawkers assembled outside Ledger's apartment).

1. Rights to remains. Sometimes this can become an issue, as it did in the case of Anna Nicole Smith. Earlier this week, the Ohio Supreme Court heard a case about a law providing that body parts removed during an autopsy are classified as medical waste (which usually results in the incineration, rather than burial with the body).

It fortunately appears this won't be an issue in Ledger's case. Although additional blood and tissue testing still needs to be done, his family will be taking custody of his body, according to the NYT's City Room blog.

2. Pending projects. Heath Ledger's sudden passing raises issues with respect to projects he was involved with. From the Hollywood Reporter:

Of particular importance to Hollywood will be the future of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which had very recently begun shooting. After dealing with the shock of losing Ledger to unfortunate circumstances, the film's producers and lawyers will have to consult with their production lawyers and the insurance firm that indemnified the film to decide whether to recast, restage and/or rewrite the film to work around Ledger's absence, or whether Ledger's death presents an irresolvable barrier to completion of the film.

More analysis, including discussion of insurance recovery issues, over here.

3. Funeral protestors. Exact funeral plans for Heath Ledger are not yet known. But when it does happen, it could get ugly. A tipster raises a legal question:

Check out this story [about how members of the antigay Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest at Heath Ledger's funeral, because of his work in "Brokeback Mountain"].

Here's my question. These [SOBs] are saying horrible, offensive, disgusting things. When does the fighting words doctrine come into play, and does the fighting words doctrine protect me if I punch out one of these bastards? Because I would really like to.

Feel free to opine in the comments.

Update: More about that Jesus seminar, from the WSJ Law Blog.

Heath Ledger's Death Leaves Big Legal Question [THR, ESQ. / Hollywood Reporter]
Anti-Gay Church to Protest Ledger Funeral [ABC News]
What Are They Teaching at NYU Law These Days? [Traditional Notions]
Where Were You When? [Concurring Opinions]
The Passion of the Christ: The Trial of Jesus [NYU School of Law]

In Chicago, gay lawyers get to attend exclusive parties. In New York, they enjoy a finer prize: luxury real estate.

The law schools of Columbia and NYU have been battling over faculty superstars for several years. And now NYU is bringing out the heavy artillery: multimillion-dollar condo purchases. From the New York Times:

Columbia University, in a never-ending search for a larger campus, has long had an outpost for faculty housing at 455 Central Park West — 53 apartments in an 26-story tower attached to the French Renaissance chateau at West 106th Street.

So it was something of a surprise when a foundation associated with New York University bought a large condominium in the complex. The unit, which cost $5.2 million, is built into one of the huge turrets of the chateau.... The duplex apartment has a round living and dining room with 37-foot high ceilings and Central Park views, along with three more conventional bedrooms.

Sounds fabulous! Who gets to inhabit this fabulous pad?

Find out, after the jump.

Law school list serve trainwrecks are a staple here at ATL. We've written about several -- see, e.g., Cumberland Law School; Washington University School of Law -- and they tend to be popular with readers.

A student at NYU Law School brought a recent listserv debacle to our attention:

[This listserve controversy] touches on many law school and other legal topics. They include grades, finals, state vs. T14 schools, Jesus, the Constitution, Jesus vs. the Constitution, and [people] who were arrested at Harvard [see April 24, 2:21 AM entry] and feel the need to announce it to the whole law school.

Perhaps it's just exam stress all around, but having just taken my crim pro final earlier today, the last bit made things extra hilarious.

The reader then included several emails from the thread. But fortunately for us, another NYU law student already collected and posted them over here (which saves us the trouble of cutting and pasting).

More after the jump.

As you've probably noticed, we've been experiencing some technical difficulties around here. And it seems we're not alone.

From an ATL reader at NYU Law School:

More fun at NYU, and this one actually affects me. We had manhole fire near one of the two NYU law dorms (the one I live in), and this has cut the power to the building. Making this even more annoying is that I planned to outline a lot today (yes its nerdy, but one week until exams), and needed an active power source, and am now huddled in the overcrowded law library.

Here's an official story about it: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5803017. We haven't received any news from the Administration.

I realize it's probably a small thing, but if a list-serve clusterf*ck can get on, why not a little power outage.

But since we received that email, the law school administration has spoken. More after the jump.

A reader alerted us to this informative article (registration-free) from the New York Law Journal. A summary from our correspondent:

This piece talks about the New York State bar passage rate, and specifically how the Tier 2 schools jumped up the ranks this year. Cardozo moved to the third-highest bar passage rate out of all the New York law schools, beating out both Fordham and Cornell.

I think with all the tier 2 trash talking on this site lately, you should give a post dedicated to the surprising accomplishment of those tier 2 bar takers in NY.

An excerpt from the article:

For as long as anyone in the legal academy remembers, the top three spots have shifted a few percentage points among Cornell Law, NYU Law and Columbia Law. And for the past several years, Cardozo Law, which opened its doors in 1976, has contended with St. John's University School of Law and Fordham Law for the coveted fourth spot.

"I'm not deeply invested in bar pass rates," said Cardozo Law Dean David Rudenstine. "But I have to confess, I'm really touched. This is a milestone for our school."

Congratulations, Cardozo! Your grads rock the New York bar exam.

Law Schools Report Record Gains in Bar Exam Pass Rate [New York Law Journal]

Okay, CLSers, so NYU Law School has surpassed you in the U.S. News rankings. But here's some consolation: at least your law library is a zone of normalcy (as law libraries go, that is).

Late last year, NYU's law library was taken over by a mystery smell. And now it has a new problem.

Check it out, after the jump.

We have to step away for a bit. But we'll leave you with some food for thought (and argument): a piece we just wrote for the New York Observer, timed to coincide with fall interview season, about New York law firms. Here's a brief excerpt:

"[J]ust as certain sleeve cuts are all the rage at Fashion Week, some law firms are “hot”—and some are not. Having interviewed with firms exactly 10 years ago, I was curious: Who is this fall’s “It” Firm?"

We expect that many of you will disagree with our conclusions, condemn us as ill-informed or biased (or both), etc. That's okay. Our point is to provoke. We'd like to become for the law firm world what Michael Riedel is to theatre: "Post columnist Michael Riedel's gleeful skewering of Broadway's shows and personages has made him a must read—and a must-hate—on the Great White Way."

You can read the full column over here. It's the first in what's going to be a semimonthly column we'll be writing for the Observer on New York lawyers and law firms. Enjoy (we think).

Polish Those Portfolios! Legal Eaglets Seek Their Nests [New York Observer]

We're bummed that we can't write this week about the groom who arranges music for Yo-Yo Ma and Jay-Z. Or the one who's associate counsel for the NBA.

But lawyer-lawyer couples abound, and we know those are the pairings ATL readers crave. Here are our finalists:

1. Lisa Kutlin and Alexander Goldenberg

2. Shauna Burgess and Jonathan Friedman

3. Elizabeth Frieze and Matthew Prasse

More about these legal lovebirds, after the jump.

LEWW is delighted to bring you the first all-Jewish edition of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch! The MOT really represented this week. Mazel Tov to all the happy couples and their proud parents!

Here are the finalists:

1. Rebecca Kristol and Elliot Silver

2. Talia Milgrom-Elcott and Aaron Dorfman

3. Lisa Gordon and Michael Kanner

More about these couples, after the jump.

Once again, the wedding pages were chock-full of lawyers last weekend. Without further ado (because LEWW has other things to post today), here are your candidates for Couple of the Week:

1. Jenny Huang and Roger Hong

2. Melissa Epstein and Jason Mills

3. Celeste Sharpe and Peter Brown

Continue reading about these couples, after the jump.

We've learned a little more about the talented creator of the NYU Law Revue videos that we've recently highlighted. His name is Ryan Landes, and he's a 3L at NYU, who will be working at a firm in L.A. after graduation. Given his gift for film, it's not surprising that he's headed to Hollywood (where perhaps he'll bump into Eric Krautheimer at The Ivy).

Despite the demands of law school, Ryan finds the time to pursue film as a hobby. Here's a droll little video he did for last year's Law Revue, poking fun at Early Interview Week (EIW) on the NYU campus.

(The big joke in the sketch is a little dated. But is it ever possible to have too much of Aquagirl?)

EIW [YouTube]

Here's another video from the NYU Law Review Revue that we enjoyed. It reminded us of the Promiscuous Firm video that those Canadian law students did a while ago.

The first minute is a little slow. But the fun kicks in at around the one-minute mark -- and the sunglasses-wearing, Jacko-esque female partner is pretty badass:

Bill It [YouTube]

Earlier: Get NYU

In ATL's March Madness, NYU currently enjoys a sizable lead over their uptown competition at Columbia. So they probably don't need the electoral boost that might result from this delightful video, produced as part of the annual NYU Law Revue:

Our observations:

1. It's all in the casting: "Columbia" is a brilliant choice. She's the twenty-something, female embodiment of John Hodgman. If the whole "law" thing doesn't work out for her, she should look into acting.

2. "Harvard" and "Yale" are super-cute!!! Of course, we're assuming that in real life they are NYU law students (and perhaps future NYU law hotties).

3. The video includes a photographic cameo by one-half of FELDSUK. Awesome! (And we love how NYU has brilliantly spun Professor Noah Feldman's high-profile defection to Harvard.)

Congratulations to the NYU Law crew that put together such an excellent video. Nice work, guys!

P.S. Did they get any help from their brilliant colleagues at NYU's famous film school?

Update: The answer to that question is no. A tipster tells us that the creator of the video is a mere law student, who produced this video without film school help. This source also adds:

The ad makes fun of NYU as well: we have no waitlist, and can't use Macs for exams. The video turns against NYU.

Get NYU [YouTube]

* Senator Brownback doesn't include women of reproductive age in his litany. But you can't protect everyone, can you? [Mirror of Justice]

* I once sent out letters like this to production companies, volunteering my script-reading services, and one guy took the time to tell me to f*%k myself because what the hell did I know about scripts. But I'm sure this guy will have much better luck. [Prettier Than Napolean]

* Let's all be thankful that cosmos weren't served. My gender-neutral marketing and client development strategy would be to recruit only hot associates of both genders and all sexual orientations, and pimp them out to clients as appropriate. [WSJ Law Blog via Professor Bainbridge]

* Looks like it's every man for himself. [Overlawyered]