Ian Samuel (image by IU Comm via Twitter)
The revelation that Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Ian Samuel is under investigation by the school for Title IX violations has rocked the world of legal academia. While the details of the allegations against Samuel haven’t been made public, there is still a lot to digest about the situation.
Samuel’s role in the charge against Biglaw mandatory arbitration agreements, specifically calling out the role such contracts play in shielding firm’s from sexual harassment claims, seemed to put him at the forefront of issues related to harassment and the legal industry. However, even before that, when allegations of sexual misconduct were being made against Alex Kozinski, Samuel appeared at a roundtable at Vice discussing whether there was a #MeToo reckoning in the legal industry.
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Samuel was joined by Dahlia Lithwick, Leah Litman, Katherine Ku, and David Lat for a roundtable discussion about sexual harassment in the legal sphere. All former clerks themselves, they provide an interesting perspective on how the dynamic of a clerkship plays into power relations and what still needs to be done.
The roundtable also provides an interesting insight into Samuel’s perspective on the #MeToo movement. In responding to Lat’s suggestion that perhaps in the era of #MeToo it is appropriate for men to “STFU” and let women steer the conversations, Samuel responded that his motivations for keeping quiet on #MeToo issues — his appearance on the panel notwithstanding, apparently — was motivated by a sense of self-preservation. He said he wants to avoid getting called out for saying the wrong thing about sexual harassment — an experience he describes as “painful”:
I think men talk about this among themselves whether they’re doing it in public or not. Right? Like I have had a million conversations with all of the men I know about this stuff. And those conversations are different when it’s just men talking. I honestly I wish I could say that I had your [Lat’s] sort of more noble motives for not saying that much about this, mine are a little more cowardly. Which is I feel like I say the wrong stuff a lot of the time and it’s painful to then experience negative reactions to stuff.
And what does Samuel know about getting called out for weighing in on sexual harassment issues? Funny you should ask. There’s the epic whataboutism tweet he sent into the ether about Brett Kavanaugh. It was sent in the days before Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations about the jurist became public, but, importantly after critics were questioning what Kavanaugh, as a former clerk and colleague of Judge Kozinski, knew about Kozinski’s questionable behavior. He tweeted this:
Anyone who tells you “Kavanaugh shoulda known about those Kozinski allegations” should be asked what they think about Hillary’s affection for Harvey Weinstein. If you condemn both, OK. If you have a distinction at hand, you’re a hack and gtfo.
Yes, Twitter’s reaction to the comment was immediate. But it’s hard to read his tweet as anything but the gentleman doth protest too much. As a former Kozinski clerk himself, perhaps asking what role men in his chambers played in protecting the now-disgraced jurist cut a little too close for comfort. As he admitted in the Vice clip, difficult conversations don’t seem to be his thing.
Unfortunately for Samuel, one imagines a Title IX investigation involves a lot of uncomfortable questions.
Did #MeToo really bring a reckoning to the legal industry? [Vice]
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).