Good practice pointers from Bankruptcy Judge Michael Williamson.

Here, courtesy of the NACTT.

In addition to taking UNLV's president as its president, UNT is bringing aboard some pretty high-powered faculty members to its law school..

See here.  I've known David Epstein a long time and have enjoyed his BAR/BRI lectures (in my apparent quest to make multijurisdictional practice history).  I've also known Ellen Pryor for a long time, and she's impressive as well.  It'll be interesting to see who else comes aboard. 

A timeless essay on writing by George Orwell.

Here.  It's just marvelous.

Bravo to each university on this list.

Here.  And here's an opinion piece worth reading.

Long overdue but very happy news.

Alan Turing has finally been given a posthumous pardon (here).  Too many wonderful people have been punished for being gay--just for BEING gay.  Very happy to see this news.

Bravo, Brandeis and Penn State Harrisburg!

Both universities said no to the boycott (here). 

Bravo, Michael Roth (President of Wesleyan U)!

For his response to the American Studies boycott of Israeli universities (here).

Bravo, Robert Brown (President of BU)!

For his response to the American Studies boycott (here). 

Bravo, Jonathan Marks!

His take on the ridiculous American Studies Association boycott of Israel (here).  Where is the American Studies Association's boycott of China and other nations that make academic freedom a myth? 

I'm sorry, but I can't help but believe that anti-Semitism is at the root of this boycott. 

Bravo, Larry Summers!

For speaking up about the academic boycott of Israel (here).

Something funny, on this eve before grading exams.

From the NYT (here). 

Boyd School of Law's upcoming Conference on Psychology and Lawyering is coming up early next year.

Info here.  Should be excellent.

A feel-good donation opportunity for you from The Bloggess.

See here.

Really? An academic boycott of Israel? Why the leaders of the American Studies Association are misguided.

Here's the news story.  Rather than either (1) trying to learn about the nuances of what's going on in the Middle East or (2) trying to engage their Israeli counterparts in a real discussion of the issues, the American Studies Association has voted in favor of an academic boycott.

What on earth IS an academic boycott?  Will the American Studies folks stop reading scholarship produced by Israel academics?  Will they stop teaching things that are based on Israel academics' research?  (Even though there are some typos, this listing of Israeli contributions gives a flavor of what Israelis have contributed to the world.)

I'm willing to admit that good-hearted people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian issue have important and valuable things to say, and I'm willing to listen.  I'm not willing to listen to academics who prefer to turn their backs, shut their eyes, and plug their ears in a grown-up version of "I'm not listening to you" behavior.

Geez.

New to practicing bankruptcy law? Where to begin, where to begin....

So I received a copy of PLI's Financially Distressed Companies Answer Book 2013, and it's been waiting for me since June.  For folks who have no background in bankruptcy law, it's a nice way to spot the issues and get some citations.  It gives enough of a forest-trees look to be a good intro to the field.  It's one of several books that provide good intros to bankruptcy law, like Charles Tabb's Bankruptcy Anthology, Michael Bernstein & Jack Ayer's Bankruptcy In Practice, and similar good overviews.

I'd be remiss in not pointing out that there are great treatises out there, too, including an upcoming one from Bloomberg....

Today's Throw Grammar From the Train is about "utilize"--yay!

See here.  I've been riding this particular hobbyhorse for a long time.  My guess is that people use "utilize" to sound "educated." 

If I can get lawyers to realize that they write more clearly when they write as simply as possible, I will have done something useful.

Yes, I believe that our law students at Boyd are cooler than your law students.

Proof here.  (These are students in my small section of Contracts.  They have Thom Main for Civ Pro.)

Some thoughts on anti-Semitism.

This New York Times article on anti-Semitism brought back some painful memories.  Growing up in the Bible Belt meant that I met more people than I'd have liked who really did believe that the Jews killed Jesus and that Jews were devils.  Yes, I heard "show me your [devil's] horns--I know you have them."  Yes, I was beaten up regularly (until I learned how to defend myself) for being Jewish.  Yes, even my "friends" would say unkind things about my religion.  The fact that anti-Semitism hasn't declined, and may in fact be on the rise again, is horrifying to me.  But kids learn what their elders teach them, and--like every other type of prejudice--knowing that one of their friends is Jewish, or gay, or otherwise "different" from them may not be enough to help erase all of those years of teaching that "others" are evil.

Yep, I'm bragging about Boyd.

See here--and this is my favorite quote: 

Three schools accredited in the past two decades -- the  University of St. Thomas, Nevada–Las Vegas, and Chapman -- "have already made a scholarly impact that dramatically outpaces their present academic reputations."

Congratulations to Brian Shapiro's FEES program!

The 4th graders in this video did a great job of demonstrating the type of financial knowledge that Brian Shapiro's course teaches.  What a great program!