Legal Theory Blog

Legal Theory Bookworm

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Memory and Law, edited by Lynn Nadel and Walter P. Sinnott-Armstrong. Here is a description:

The legal system depends upon memory function in a number of critical ways, including the memories of victims, the memories of individuals who witness crimes or other critical events, the memories of investigators, lawyers, and judges engaged in the legal process, and the memories of jurors. How well memory works, how accurate it is, how it is affected by various aspects of the criminal justice system -- these are all important questions. But there are others as well: Can we tell when someone is reporting an accurate memory? Can we distinguish a true memory from a false one? Can memories be selectively enhanced, or erased? Are memories altered by emotion, by stress, by drugs? These questions and more are addressed by Memory and Law, which aims to present the current state of knowledge among cognitive and neural scientists about memory as applied to the law.

And from the table of contents:

Part I. General Issues about Memory
Introduction: Memory in the Legal Context by L. Nadel & W. Sinnott-Armstrong
1. Emotion's Impact on Memory by E.A. Phelps
Part II. Memory in Eyewitnesses
2. Inconsistencies between Law and the Limits of Human Cognition: The Case of Eyewitness Identification by D. Davis & E.F. Loftus
3. Lineup Procedures in Eyewitness Identification by S.D. Gronlund, C.A Goodsell & S.M. Andersen
4. The Curious Complexity between Confidence and Accuracy in Reports from Memory by H.L. Roediger, III, J.H. Wixted & K.A. DeSoto
5. Evaluating Confidence in Our Memories: Results and Implications from Neuroimaging and Eye Movement Monitoring Studies of Metamemory by E.F. Chua
6. Evidentiary independence?: How evidence collected early in an investigation influences the collection and interpretation of additional evidence by L.E. Hasel
Part III. Memory in Jurors
7. Memory and jury deliberation: The benefits and costs of collective remembering by W. Hirst, A. Coman & C.B. Stone
8. Realizing the Potential of Instructions to Disregard by L.J. Demaine
9.: The Memory of Jurors: Enhancing Trial Performance by A. Sandberg, W. Sinnott-Armstrong & J. Suvalescu
Part IV. Neuroimaging Memories
10. Neuroimaging of True, False, and Imaginary Memories: Findings and Implications by D.L. Schacter, J. Chamberlain, B. Gaesser & K.D. Gerlach
11. Detection of concealed stored memories with psychophysiological and neuroimaging methods by J.P. Rosenfeld, G.B. Shakhar & G. Ganis
Part V. Legislative Issues
12. Criminalizing Cognitive Enhancement at the Blackjack Table by A. Kolber
13. Monetizing Memory Science: Neuroscience and the Future of PTSD Litigation by F.X. Shen
CODA
14. Ten Things the Law, and Others, Should Know about Human Memory by M.A. Conway

2009 Entry Level Hiring Report

The 2009 Entry Level Hiring Report was last updated on April 27, 2009.

Here is the second round of results from the 2009 Entry Level Hiring Report.  The list of entry-level hires by school follows in the continuation of this post.  I am still collecting data (using surveymonkey).  Click Here to enter data for the 2009 Entry Level Hiring Report.  I received many inconsistent and contradictory reports: I've done my best to report the best data, but if there is an error, I will correct it in the next round: please submit corrections via surveymokey at the link above.

Lateral moves can be reported to Dan Filler: follow this link for details.

Eight schools had three or more placements:

1. TIE: HARVARD (26), YALE (26)
3. TIE: CALIFORNIA – Berkeley (11), MICHIGAN (11)
5. TIE: COLUMBIA (10), NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (10), STANFORD (10)
8. CHICAGO (6)
9. TIE: GEORGETOWN (3), MINNESOTA (3)

Eight schools had two placements:

CALIFORNIA - Los Angeles
DUKE
GEORGE WASHINGTON
GEORGIA
MCGILL UNIVERSITY
PENNSYLVANIA
TEXAS
TULANE

26 schools had one placement:

BAR-ILAN, BOSTON COLLEGE, BOSTON UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA - Davis, CHICAGO-KENT, DRAKE, EMORY, GEORGE WASHINGTON, HOWARD, KANSAS, LOYOLA - New Orleans, MISSOURI - Columbia, NEVADA - Las Vegas, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTHWESTERN, NOTRE DAME, SETON HALL, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, SOUTHERN METHODIST, TEL-AVIV, THE JOHN MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, YESHIVA

35 candidates have PhDs.  The disciplines are as follows:

Philosophy (5)
Economics (4)
History (3)
Political Science (3)
Jurisprudence & Social Policy (2)
Law & Society (2)
One Each: Near Eastern Studies, Environment, Religious Studies, Sociology

6 candidates had advanced doctorates (SJDs or PhDs) in law.  36 had LLMs or the equivalent.

Note: The numbers reported above may reflect some confidential reports.

Click for the continuation of this post to read the individual hiring reports by institution and candidate.

Entry Level Hiring Report Version 5.0

Here is Version 5.0 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report, with updates since Version 4.1 in blue, including new reports from Capital University, Georgetown University, New England School of Law, Northeastern University, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, Pepperdine University, Phoenix Law School, Stanford University, University of Califonria-Berkeley, University of La Verne, University of Memphis, University of Michigan, University of San Francisco, University of Tennessee, University of Virginia, and Yale University.

As of June 2, 2008, I have received 167 reports. Results are in the continuation of this post, which will remain at the top of the blog while data is still coming in.  For newer posts, just scroll down.

Follow this link for instructions on submitting a report: How to Submit Data.  All reports are welcome.  If you have incomplete data or a "no hire report," please send that along.

The JD Placement Tournament is now underway, with the following initial results:

1. Yale University-30
2. Harvard University-25
3. Stanford University-12
4. Columbia University-9, University of Michigan-9 (Tie)
6. New York University-5, University of California-Berkeley-5, University of Chicago-5 (Tie)
9. Georgetown University-3, Northwestern University-3, University of Virginia-3 (Tie)

The rest of the JD tournament results are as follows:

Two Placements: Duke University-2, Emory University-2, Tulane University-2, University of California-Hastings-2, University of Illinois-2, University of Minnesota-2, University of Georgia-2, Vanderbilt University-2

One Placement: Boston University-1, Case Western Reserve University-1, City University of New York-1, Howard University-1, Humboldt University-1, Indiana University-1, National Law School of India-1, Rutgers-1, Tel-Aviv University-1, University of California-Berkeley-1, University of California-Los Angeles-1, University of Cincinnati-1, University of Florida-1, University of Giessen-1, University of Hawaii-1, University of Helsinki-1, University of Iowa-1, University of Kansas-1, University of Melbourne-1, University of New South Wales-1, University of North Dakota-1, University of Notre Dame-1, University of Pennsylvania-1, University of Southern California-1, University of Texas-1, University of Torino-1, University of Washington-1, Tel-Aviv University-1, Villanova University-1, Wilamette University-1, Yeshiva University (Cardozo)-1

The listings of all entry-level hires by school are in the continuation of this post.  Just click to view.

Solove on Entry Level Hiring

Dan Solove reports the percentage of JD Applicants who registered for the FAR (from AALS data) who received entry-level jobs (from my data).  This yields a percentage-placed statistic.  Unsurpisingly, Yale is number one with 45%, followed by Chicago at 43%, Stanford at 41%, and Illinois at 38%.

Some cautionary notes: (1) the entry-level hiring report data is self-reported and surely is incomplete: the actual percentages are higher than those Solove calculates; (2) not everyone who gets an entry-level job registers for the FAR: this creates a slight inflation factor.

2008 Entry Level Hiring Report: Version 4.1

Here is Version 4.1 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report, with updates since Version 4.0 in red, including new reports from the Catholic University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, the University of California-Hastings, the University of Chicago, the University of Connecticut, the University of Denver, the University of Maryland, the University of Nevada-Las Vega, the University of North Dakota, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of the Pacific, and the University of Wisconsin.  Reports that were new in Version 4.0 included those from Boston College, Catholic, Drexel Emory, George Mason University, Harvard University, Indiana-Indianapolis, John Marshall (Atlanta); Louisiana State University, Mercer University; Rutgers-Camden, Samford University, Texas Tech, Texas Wesleyan, University of Akron, University of Arizona, University of Cincinnati, University of Houston, University of Virginia, and Willamette University.

As of April 27, 2008, I have received 148 reports. Results are in the continuation of this post, which will remain at the top of the blog while data is still coming in.  For newer posts, just scroll down.

Follow this link for instructions on submitting a report: How to Submit Data.  All reports are welcome.  If you have incomplete data or a "no hire report," please send that along.

The JD Placement Tournament is now underway, with the following initial results:

1. Yale University-25
2. Harvard University-24
3. Columbia University-9
4. Stanford University-8
5. University of Michigan-7
6. New York University-6
7. University of Chicago-5
8. Northwestern University-3, University of Virginia-3

The rest of the JD tournament, and the listings of all entry-level hires by school are in the continuation of this post.  Just click to view.

2008 Entry Level Hiring Report: Version 3.1

Version 4.0 of the Report Can be Found at this Link.

Here is Version 3.1 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report.  You will find new reports from Chapman, Columbia, Indiana-Indianapolis, Texas, UCLA, Utah, and West Virginia in this version.

As of March 19, 2008, I have received 104 reports. Results are in the continuation of this post, which will remain at the top of the blog while data is still coming in.  For newer posts, just scroll down. 

Follow this link for instructions on submitting a report: How to Submit Data.  All reports are welcome.  If you have incomplete data or a "no hire report," please send that along.

The JD Placement Tournament is now underway, with the following initial results:

1. Yale University-20
2. Harvard University-14
3. Columbia University-6
4. University of Chicago-5, University of Michigan-5 (tie)
6. Stanford University-4
7. New York University-3, Northwestern University-3 (tie)

The rest of the JD tournament, and the listings of all entry-level hires by school are in the continuation of this post.  Just click to view.

2008 Entry Level Hiring Report: Version 2.2

Version 4.0 can be found here.

Here is Version 2.2 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report.  As of March 8, 2008, I have received 94 reports.  Results are in the continuation of this post, which will remain at the top of the blog for the next few days.  For newer posts, just scroll down.  Follow this link for instructions on submitting a report: How to Submit Data  The JD Placement Tournament is now underway, with the following initial results:

1. Yale University-16
2. Harvard University-13
3. Columbia University-6
4. University of Michigan-5
5. University of Chicago-4, Stanford University-4 (tie)
7. New York University-3

The rest of the JD tournament, and the listings of all entry-level hires by school are in the continuation of this post.  Just click to view.

Entry Level Hiring Report: Interim Update

New data has been added to the entry level hiring report.  Here are the links:

Version 1.1 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report

How to Submit Data

The JD Placement Tournament is now underway, with the following initial results:

Yale University-13

Harvard University-9

University of Michigan-3

Columbia University-2

New York University-2

Northwestern University-2

Stanford University-2

University of Chicago-2

Boston University-1

Case Western Reserve University-1

Georgetown University-1

Howard University-1

Tulane University-1

University of California-Berkeley-1

University of California-Hastings-1

University of Florida-1

University of Hawaii-1

University of Illinois-1

University of Minnesota-1

University of Notre Dame-1

University of Pennsylvania-1

University of Texas-1

University of Virginia-1

Vanderbilt University-1

2008 Entry Level Hiring Report: Data Collection

Thank you to everyone who has submitted data.  The current version of the report appears immediately below--scroll down.

I am collecting data on entry-level hiring for tenure-track positions at law schools in the United States.  Please report on candidates who are being hired to their first tenure-track job.  Lateral hires should be reported to Dan Filler at Faculty Lounge.

I would be so grateful if you would read these instructions carefully!

Please email reports to me using this email address: lsolum@gmail.com using "2008 Entry Level Hiring Report" in the subject line.

I will be maintaining the date in an excel spreadhseet and publishing it on the blog.  To help me import the data without manual reentry, it would be very helpful if you would follow this format exactly.  If you separate each data element by semicolons, I can more easily import the data from a text file into Excel.

Hiringinstitution; Firstname; Lastname; Firstlawdegreeabrreviation; Firstlawdegreeyear; Firstlawdegreeinstitution; Advanceddegree1abbreviation; Advanceddegree1year; Advanceddegree1field; Advanceddegree1institution; Advancededgree2abbreviation; Advanceddegree2year; Advanceddegree2field; Advanceddegree2institution; Postdoc1type; Postdoc1institution; Postdoc2type; Postdoc2institution

For example:

University of Illinois; Jane; Doe; JD; 2006; Yale; PhD; 2005; History; Harvard; Visiting Assistant Professor; Chicago-Kent

or

University of Chicago; John; Doe; LLB; 2004; Oxford; SJD; 2008 (expected); Law; Harvard; MA; 2005; Political Science; Cambridge; Research Fellow; New York University

Some comments about a few of the data elements:

Firstname--Use two names if that is appropriate, e.g. "Mary Ann" or "Billy Bob" or include a nickname if requested, e.g., "Ethel ("Jill")."

Lastname--Again use two names if appropriate, i.e., for names in the traditional spanish language format, e.g., Garcia Lopez.

Firstlawdegreeabbreviation--Use JD and not J.D.  Use LLB and not LL.B.  For non-U.S. degrees, please report the actual degree and DO NOT report JD if the degree is (or may be) a JD equivalent.

Firstlawdegreeinstitution--Use "University of Chicago" rather than Chicago or "Columbia University" and not "Columbia."

Advanceddegree1field--Use the most generic & commonly-used descriptor, e.g. use "political science" rather than "politics," "government," or "political theory."  This is important, because I will be counting advanced degrees by discipline.  For specialized LLMs, report as follows "Law (Tax)" or "Law (Intellectual Property").

Postdoc1type--Use "Visiting Assistant Professor," "Research Fellow," "Teaching Fellow," or similar terms rather than the name.  For example, "Teaching Fellow" rather than "Bigelow Fellow."

If there are more than two advanced degrees, list the highest two degrees, e.g. list the SJD and the PhD only, not the LLM, SJD, MA, and PhD.

If there are more than two post-docs, list the third (and subsequent) postdoc using the same format.

I will accept "No Entry Level Hiring" reports, such as:

Yale Law School; No Entry Level Hiring

I'm sure I'll have additional clarifications.

Thanks to everyone!

The first round of results has already been reported and revised.  I will report the second round of results in about a week.

2008 Entry Level Hiring Report: Version 1.1

Version 4.0 of the Report Can be Found Here.

Here is version 1.1 of the 2008 Entry Level Hiring Report.  As of February 23, 2008, I have received 52 reports.

Reports that are new in Version 1.1 are in blue.

American University

Mary Fan, JD 2003 Yale University, MPhil 2008 Anthropology Cambridge University

Brooklyn Law School

Miriam Baer, JD 1996 Harvard University, Lawyering Professor New York University

Robin Effron, JD 2004 New York University, Fellow DAAD Program for International Lawyers, Teaching Fellow University of Chicago

Rebecca Kysar, JD 2004 Yale University

California Western School of Law

Jessica Fink, JD 2001 Harvard University, Teaching Fellow California Western School of Law, Visiting Assistant Professor California Western School of Law

Cornell

Josh Chafetz, JD 2007 Yale University, DPhil 2004 Political Science Oxford University

Oska Livak, JD 2005 Yale University, PhD 2000 Physics Cornell University

Jens Ohlin, JD 2005 Columbia University, PhD 2002 Philosophy Columbia University

Creighton University

David Weber, JD 2005 University of Minnesota

Drexel University

Richard Frankel, JD 2001 Yale University, Teaching Fellow Georgetown

Anil Kalhan, JD 1999 School?, MPPM Yale University Business, Visiting Assistant Professor Fordham

George Mason

Jay Verret, JD 2004 Harvard University, MA 2004 Harvard University Public Policy, Olin Fellow Harvard University

Jonathan Mitchell, JD 2001 University of Chicago, Visiting Assistant Professor University of Chicago

Georgia State University

Russell Covey, JD 1998 Yale University, MA Princeton University Field?

Leslie Wolf, JD 1998 Harvard University, MPH Johns Hopkins University Public Health

Golden Gate University

Heather Murr, JD 1994 University of California, Hastings, Visiting Assistant Professor University of San Diego

John Marshall Law School

Kim Chanbonpin, JD 2003 University of Hawaii, LLM 2006 Law Georgetown University, Teaching Fellow Loyola University New Orleans

Shahram Dana, JD 1997 Boston University, PhD 2008 Law Maastricht University, LLM 2002 Law Leiden University, Assistant Professor Maastricht University

Mary Jean Dolan, JD 1984 Northwestern University, Visiting Assistant Professor, John Marshall Law School

Loyola Marymount University

Aaron Caplan, JD 1991 University of Michigan

Loyola University Chicago

Krivinskas Lea, JD 2004 Harvard University

Loyola University New Orleans

Trey Drury, JD 1996 University of Michigan

Johanna Kalb, JD 2006 Yale, MA 2006 International Relations Johns Hopkins University

Marquette University

No Entry Level Hiring

Michigan State University

Mark Totten, JD Yale University 2005, PhD Philosophy Yale University 2005, Visiting Scholar George Washington University

Ohio State University

Stephanie Hoffer, JD 2001 Case Western Reserve University, LLM 2005 Law (Tax) New York University, Visiting Assistant Professor Northwestern University

Rutgers University-Newark

Joshua Blank JD 2002 Harvard University, LLM 2007 Law (Tax) New York University, Acting Assistant Professor, New York University

Samford University

Doris "Wendy" Greene, JD 2002 Tulane University, LLM 2008 (Expected) Law George Washington University

Suffolk University

Bernie Jones, JD 1992 New York University , PhD 2002 History University of Virginia, Assistant Professor University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Temple University

Sandra Sperino, JD 1999 University of Illinois, MS 1999 Journalism University of Illinois, Visiting Assistant Professor University of Illinois

Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Luz Herrera, JD 1999 Harvard University, AM 1995 Sociology Stanford University, Visiting Assistant Professor Chapman University

Alex Kreit, JD 2004 University of Pennsylvania, Visiting Assistant Professor Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Rebecca Lee, JD 2004 Georgetown University, MPP 2001 Public Policy Harvard University, Visiting Researcher Georgetown University Law Center

University of Alabama

Grace Lee, JD 2003 Northwestern University, MA 1998 Sociology University of Chicago

David Patton, JD 1999 University of Virginia

Fred Vars, JD 1999 Yale University, Research Fellow Yale University

University of Colorado

William Boyd, JD 2002 Stanford University, PhD 2002 Energy and Resources University of California, Berkeley

Andrew Schwartz, JD 2001 Columbia Columbia University

Harry Surden, JD 2005 Stanford, Research Fellow Stanford University

University of Florida

Daniel Sokol, JD 2001 University of Chicago, MSt 1997 History Oxford, Teaching Fellow University of Wisconsin, Visiting Associate Professor University of Missouri-Columbia

University of Houston

Jim Hawkins, JD 2006 University of Texas

University of Kentucky

Scott Bauries, JD 2005 Univeristy of Florida

Stephen Clowney, JD 2006 Yale University

University of Oregon

Carrie Leonetti, JD 2000 Harvard University

University of Richmond

William Fisher, JD 1976 Yale University, MA 1976 Public Policy; Harvard University, Visiting Associate Professor Tulane University

John Preis, JD 2000 Vanderbilt University, Visiting Assistant Professor Brooklyn Law School, Visiting Assistant Professor, Washburn Law School

University of Tulsa

Carrie Griffin Basas, JD 2002 Harvard, Visiting Assistant Professor Penn State University-Dickinson School of Law (University Park)

Vanderbilt

Amanda Rose, JD 2002 University of California Berkeley, Lecturer University of California Berkeley

Washington & Lee University

Sean Seymore, JD 2006 University of Notre Dame, PhD 2001 Chemistry University of Notre Dame, Visiting Assistant Professor Northwestern University

Widener University (Harrisburg)

Tonya Evans-Walls, JD 1998 Howard University

Willamette

David Friedman, JD 1999 Yale University, Visiting Assistant Professor Willamette University