Oldfather Triangulating

Professor Chad Oldfather’s recent article, Triangulating Judicial Responsiveness: Automated Content Analysis, Judicial Opinions, and the Methodology of Legal Scholarship (co-authored with Joseph P. Bockhorst and Brian P. Dimmer) – published in the Florida Law Review – has received a lot of recent scholarly attention. Professor Robin Effron of Brooklyn Law School and Professor Scott Bauries of the University of Kentucky College of Law each wrote responses (here and here) in the Florida Law Review Forum (the Florida Law Review’s online companion). In addition, Professor Corey Yung of the Kansas University School of Law also wrote an essay about the article. Congratulations, Professor Oldfather!

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Marquette Law School Alumnae Honored as “Women in Law”

On Thursday, June 23rd, the Wisconsin Law Journal recognized its 2011 Women in Law honorees.  There were several MULS alumnae among the group: Elizabeth Blackwood, Michelle Fitzgerald, Mary Gerbig, Christine Liu McLaughlin, and Linda Meagher.  As you can read further on the Wisconsin Law Journal’s website here, these Marquette lawyers have compelling stories, have accomplished so much in their careers, and have served their communities with great distinction.

The other MULS alumna honored on Thursday night was our own Professor Phoebe Williams.  It is hard to properly describe the long and meaningful list of contributions that Professor Williams has made to the Law School, the Milwaukee community, and beyond.  Perhaps the clearest manifestation of the impact Professor Williams has had are her “living legacies” (the term Justice Scalia used to describe students at the dedication of Eckstein Hall).  Indeed, I have had countless students and graduates who have told me about the significant effect that Professor Williams had on their lives and careers.  So it was wonderful to be there on Thursday night to help celebrate Professor Williams’ much-deserved recognition.

Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees!

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The Hero Teacher in Perspective

Prologue: I’d like to thank Dean Bill Henk for inviting me to blog about a terrific project on which we collaborated. On Tuesday, the College of Education, the Office of the Provost’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative, and the MU Law School sponsored a conference entitled “Urban Education Innovation and Reform Programs: High Success for High-Need Kids.” The event began with an engaging talk by Raj Vinnakota, Marquette’s 2010 Social Entrepreneur in Residence and the founder of The SEED Foundation (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development), and its nationally acclaimed boarding schools. A panel with local urban innovators and reformers next discussed their pathways to high success with high-needs students here in Milwaukee.

Over the lunch hour, National Teacher of the Year Rafe Esquith talked about his experience working with inner-city kids in Los Angeles, and some of his fifth grade students — the Hobart Shakespeareans — performed Shakespearean scenes and a couple of rock n’ roll songs. And, in the evening, Rafe and the Hobart Shakespeareans spoke to, and performed for, an audience of education students, faculty, local educators, and interested community members (thanks to all of those at the College of Education for making the evening such a great success). Cross posted at the Marquette Educator >>

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