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William C. Altreuter
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Thursday, July 21, 2011

I swear, I really am going to stop reading Althouse. She is insufferably smug, and offers next to no actual legal discussion, and the commentators are even worse. I understand the law professor impulse that leads one to ask questions as a means of promoting discussion, but what goes on there is less like a conversation than it is like a bag of cats.So, for example, a post today about a nominee to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, and a faculty colleague of La Althouse:

"Victoria Nourse really has very little connection to the state of Wisconsin, and nobody in the legal community in Wisconsin knows anything about her."

Said Senator Ron Johnson, who is blocking Obama's nominee to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Apparently, the University of Wisconsin Law School doesn't count as "the legal community in Wisconsin." That says something. Let's talk about what."
It is an interesting question, I think. Does Althouse feel like a member of the Wisconsin legal community? I think probably some of the faculty at my law school do, and some do not, but I would hesitate to speculate as to who does and who doesn't. I think UB is somewhat unusual, because it has quite a few adjuncts, and I think we may integrate our law school into the community in ways that other schools do not necessarilly, but I am speculating here. There is little doubt in my mind that UB's faculty feel a connection to the larger Western New York community, even if they aren't rolling with bench and bar on a regular basis.

The comment that has set me off is this:
"No law school faculty are not part of the legal community. Those of us that are practicing don't see you, we don't read what you right and you are largely irrelevant to our practices. I don't mean to offend but you are in the academic community not the legal community and there is a difference."
I'd say it is pretty clear that this character is not in the academic community.

For whatever it is worth, I think it is likely that a UB faculty member nominated to the federal bench would be someone with pretty strong connections to the Western New York legal community, and I suspect the same is true of Professor Nourse.

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