The Power of Money

SALT is delighted to present the 2019-20 SALT Salary Survey, our annual survey of academic year law  faculty salaries. The survey, conducted by SALT Co-Presidents Catherine Grosso (Michigan State) and José R. (Beto) Juárez, Jr. (Dean, Nova Southeastern), reports the median base salaries for three faculty  ranks – assistant professor,…

SALT is delighted to present the 2018-19 SALT Salary Survey, our annual survey of academic year law faculty salaries. The survey, conducted by SALT Co-Presidents Matthew Charity (Western New England) and Davida Finger (Loyola-New Orleans), reports the median base salaries for three faculty ranks – assistant professor,…

By Hazel Weiser Our system of funding higher education through grants and loans might be exacerbating income inequality, especially along racial lines. In the 21st century, a college degree is the new high school diploma, necessary to acquire any economic independence in a post-manufacturing era, although certainly no guarantee. And according…

Benjamin G. Davis, Associate Professor of Law, University of Toledo College of Law As I frequently do Sunday’s mornings in Toledo, picked up the Sunday Toledo Blade at the 7/11 (Comenatchi? (Hi!) Paloatchi (Hi back at you!) Gorum! Gorum! (Hot! Hot!) Rodje! (Sunny!) Tanda! (Cool in here!) being the usual…

By Benjamin G. Davis, Associate Professor of Law, University of Toledo College of Law (Update:  Other than Romney and Obama, I am avoiding using names of others here to respect their privacy.  I sent a copy of this post to some of my old HBS classmates and one has pointed…

On top of the alarming influence of non-transparent money in politics, we need to pay more attention to the influence of undisclosed money in scholarship about law and public policy. Many prominent law scholars get funded by outside non-academic interests for speeches and writing, without much scrutiny of the possible impact on substance. Richard Epstein, for example, consulted for the pharmaceutical industry while serving on a university ethics committee and writing scholarship arguing against tighter conflict of interest rules in health research --- though unlike many scholars he is relative willing to proclaim his market success. A new book, Predator Nation, by Charles Ferguson (Director of the Inside Job documentary on the financial crisis) includes a fascinating chapter about conflicting interests of scholars influential in economic policy.