Legal Commentary

Sometimes Judges Treat Law Professors With Extra Respect ...

By Eugene Volokh

... but sometimes they also expect extra sense out of them. The phrase ?[t]he parties, who are both law professors and who ought to know better,? which I ran across in a case I read, offers some evidence of that.

UPDATE: Just read a pleading in a case related to this litigation, and had this thought: If two ex-spouses are professors, who share the same last name (say, Jones), having your lawyer?s motions call you ?Professor Jones? and your ex ?Defendant Jones? might seem a bit too overtly manipulative. Naturally, lawyers often do try to be subtly manipulative in similar ways. But it only works, I think, if you can plausibly claim that you?re just using the natural titles, and it?s just too bad for the other side that your client is a Dr. and the other is a Mr., or some such. Here, I think this sort of plausible deniability was likely missing ? but maybe it?s just me.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on March 09, 2011 (boomark / email).