Friday, September 18, 2009

Now for something completely different...


My former colleague, Cheryl Conner, is interviewed on ABA Journal's series, "Legal Rebels." I have been kind of steamed about some of these so-called Legal Rebels, who often don't seem like much of a rebel to me. Or sometimes, I have a major bone to pick with the so-called rebellion, as with David Van Zandt's deanship at Northwestern. Well, his ALDAness of his deanship at Northwestern, where he seems quite intent on attacking a number of classes of law school employees who already seem to be at-risk to me.

But, Cheryl Conner is more of a true legal rebel... she really makes legal types uncomfortable. I was there when a former dean told her that, while she was probably going to win a MacArthur Genius prize, that she really didn't fit into the law school here. Which was such a loss to Suffolk, and the students here. She was teaching the internship program and clinical seminars, including a special class called The Reflective Lawyer. This class included -- gasp! -- meditation.... You can see why Cheryl made the regular law faculty and students uncomfortable, and why she really should have been kept here and was absolutely invaluable!

Click here to see the ABA interview, read about Cheryl and for an even more interesting treat, hear a bit of the Declaration of Independence set to music by Cheryl, as sung by members of the Tanglewood Chorus.

Tip of the OOTJ hat to my colleague Susan Sweetgall for sending me the link! The picture of Cheryl Conner is from the ABA web page.

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