The Blackbook's Second Annual Top Law Prof. Competition

It's that time of the year again! The Blackbook Legal Blog is proud to announce that we're hosting our second annual top law professor competition. Last year's competition was a major success with hundreds of different voters from different schools casting their ballot. In the end, Professor Peter Smith of The George Washington University Law School emerged victorious. We hope this year's competition will be as spirited.

As a reminder, here's how it works: e-mail us or leave us a comment to this posting nominating a professor. Be sure to specify what school the professor teaches at.* In a week or two, we'll put everything together and create a poll. We'll pull the top five professors from that poll into another poll, and will determine--from there--who our readers think should be crowned "Blackbook's Top Law Prof."

*Note that winners from the past year are ineligible to participate. Thus, nominations for Professor Smith will not be accepted in this year's competition.

Congratulations to The Blackbook's Top Law Prof!

The Blackbook's first annual Top Law Prof. Competition ended last night. Our final five contenders were:

1. Peter Smith (GWU)
2. Aaron Twerski (Brooklyn)
3. Richard Epstein (Chicago/NYU)
4. Catherine Struve (Penn)
5. Tobias Wolff (Penn)

I am pleased to announce that the winner, by a narrow (but decisive) margin, is Peter Smith from GWU. Collectively, we received just under 500 total votes from our readers in the two voting rounds of the Competition. Professor Smith received about 60% of these votes. I spoke with some readers who voted for Professor Smith, and asked them to explain their vote; their answers are reproduced below, unedited. The comments speak for themselves, and demonstrate how revered Professor Smith truly is:

"Peter Smith is, by far, the best professor I've had in law school. A feat accomplished not by ingratiating himself with the students through corny jokes or a "dazzling" presentation style - but by demonstrating, in a warm and human manner, the sheer force of intellect required to parse legal issues. He was both extremely demanding and extremely giving - of his time, his insight, and his support. I consider myself lucky to have had him as a professor."

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"Peter Smith is without a doubt the best professor I have ever had. Not only is he absolutely brilliant, but he has a way of capturing the class's attention like I have never experienced before. There are many professors who can make criminal law or constitutional law interesting, but Professor Smith is one of those rare breeds that somehow transforms an otherwise boring civil procedure class into an all-time favorite. He is what every law school professor should aspire to be."

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"There were times when Prof. Smith's class would end, and I would sit staring at my notes wondering a) how he managed to untangle an extremely difficult doctrine in such a digestible fashion, and b) how the class had flown by so quickly. That was the mystery of Prof Smith - he is neither flashy nor funny, not overly friendly or mean; but he manages to make time fly by forcing you to learn in ways you had never previously done. Even being on call is a unique experience, as he manages to be both terrifying and friendly at the same time - magically able to extract the answer he is looking for no matter what response the student gives. Smith is the quintessential law school professor, who would be able to explain the most complex legal topics to anyone willing to pay even half-attention."

Congratulations, again, to Peter Smith of The George Washington University Law School! The honor is well-deserved, and speaks directly to the skill that is--in my opinion, anyway--the most important asset a law professor can have.

Last Call: The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition (Rd. 3)

As you know, Round 3 of The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition is currently underway! The race is currently very closely knotted up, and the polls close tomorrow at 9:00 PM.

Right now, the standings are as follows:

1. Peter Smith (GWU)
2. Aaron Twerski (Brooklyn)
3. Richard Epstein (Chicago/NYU)
4. Catherine Struve (Penn)
5. Tobias Wolff (Penn)

Only one will be crowned The Blackbook's Top Law Prof., so be sure to vote before 9:00 tomorrow!

The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition (Rd. 3)

The third and final round of the first annual Blackbook Top Law Prof. Competition is here! Round 2 was remarkably close. We received well over 200 votes, and the top five were separated by just a few votes. In fact, only two votes separated the eighth ranked competitor from the fifth ranked...

But, of course, only five professors move on to Round 3; and those five are:

1) Peter Smith (GWU)
2) Aaron Twerski (Brooklyn)
3) Richard Epstein (NYU/UChicago)
4) Catherine Struve (Penn)
5) Tobias Wolff (Penn)

Good luck to all! We'll announce the winner in a week's time.

Remember to Vote for Your Favorite Professor!

As Nima explained earlier, Round 2 of The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition will close on Sunday. We have received about 200 votes so far (which is a lot given there are only twelve schools represented), and--as it stands--your top five would be as follows:

1) Peter Smith (GWU)
2) Aaron Twerski (Brooklyn)
3) Catherine Struve (Penn)
4) Gregory Maggs (GWU)
5) Tobias Wolff (Penn)

Please remember to put your vote in before Sunday!

The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition (Rd. 2)

The first annual Blackbook Top Law Prof. Competition is underway and it's time to vote for your favorite law school professor. We chose a list of 18 professors from various nominations that our readers listed in our original posting and sent to us via e-mail. Professors who received 3 or more nominations are the ones who were chosen to be in this final poll which is located on the side panel.

Voting for this round will end in seven days. From the results compiled during that period, we will further narrow the field to the top 5 professors, who will compete in a separate poll the following week. From there, we will choose a winner.

Note again that this poll is not intended to be scientific; it's just for fun.

Happy Voting.

Final Call: The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition

We've already received a number of nominations, but wanted to remind you to stop by and nominate your favorite law school professor to be "Blackbook's Top Law Prof."

Feel free to shoot us an e-mail, or leave us a comment in our earlier posting.

The Blackbook's Top Law Prof. Competition

As I've made clear in prior postings, I place a pretty high premium on teaching ability. And we know law students love ranking things because it's "prestigious" to categorize and classify; it is, after all, the "law school way."

So, pursuant to a tipster's advice, we're pleased to announce our efforts to perpetuate the obsession with rankings by starting our own competition to determine who the "best" law school professor is--based on classroom performance, of course.

Here's how it works: e-mail us or leave us a comment to this posting nominating a professor. Be sure to specify what school the professor teaches at. In a week or two, we'll put everything together and create a poll of some kind. We'll pull the top five professors from that poll into another poll, and will determine--from there--who our readers think should be crowned "Blackbook's Top Law Prof."

Here's your chance to grade your professors...enjoy!