Talk:Yale Law School

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[edit] Notable Alumi

RexRex84 and an anonymous contributor are in the middle of an interesting discussion about who should count as "notable" alumni. RexRex84 added Charlie Korsmo, a child actor who later went to MIT and graduated from Yale Law School, stating that because he has a Wikipedia page, and is more "well known" than many of the judges listed on the page, he should be included. The anonymous contributor rebutted by saying that Korsmo does not belong on this list because his notoriety stems not from YLS; nor are his child acting credentials particularly impressive (supporting cast in the comedy What About Bob? and other lesser films). While I agree with RexRex84 that Korsmo is, in some way, "notable" because he might be better known to average folks than "unknown" federal judges, I wonder if that makes him noteworthy for the YLS page? That is the real question here.

Indeed, Korsmo may have some fans who made him a Wikipedia page, but his notability, in the YLS context, is questionable. Considering that he is sandwiched between a Nuremburg prosector and Joseph Lieberman, two people whose power and influence is both notable and noteworthy, Korsmo is out of his league here (at least for the moment). Korsmo is notable only in a "pop culture" sort of way, not yet due to any characteristics that have shaped American history, law, society or politics. Most of the other notable alumni have done exactly that, even if they are not household names. However, for YLS alumni and interested legal eagles, these names are familiar and belong on the YLS list.

I would suggest taking Korsmo's name off the notable alumni list for now; let him make his mark on the American or global scene with something more "noteworthy" first. When he does, then he should go back on. Henry M. Trotter 07:04, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

In a move that should factor into this debate, I've excised the alumni list to a separate page, as it current protocol on many university and law school pages, leaving a paragraph on those "among the most notable alumni". Contributors should feel free to tweak the main page as they wish, as well as augment the new page's list. Cjs2111 05:26, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] "Prominent" faculty

What's the criteria for listing a faculty member as "prominent?" I suspect that few outside the immediate YLS community would recognize some names on the ever-expanding list. One measure might be to delete names that do not link to Wikipedia articles, making an exception for Bruce Ackerman justified by his many books and his frequent appearances on op-ed pages. Archaic 22:54 (UTC) 6 Dec 2005

What about former faculty? I just added an Arthur Allen Leff page and would like to link it to here. Tdewey 16:39, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image available

Please see if this image is useful for the article. — Ambuj Saxena (talk) 11:02, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] rankings paragraph

The ranking information on the Stanford, Harvard, & Yale (and perhaps other) law school pages seems disproportionate and over-emphasized in the early part of the article. Moreover it seems likely to encourage the kinds of disputes among afficionados of one school or the other tweaking endlessly to pull out particular rankings. I think on all these law schools that a general statement of prestigiousness & reference to the admittedly important US News rankings, historically contextualized, is useful. But comparisons b/w the different law schools are too specific for the top portion. I'm proposing to edit it down, but since it seems to be a frequently edited section in some of the articles I'm announcing for discussion here first. (Cross-posting to talk pages for SLS, HLS, YLS, maybe others.) --LQ 20:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] legal realism

Yale Law likes to claim that it spawned legal realism, but the Columbia was really more the center for the movement. It can claim both Karl Llewellyn and Felix Cohen; Yale has Thurman Arnold, but he was of less importance. I will remove the "spawned legal realism" bit; if someone wants to rephrase so that it no longer suggests Yale was the primary center, go ahead.