A colleague, Santa Clara University School of Law Dean Donald Polden said, called him the “Lord Voldemort of legal education.” Polden is chairman of an American Bar Association committee that is reviewing, and considering scrapping, what many assumed was a requirement that ABA-sanctioned law schools offer faculties the protection of tenure.
During the 2011 annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in San Francisco, Polden addressed a capacity crowd during a panel discussion on Thursday titled, “Can There Be Full Academic Freedom Without Tenure?” A spirited debate ensued among panelists and attendees about the role tenure plays in academic freedom and whether it should be required at U.S. law schools.
