Sunday, September 03, 2006

Stanford's Lessig appears in the Trentonian on September 3

Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig appeared in a Trentonian article "Court victory is painful win for lawyer" on September 3, 2006.

The article (on page 3) began:

It was a huge professional win for famed Internet attorney and Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig. And at the same time, the victory was a personal and painful one.

In early August, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that churches, schools and other charitable organizations can be held responsible for the intentional acts of their employees. The ruling means that Lessig’s client, John Hardwicke, can sue the legendary American Boychoir School in Princeton, where Hardwicke claims to have been sexually abused by several faculty from 1969-71.


The article noted that Hardwicke and Lessig shared a connection to the American Boychoir School:

Hardwicke, 49, and Lessig, 45, never met at the music school, though both say they were abused by the same man. Hardwicke, who was from Maryland, attended from 1969-1971 and Lessig, from Pennsylvania, didn’t arrive until 1972.

The article also included the text:

During oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in November 2004, Lessig asserted that between 30 percent and 50 percent of the boys at the school were sexually abused or harassed.

In refuting that, the school’s attorney essentially "outed’’ Lessig in open court. He said that Lessig might have "personal knowledge’’ of what happened, but that it wasn’t a fact in the case record.

"I was astonished,’’ Lessig said. "I make attorneys for a living. That’s my job as a law professor. But I was astonished that an attorney would stoop to something like that.’’

The school’s attorney, Jay Greenblatt, a former New Jersey State Bar Association president, defended what he said.

"I don’t personally doubt that (the choir director) did some nasty things,’’ Greenblatt said. "But the court is only allowed to decide cases on the basis of the record, not on the basis of some personal information supplied by an attorney.’’


[IPBiz is not sure of the meaning "I make attorneys for a living," or what that might have to do with one's job as a law professor. Presumably, a professor teaches a given student a few classes, and writes articles in law reviews (and elsewhere). Whether the professor "makes" an attorney is open to question. Having had Lessig as a professor in law school, I don't believe he made me an attorney.]

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