Harvey Silverglate

Because it was really interesting.

They were hearing a lawyer who was talking about real cases.

I actually brought in a few of my clients to some of the classes.

And so Jim called me and said, Harvey, the students love this course.

I'd like to offer you a tenure track position.

At the law school, you'd have to give up your law practice.

I turned him down.

He said, did you just say no?

I said, yes, I said no.

He said, how come?

He says, nobody ever has ever, in my administration, has ever turned down a tenure track offer at Harvard Law School.

I said, because I could see that I'm not a good fit.

that the administrators overrun the place, that faculty members, especially untenured, who are afraid to say things that might not help them in the tenure quest.

It's not a good fit for me.

Yes, 1985.

And I went back to my law practice.

I did not want to get into this meat grinder that I saw.

Actually, I started to see it before the turn of the century because I co-authored the Shadow University in 98 and then co-founded FIRE in 99.

I'm an early student of this phenomenon.

Well, let me tell you a story.