What the Legal Career of John Yoo Tells Us About Who Should be Teaching Law

"No medical school would employ an incompetent physician to teach the practice of medicine; such a teacher would surely be thought a menace to the professional development of its students, and to their future patients as well. Surely it is remarkable that the legal academy could regard as something of a superstar an individual who proves unable to practice -- at least at an acceptable level -- the profession for which he is training his students. Professor Yoo's case is unusual in that he took the rare step of leaving the academic cocoon and venturing into a position where his professional deficiencies were likely to be exposed, but there is reason to believe that his lack of professional judgment is common among the scholars of his generation. All of this suggests that there is something deeply wrong with the state of legal education today. -- Chapman Law Professor Lawrence Rosenthal