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IN EARLY APRIL, Morrison e-mailed his students to tell them that he had just accepted the deanship at NYU. “I want to assure all of you that this development will not diminish in any way my complete commitment to our class and to you, my students,” he wrote. Shortly after the official announcement was made, he headed up to Amsterdam Café for a planned happy hour with his students. Morrison enjoys teaching to such a degree that he refers to it as a “selfish” pleasure. His students at Columbia have responded to his enthusiasm. In 2011, Morrison, who taught federal courts in addition to con law, won the school’s top teaching award. And at a recent auction to raise money for public-interest law, the opportunity for a group of students to have lunch with him and two colleagues was among the top-selling items. This fall at NYU Law, even as he’s learning the ropes of his new position, he plans to teach a con law class to signal his commitment to students. The new dean will be taking the helm at a time when applications to law schools nationwide have declined amid profound concerns about whether a legal education justifies its cost. Many graduates of the 203 ABA-accredited US law schools cannot find high-paying jobs that will allow them to repay the debt most accrue for their schooling. “There is a general oversupply of law schools structured on the traditional model and, tragically, an undersupply of legal services to the poor, especially in rural parts of the DEAN ON THE SCENE Chatting with audience members after giving his country,” Morrison says. “These are large systemic challenges, first Admitted Students Day welcome, on April 26, top; serving breakfast but a leading school like NYU continues to have an incredibly at Feast for Finals on May 8; and greeting Washington, DC-area alumni, important place in American public life and law. who heard remarks from FTC Commissioner Julie Brill ’85, left, on June 11. “What our graduates do in the first year after they leave here may not be what they’re doing 10 years later,” he says, emphasizing the Jeannie Forrest, a vice dean who was on the search committee portability of the skills law students gain. “They may even move and was once associate dean of development, decided to test him. beyond the formal practice of law, but they will still rely on the train- “In the company of several trustees, I said, ‘Ask me for money,’” ing they received here in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, she recalls. “You have to be nimble to respond to a question like and problem solving. Law schools do better than any other gradu- that and to make an ask.” Morrison paused, thought about it, and ate program in training their students for a wide range of careers.” launched into what Forrest describes as a reasonable pitch. She Morrison, whom Columbia Professor Monaghan refers to was impressed. “But what was really remarkable to me was that as a “first-class energizer,” has excited just about everyone he afterward, when we walked downstairs, he said, ‘How could I has met at NYU. His academic credentials are beyond reproach. have done that better?’” When Forrest relayed his comment to Or as Rascoff puts it, “He does his work with enormous intelli- the trustees, they said, “That’s our dean. That’s who we want.” gence, the best academic values, and a highly credible golf game.” But how will he fare with the more pedestrian demands of the job? Nadya Labi is a writer based in New York.
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I write. I read everything he writes. He’s gracious and intellectually generous and fun to talk to about ideas and great to teach with.” Sarah Cleveland, a professor of international and human rights law, concedes: “I think he was probably the leading internal candidate to be our dean, if he had stayed here.” So what’s the secret to Morrison’s success? The ability to thrive on little sleep, with some help. He has skills as a barista that are a fitting testament to his Pacific Northwest roots. “I have a very elaborate espresso machine, and Trevor has tutored me every step of the way,” Dubler says. “He can make the hearts in the milk. He can make that leaf in your foam. I can only aspire to that leaf.” Morrison has had years of practice; every morning, he says, he makes a latte for Beth. (During an icebreaker lunch with NYU Law administrators in the spring, Morrison also confessed that he and Beth watch the romantic comedy Love Actually several times a year.)