Teaching
Cardozo was visited by Seth Waxman this past week. Waxman did a number of great things — he gave a public talk about the SG's office, taught a class (about Roper v. Simmons, the juvenile death penalty case he successfully argued last fall), had lunch with students to talk about his capital defense work, and taught a moot court master class.
Waxman speaks in a measured way. (We had a distinguished French jurist visiting us who was absolutely captivated by Waxman in part because Waxman was so easy to understand.) You believe everything he says. He's not pedantic, but he never falters and he hardly needs notes. His sentences and paragraphs have structure and direction, and he is completely prepared. He even carefully prepared for the students' moot court class, taking the made-up problem very seriously and questioning the oralists closely.
He told us that he thinks of himself as teaching the judges (and Justices) before whom he argues. They're very smart students, and they'll take him apart if he says something too sweeping, but he something to convey to them that is worth their time.
Watching Waxman at work was a joy. I'm sure he prepares a great deal for every public appearance he makes, but he carries things off effortlessly. He is an exceptional teacher.
Brian Leiter's advice to people considering going on the law teaching market does say:
“Teaching is an enormous pleasure, as well as a wonderful learning experience; if you don't think you'll enjoy teaching, you probably want to re-think whether you want to pursue an academic career.”
But that's all that Leiter says about teaching itself. Most of his advice has to do with how to get a teaching job.
There are very very few Seth Waxmans out there who know what they're talking about and can convey their thoughts clearly. Waxman himself, of course, is busy in front of the Supreme Court. If he ever wants to spend more time in the classroom, he'll be quite a catch for the finest law schools in the land.