Yesterday morning, the Albany Times Union reported that Second Circuit Judge Robert Wesley was likely to be named the new dean of Albany Law School. Last night, however, the paper reported a new twist: Judge Wesley was unable to reach mutually agreeable terms of employment with the Albany administration. Thus, with the departure of Dean Thomas Guernsey, Interim Dean Connie Mayer takes the reins today and for the foreseeable future.
It's hard not to wonder what made reaching an agreement so difficult.
Azohen Vey!
Too bad for Albany. Wesley would have been one hell of a dean.
I would imagine, knowing nothing at all about the negotiations, that it had to do with the cost to the school of at least matching what Judge Wesley would receive if he stays on the bench and eventually takes senior status — his salary for the rest of his life. While being an Article III judge doesn't pay all that well relative to private practice, it does have quite a retirement package, so to speak. I understand this has been a difficult issue for some relatively well-funded law schools hiring judges approaching senior status as deans.
A third tier law school fails to land a first tier dean. A blow for Albany for sure. It won't be long until another school does what it takes to hire him.