>On 11/2, Raymond MacGregor took me to task (privately) for namecalling in my
last post to law-lib, and said "I think you owe Mr. Sugarman an apology."
You are right, I should not have called Sugarman a sleazy lawyer. For that I
apologize.
I meant to say that he is _acting_ like a sleazy lawyer. For that I do not
apologize. His recent postings to Berring sound like the cross-examination
scene from a low budget movie.
Those of us in academia are used to having passionate and sometimes heated
debates, but always in an atmosphere of professionalism that keeps personal
attacks out of bounds. I am thinking specifically of a debate between Bob
Berring and Chris Wren about teaching legal research. This had a commercial
aspect because Berring and Wren produce competing legal research textbooks,
but nevertheless the debate remained strictly on the pedagogical issues.
I see two important differences between that exchange and the current one
between Sugarman and Berring. First, both in the debate and the follow-up
exchange of articles both parties were participating voluntarily. The
articles ended when one side chose not to respond. Here, Berring has chosen
not to respond but Sugarman keeps attacking (as someone else charactized it
to me, "like a mad dog"). Second, while that debate was passionate because
the subject is of deep professional interest to both parties, there was never
any namecalling or ad hominem argument.
I agree that West seems to be stonewalling, and they have lost respect among
many law librarians because of it. But Berring is not West; he is not an
employee of West; and in light of the full range of his professional
activities I think it is unfair to characterize him as a consultant to West.
If he chooses to respond to Sugarman's request for clarification of his
famous letter, I will be very interested in reading what he says. But if he
chooses not to, I don't like the idea that Sugarman thinks he can get a
subpoena from Chief Justice Ralph Nader and _force_ Berring to testify.
I have also had enough of the vitriol from Love and Sugarman. I (and others)
have tried humor. I (and others) have tried asking for a little more
civility. So if I lose my patience and indulge in a little name calling
myself, I hope the kettle will humor the pot.
Greg Koster
CUNY Law School
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