A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, Nabers began his legal career as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He went on to practice law for 12 years with a Birmingham firm, where he hired some of the attorneys who would go on to form Maynard Cooper & Gale, and left to join Protective Life Corp. in 1979. Starting out as general counsel, Nabers later became chairman, president and CEO of the corporation. He retired in 2002.

The author of "The Case for Character: Looking at Character from a Biblical Perspective," Nabers currently serves as an adjunct instructor at the Samford University Beeson Divinity School.

"After almost 30 years, it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to practice alongside Drayton again," Fournier J. "Boots" Gale III, chairman of the firm's executive committee, said in a statement. Gale also serves as president of the Alabama State Bar.

The attorney took on the case of Reade Seligmann, one of three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting an escort service dancer, in 2006.

"Kirk stood up for Reade at great personal cost," the Seligmann family said in a statement. "He passionately believed that the truth would emerge."

Tania Osborn said her husband was particularly proud of the fact that despite defending a dozen or more suspects in capital crimes, none of his clients were ever sent to death row.

"He hated injustice. That was the essence of his life," said Ernest "Buddy" Conner, a Greenville lawyer and friend of Osborn who worked multiple cases with him. "He carried a tremendous amount of credibility, but he did it without getting all angry and aggressive and arrogant."

Osborn is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"David Shapiro is a truly extraordinary legal scholar and lawyer, with whom we already have had the privilege of working on important matters for Manatt clients," said Chad Hummel, Chair of Manatt's national Litigation Division. "From our successful prior collaborations, we know that Professor Shapiro fits perfectly with our firm's national litigation practice and especially our expanding appellate and U.S. Supreme Court practice. We are honored and thrilled that Professor Shapiro has agreed to become a consultant to Manatt."

Professor Shapiro clerked for Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan, and he joined Harvard Law School as an assistant professor in 1963. Professor Shapiro served as Associate Dean of Harvard Law School from 1971 to 1976. In 1986, he was named the William Nelson Cromwell Professor at Harvard Law School. Professor Shapiro has also been a visiting professor at various law schools around the country and internationally, including Stanford, Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Arizona and New York University.

From 1988 to 1991, Professor Shapiro took a leave of absence from Harvard Law School to serve as Deputy Solicitor General for the first Bush administration. As Deputy Solicitor General, Professor Shapiro argued 10 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout his career, Professor Shapiro has participated in over 60 U.S. Supreme Court cases, and in 2006 he contributed to three amicus briefs in Supreme Court cases.

Professor Shapiro received his B.A. from Harvard College, magna cum laude in 1954 and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School, summa cum laude, Fay Diploma in 1957. At Harvard Law School, he served as Note Editor for the Harvard Law Review.

http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/facdir.php?id=65

Jane Bolin, who was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School and became the nation's first black female judge, has died at age 98.

Ms. Bolin was sworn in by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in a surprise ceremony in 1939, becoming the first black female judge in the United States, according to the city's law department.

Assigned to the Domestic Relations Court, later renamed Family Court, Ms. Bolin fought racial discrimination from the bench. She worked to end segregation in child placement facilities and the assignment of probation officers based on race. She also helped to create a racially integrated treatment center for delinquent boys.

The dean of the University of Washington Law School, the subject of a state ethics complaint and in the midst of a performance review, will resign from his post in June.

W.H. "Joe" Knight Jr., who has served as dean since 2001, told President Mark Emmert of his intentions Thursday, according to a university statement.
 
W.H. "Joe" Knight Jr. will remain a tenured faculty member. He will remain a tenured faculty member.