Is a law professor allowed to earn income on top of their law school salary?

Question

For example, are full-time tenured law profs allowed to earn additional money on top of their law school salaries through publications, consulting, etc....? Or does everything they do belong to the university?

Answer 1

It depends on the contract they have with their law school.

Some contracts require scholars to abjure all outside employment while employed full-time at a university. Others do not.

However, all scholars keep all residual profits earned through publications. Universities NEVER get that money, as little as it is. Do keep in mind, however, that the only publication profits any of us will ever see is if we've written a textbook used in many universities, or a NY Times best-seller.

Folks like Alan Dershowitz, however, earn major bucks by practicing and writing and consulting. None of that goes to Harvard, it goes to him.

However, if you choose the example of a scientist instead of a lawyer, they are often bound by their contracts to cede all (or a large portion of) profits made by inventions or patents created in their (university-funded) labs back to the university. The grant money they bring in goes to both their own projects, and to the university (in the case of purchasing equipment, etc.)

Answer 2

Prof X gave a good explanation on how it is in general.

For law professors in general, most are allowed to earn income on top of their law school salary. Most of it is through proceeds from their writings, but that's mainly due to the fact that it's hard to find time to earn outside income in law when you've already got a full time teaching position. Consulting and speaker fees are other popular choices. Whatever they can do that will earn an income. Most law profs don't have contracts ceding all their extra income to the school they teach at.

Answer 3

Most universities REQUIRE their faculty, regardless of discipline, to consult, conduct research, write grants, write books and articles, become known as an "industry specialist", etc. The school does it to bring prestige to its name (to be associated with such a person), but also to provide jobs and real-world experience for grad students. Grant dollars, residuals from books, etc. also bring in income to the school (depending on the contract between the school and the faculty member). "Tenure" typically means that the faculty member has jumped through all of these hoops and is well-respected in his/her field.

Answer 4

CONGRATS, I always wished I was smart enough to do something like that. I know how hard you must have worked, my sister in law is an attorney in Portland Oregon for State Farm Insurance, and she worked her butt off to get where she is at. Good luck in the future and enjoy your next two weeks, because soon you will be working 100 hour weeks to prepare for all the court appearances you will be making.