This is bizarre. I did not receive this email, and I hope that he isn't a Wisconsin alum. "Notoriety." That's classic!

another uw law prof here, to say that (a) i didn't get it either, thank goodness, and (b) OMG do the Marquette folks think those of us living in Madison are ruralites as opposed to urbanites?

Is your objection solely about the impropriety of a professor passing off the work of a ghostwriter/researcher as his own? Or do you also object to a professor collaborating with a professional writer to produce a journal article that is genuinely the professor's considered, scholarly thoughts on a matter? I know there are academics and researchers who are excellent at theory and research but not so good at making themselves clear in writing. They need help communicating. Where do you draw the line?

Excuse me for intruding with this unusual proposal, but obtained your name from a list of law professors, and wish to approach you with an idea that must be held in absolute confidence.

I am Baghava Gita, research clerk to Prof. Mindu of the College of Law of the University of Nigeria. Prof. Mindu unfortunately was killed in an airplane crash on April 22, 2005, and my attempts to contact his family have been to no avail.

Prof. Mindu left, in finished form, twelve law review manuscripts which, he indicated to me, were certain of acceptance at Harvard L. Rev. or Yale L.J.. The topics concern the hottest legal issues of the day, and his thoroughly-documented conclusions run contrary to the prevailing wisdom in each field.

The law reviews in this country, to which I have submitted them, indicate that that, while they are works of genius that would surely earn tenure at an Ivy-league college in the US, they are uninterested in articles on American law, so I must get them out of the country.

If you will advance the modest costs of blue-booking them and shipping, I will be happy to allow their use under your name. Please contact me with your bank account number so that we can complete this transaction. Again, this proposal must be held in absolute confidence between us and anyone who reads this posting on the world wide web.

Thanks, David. That was fun.

Susanna, the line between research assistance and authorship can get blurry, but the person who wrote Christine's email was not playing in the blurry area.

Alta, I completely missed Christine's referance to urbanites. She probably wrote that because I am forever talking about living amidst silos and dairy cows.

All of us law profs at Marquette today received an interesting business offer in the mail today.

With sentences like that, perhaps you should have someone do your writing.

Ha! I love the Inigo Montoya reference...

"With sentences like that, perhaps you should have someone do your writing."

Have you considered suicide?

.

I could hire an editor for my blog posts ($30-$100), but I like to keep it real with my colloquial phrasing and intended awkwardness.