Law Schools

Hastings Family Money Grab Thwarted By California Judge

Times are a'changin’.

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sad worried man in stress with piggy bank in bad financial situationRemember the snarky descendants who tried to turn an about face on its genocidal associations into a $1.7B windfall? Looks like they’d have been better off financially if they just accepted the name change. From Oregon Live:

A judge has thrown out a lawsuit that sought to block the University of California from renaming the former Hastings College of the Law because its namesake was linked to the slaughter of Native Americans.

Descendants of Serranus Hastings filed the $1.7 billion breach of contract lawsuit over the decision to change the name to the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, which took effect last year.

As the French say, “soo le voo”! The action was based on an 1878 law that stated the University of California’s law school will be “forever” known by the name Hastings. And while it would have been nice if there were a little asterisk after “forever” clarifying that they really meant about 145 years, did anyone actually think there were any teeth behind that forever? Let’s be honest here — considering that about half of the people exchanging “I do’s” and “forevers” get revokey around seven years in, 145 years was a pretty respectable run. If the Hastings family was just a bit better at recognizing purple prose, nobody would be in this mess. Unfortunately, the family will keep playing as literalists and plan to appeal the decision. Hey, a pipe dream that some law school owes your family $1.7B over changing a name from the Hayes administration must be hard to put down.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Name Change For California’s Former Hastings Law School [Oregon Live]

Earlier: You’re Named After Who? This Top Law School Will Have To Fight For Its New Name

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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