While the President has the State of the Union Address, the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Weekly has the Hot Bench. And with that, I welcome this paper’s EIC and Chief Justice of the Court of Petty Appeals, Andrew Allard. Your Grace, welcome to the Hot Bench.
Thank you, Mr. Coleman. It’s a pleasure to be here (against my will).
Please tell us where you are from and where you completed undergrad/ forged your transcript from?
I am from a cute little state called New Hampshire. We have the smallest coastline of any coastal state in the country—I’m from that area. It’s a beautiful place with lots of liquor stores on the Interstate—and better maple syrup than Vermont.
And I did my undergrad at George Washington University.[1] Go Coloni– I mean Revolutionaries!
Being a New Hampshirite, do you think the motto “Live free or die” is consistent with the Supremacy Clause? I think there may be a number of Granite Staters who believe in the nullification doctrine.
Definitely—my principled position is that NH law alone should be allowed to nullify federal law. Kidding aside, I do admire my state’s weird curmudgeonly attitude. Being from New Hampshire comes with an innate desire to “live off the grid.” That said, it’s more often “live free and die.” We are the only state that allows people to ride motorcycles without a helmet, regardless of age. You can guess how that goes.
How has the transition been to the EIC role? Beyond fiscal stability, what are your goals for the paper?
Fiscal stability would be nice. Our readers might have noticed that we’ve not been in print recently. Sorry about that. Printing woes aside, I’m thrilled to be in this position, and I’m fortunate to have a fantastic team of editors—present company mostly included. I’m most interested in improving students’ access to the paper. Apart from getting us back in print (lol), that includes making the website more user-friendly and making it easier to reach us, submit Professor Quotes, and the like.
You are quoted on our office whiteboard as saying, “Make it more radical.” What did you mean by that?
That’s true. I did say that. But I honestly have no memory of what I was talking about at the time. Maybe that’s for the best, but I’m not sure if it would look better or worse in context. For safety’s sake (and my employability), let’s assume I was reacting to Tony Hawk doing a kickflip.
Would you like to respond to claims that your election was undemocratic and predetermined?
Those allegations are mostly correct. I say mostly because while my electoral “victory” was supposed to be a sure thing, a last-minute attempted coup almost completely upended things. People so often leave out that side of the story, which I think is a little uncharitable.
After your one-year term expires (and we graduate from law school) what are your plans? Have they changed at all since coming to law school?
They’ve certainly changed, which I think is true for most of us. This summer, I’ll be at Milbank in New York, which I’m super excited for. My long-term goal is still to become the president of a small country. Maybe Iceland.
What is something you would like to accomplish in our remaining year?
This is weirdly specific and unrelated to Law School. I started a volunteer project with Radio IQ last year. They have a reading service for blind listeners in the Shenandoah Valley. Readers make recordings of local news and books. I started working on a recording of Candide, which is one of my favorite books. I would love to find the time to finish that project.
Lightning Round! Favorite New Hampshire mountain?
Mount Monadnock! Supposedly it’s one of the most frequently climbed mountains in the world. And for good reason.
Favorite case you’ve read in law school?
There are a few. But I’ll go with Justice Arabian’s dissent in Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village Condominium Assn. I didn’t think I’d ever read a judge's opinion of the merits of cat ownership, but I’m glad I got to.
Where is Kate Middleton?
Who?
One food, rest of your life.
Oh, God. Is it cheating to name a broad category of food? I won’t do that. Pho. That way I get noodles, meat, and soup. The three food groups.
Describe your St. Patrick’s Day celebration in 3 words.
Wore green necklace. (yikes)
Which Law Weekly editor is most likely to stage a coup d’état?
I don’t want to tip her off, but [redacted] looks more and more sus with every meeting.
Worst article you have ever written for the Law Weekly.
I think most of what I’ve written would look at home in the pages of the Times. But, if I must pick one… probably my COPA against Punxsutawney Phil. That was scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Best article.
I’d go with Open Democracy: A New American Experiment? Not for the quality of the writing but because it’s a topic I’m passionate about.
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Interviewed by: Garrett Coleman'25
[1] Omission of the “the” is intentional.