The next dean of Columbia Law School will be Gillian Lester, now acting dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she has taught since 2006. Lester will assume Columbia’s deanship on Jan. 1, 2015, Columbia University administrators announced on April 23. David Schizer will step down from the post at the end of the academic year after a decade in the job. Professor Robert Scott will serve as interim dean until Lester’s arrival.
COURTHOUSE SHOOTING
Law enforcement officers fatally shot a criminal defendant standing trial in Utah’s new federal courthouse on April 21 after he allegedly tried to attack a cooperating witness. Siale Angilau “rushed a witness on the witness stand in an aggressive, threatening manner,” the FBI said. He was shot in the chest and died after being transported to a local hospital. Angilau faced racketeering charges in connection with his alleged involvement with the Tongan Crips Gang, a group prosecutors claimed was responsible for a series of violent crimes.
