Problem.Planning.Law professor

     Because of asserted financial exigency caused by declining law school enrollment, Aquinas School of Law, an A.B.A. accredited school located in San Jose, California, laid off tenured law professor Mary Neubringer.  While the contract between Acquinas School of Law and its tenured law professors permits the school to lay off tenured law professors for financial exigency due to declining law school enrollment, Professor Neubringer does not believe that financial exigency existed.  The Law School's action followed closely on the heels of another tragedy in her life, the loss of her husband, killed in an automobile accident.  She lives in San Jose with her two children, both of whom attend Notre Dame High School and star on the high school soccer team.  She and her children have been sustained through their loss by a network of close friends from the law school, from the high school, and from the girls' involvement on a local club soccer team. 

     At Aquinas, Professor Neubringer taught corporate finance, corporate and partnership taxation, and corporate securities law for fifteen years.  Her scholarly reputation had been developed by writings on corporate finance.  There are several A.B.A. accredited law schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, including at Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Hastings, University of San Francisco, Golden Gate University, and Santa Clara University, all within a one-hour commute from her home, and two more A.B.A. accredited law schools, at the University of California, Davis, and University of the Pacific, within a two-hour commute from her home.  Most of these law schools hire one or two new permanent faculty each year but often  require that new faculty teach courses demanded by curricular needs.   There are also several unaccredited law schools within a one-hour commute from her home, and several of the universities mentioned above include graduate and undergraduate departments in their business schools that offer courses in the areas of her expertise.  In addition, of course, she might consider seeking employment as a practicing lawyer, or applying for positions as an administrative law judge, or running for election or seeking appointment as a state court judge.  

     Which alternative employment opportunities need Professor Neubringer pursue if she hopes to be awarded damages for breach of contract?  How many of them must she pursue?  For how long must she pursue these opportunities?   Assuming that Professor Neubringer is 55 years old, how would you calculate her damages if she takes another law teaching position with Santa Clara University School of Law starting in the academic year following the academic year of her termination by Acquinas School of Law?  How would you calculate her damages if she makes a reasonable but unsuccessful attempt to mitigate damages and then decides to retire?   If she makes a reasonable but unsuccessful attempt to mitigate damages and then takes a position with a local school district as a kindergarten teacher?  If she doesn't make a reasonable attempt to mitigate damages and then decides to retire?  If she doesn't make a reasonable attempt to mitigate damages and then takes a position with a local school district as a kindergarten teacher? 

     Suppose that Professor Neubringer tells you that she wants to stop teaching law and wants to start teaching kindergarten.  Is there anything that you can ethically advise her to do that might enable her to collect damages from Acquinas School of Law and then start teaching kindergarten?  See excerpt from California State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct.