Professor Noah Feldman -- the brilliant, gorgeous, legal academic superstar / public intellectual -- is abandoning NYU Law School (its student body hotness notwithstanding). He's heading up to Harvard Law School, where his similarly beautiful and brainy wife, Jeannie Suk, is already on the faculty.

(Most readers of ATL are probably familiar with this celebrity couple. But if you're not -- if you don't know about their Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, their D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court clerkships, their multiple published books, and their storybook-perfect life -- we refer you to The Latest Triumphs of the Elect: It's Good to Be Noah and Jeannie!)

From what we've heard, Noah Feldman's move was a long time in coming. HLS apparently made an offer to him quite some time ago. The rumor that he might be decamping for Cambridge was circulating in legal academia for a while.

Although the move makes sense, Professor Feldman had good reason to think carefully before leaving Gotham. NYU tried very, very hard to keep him. And here are three considerations that probably crossed his mind:

First, he has strong ties to the NYU law school community. It has been his academic home for the past few years, which have been very good to him, and he is worshiped around campus by students (who surround him like groupies to a rock star).

Second, being based in New York, the media capital of the country, was great for his career as a public intellectual. It facilitated his frequent contributions to the New York Times (both the magazine and the op-ed page), his regular appearances on major talk shows, and his efforts on the book publishing front (three books and counting).

Third, and perhaps most importantly, he and Jeannie have a FABULOUS apartment in the heart of Greenwich Village. And as every New Yorker knows, a good piece of real estate is very hard to find.

At the end of the day, though, Harvard Law School is still Harvard Law School. And when your wife is already on the faculty up there, it's kinda hard to say no when HLS's hot dean comes calling.

Congratulations, Professor Feldman, on your new post and the big move!

Noah Feldman to join Harvard Law faculty [Harvard Law School]
The Latest Triumphs of the Elect: It's Good to Be Noah and Jeannie! [UTR]
Most Beautiful Brainiac: Noah Feldman [New York magazine]
Noah Feldman bio [New York University Law School]
Jeannie Suk bio [Harvard Law School]