You never replace a great scholar who retires. If you try to do that, you end up with burnt-out volcanoes.
The reason I emphasize that is because that is exactly what happened when Mussolini was put in by the king of Italy.
There is something particularly appealing about teaching a subject that seems to deal with the lowest kind of relationships-accidents, ambulance chasing-because you can show students that these raise the most fundamental questions about the structure of society.