Law Commons^™

Pomobabble: Postmodern Newspeak And Constitutional "Meaning" For The Uninitiated, Dennis W. Arrow

Michigan Law Review

A parody of postmodern writing.

Right Writing Or Rite Riting?, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

After more than two decades of deliberation, a government-sponsored commission, composed of linguists from the major German-speaking countries, recently issued a new standard German grammar called Die neue deutsche Rechtschreibung.

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recently received by the Michigan Law Review.

Using Fruit To Teach Analogy, Jane Kent Gionfriddo

Jane Kent Gionfriddo

No abstract provided.

Teaching Case Synthesis In Living Color, E. Joan Blum

E. Joan Blum

No abstract provided.

Professional Responsibility: 1997 Survey Of Florida Law, Timothy P. Chinaris, Elizabeth Clark Tarbert

Law Faculty Scholarship

Professional responsibility law in Florida continued to expand in 1997. Case law, rules, and ethics opinions amplified and, in some areas, extended the duties that lawyers assume as officers of the judicial branch of government. This article examines professional responsibility decisions that are likely to affect the relationships that lawyers have with clients, former clients, judges, third parties, and The Florida Bar. Part II looks at developments affecting the most important relationship that lawyers establish and operate within: the relationship between lawyer and client. Part III reviews developments of significance to the lawyer's relationship to the court and the judicial …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Books recently received by the Michigan Law Review.

The Volley Of Canons, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The "canons of construction" are a set of formalized rules or maxims for interpreting words. These canons are especially relevant for two categories of legal writers. First, brief writers can use the canons to argue a particular interpretation of the words of a statute. The statute's words provide the best evidence of statutory intent, both under the "plain-meaning" rule and when legislative history is sparse. Second, attorneys who draft instruments should consider the impact of the canons when choosing specific language to insert in a contract,' lease, or other instrument.

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recenlty received by Michigan Law Review.

Not Selected For Official Publication, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Hundreds of thousands of "unpublished opinions" are now available on electronic databases. Although these opinions have not been designated as officially published precedent, they still may have a significant impact on the outcome of your client's case. The dilemma is whether you can or should cite these unpublished cases in your brief.

Program Planning-Ideas For Improvement, Joyce Manna Janto

Law Faculty Publications

Picture the scene: you're at the Annual Meeting, it's Tuesday, and you're listening to your fifth "talking head" presentation. At the front of the room are five librarians/speakers, each of whom has exactly 15 minutes to shower you with their words of wisdom on the selected topic. In the audience are scores of librarians, whose eyes are glazing over and whose thoughts are wandering to more congenial topics. Sound familiar? This describes way too many programs at the typical MLL Annual Meeting. Instead of a good, thought-provoking discussion, or vigorous give-and-take between panelists and audience, we get sound bites. Why …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recenlty received by Michigan Law Review.

The Footnote=An Interruption, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The footnote is a familiar tool in legal scholarship. Some of the best law review articles, legal encyclopedias, and legal treatises devote half of each page to detailed, supporting footnotes. Footnotes make sense in this context. Readers of these sources have a dual objective: to glean a general framework for an argument and to find specific authorities to support each point. The Colorado Lawyer is such a research source. It lists authorities in endnotes so its readers may complete an article uninterrupted, but they also may find the more specific sources if they should need them.

The Cathedral At Twenty-Five: Citations And Impressions, James E. Krier, Stewart J. Schwab

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

It was twenty-five years ago that Guido Calabresi and Douglas Melamed published their article on property rules, liability rules, and inalienability. Calabresi, then a law professor, later a dean, is now a federal judge. Melamed, formerly a student of Calabresi's, is now a seasoned Washington attorney. Their article—which, thanks to its subtitle, we shall call The Cathedral—has had a remarkable influence on our own thinking, as we tried to show in a recent paper.

This is not the place to rehash what we said then, but a summary might be in order. First, we demonstrated that the conventional wisdom …

Book Review: Postmodern Legal Movements: Law And Jurisprudence At Century's End By Gary Minda, Chris Sagers

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Postmodem Legal Movements does two things. First, the bulk of the book provides an overview of American jurisprudence, from Christopher Columbus Langdell to the present. This overview is necessary because, in order to understand "postmodem forms of jurisprudence, we must first explore what came before postmodernism, that is, modernism" (p. 5). Second, the relatively short latter portion of the book presents an argument about the current state of American legal scholarship and its future. Minda's picture of contemporary legal thought is that of a paradigm shift in the making.

Postmodern Legal Movements will prove useful to those in search of …

Faculty Highlights

Alfred Aman Jr. (1991-2002)

No abstract provided.

From Product To Process: Evolution Of A Legal Writing Program, Diane Edelman, Jo Ann Durako, Kathryn Stanchi, Brett Armdur, Lorray Brown, Rebecca Connelly

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Readers Speak Out, K.K. Duvivier

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This month, I am turning the column over to letters from readers. If you have a question or comment to share, please feel free to write or e-mail me at the addresses in the box below. Don't worry I will ask your permission before using your name.

Taking Prepositions Seriously, Jeffrey G. Sherman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Books Received, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recenlty received by Michigan Law Review.

Organizational Determinants Of Law Firm Integration , Elizabeth Chambliss

American University Law Review

onep

Vampires Anonymous And Critical Race Practice, Robert A. Williams Jr.

Michigan Law Review

I can only explain what Vampires Anonymous has done for me by telling my story. I know, stories, particularly autobiographical stories, are currently being dissed by some law professors. Raised in an overly obsessive, objectively neutralized cultural style, they are plain and simple Storyhaters. Their middle to upper class parents had money, a home in the burbs, and nice kids who were going to go on from their fancy grade schools and college preparatory gigs to Harvard/Stanford/Yale - all those types of pricey places where law professors usually come from. These kids were raised to be objective, neutral, neutered, fair, …

Books Received, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recenlty received by Michigan Law Review.

Double Talk And Twisted Thought: Reflections On Incoherence, Elizabeth Fajans

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Noble's International Guide To The Law Reports, James S. Heller

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Bringing The "Real World" To Advance Legal Research, Timothy L. Coggins

Law Faculty Publications

Nearly all U.S. law schools include an Advanced Legal Research course as an elective course for second and third-year students. The justification for the course is obvious, and proponents of advanced courses have succeeded easily in convincing law school curriculum committees to approve chem. Most Advanced Legal Research courses also use "real-world figures" (guest speakers) ro supplement and enhance the instruction provided by the professors of the courses.3 The experiences and current positions of rhe "real-world" speakers are diverse, including librarians, attorneys, publisher/vendor representatives, and government officials. This article discusses the reasons for using real-world figures in Advanced Legal Research …

Overcoming Challenges In The Global Classroom: Teaching Legal Research And Writing To International Law Students And Law Graduates, Diane Edelman, Mark Wojcik

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Writer’S Board And A Student-Run Writing Clinic: Making The Writing Community Visible At Law Schools, Terrill Pollman

Scholarly Works

In this article the author explains institutional programs she has developed in response to a common problem, students’ frustrations with the limits of a law school’s legal writing program. The author proposes establishing a Writers’ Board, where members of the law school community who care most about legal research and writing training can work together to create opportunities for students to learn more. The Writers’ Board’s primary project is a Writing Clinic that offers diverse ways to improve legal research and writing on campus. Despite problems that are likely to arise when creating a Writers’ Board and Clinic, the author …

Going To Trial: A Rare Throw Of The Die, Samuel R. Gross, Kent D. Syverud

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Few of the suits that are filed continue to trial, but some plaintiffs and defendants find their interests served best by going to trial.

This essay is adapted from "Don’t Try: Civil Jury Verdicts in a System Geared to Settlement," appearing in 44 UCLA Law Review 1 (1996). Publication is by permission. A complete, fully cited version is available from the editor of Law Quadrangle Notes.

If it is true, as we often hear, that we are one of the most litigious societies on earth, it is because of our propensity to sue, not our affinity for trials. …

Eye On The World, Jose E. Alvarez, Virginia A. Gordon

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

In a special section coinciding with the International Reunion of Law School graduates, Law School graduates who are deeply involved in the globalization of legal practice respond to the question, "If you could leap ahead 10 years, how do you think what you are doing now will change?" And in a thought-provoking prologue, Professor of Law Jose Alvarez and Assistant Dean for International Programs Virginia A. Gordan consider the historical - and historic - impact of Law School graduates from overseas on the legal profession.