Law Commons^™

Making Place At The Table: Reconceptualizing The Role Of The Custody Evaluator In Child Custody Disputes, Mary Kay Kisthardt, Barbara Glesner Fines

Faculty Works

This article is based on the premise that custody evaluations cannot and should not be a substitute for the socio-legal judgment of the best interests of the child. Recognizing that clinical humility and judicial vigilance may not be sufficient to restrain the misuse of psychological evaluation, the authors offer three structural changes that would provide a more appropriate use of the skills and talents custody evaluators bring to legal decisions: using custody evaluators in the less adversarial setting of preparing parenting plans; revising the procedures by which custody evaluations are elicited in litigation; and, adopting the approximation standard for child …

Lawyers, Law & The Movies: The Hitchcock Cases, Allen K. Rostron

Faculty Works

Reel Justice: The Courtroom Goes to the Movies, by Paul Bergman and Michael Asimov, and Legal Reelism: Movies as Legal Texts, edited by John Denvir, represent valuable initial steps in the consideration of how movies and other elements of popular culture reflect the cultural positions of lawyers and law, and how their study can aid discussion of issues of legal theory. Reel Justice analyzes movies about lawyers and law, particularly those with significant trial scenes. It determines whether movies accurately portray legal reality. Legal Reelism discusses how movies can be considered legal texts that reflect themes and problems of legal …

Listening To Tribal Legends: An Essay On Law And The Scientific Method, Nancy Levit

Faculty Works

Much of jurisprudence is storytelling, recounting tales of what has gone before; improvising and crafting new stories of legal theory from old ones. Useful kernels are passed from one generation of legal thinkers to the next. Like tribal legends, the messages in many stories of jurisprudence can be understood only by a select audience. Legends often come with morals; theories of jurisprudence often impart prescription for living within the law. Jurisprudence, like legends, concerns fundamental issues, confronts cosmic questions and weaves in magic. Sometimes both possess humor as well.

Unfortunately, some modern versions of jurisprudential theories have become anecdotal. The …