Law Commons^™

Feature Comment: Ethics, Compliance, And The Dispiriting Saga Of Craig Whitlock’S Fat Leonard, Steven L. Schooner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay discusses the forthcoming book, Fat Leonard: How One Man Bribed, Bilked, and Seduced the U.S. Navy (480 pp, Simon & Schuster, 2024), authored by Washington Post investigative reporter, Craig Whitlock. The book chronicles the extraordinary ''Fat Leonard" saga (or scandal), involving Glenn Marine, an Asia-based ship husbanding contractor, and its "business" with the U.S. Navy. The animating character, not surprisingly, is Leonard Francis, and the book spans his career and demise, which eventually prompted investigations (of hundreds of Naval servicemembers, including 90 admirals), multiple criminal plea bargains, and a staggering number of military administrative actions.

On the one …

Wills, Trusts, And Estates : A Contemporary Approach (2023), Lloyd Bonfield, Joanna L. Grossman, William P. Lapiana

Books

is casebook is designed to present in a comprehensive yet streamlined fashion the law of Wills, Trusts, and Future Interests to 21st–century law students. It assists the student in developing an understanding of the core legal concepts critical to a grasp of wills, trusts and future interests in a novel format that is clear and easy to understand, while maintaining the intellectual rigor of the subject. The book covers the standard topics, but is organized in an innovative fashion. It begins with an estate planning problem which introduces the student to the craft of the practitioner, providing context for the …

Fireside Chat With Dean Cole And Notre Dame Law Student Rachel Schneider, Marcus Cole, Rachel Schneider

2019–Present: G. Marcus Cole

Dec 13, 2022

Dean G. Marcus Cole and Rachel Schneider '23 share their journeys to Notre Dame Law School, their connection to the Order of St. Thomas More, and the impact your gifts have on Notre Dame Law students.

The Quad (The 2022 Alumni Magazine), Southern Methodist University, Dedman School Of Law

The Quad (Law Alumni Magazine), 1988-present

• SMU Law Welcomes New Dean Jason P. Nance

• Thank you Dean Collins

• Jennifer M. Collins Women's Leadership Initiative: Making strides in gender inequality in the legal profession

• Corporate Counsel Externship Program: 10 Year Anniversary

• Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center receives $5 million from local and national philanthropies for public defense research and advocacy

• Underwood Law Library’s 50th Anniversary Celebrated

Inheritance Crimes, David Horton, Reid Kress Weisbord

Washington Law Review

The civil justice system has long struggled to resolve disputes over end-of-life transfers. The two most common grounds for challenging the validity of a gift, will, or trust— mental incapacity and undue influence—are vague, hinge on the state of mind of a dead person, and allow factfinders to substitute their own norms and preferences for the donor’s intent. In addition, the slayer doctrine—which prohibits killers from inheriting from their victims—has generated decades of constitutional challenges.

But recently, these controversial rules have migrated into an area where the stakes are significantly higher: the criminal justice system. For example, states have criminalized …

Law Library Blog (November 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

2019-2020 Annual Report: Roger Williams University School Of Law, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (December 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

The World Of Contract And The World Of Gift, Melvin Aron Eisenberg

Melvin A. Eisenberg

Examines the social and legal implications of the treatment of donative promise as an absolute enforceable contract in the United States. Evolution of the donative-promise doctrine; Case laws on donative promise; Moral and social significance of donative promises; Substantive bases for donative-promise principle.

Powers Of Attorney Under The Uniform Power Of Attorney Act Including Reference To Virginia Law, F. Philip Manns Jr.

ACTEC Law Journal

The Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA), approved in 2006, slightly amended in 2008 and more significantly amended in 2016, has been adopted by 27 U.S. jurisdictions. The UPOAA promotes uniformity in language delineating an agent's powers and mandates that third parties accept notarized powers of attorney. Under the UPOAA, an instrument simply granting an agent authority to do "all acts that a principal could do," vests that agent with broad powers: the precise delineation of those powers is produced by about a dozen pages of UPOAA text automatically incorporated by reference into such "all acts" instruments. However, the UPOAA …

Patriotic Philanthropy? Financing The State With Gifts To Government, Margaret H. Lemos, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

Federal and state law prohibit government officials from accepting gifts or “emoluments” from outside sources. The purpose of gift bans, like restrictions on more explicit forms of bribery, is to protect the integrity of political processes and to ensure that decisions about public policy are made in the public interest — not to advance a private agenda. Similar considerations animate regulations on campaign funding and lobbying. Yet private entities remain free to offer gifts to government itself, to foot the bill for particular public projects they would like to see government pursue. Such gifts — dubbed “patriotic philanthropy” by one …

Options For An Indigenous Economic Water Fund (Iewf), First Peoples' Water Engagement Council

Indigenous Water Justice Symposium (June 6)

Presenter: Phil Duncan, Gomeroi Nation, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

15 pages

Contains footnotes

"OPTIONS PAPER for the First Peoples' Water Engagement Council (FPWEC)"

"DATED 20 APRIL 2012"

Abstract: This paper highlights the options for a path forward to establish an Indigenous Economic Water Fund (IEWF) through acquisition of water entitlements¹ by indigenous people in systems where the consumptive pool is fully allocated. The water allocation that comes from indigenous holdings in the consumptive pool is an important mechanism for enabling Indigenous communities to achieve economic development and as such is a legitimate strategy for ‘Closing the Gap’. …

Cancellation Of Debt And Related Transactions, Jeffrey H. Kahn, Douglas A. Kahn

Scholarly Publications

If a taxpayer borrows money, the borrowed funds are not included in the taxpayer’s gross income. That treatment is proper even though the taxpayer has increased his assets by the amount he borrowed because he also has created a corresponding liability to pay back the loan. The taxpayer’s net wealth has not increased. The more difficult and interesting questions arise when the taxpayer fails to repay the loan. At first blush, it would appear that upon cancellation of a loan, the taxpayer should have income for the amount that was cancelled. However, the current tax treatment is not that simple. …

Greetings From The Office Of The Dean, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Hannah Buxbaum (2011-2013 Interim)

No abstract provided.

A Free Lunch In Chicago, Curtis E.A. Karnow

Curtis E.A. Karnow

A discussion of the ethical issues implicated by judges’ acceptance of travel and related expenses when attending privately sponsored judicial education, including seminars offered by educational institutions.

Gifts, Hospitality & The Government Contractor, Jessica Tillipman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The government procurement process demands the highest commitment to ethical and unbiased conduct. To ensure that the individuals involved in the procurement process adhere to these standards, government entities in nearly all jurisdictions around the world have enacted codes of conduct, ethical restrictions, and anti-corruption laws designed to protect the integrity of government and ensure that government officials act impartially and do not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual. To further these goals, most jurisdictions have enacted restrictions on the gifts and hospitality that government officials may accept from individuals and organizations that sell goods and services …

Unseating Privilege: Rawls, Equality Of Opportunity, And Wealth Transfer Taxation, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article is the second in a series that examines the estate tax from a particular philosophical position in order to demonstrate the relevance and importance of the wealth transfer taxes to that position. In this Article, I explore Rawlsian equality of opportunity, a philosophical position that is at the heart of much American thought. Equality of opportunity requires not only ensuring that sufficient opportunities are available to the least well-off members of society but also that opportunities are not available to other members merely because of their wealth or other arbitrary advantages. Therefore, an income tax alone, even one …

Incomplete Wills, Adam J. Hirsch

Michigan Law Review

This Article explores the problems that arise when a will fails to dispose of an individual's entire estate, so that she dies partially testate and partially intestate. The questions then raised include (1) whether provisions contained in the will purporting to redefine the individual's intestate heirs should supersede the statutory designations of those heirs, (2) whether inter vivos gifts to heirs should qualify as advancements on the inheritances of those heirs under conditions of partial intestacy, and, most broadly, (3) whether courts should fill in the incomplete portion of an individual's estate plan by extrapolating from the distributive preferences set …

Death, Taxes, And Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism, And The Estate Tax, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The primary purpose of this Article is to dispute the moral claims to post-death property rights made by libertarians when they argue against the estate tax. As I will show later in this Article, my argument does not necessarily entail enacting an estate tax, nor does it require a particular level of tax. I am merely trying to demonstrate that those who argue that the estate tax is an immoral violation of the private property rights of the deceased are mistaken. This is not to say that the estate of the deceased should necessarily pass to the government. It is …

The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Quad (The 2012 Alumni Magazine), Southern Methodist University, Dedman School Of Law

The Quad (Law Alumni Magazine), 1988-present

• SMU Dedman School of Law hosts Historic Rule of Law Forum, Saudi policymakers
• $57 Million+ raised to date in law campaign
• Getting Down to Business: Ten alumni GCs speak about the evolving role of the general counsel
• Alumni Sweep Ethics Awards
• 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony

Greetings From The Office Of The Dean, Hannah L. Buxbaum

Hannah Buxbaum (2011-2013 Interim)

No abstract provided.

The Development Of Charity: Anti-Poverty Measures Of Ancient Jewish Law & Jurisprudence, William H. Byrnes Iv

William H Byrnes IV

This article describes the ancient Jewish practices, codified in Biblical law and later legal commentary, to protect the needy. The Jews’ anti-poverty measures - including regulation of agriculture, loans, working conditions, and customs for sharing at feasts - were a significant development in the jurisprudence of charity. The first half begins with a brief history of ancient Jewish civilization, providing context for the development of charity by exploring the living conditions of the poor. The second half concludes with a description of the Jewish laws, Mishnah and Talmudic commentary, as well as the practice and codification of Rabbinical teaching that …

The Development Of Charity: Anti-Poverty Measures Of Ancient Jewish Law & Jurisprudence, William H. Byrnes

William H. Byrnes

The Development Of Charity: Anti-Poverty Measures Of Ancient Jewish Law & Jurisprudence, William H. Byrnes Iv

William H. Byrnes

This article describes the ancient Jewish practices, codified in Biblical law and later legal commentary, to protect the needy. The Jews’ anti-poverty measures - including regulation of agriculture, loans, working conditions, and customs for sharing at feasts - were a significant development in the jurisprudence of charity. The first half begins with a brief history of ancient Jewish civilization, providing context for the development of charity by exploring the living conditions of the poor. The second half concludes with a description of the Jewish laws, Mishnah and Talmudic commentary, as well as the practice and codification of Rabbinical teaching that …

Testamentary Substitutes: Retained Interests, Custodial Accounts And Contractual Transactions—A New Approach, Sidney Kwestel, Rena C. Seplowitz

Rena C. Seplowitz

No abstract provided.

Of Charities And Clawbacks: The European Union Proposal On Successions And Wills As A Threat To Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

In the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent the United States, an inter vivos gift, once given, cannot be reclaimed by the giver's heirs. In civil law countries the situation is quite different: Not only spouses, but issue and in some cases even ascendants, are entitled to a forced share of a decedent's estate--and these forced shares are assessed against a notional “estate” that includes the testator's inter vivos gifts. If the total of these forced shares exceeds the amount actually available in the decedent's estate at death, the recipients of the gifts, or their successors, may be forced …

Testamentary Substitutes: Retained Interests, Custodial Accounts And Contractual Transactions—A New Approach, Sidney Kwestel, Rena C. Seplowitz

Sidney Kwestel

No abstract provided.

The Danger Of A Label: How The Legal Interpretation Of "Care Custodian" Can Frustrate A Testator's Wish To Make A Gift To A Personal Friend, Kirsten M. Kwasneski

Golden Gate University Law Review

California Probate Code Section 21350 provides a presumption of invalidity when an elder or dependent adult makes a donative transfer to his or her care custodian. Part I of this Comment examines the climate in which Section 21350 was enacted, including a summary of the law that traditionally governed contests of testamentary transfers on the grounds of undue influence prior to the statute's enactment. Part II argues that the statutory definition of "care custodian" should encompass only professional care custodians. Part III supplies the textual amendments that should be made to provide sufficient clarification of the term's meaning. Part IV …

Are Gift Demand Loans Of Tangible Property Subject To Gift Tax ?, Joseph M. Dodge

Joseph M Dodge

The publicity surrounding a prominent political figure’s rent-free use of a portion of a friend’s house in Washington, D.C., has raised the issue of whether the rent-free use of tangible property is a gift for federal gift tax purposes. The 1984 case of Dickman v. Commissioner, 465 U.S. 330 (1984), involving an interest-free demand loan of money, intimated that such might be the case, but there has apparently been no effort by the IRS to enforce such a position. The federal gift tax will be the only federal transfer tax left standing if the estate tax and generation-skipping tax are …