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Full-Text Articles in Law
Integrated Learning, Integrated Faculty, Rachel Arnow-Richman
Integrated Learning, Integrated Faculty, Rachel Arnow-Richman
UF Law Faculty Publications
A fundamental obstacle to the success of legal education’s practice readiness movement is the “bifurcated faculty.” Most law schools continue to operate a two tiered system in which a group of elite credentialed “doctrinal” faculty enjoy the generous compensation, security, and privileges associated with tenure, while an underclass of contract faculty teach work intensive “skills” courses for lower pay and lesser status. This Essay analyzes the bifurcated faculty as a personnel practice, leveraging insights from management theory and employment discrimination scholarship to evaluate law schools as employers. It considers, first, the rise of new economy management practices that eschew static …
The Systems Approach To Teaching Business Associations, Lynn M. Lopucki, Andrew Verstein
The Systems Approach To Teaching Business Associations, Lynn M. Lopucki, Andrew Verstein
UF Law Faculty Publications
The systems approach applies the methods of systems analysis to law. The principal method is to describe the system, situate a problem within the system, and take system mechanics into account in solving it. The system might be the “legal system”—essentially litigation. But more often, it is a “law-related system”—one not composed of law, but one in which law plays a role. That system might be crime, the Internet, the corporation, or any other activity substantially affected by law. The analyst situates the application of law in the context of the physical system as it actually operates. In business associations, …
What Did They Know And When Did They Know It? Pretesting As A Means Setting A Baseline For Assessing Learning Outcomes, Jeffrey L. Harrison
What Did They Know And When Did They Know It? Pretesting As A Means Setting A Baseline For Assessing Learning Outcomes, Jeffrey L. Harrison
UF Law Faculty Publications
Are legal rules intuitive or, at least, consistent with common sense? In this study, 260 law students at five law schools who had not taken contract law, were presented with eight questions based on specific contracts cases or common contracts issues. They were asked what they felt was the fair or right answer to each question and to formulate the rule they would apply. The purposes of the study were to 1) determine whether contract law is what the untrained person believes it is or should be and 2) experiment with a strategy of pretesting to determine what topics within …
Fostering Student Authorship, Amy R. Mashburn, Sharon E. Rush
Fostering Student Authorship, Amy R. Mashburn, Sharon E. Rush
UF Law Faculty Publications
In this essay, we suggest that law schools may provide every student with the opportunity to become involved in the process of producing a publishable paper by establishing on-line repositories for student publications. We describe what such a program, which we call "student authorship," might look like and further explore several primary benefits that such a program would confer upon students.
Disciplinary Legal Empiricism, Lynn M. Lopucki
Disciplinary Legal Empiricism, Lynn M. Lopucki
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article reports on an empirical study of one hundred and twenty empirical legal studies published in leading, non-peer-reviewed law reviews and in the peer-reviewed Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. The study is the first to compare studies by disciplinary empiricists – defined as Ph.D. holders – with those by non-disciplinary empiricists – defined as J.D. holders who are not also Ph.D. holders. Three differences identified in the study suggest that Ph.D. hiring is on a collision course with the demands of legal educators, the organized bar, and students that the law schools better prepare students for practice. First, disciplinary …
Dawn Of The Discipline-Based Law Faculty, Lynn M. Lopucki
Dawn Of The Discipline-Based Law Faculty, Lynn M. Lopucki
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article reports on an empirical study of the prevalence of Ph.D.s on law faculties, the rate at which J.D.-Ph.D.s are being hired by those faculties, the impact of that hiring on faculties’ legal experience levels, and the likely resulting future composition of law faculties. Approximately 29% of the tenure-track faculties of the top twenty-six law schools currently hold Ph.D.s, and 67% of those schools’ entry level hires in 2014 and 2015 are J.D.-Ph.D.s. Recent hiring has separated into two tracks. On the growing J.D.-Ph.D. track, both legal experience and preparation time is declining. On the fading J.D.-only track, legal …
Teaching Compliance, D. Daniel Sokol
Teaching Compliance, D. Daniel Sokol
UF Law Faculty Publications
Compliance is a growing field of practice across multiple areas of law. Increasingly companies put compliance risk among the most important corporate governance issues facing them. Moreover, as “JD plus” jobs proliferate, the demand for hiring both at the entry level and for former students currently in practice who are experienced in the compliance field will continue to grow. The growth in compliance jobs comes at a time in shifting demand for legal jobs for law school graduates. Traditional law firm entry level jobs at large law firms, which were the staple of on campus recruiting before 2007, have not …
Disciplining Legal Scholarship, Lynn M. Lopucki
Disciplining Legal Scholarship, Lynn M. Lopucki
UF Law Faculty Publications
U.S. law schools are hiring large proportions of J.D.-Ph.D.s in tenure-track faculty positions in an effort to increase the quantity and quality of empirical legal scholarship. That effort is failing. The new recruits bring methods and objectives unsuited to law. They produce lower-than-predicted levels of empiricism because they compete on the basis of methodological sophistication, devote time and resources to disputes over arcane issues in statistics and methodology, prefer to collaborate with other Ph.D.s, and intimidate empiricists whose work does not require high levels of methodological sophistication. In short, Ph.D.s impose the cultures of their disciplines on legal scholarship. Importing …
Stop Me If You’Ve Heard This Before: Transitions In Teaching Legal Research, Patricia Morgan
Stop Me If You’Ve Heard This Before: Transitions In Teaching Legal Research, Patricia Morgan
UF Law Faculty Publications
Law schools are being called upon to produce more “practice ready” graduates. To that end, the University of Florida added a librarian-taught first-year Legal Research course to its curriculum. As a result of the course addition, there was an impact on the existing Advanced Legal Research (ALR) course. For the first time, the ALR students had already received legal research instruction. This required adjustments in this higher level course.
Deal Deconstructions, Case Studies, And Case Simulations: Toward Practice Readiness With New Pedagogies In Teaching Business And Transactional Law, Michelle M. Harner, Robert J. Rhee
Deal Deconstructions, Case Studies, And Case Simulations: Toward Practice Readiness With New Pedagogies In Teaching Business And Transactional Law, Michelle M. Harner, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
In this short commentary, we explore the use of two interrelated pedagogical methods for teaching transactional and business law. The first method is deal deconstruction, which analyzes the set of final deal documents and outcomes. This method is backward-looking, conducting a post-mortem on business transactions and analyzing the parties’ choices memorialized in the agreement against the legal and financial alternatives. The second method involves case studies and simulations, which are commonly seen in business schools. This method is forward-looking, exposing students to the uncertainties and situational contexts of doing deals and deal-related litigation. Together, these complementary methods help students understand …
Specialization In Law And Business: A Proposal For A J.D./'Mbl' Curriculum, Robert J. Rhee
Specialization In Law And Business: A Proposal For A J.D./'Mbl' Curriculum, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
This paper provides the specific details of how an interdisciplinary program of law and business can be structured in a three-year J.D. program. The program envisioned is a J.D./”M.B.L.”, which is distinguished from the better known J.D./M.B.A. The “M.B.L.” stands for “masters of business law,” which is simply an idea tag. The moniker can represent a program conferring a supplemental degree in law and business, or simply a specialized course of study to complete a J.D. Either way, the program is an interdisciplinary program of concentrated study in core transaction-oriented law courses and core business courses. The most effective education …
Tackling "Arithmophobia": Teaching How To Read, Understand, And Analyze Financial Statements, Paula J. Williams, Kris Anne Tobin, Eric Franklin, Robert J. Rhee
Tackling "Arithmophobia": Teaching How To Read, Understand, And Analyze Financial Statements, Paula J. Williams, Kris Anne Tobin, Eric Franklin, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
This discussion presents different ideas on how to teach accounting and practical finance to law students.
Contract Stories: Importance Of The Contextual Approach To Law, Larry A. Dimatteo
Contract Stories: Importance Of The Contextual Approach To Law, Larry A. Dimatteo
UF Law Faculty Publications
How law is taught is at the center of the debate over the need to change legal education to better prepare students for a difficult and changing marketplace for legal services. This Article analyzes the benefits of using “stories” to teach law. The stories to be discussed relate to contract law: this Article asks whether they can be used to improve the method and content of teaching law. The ruminations offered on teaching contract law, however, are also relevant to teaching other core, first-year law courses.
The Law School Firm, Bradley T. Borden, Robert J. Rhee
The Law School Firm, Bradley T. Borden, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article introduces the concept of the law school firm. The concept calls for law schools to establish affiliated law firms. The affiliation would provide opportunities for students, faculty, and attorneys to collaborate and share resources to teach, research, write, serve clients, and influence the development of law and policy. Based loosely on the medical school model, the law school firm will help bridge the gap between law schools and the practice of law.
On Legal Education And Reform: One View Formed From Diverse Perspectives, Robert J. Rhee
On Legal Education And Reform: One View Formed From Diverse Perspectives, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
This article identifies two interconnected problems in legal education. First, legal education and practice are more disconnected than they should be, a reality which distinguishes law schools from other professional schools. The major flaw of legal education as the failure to produce more market-ready lawyers who have a mix of skills and knowledge to add value in a complex and challenging practice environment. Second, law school imposes large direct and opportunity costs on its students. These costs combine with the problem of a deficiency in academic training and post-graduation financing of additional training in the workplace to impose a growing …
The Madoff Scandal, Market Regulatory Failure And The Business Education Of Lawyers, Robert J. Rhee
The Madoff Scandal, Market Regulatory Failure And The Business Education Of Lawyers, Robert J. Rhee
UF Law Faculty Publications
This essay suggests that a deficiency in legal education is a contributing cause of the regulatory failure. The most scandalous malfeasance of this new era, the Madoff Ponzi scheme, evinces the failure of improperly trained lawyers and regulators. It also calls into question whether the prevailing regulatory philosophy of disclosure is sufficient in a complex market. This essay answers an important question underlying these considerations: What can legal education do to better train business lawyers and regulators for a market that is becoming more complex. One answer, it suggests, is a simple one: law schools should teach a little more …
Globalism From An African Perspective: The Training Of Lawyers For A New And Challenging Reality, Winston P. Nagan, Marcio Santos
Globalism From An African Perspective: The Training Of Lawyers For A New And Challenging Reality, Winston P. Nagan, Marcio Santos
UF Law Faculty Publications
This paper deals with the definition and implications of globalism generally and for African interests in particular. Its focus is on globalism as a cluster of social, economic, and political forces contesting for the controlling paradigm of international relations and international law. The article underscores the general issue of globalism's impact on the well-being of the international community. It also considers the impact of globalism on the U.N. Charter, and, in particular, the role of the United Nations in international economic order. The connections between globalism and society are considered as part of the changing character of war and political …
The Law Review Article Selection Process: Results From A National Study, Jason P. Nance, Dylan J. Steinberg
The Law Review Article Selection Process: Results From A National Study, Jason P. Nance, Dylan J. Steinberg
UF Law Faculty Publications
The student-edited law review has been a much criticized institution. Many commentators have expressed their belief that students are unqualified to determine which articles should be published in which journals, but these discussions have been largely based on anecdotal evidence of how journals make publication decisions. It was against that backdrop that we undertook a national survey of law reviews in an attempt to determine how student editors responsible for making publication decisions went about their task. This article compiles the results of that survey, which received 191 responses from 163 different journals. We analyzed 56 factors that influence the …
Legal Education In The Americas: The Anchor For Hemispheric Justice, Jon L. Mills
Legal Education In The Americas: The Anchor For Hemispheric Justice, Jon L. Mills
UF Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
A Brief Exploration Of Space: Some Observations On Law School Architecture, Robert H. Jerry Ii
A Brief Exploration Of Space: Some Observations On Law School Architecture, Robert H. Jerry Ii
UF Law Faculty Publications
The nature of the space in which we work, teach, and study is important. The design of our surroundings affects our attitudes, moods, self-esteem, efficiency, and sense of community. For our students, space makes a difference in the quality of the learning experience. It is possible to teach and learn in deficient space, but it is easier to teach and learn when both faculty and students are comfortable, happy, and not distracted by the inconveniences and annoyances of a poorly designed environment. Inadequate space prevents us from achieving all of which we are capable, thereby diminishing our productivity, creativity, and …
Mindfulness: Foundational Training For Dispute Resolution, Leonard L. Riskin
Mindfulness: Foundational Training For Dispute Resolution, Leonard L. Riskin
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article addresses the problem of mindlessness in counseling, negotiating, and mediating, and offers potential solutions and recommendations for developing foundational capacities through training in mindfulness meditation.
On Collegiality, Michael L. Seigel
On Collegiality, Michael L. Seigel
UF Law Faculty Publications
The problem of collegiality in academia is like a crazy aunt in the family: ever present, whispered about in hallways, but rarely acknowledged directly. My goal in this article has been to initiate the demise of this pattern of unhappy toleration. The toleration stems, in large part, from an apparently widespread fear that attempts to control colleagues' uncollegial conduct will result in an unacceptable diminution of academic freedom. Although these concerns are legitimate, I have sought to prove that, if appropriate care is taken, academic freedom may flourish at the same time that a norm of basic collegiality is enforced. …
Damages: Using A Case Study To Teach Law, Lawyering, And Dispute Resolution, Leonard L. Riskin
Damages: Using A Case Study To Teach Law, Lawyering, And Dispute Resolution, Leonard L. Riskin
UF Law Faculty Publications
Seven law school faculty members and one practicing attorney recently developed and taught a wholly new kind of law course based on an already published case study, Damages: One Family's Legal Struggles in the World of Medicine, by Barry Werth, an investigative reporter who spent several years researching to write the book. Damages, an in-depth account of a medical malpractice case, presents the perspectives of the injured family, the defendant physician, the lawyers, and the three mediators. In this Symposium Introduction, the authors provide a summary of Werth's book, explain why they decided to create a course based on …
Teaching And Learning From The Mediations In Barry Werth's Damages, Leonard L. Riskin
Teaching And Learning From The Mediations In Barry Werth's Damages, Leonard L. Riskin
UF Law Faculty Publications
This essay is based primarily on materials the author developed for courses taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law, in the winter 2002 and 2003 semesters, based on Barry Werth's book, "Damages."
Diversity Matters: Race, Gender And Ethnicity In Legal Education., Nancy E. Dowd, Kenneth B. Nunn, Jane E. Pendergast
Diversity Matters: Race, Gender And Ethnicity In Legal Education., Nancy E. Dowd, Kenneth B. Nunn, Jane E. Pendergast
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article presents more evidence of the inequality that persists in legal education for students. Based on a survey of University of Florida law students conducted in 2001, this study reaffirms the existence of differential experience and an inegalitarian culture in legal education. However, it also demonstrates the importance of diversity and the recognition by a significant majority of students of the value of race and gender pluralism. These competing findings provide a clear guide to the future direction of legal education.
Vii. Legal Education In The Americas, A. An Introduction (Proceedings Of The Third Annual Legal & Policy Issues In The Americas Conference), Jon L. Mills
UF Law Faculty Publications
Proceedings of the Third Annual Legal & Policy Issues in the Americas Conference (2002)
The Contemplative Lawyer: On The Potential Contributions Of Mindfulness Meditation To Law Students, Lawyers, And Their Clients, Leonard L. Riskin
The Contemplative Lawyer: On The Potential Contributions Of Mindfulness Meditation To Law Students, Lawyers, And Their Clients, Leonard L. Riskin
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article proposes that introducing mindfulness meditation into the legal profession may improve practitioners' well-being and performance and weaken the dominance of adversarial mind-sets. By enabling some lawyers to make more room for - and act from - broader and deeper perspectives, mindfulness can help lawyers provide more appropriate service (especially through better listening and negotiation) and gain more personal satisfaction from their work.
Part I of this article describes a number of problems associated with law school and law practice. Part II sets forth a variety of ways in which lawyers, law schools, and professional organizations have tried to …
Remembering Harry Bitner: Law Librarian, Professor, And Wonderful Colleague, Claire M. Germain
Remembering Harry Bitner: Law Librarian, Professor, And Wonderful Colleague, Claire M. Germain
UF Law Faculty Publications
Professor Harry Bitner was an outstanding law librarian who shaped many of our best libraries, who was a mentor to many younger law librarians, and who provided leadership to the law library profession and to legal education generally.
From Punch Cards To Smart Cards: A History Of The Technology At The Levin College Of Law, Betty W. Taylor
From Punch Cards To Smart Cards: A History Of The Technology At The Levin College Of Law, Betty W. Taylor
UF Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Diversity In Law Schools: Where Are We Headed In The Twenty-First Century, Jon L. Mills
Diversity In Law Schools: Where Are We Headed In The Twenty-First Century, Jon L. Mills
UF Law Faculty Publications
While we had historically recruited a large number of minority candidates to campus, because of the departures of our minority faculty, we needed to evaluate both our ability to recruit and our ability to retain minority faculty. Discriminatory hiring based on race is forbidden by law. The University of Florida is an equal opportunity employer. As a practical and legal matter, and in contrast to our current student admissions policy, we can consider race in employment decisions only to remedy past discrimination and only if narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. First, it is important to understand the …