Law Commons^™

Benevolent Exclusion, Anna Offit

Washington Law Review

The American jury system holds the promise of bringing common sense ideas about justice to the enforcement of the law. But its democratizing effect cannot be realized if a segment of the population faces systematic exclusion based on income or wealth. The problem of unequal access to jury service based on socio-economic disparities is a longstanding yet under-studied problem—and one which the uneven fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated. Like race- and sex-based jury discrimination during the peremptory challenge phase of jury selection, the routine dismissal of citizens who face economic hardship excludes not only people but also the …

Talking Back In Court, M. Eve Hanan

Washington Law Review

People charged with crimes often speak directly to the judge presiding over their case. Yet, what can be seen in courtrooms across the U.S. is that defendants rarely “talk back” in court, meaning that they rarely challenge authority’s view of the law, the crime, the defendant, the court’s procedure, or the fairness of the proposed sentence.

With few exceptions, legal scholars have treated the occasions when defendants speak directly to the court as a problem to be solved by appointing more lawyers and better lawyers. While effective representation is crucial, this Article starts from the premise that defendants have important …

Institutionalizing The Uspto Law School Clinic Certification Program For Transactional Law Clinics, Jennifer S. Fan

Articles

With 188 transactional law clinics nationwide and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Law School Clinic Certification Program (“Program”) recently established as a statutory program of the USPTO, this Article argues that every transactional clinic that works on trademark and patent applications should apply to become part of the Program. In satisfying the participation requirements of the Program, transactional law clinics will usher in a new, uniform way to educate aspiring intellectual property attorneys. As a result, the law students will not only be “practice ready,” but also more effective attorneys once they are in practice. Participating in …