Law Commons^™

Top Ten Reasons To Be A Law School Dean, R. Lawrence Dessem

Faculty Publications

Serving as a law school dean can be tough duty. Many people, particularly law school faculty members, have asked over the years why anyone would ever take such a position. This question is particularly relevant because the likely alternative for most deans is service as a full-time professor on a law school faculty-which is, without a doubt, one of the world's truly great jobs..

Tort Recovery For Loss Of A Chance, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

Tort lawyers in the United States often think of “loss of a chance” as a theory of “probabilistic causation” that only applies to medical malpractice misdiagnosis cases. The theory is that if a physician negligently fails to diagnose a curable disease, and the patient is harmed by the disease, the physician should be liable for causing the “loss of a chance” of a cure. We shall see that if the chance of a cure is less than 50 percent, the plaintiff cannot prove by a preponderance of evidence that the negligence caused the harm, and would recover no damages under …

A Tale Of Three Statutes . . . (And One Industry): A Case Study On The Competitive Effects Of Regulation, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

The comparison of the three labor regulatory regimes raises an interesting counterexample to the traditional model of regulation. Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all model, could a regulatory model be conceptualized where a menu of regulatory options is made available to the target population? Under such an approach those affected by the regulatory regime will choose among the various regulatory options and adopt those that better fit their particular situations. Part IV.B develops the basic parameters of this proposal. The article ends with a brief conclusion.

Distilling The Essence Of Contract Terms: An Anti-Antiformalist Approach To Contract And Employment Law, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

A look at the development of labor and employment law in the U.S. reveals one astonishing principle. There is an underlying assumption that employers own the time and activities of employees, and thus any change in the allocation of rights between employers and employees has to be justified against the “interference” with the rights of employers. For example, whenever legislation has been introduced intended to protect workers' rights, employers have argued that such protections will interfere with the right of employers to control their employees. This argument has been successfully made many times, and it has, I argue, shaped the …

Book Review: Women Under The Law: The False Promise Of Human Rights, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Though McColgan's book promises much, it fails to persuade the reader for several reasons. First, a number of the examples used to demonstrate the inferiority of entrenched rights actually suggest the opposite. The second reason why McColgan fails to persuade results from her forcing constitutional arguments where there are none. The third problem with this book is its failure to extrapolate its arguments about women to other disadvantaged groups.

Despite these shortcomings, there is much in McColgan's book to recommend it. Her prose is fluid, her presentation of US and Canadian law, particularly regarding abortion, is extensive, and her arguments …

Teaching Torts Without Insurance: A Second-Best Solution, David A. Fischer, Robert H. Jerry Ii

Faculty Publications

Teachers, scholars and practitioners have long appreciated the symbiotic relationship of torts and insurance. Indeed, the assertion that tort law and insurance law are intertwined is utterly unremarkable; many commentators have observed that tort law cannot be understood if the business of insurance and the law regulating it is ignored, and that insurance law cannot be understood if tort law is ignored. Several generations of law students have read casebooks, which in varying degrees pay homage to the connections between torts and insurance. Many law review articles and noteworthy books (or portions thereof) have plumbed the tort-insurance relationship. Although one …

A Primer On Adoption Law, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Legal Traditions Of The World: Sustainable Diversity In Law, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Combining a historically accurate analysis with a distinctly contemporary sensibility, H. Patrick Glenn invokes not only jurisprudential concepts as he explains the different legal traditions, but religious and sociological ideas as well.

Religion And The First Amendment: Some Causes Of The Recent Confusion, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The United States Supreme Court is surely guilty of making the matter of religion and the First Amendment harder than it ought to be. But it is others who have kept the debate over church/state relations either poisoned with culture-war rhetoric or so shrouded in mystery that seemingly only experts can untangle the juris-prudential snarls. By surrounding this venerable Amendment with a pseudocomplexity concerning the matter of religion these disinformation specialists create confusion, and confusion begets opportunities for further distortion and manipulation. Disagreements over the free exercise of religion and the no-establishment thereof are far simpler to resolve than these …

Book Review: The Business Of Judging, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Lord Bingham of Cornhill is no stranger to the business of judging. Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, former Lord Chief Justice of England, former Master of the Rolls, he has been sitting on the bench in one capacity or another for the last twenty years - twenty-five if one counts his tenure as a recorder. Although he began his career at the bar in 1959 as a commercial and civil lawyer, his appointment in 1996 as Lord Chief Justice placed him at the apex of the criminal justice system. In becoming senior Law Lord, Lord Bingham has expanded his …

The Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act And Its Progress In The States, David M. English

Faculty Publications

Over the past decade, planning for health care decision making through the making of an advance directive has become a routine part of personal counseling. Public interest in the subject has been fueled by well-publicized cases such as Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261 (1990). In response to this interest, most states authorize their citizens to make at least one form of advance directive: all states statutorily authorize powers of attorney for health care, and all but Massachusetts, Michigan and New York authorize living wills. State legislation has been a mixed blessing. Although intended to facilitate …

A Tribute To Governor Mel Carnahan, Kenneth D. Dean

Faculty Publications

A Tribute to Governor Mel Carnahan

Quiet Rebellion? Explaining Nearly A Decade Of Declining Federal Drug Sentences With Michael Heise, Frank O. Bowman Iii, Michael Heise

Faculty Publications

The Article begins with an examination of three primarily empirical questions. First, is the trend real? In other words, is the apparent decrease in federal drug sentences merely a species of statistical hiccup, a random fluctuation that could move easily and rapidly in the other direction? Or is the decline in average drug sentences large enough, and the trend prolonged enough, that we can safely conclude that something meaningful is occurring?

Crumbs For Oliver Twist: Resolving The Conflict Between Tax And Support Claims In Bankruptcy, Michelle A. Cecil

Faculty Publications

This article is premised on the assumption that the congressional goal of preferring support claims over federal income tax claims is indeed a laudable one, based on three interrelated policy justifications. First, support claimants are unable to spread their risk of loss like the government is able to do by raising tax rates or increasing tax revenue from other sources. As three prominent bankruptcy scholars noted in their recent study of consumer bankruptcy entitled The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt:

Book Review: Faith In Law: Essays In Legal Theory, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

The essays collected in this book arise out of a series of seminars exploring the relationship between law and faith, broadly defined, and investigate "the many varied links between law and faith", particularly as those links relate to legal theory. While the editors intended to demonstrate the diversity of ways in which the topic can be viewed, this very diversity causes some problems for the reader.

Remembering Judge Hugh R. Jones, Douglas E. Abrams, Mary Lou Crowley

Faculty Publications

Remembering Judge Huge R. Jones

The 2001 Federal Economic Crime Sentencing Reforms: An Analysis And Legislative History, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This Article has four parts. First, it describes the general structure of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the approach to sentencing economic crimes in effect between 1987 and 2001. Second, it outlines the defects in the former economic crime guidelines that led to the call for reform. Third, it describes the process undertaken by the Sentencing Commission that led to the passage of the 2001 economic crime amendments and, in so doing, provides a roadmap to sources of legislative history. Fourth, it explains and analyzes the new guidelines in light of their legislative history, with primary emphasis on the consolidated …

Reinforcing The Myth Of The Crazed Rapist: A Feminist Critique Of Recent Rape Legislation, Christina E. Wells, Erin Elliott

Faculty Publications

Part I of this article reviews these new legislative provisions, discussing their requirements as well as the general impetus behind their enactment. Part II discusses both the history of rape prosecution and feminist efforts in the 1970s and 1980s to eliminate barriers to successful rape prosecutions. This part also elaborates upon the myth of the crazed rapist and its relationship to feminist reform efforts. Part III explains how the current legislation is rooted in and reinforces that myth by encouraging unsupportable distinctions among rape defendants. Finally, Part IV discusses the feminist response to such laws and argues for a more …

Cybergossip Or Securities Fraud? Some First Amendment Guidance In Drawing The Line., Lyrissa Lidsky, Michael Pike

Faculty Publications

Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Lebed, the youngest person ever pursued by the SEC in an enforcement action, made over $800,000 in six months by promoting stocks on Internet message boards. Using several fictitious screen names, Jonathan posted hundreds of messages on Yahoo! Finance, hyping selected over-the-counter stocks and then promptly selling his pre-purchased shares as soon as the stock prices rose.

Publicly, the SEC painted a picture-perfect case of securities fraud. Yet, the SEC forced disgorgement of only $285,000 of Jonathan's profits, leaving many observers to wonder why the resolution of this supposedly clear-cut case left its teenaged perpetrator with over $500,000. …

Introduction: The Difficult First Amendment, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.

Beyond Campaign Finance: The First Amendment Implications Of Nixon V. Shrink Missouri Pac, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

This essay, however, is less concerned with the campaign finance aspects of Shrink than with the decision's broader implications. In the course of its decision, the Shrink Court not only obfuscated the standard of scrutiny applicable to contribution regulations, it effectively ignored the government's lack of factual support for the law, instead accepting the state's assertions at face-value. Consequently, Shrink is far more than a simple application of Buckley. Rather, it reflects fundamental problems with the Court's standards of review in First Amendment cases generally. The more global nature of Shrink's problems suggest that, despite scholarly focus on the Buckley …

A Government Of Laws And Also Of Men: Judge William K. Thomas, R. Lawrence Dessem

Faculty Publications

Judge William K. Thomas served for more than forty years as a common pleas judge and as a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. During his service on the state and federal bench, Judge Thomas epitomized the qualities of fairness, integrity, justice, and compassion that we expect in our judiciary. This article highlights some of the qualities that made Judge Thomas a truly great judge, as well as some of the highlights of his judicial career. It is written as a memorial tribute by one of his former law clerks.

State Constitutional Restrictions On Legislative Procedure: Rethinking Analysis Of Original Purpose, Single Subject, And Clear Title Challenges, Martha Dragich

Faculty Publications

Recognizing that state courts are beginning to review procedural challenges more rigorously, this Article attempts to provide guidance for the resolution of such cases. Part I examines the history, purposes, and standards of original purpose, single subject, and clear title restrictions, using Missouri's provisions as examples. Part I also identifies paradigmatic cases of each of the procedural violations with the hope of more sharply differentiating the three claims. Parts II through V present a case study of ten Missouri cases decided since 1994, supplemented with notable cases from other states. Part II begins with a brief description of the Missouri …

Chinese Mortgage Law: An American Perspective, Dale A. Whitman

Faculty Publications

My objective in this paper is to compare and to evaluate some of the features of the American and Chinese systems. I do so without any preconception that the American system provides better answers, but with the recognition that it is far more mature and provides more answers. Hence it provides a reference point from which the Chinese system can be considered. Perhaps each system has something to teach the other.

Professionalism In Librarianship: Shifting The Focus From Malpractice To Good Practice, Randy J. Diamond, Martha Dragich

Faculty Publications

Much of the previous discussion in library literature about professional standards concerns librarian malpractice risks. After explaining why these risks have not materialized, this article examines the role of professional standards in fostering good practice in librarianship. Components of good practice include professional knowledge, core competencies, and professional values.

Cybercoverage For Cyber-Risks: An Overview Of Insurers' Responses To The Perils Of E-Commerce, Robert H. Jerry Ii, Michele L. Mekel

Faculty Publications

With nearly seven percent of the world's population currently online and e-commerce forecast to hit $6.8 trillion by 2004, one need not be Nostradamus to predict that the Internet means great change for all industries - including the insurance industry. Presently, however, the proverbial cart is leading the horse as the insurance industry struggles to develop strategies to quantify, cover, and contain "cyber-risks." Policyholders also face new challenges as they confront the possibility that their traditional insurance coverages are woefully inadequate either to secure their electronic and intellectual property assets or to guard against their potential e-commerce liabilities to third …

'The Question Is Which Is To Be Master - That's All': Cunningham, Claiborne, Rita And The Sixth Amendment Muddle, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

Three things are clear from the Supreme Court's opinion in Cunningham v. California, in which the Court struck down California's sentencing law as violative of the Sixth Amendment, and from the briefs in the pending cases involving post-Booker federal sentencing, Claiborne v. United States and Rita v. United States. First, the Supreme Court has plunged Sixth Amendment sentencing law deep down the rabbit hole. Second, both the government and petitioners in Claiborne and Rita have adopted indefensible positions. Third, neither the parties nor the amici in Rita and Claiborne have offered the Court any real help in crafting a sensible …

Falling Out Of Love With America: The Clinton Impeachment And The Madisonian Constitution, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

First, were the Nixon and Clinton affairs truly as different as my memory makes them? Were the villains of Watergate as villainous and the heroes as heroic as I remember them? Were nearly all the players on both sides of l'affaire Lewinsky as shallow and fatuous as they seemed? Or to put the question in broader historical context, was the impeachment of Bill Clinton truly distinct, not only from Watergate, but from all of the other (fortunately few) occasions on which a president was seriously threatened with removal from office? Second, if the Clinton impeachment really was as bizarre, unprecedented, …