Law Commons^™

Wagging, Not Barking: Statutory Definitions, Jeanne Price

Scholarly Works

Legislative text is distinguished by the frequency with which it specifies the meaning of the words it employs. More than 25,000 terms are defined in the United States Code alone. In few other contexts is there a perceived need to so carefully and repeatedly clarify meaning. This Article examines the roles played by definitions in a reader's understanding and application of a legislative text; it demonstrates that the effects of defining are not as straightforward as we might assume. The discussion is framed by the distinction between legislation as a communication vehicle and as an instrument of governance. In some …

The Often Imitated, But Not Yet Duplicated, Revised Uniform Commercial Code Article 1, Keith A. Rowley

Scholarly Works

Unlike Revised Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 (1999), which every state and the District of Columbia enacted within roughly two years of its promulgation, states have been slower to warm to Revised UCC Article 1 (2001). Nearly seven years after the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law promulgated it, thirty-three states have enacted their own versions of Revised UCC Article 1. None of the thirty-three has enacted the uniform version in its entirety. All thirty-three enacting states have rejected the uniform choice-of-law provision (§ 1-301) in favor of retaining language based on pre-Revised …

An Overview Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act And Its Implications For Attorneys, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, H.R. 3763, well-publicized in the press as a legislative response to the perceived excesses of corporate America: Enron; WorldCom; Tyco; Global Crossing, etc.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 contains an array of provisions affecting lawyers as professionals serving businesses and contains one provision that will clearly impact corporate counsel in the ethical discharge of their duties. Section 307 of the Act and the recently released Proposed Roles of the Securities Exchange Commission regarding lawyer duties and implementation of Section 307 require counsel to go "up the ladder," to …

An Introduction To Legislation In Jewish Law, With References To The American Legal System, Samuel J. Levine

Scholarly Works

Levine examines the roles of legislative and judicial bodies, in the context of a discussion of broader principles of legislation in the Jewish legal system. In recent years, American legal scholars have increasingly looked to Jewish law as a model of an alternative legal system that considers many of the issues present in the American legal system. In relation to the roles of legislative and judicial bodies, the Jewish legal system provides a particularly illuminating contrast to the American legal system, in part because in Jewish law, the same authority, the Sanhedrin, or High Court, serves in both a legislative …

Comparative Law: Its Purposes And Possibilities, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Comparative law is much more than “matching laws.” Professor Grossfield’s short, lively book will certainly awaken its German reader to the value, indeed necessity, of comparative law and comparative insights in his or her own practice or scholarly work. This, he aims at the skeptic who may think of comparative law or foreign legal systems as arcane and useless fluff, too luxurious for the hard working “practical-minded” practitioner. Professor Grossfield throws the cold water of realization into this skeptic’s face. The message being that considering comparative approaches and theory about similar problems may indeed be as practical as one can …