Law Commons^™

The Bar Exam And The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Need For Immediate Action, Patricia E. Salkin, Eileen Kaufman, Claudia Angelos, Sara J. Berman, Mary Lu Bilek, Carol L. Chomsky, Andrea A. Curcio, Marsha Griggs, Joan W. Howarth, Deborah Jones Merritt, Judith Welch Wegner

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The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted life in the United States. Schools and universities have closed throughout much of the country. Businesses have shuttered, and employees are working from home whenever possible. Cities and states are announcing lockdowns in which citizens may leave their homes only for vital errands or exercise.

Medical experts advise that at least some of these restraints will continue for 18 months or more—until a vaccine is developed, tested, and administered widely. It is possible that localities will be able to lift some of these restrictions (such as lockdowns and school closures) intermittently during those …

Access Law Schools & Diversifying The Profession, Deseriee A. Kennedy

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Lawyers do not reflect the racial diversity in the United States. The legal profession continues to struggle with ways to achieve and maintain racial diversity. Law schools play a critical role in the path to practice, and therefore an examination of the barriers to the profession they created is warranted. This essay critiques the over-reliance on standardized testing in law school admissions and advocates for an open admissions process that prioritizes racial and academic diversity. It suggests that the benefits of minimizing the role of standardized tests far outweigh any perceived costs in legal education. This essay concludes that the …

How To Build A Better Bar Exam, Eileen Kaufman, Andrea Anne Curcio, Carol L. Chomsky

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As a licensing exam, the purpose of the bar exam is consumer protection–-ensuring that new lawyers have the minimum competencies required to practice law effectively. As critics point out, however, the exam, and particularly the multiple-choice question portion of the exam, has significant flaws because it assesses legal knowledge and analysis in an artificial and unrealistic context, and the closed-book format rewards the ability to memorize thousands of legal rules, a skill unrelated to law practice.

This essay discusses how to improve the exam by changing its multiple-choice content and format. We use two law licensing exams to illustrate how …

A Tribute To Douglas Scherer, Howard A. Glickstein

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No abstract provided.

Training Leaders The Very Best Way We Can, Douglas A. Blaze, George Lewis

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No abstract provided.

Finishing The Job Of Legal Education Reform, Mary Beth Beazley

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In this article, Professor Beazley advocates for the extension of tenure to skills faculty for the good of law faculty and of legal education. She argues that extending tenure to legal writing and other skills faculty will help to advance the goals of education reform in a variety of ways. First, equalizing the power of skills faculty will allow law schools to get the full benefit of their teaching and scholarship, a benefit that is currently blunted by ignorance and bias. Second, fair treatment of skills faculty will advance the values of equality, diversity, and inclusion: law students will benefit …

The Indie Lawyer Of The Future: How New Technology, Cultural Trends, And Market Forces Can Transform The Solo Practice Of Law, Lucille Jewel

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This article is about individual lawyers innovating in the practice of law. New technology, cultural trends, and market forces have the potential to awaken latent markets for one-to-one legal services grounded in the sharing economy, the commons, DIY businesses, and other similar endeavors. These forces might reshape the solo practice of law, which in turn might induce structural change in the legal system itself. Despite the mass commoditization of many law products, there is a potentially new market for craft-oriented lawyers who directly connect with clients.

When we connect the sharing economy and the cultural values that support it with …

Testing, Diversity, And Merit: A Reply To Dan Subotnik And Others, Andrea A. Curcio, Carol L. Chomsky, Eileen Kaufman

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The false dichotomy between achieving diversity and rewarding merit frequently surfaces in discussions about decisions on university and law school admissions, scholarships, law licenses, jobs, and promotions. “Merit” judgments are often based on the results of standardized tests meant to predict who has the best chance to succeed if given the opportunity to do so. This Article criticizes over-reliance on standardized tests and responds to suggestions that challenging the use of such tests reflects a race-comes-first approach that chooses diversity over merit. Discussing the firefighter exam that led to the Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DiStefano, as well as …

"Nudging" Better Lawyer Behavior: Using Default Rules And Incentives To Change Behavior In Law Firms, Nancy B. Rapoport

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This article examines how incentives in law firms can affect lawyer behavior and suggests some possible changes to incentive structures and default rules that might improve the ethical behavior of lawyers.

In the changing landscape of law practice — where law firm profits are threatened by such changes as increased pressure from clients to economize and the concomitant opportunities for clients to shop around for the most efficient lawyers — are there ways to change how things are done in law firms so that firms can provide more efficient and ethical service? This article suggests that an understanding of cognitive …

A Glass Half Full Look At The Changes In The American Legal Market, Benjamin H. Barton

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The American legal profession finds itself in the midst of dizzying changes. What was once viewed as a brief downturn now looks like a much more substantial restructuring and downsizing. The main commentators on these trends have been those most likely to be affected: law professors and corporate lawyers, and they have largely presented these trends as disastrous. This Essay argues that while these changes will be painful in the near term, they will prove beneficial overall.

The obvious reason for optimism is that America will be significantly better off if we spend less on legal services. Whatever else the …

Blacks In The Nevada Legal Profession, Rachel J. Anderson

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This article discusses the history of African-Americans in the Nevada legal profession. It is part of "A Special Series on African Americans in Nevada Politics - Past and Present" on pages 16-21 of the issue. Sources are on page 21 of the issue.

I Can Has Lawyer? The Conflict Between The Participatory Culture Of The Internet And The Legal Profession, Lucille Jewel

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The Internet allows citizens to comment on public affairs with an amplified and unfiltered voice, creating an open, community-based culture where robust debate flourishes. However, many of the ideals and practices of participatory culture clash with the traditional legal culture as it exists in the United States. This cultural conflict can be seen in emerging narratives, in the form of web blogs and lawyer emails that go “viral,” in which lawyers comment on the lack of humanism within big law firm hiring and firing practices; expose the alienating work environments experienced by low-level contract attorneys; or criticize judges who show …

Beyond Cardboard Clients In Legal Ethics, Katherine R. Kruse

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This Article argues that the construction of cardboard clients in legal ethics has disserved legal ethics by obscuring what is arguably a more central problem of legal professionalism: the problem of legal objectification. The problem of legal objectification is the tendency of lawyers to "issue-spot" their clients as they would the facts on a blue-book exam, overemphasizing the clients' legal interests and minimizing or ignoring the other cares, commitments, relationships, reputations and values that constitute the objectives clients bring to legal representation. This Article proposes an alternative ideal of legal professionalism for "three-dimensional clients" based on helping clients articulate and …

Rediscovering Julius Henry Cohen And The Origins Of The Business/Profession Dichotomy: A Study In The Discourse Of Early Twentieth Century Legal Professionalism, Samuel J. Levine

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This article addresses one of the central contemporary debates over the nature of the practice of law, reflected in the business/profession dichotomy. Specifically, the article presents an exploration of the discourse and underlying attitudes of early twentieth century legal professionalism, in the context of a close analysis of Cohen's 1916 classic, The Law: Business or Profession?, a highly influential work that is a standard citation in the contemporary debate. The article contrasts Cohen's rhetoric and underlying approach to professionalism against the anti-Semitism, nativism, classism, economic protectionism, and general elitism often expressed by leaders of the early twentieth century bar who, …

Lawyers, Democracy, And Dispute Resolution: The Declining Influence Of Lawyer-Statesmen Politicians And Lawyerly Values, Jeffrey W. Stempel

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This Comment reviews the shrinking presence of lawyers in the arena of macrocosmic public policy. It also discusses the declining statesmanship of lawyer-politicians as part of a general decline of lawyer professionalism in the face of social and economic pressures tending to undermine lawyer professionalism. Furthermore, it addresses how the net impact of these factors undermines the potential of lawyers to act as a positive force for public policy dispute resolution.

I Do Know How She Does It (But Sometimes I Wish I Didn't), Rebecca White

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I care deeply about the issue of women's attrition from the legal profession. Admittedly, I have not written any scholarly work on this exact topic. When I learned who the other symposium guests were and how much extensive work they have done on this subject, I was left to wonder what I could contribute to our discussion. I have not conducted any empirical studies; I do not have any new and brilliant insight. What I do have, is experience. I have performed ‘the juggling act’ that simultaneous full-time lawyering and mothering requires. I have worked part-time in a large law …

Teaching Government Law & Policy In Law School: Reflections On Twenty-Five Years Of Experience, Patricia E. Salkin

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No abstract provided.

Faith In Legal Professionalism: Believers And Heretics, Samuel J. Levine

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The prevailing trend within the legal community has been to associate the recent decline of professionalism in the practice of law with the emergence of increasing commercialism, indicating that law has become more a business than a profession. Despite the evidence apparently supporting the position that law has evolved into a business, some scholars have responded by reaffirming the professionalism model, arguing that legal practice remains true to its professional ideals. These scholars admit that the professional paradigm is not without its flaws, but argue that it is more likely to lead to a better practice of law than the …

Law, Ethics, And Religion In The Public Square: Principles Of Restraint And Withdrawal, Samuel J. Levine

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In recent years, scholars have begun to recognize and discuss the profound questions that arise in attempting to determine the place of religion in the law and the legal profession. This discussion has emerged on at least two separate yet related levels. On one level, scholars have debated the place of religion in various segments of the public sphere, including law and politics. On a second level, lawyers have expressed the aim to place their professional values and obligations in the context of their overriding religious obligations. This article explores, from both an ethical and jurisprudential perspective, the question of …

Riddikulus!: Tenure-Track Legal Writing Faculty And The Boggart In The Wardrobe, Mary Beth Beazley

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Professor Beazley compares myths to boggarts in this examination of the reasons schools cite when explaining their lack of tenure-track positions for legal writing faculty. These boggarts are the living myths that pop out and whisper in faculty ears whenever someone suggests that law schools should create tenure-track - or even permanent - faculty positions in legal writing. Although some faculties have defeated these boggarts, they are still out there, popping out not from under the bed or from behind the closet door, but at lunch in the faculty lounge, after the committee meeting, and during the conversation in the …

Municipal Ethics Remain A Hot Topic In Litigation: A 1999 Survey Of Issues In Ethics For Municipal Lawyers, Patricia E. Salkin

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No abstract provided.

Embracing Descent: The Bankruptcy Of A Business Paradigm For Conceptualizing And Regulating The Legal Profession, Jeffrey W. Stempel

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Lawyers are said to travel in packs, or at least pairs, and in the popular parlance are often compared to hoards of locusts, herds of cattle, or unruly mobs. However, at least for purposes of assessing concerns with professionalism currently surrounding the bar and the public, whether attorneys are more or less social than other human animals does not matter. My point is simply that lawyers are social beings; like other human beings in social and occupational groups, lawyers behave largely in accordance with group norms, in much the same way peer pressure led Julian English toward juvenile delinquency in …

Pro Bono Service At The William S. Boyd School Of Law, Mary E. Berkheiser, Christine Smith

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The mission of the William S. Boyd School of Law is to serve Nevada, and the legal and academic communities by developing and maintaining an innovative educational program that will train ethical and effective lawyers and leaders for Nevada and for the legal profession. To put the school’s mission in motion, we have begun by stressing community service, professionalism and the roles, responsibilities, skills and values of lawyers, and by involving students and faculty in community service projects in ways that will benefit our state.

Introductory Note: Symposium On Lawyering And Personal Values – Responding To The Problems Of Ethical Schizophrenia, Samuel J. Levine

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In recent years, legal practitioners and scholars alike have identified a growing crisis in the legal profession. Increasingly, lawyers feel dissatisfied with the roles they are expected to play and the conduct demanded of them. In particular, many lawyers see a widening gap between their personal values and those employed in legal practice. In response to the dichotomy between personal and professional values, some lawyers attempt to develop a corresponding dichotomy in their personalities, separating the “professional self” from the “personal self.” Such a response, however, may lead to a kind of “ethical schizophrenia,” a condition in which an individual …

Teaching In The Shadow Of The Bar, Joan W. Howarth

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This Essay is a memorial tribute to Professor Trina Grillo. Trina took seriously what many of us know but find too hard to remember: the student who is academically disqualified or who fails the bar examination might be the most brilliant in the class or the most needed within the profession. When we conceive of the bar exam as a particularly grueling and potentially unfair rite of passage between law school and the practice of law, we collude in hiding the pervasive and often negative power of the bar exam. The bar examination permeates and controls fundamental aspects of legal …

Halting Devolution Or Bleak To The Future? Subrin's New-Old Procedure As A Possible Antidote To Dreyfuss's "Tolstoy Problem", Jeffrey W. Stempel

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Professors Rochelle Dreyfuss and Stephen Subrin first presented their ideas on the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Civil Rules) at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in a program titled, “The 1993 Discovery Amendments: Evolution, Revolution, or Devolution?” After the program, I was left with the depressing view that the answer was devolution, which is defined as a “retrograde evolution,” or “degeneration.” Dreyfuss provides a detailed but succinct review of the changes in discovery occasioned by the new rules as well as a vantage point for assessing the social and …

Where Were The Lawyers?, Mary E. Berkheiser, Ed Hendricks

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In March 1992, the Office of Thrift Supervision sent shock waves through the legal community when it initiated a $275 million enforcement actions against New York’s Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler and froze the firm’s assets, all based on the firm’s alleged misdeeds in representing the now-defunct Lincoln Savings & Loan. The OTS action, together with the recent spate of prefessional liability suits by the Resolution Trust Corporation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, raises questions with far-reaching consequences for the legal profession. Perhaps most disturbing, particularly in light of the OTS’s unprecedented assault on Kaye, Scholer, is the …

Why Lawyers Should Be Allowed To Advertise: A Market Analysis Of Legal Services, Jeffrey W. Stempel

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In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, a 1977 decision, the United States Supreme Court overturned the American Bar Association's (ABA) sixty-nine-year-old prohibition of advertising by lawyers. The Bates holding invalidated comprehensive bans on lawyer advertising but left unsettled the scope of permissible regulation. While the Bates Court found attorneys' price advertising to be protected speech under the first amendment, it also stated that false and misleading advertising could be prohibited. The majority expressly declined to consider the problems of advertising claims relating to the quality of legal services.

The organized bar's reaction to Bates has been hesitant and inconsistent. …

Legal Malpractice: A Calculus For Reform, Fredrick W. Huszagh, Donald W. Molloy

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Our most distinguished professions do not maintain congruency between membership standards and actual performance. This deficiency is manifest; spiraling malpractice litigation witnesses a substantial increase in both the number of suits and the amount of recovery. Neither the professions nor public can long endure this trend. Governmental and possibly lay intervention in profession affairs is imminent unless the professions move decisively to understand better the dynamics of malpractice and do excise its causes. This article examines professional malpractice and existing responses to it, relates various cases in a calculus that can be employed to anticipate systemic patterns of malpractice, and …