Law Commons^™

A Pioneer Of The Law & Society Movement: One Eyewitness’S Reflections, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

There is arguably no more seminal a figure in the field of law and society than Professor Marc Galanter. That a Special Issue featuring dedications to several leading academic lights would be hosted by the University of Chicago Law Review is especially significant in terms of Marc’s inclusion because Chicago is where Marc came of age as a student.

Professor Richard Abel, some years back, chronicled Marc’s educational journey in Hyde Park. As Abel tells it—and as Marc has told me over the years—after finishing his B.A. and while continuing to work on his master’s degree from Chicago, Marc enrolled …

Peel-Off Lawyers: Legal Professionals In India's Corporate Law Firm Sector, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This study is about hierarchy within the legal profession – how it presents itself, how it is retained, and how it is combated. The socio-legal literature on this subject is rich, with many roots tracing back to Professor Marc Galanter’s famous early 1970s article on the ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots.’ Galanter’s piece and the work of those influenced by him rightly suggest that resources – institutional, financial, and demographic – contribute to whether lawyers are, and remain as, part of the ‘Haves.’ Yet, while resources of course greatly matter, as this study will argue other forces are significant as well. One …

Delay In Process, Denial Of Justice: The Jurisprudence And Empirics Of Speedy Trials In Comparative Perspective, Jayanth K. Krishnan, C. Raj Kumar

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Criminal law scholars regularly maintain that American prisons are overcrowded and that defendants in custody wait long periods of time before having their cases brought to trial. A similar refrain is made of the penal process in India – the world’s largest democracy, an ally of the United States, and a country with a judiciary that has drawn upon American criminal procedure law. In fact, the situation in India is thought to be much worse. Accounts of prisoners languishing behind bars for several years – and sometimes decades – awaiting their day in court are not uncommon. And many Indian …

Globetrotting Law Firms, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Despite the current financial crisis, prestigious American and British law firms continue to maintain a presence in Continental Europe, Latin America, and China. Yet, in one economically fertile, democratic country - India - such global legal powerhouses are scarcely found. This study seeks to understand empirically why there is a general absence of these and other foreign law firms practicing in India. Based on fieldwork and compiled interview data of lawyers, judges, government officials, activists, and clients from India, the United States, and Britain - the latter two being the foreign countries most interested in gaining access to the Indian …

Eastphalia Rising?: Asian Influence And The Fate Of Human Security, David P. Fidler, Sung Won Kim, Sumit Ganguly

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned From Comparing The Application Of Constitutional Law And Anti-Discrimination Law To African Americans In The U.S. And Dalits In India In The Context Of Higher Education, Kevin D. Brown, Vinay Sitapati

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Article the authors will compare the development of constitutional law and federal anti-discrimination law in the context of higher education of African-Americans in the U.S. and Dalits in India. Both groups suffer from oppression and discrimination based upon a hereditary trait and related to their integration into mainstream society; neither group is completely isolated from the majority population responsible for the discrimination; and African-Americans and Dalits approximate similar percentages of their country's population. Based upon the 2000 census, African-Americans constitute 12.7% of the American populations, and, according to the 1991 Census Report of India, Dalits make up 16.5% …

Scholarly Discourse, Public Perceptions, And The Cementing Of Norms: The Case Of The Indian Supreme Court And A Plea For Research, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For economic and nuclear reasons, India has received considerable attention over the last decade from observers in the United States. But attuned Americans are well-aware of India's rich culture and status as a shining constitutional democracy for most of its post-1947 independent history. For all that India has accomplished, however, its public has long viewed its government officials with great disdain. At the same time, a fascinating norm exists in this society which holds one institution in exceedingly high regard - the Indian Supreme Court.

In this article, I seek to examine what accounts for this counter-intuitive norm. As opposed …

Outsourcing And The Globalizing Legal Profession, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The issue of outsourcing jobs abroad stirs great emotion among Americans. Economic free-traders fiercely defend outsourcing as a positive for the U.S. economy while critics contend that corporate desire for low wages solely drives this practice. In this study I focus on a specific type of outsourcing, one which has received scant scholarly attention to date - legal outsourcing. Indeed because the work is often paralegal in nature, many see the outsourcing of legal jobs overseas as no different from other types of outsourcing. But by using as my case studies both the United States and India, the latter which …

Analyzing The Friedman Thesis Through A Legal Lens: Book Review Essay Assessing Thomas L. Friedman's The World Is Flat, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In his best-selling book, The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman assesses how globalization has affected the political, economic, and social landscapes of both the developed and developing world. For Friedman, globalization is emboldening people in countries, like in India, to make societal and governmental demands that are similar to those made by Americans in the United States.

This Essay seeks to add a new layer to the debate over Friedman’s flattening-world thesis. Focusing on India, in particular, I shall argue that as the trajectory of India’s economic development appears on the rise, the sad reality is that …

Lawyering For A Cause And Experiences From Abroad, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For more than a decade, there has been a steady growth in what is now commonly referred to as the 'cause lawyering' literature. Partly as a response to those who were critical of the legal profession during the 1970s and 1980s, cause lawyering scholars have sought to rebut these critics' charges, as well as more comprehensively illustrate what, why, and how cause lawyers do what they do. While the critics of cause lawyers on the one hand, and cause lawyering scholars on the other, have made enormous contributions to the debate, only recently has the discourse shifted to examining an …

From The Ali To The Ili: The Efforts To Export An American Legal Institution, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this article, I argue that those who believe that Americans can successfully export their visions of law and legal research to other countries need to consider - in addition to Japan and Germany, two countries that are often touted as exemplars - the case of India. India gained its independence from the British in 1947, and soon thereafter many American experts traveled to India in an effort to foster a culture of Western legal intellectualism. As part of their mission to improve the status of law in India, the Americans, upon their arrival, strongly advocated for the construction of …

Bread For The Poor: Access To Justice And The Rights Of The Needy In India, Jayanth K. Krishnan, Marc Galanter

Articles by Maurer Faculty

India is rightly acclaimed for achieving a flourishing constitutional order, presided over by an inventive and activist judiciary, aided by a proficient bar, supported by the state and cherished by the public. At the same time, the courts, and tribunals where ordinary Indians might go for remedy and protection, are beset with massive problems of delay, cost, and ineffectiveness. Potential users avoid the courts; in spite of a longstanding reputation for litigiousness, existing evidence suggests that Indians avail themselves of the courts at a low rate, and the rate appears to be falling. Still, the courts remain gridlocked. There is …

Book Review. Journal Of The National Human Rights Commission, India, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

India's "Patriot Act": Pota And The Impact On Civil Liberties In The World's Largest Democracy, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Professor Kingsfield Goes To Delhi: American Academics, The Ford Foundation, And The Development Of Legal Education In India, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Social Policy Advocacy And The Role Of The Courts In India, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The "success" of India's democracy is a feat that must not be underemphasized; this article by no means will attempt to say otherwise. However, even within the most thriving of democratic societies problems exist. In addition to the challenges mentioned above, India confronts other issues. Corruption and bribery of politicians, police abuse, non-performance by and incompetence among bureaucrats, and an inadequate infrastructure are just a smattering of troubles that burden the Indian state. As serious, if not more so of a problem, but one that has received passing attention by most scholars, is the inefficiency of the country's judicial system. …

The Rights Of The New Untouchables: A Constitutional Analysis Of Hiv Jurisprudence In India, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

It is believed that India will soon have the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases of any country. Some reports project that 37 million people will be infected within the next two decades. Sadly, few studies have examined the legal claims of those who suffer with this disease in this, the world's largest democracy. In this article, I systematically examine how the courts in India have responded to rights-based claims brought by people who have HIV. The conventional wisdom is that the Indian judiciary frequently protects the rights of the poor, the under-represented, and the ill. But my findings reveal that, …

So Help Me God: A Comparative Study Of Religious Interest Group Litigation, Jayanth K. Krishnan, Kevin R. Den Dulk

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Personal Law And Human Rights In India And Israel, Jayanth K. Krishnan, Marc Galanter

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Law In India, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Gajendragadkar, P.B., The Constitution Of India, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. Law In India, Ralph F. Fuchs

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.