Law Commons^™

Pollen Drift And The Bystanding Farmer: Harmonizing Patent Law And Common Law On The Technological Frontier, Paul J. Heald, James C. Smith

Popular Media

Patent law provides an impressive laundry list of defenses available to farmers who are the victims of unwanted pollen drift. The common law works hand-in-hand with patent law to ensure that a farmer’s choices are respected. Strong arguments can be made that positive economic relief should be afforded to farmers who can show the value of their crop has been diminished due to pollen drift. GMO pollen drift is a new, high-tech problem, but well-established principles of federal and state law appear prepared to offer viable low-tech solutions.

Gatekeeping After Gilbert: How Lawyers Should Address The Court's New Emphasis, Brian Benner, Ronald L. Carlson

Popular Media

In the world of modern trials, expert witnesses are the coin of the realm. Lawyers know that most of the time, experts are case-breakers. Their demeanor, knowledge, and presentation ability are key qualities. Accordingly, their persuasive effect on modern lay jurors makes it incumbent on judges to ensure that an expert's opinions are appropriately directed. That means not allowing an economist to testify about the medical dynamics of bone disease, for example.

Kelo V. City Of New London: Supreme Court Refuses To Hamstring Local Governments, James C. Smith

Popular Media

The Court's decision last term in Kelo v. City of New London, 125 S.Ct. 2655 (2005), has drawn heavy fire, most of it unmerited. By the narrowest of margins, the Court held that the city could take single-family homes to develop an office park and to provide parking or retail services for visitors to an existing state park and marina. Many observers thought the Court would take this opportunity to display its "conservative" activism by reining in the power of eminent domain. After all, the Court has grown increasingly protective of property rights during the past two decades. See …

Georgia's New Battleground: Five Georgia Law Professors Examine The State's New Tort Legislation, Lonnie T. Brown, Jr., Ronald L. Carlson, Thomas A. Eaton, C. Ronald Ellington, Michael L. Wells

Popular Media

In February, after several years of debate, the Georgia General Assembly enacted a comprehensive set of tort reform provisions. This fairly complex body of legislation contains 16 separate sections dealing with procedure, evidence and substantive tort issues. Shortly after it was signed into law, five Georgia Law professors sat down with alumni and students to describe parts of the new legislation, to identify some issues that are likely to arise as the new laws go into effect and to speculate about what they think the likely impact will be on litigation.

Are They Swaying Judges? Oh, Please. Free's Environmental Seminars Offer Intellectual Value, Not Indoctrination, J.B. Ruhl, Peter A. Appel

Popular Media

While it is beyond our expertise to opine on what is or is not within the bounds of judicial ethics, we can attest to what transpires at FREE [Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment] seminars. The Community Rights Counsel's description of them is, simply said, devoid of any connection to reality. The fuss the CRC has raise is, we suspect, more about its disagreement with FREE's philosophy than any genuine concern that federal judges are being brainwashed into making anti-environmental decisions.

Protecting The Environment During Wartime, Daniel M. Bodansky

Popular Media

Woodruff Chair Daniel M. Bodansky explores the impact of war on the environment and what can be done to protect precious resources during times of conflict. This article is drawn from a study completed in 2003 for the German Environment Agency, “Legal Regulation of the Effects of Military Activity on the Environment” (Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2003).

Bigotry Always Has Its Reasons, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

The gay marriage issue (or same-sex marriage issue) is, like other gay rights issues, a civil rights issue. A civil rights issue exists when the state unfairly or unjustifiably denies an individual or group a right which it grants to other individuals or groups. The gay marriage issue is whether the state may use its authority to bar same-sex couples from doing what different-sex couples may do–get married. Once the issue is correctly framed, there can be no doubt how it should be resolved. Persons of the same sex (whether heterosexual or homosexual) should have the same right to marry …

Discovery Abuse In The State Of Georgia – Just How Bad Is It?, C. Ronald Ellington

Popular Media

How frequently do Georgia lawyers encounter discovery abuse in civil litigation? What are the most prevalent kinds of discovery abuse? Do attorneys who usually represent plaintiffs perceive discovery abuse occurring more often or at about the same rate as attorneys from the defense bar? Is discovery abuse worse in metro-Atlanta than small town Georgia?

Lawrence V. Texas: An Historic Human Rights Victory, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

The Lawrence decision is one of the most momentous pro-individual rights decisions ever adjudicated by the Court, and joins the exalted ranks of the Court's other benchmark decisions advancing human rights, including Brown v. Board of Education (the 1964 school desegregation decision), Roe v. Wade (the 1973 abortion rights decision), and West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (the 1943 decision upholding the right of Jehovah's Witnesses schoolchildren to refuse to salute the flag).

Opening Statement -- Making It Stick, Ronald L. Carlson, Michael S. Carlson

Popular Media

Every lawyer who sits down to plan her opening remarks for a coming trial has the same question: How far can I go in arguing my case during the opening statement? Can I mention the law? What about drawing a diagram of the accident on a blackboard? Will my opponent be able to stop me from displaying a couple of my dramatic exhibits to the jury?

Making one's theory of the case "stick" from the very start of the trial depends mightly on how far the lawyer can go in opening statement. Where the defense is primarily a legal or …

Explosive Dynamic Entry: The Increasing Militarization Of The Police Makes Citizens Into Enemies, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

At 6 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2003, 57-year old Alberta Spruill was in her residence, Apartment 6F at 310 W. 143rd Street in the Harlem Section of New York City, preparing to leave for work. Spruill, a quiet, church-going woman, was a municipal worker, employed at the Division of Citywide Administrative Services. She had been a city employee for 29 years, and each weekday would take the bus to her job. To her, that Friday morning must have seemed like the beginning of just another ordinary day. She mercifully did not know that she would never again head for …

A Little Bit Of Shooty Face, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed government sources, recently revealed that American intelligence agents and law enforcement officials stationed in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay have been authorized to use “a little bit of smacky face” to make prisoners talk during interrogation. “If you don’t violate someone’s human rights some of the time, you probably aren’t doing your duty,” one anonymous U. S. official was quoted as saying. Americans were assured, however, that the face-slapping of prisoners to induce them to talk was nothing to worry about. There would be no revival of the third degree for persons arrested on …

Daubert & Danger: The "Fit" Of Expert Predictions In Civil Commitments, Alexander W. Scherr

Popular Media

Never make predictions, especially about the future. But in civil commitments, courts predict future behavior all the time. Judicial action here has severe results for the individual: deprivation of liberty, potentially unwanted and intrusive treatment, and the stigma of mental illness. Judicial inaction can also do harm: erroneous release can lead to injury of the person or others. Resolving these risks requires courts to find the person poses a danger to him/herself or others because of a mental illness.

Embarrassing Justice, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

The text of the speech given by UGA Professor of Law Donald E. Wilkes, in the Tate Student Center Plaza at the University of Georgia, May 17, 2003 to protest U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's speech at the law school graduation.

Open Letter Concerning The Invitation To Justice Clarence Thomas To Speak At The Uga School Of Law Graduation Ceremony, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

Dear Colleagues, Law Students, and Other Members of the Law School Community:

On Monday, November 25, 2002, the law faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law received a memorandum from Dean David Shipley which begins as follows: "I am pleased to announce that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted the invitation extended by me, Class of 2003 President Josh Belinfante, Class of 2003 Vice President Megan Jones, and Class of 2004 Vice President Rebecca Franklin to be our graduation speaker on May 17, 2003."

The decision to invite Justice Thomas is appalling, unwise and perverse -- the embodiment of …

The U.S. Supreme Court Hears The Mickey Mouse Case, L. Ray Patterson

Popular Media

The case of Eldred v. Ashcroft, argued before the U. S. Supreme Court on October 9, 2002, is the most important copyright case since 1834, when the court decided its first, Wheaton v. Peters. In Wheaton, the court ruled that under the Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution only Congress can grant copyright for published works. In Eldred, the court will decide the scope of Congress’ copyright power. May Congress grant, in the words of the Copyright Clause, copyright only for a "limited time" or may Congress extend the time already granted for existing copyrights? This is what Congress did …

Employee Interests In Bankrupcy: Lessons From Enron, Lorie Johnson

Popular Media

Enron employees lost over $1 billion in retirement savings when the company failed and filed for bankruptcy protection. Many of these employees also lost their jobs. Enron employees were both visible and vocal about their losses, quickly obtaining the support of both the AFL-CIO and Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/Push Coalition in their fight to get some redress for their losses. Since Enron was current on its payroll at the time of the bankruptcy filing, employees’ losses consisted of severance payments totaling $145 million and the losses associated with investments in Enron stock through their 401(k) accounts.

Sneak And Peak Search Warrants, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

Popular Media

In his recent article "Taking Liberty with Freedom," author Richard P. Moore reminds us that the USA Patriot Act, signed by President Bush last Oct. 26 in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "gives the government the kind of sweeping powers of arrest, detention, surveillance, investigation, deportation, and search and seizure that ... assault ... our most basic freedoms."

I want to examine here a single section of the USA Patriot Act--section 213, definitely one of the most sinister provisions of this monstrous statute.

Learning To Be A Lawyer: Transition Into Practice Pilot Project, Sally Evans Winkler, C. Ronald Ellington, John T. Marshall

Popular Media

"A law student, upon graduation, is not a finished product," a respected law school dean observed. A practicing lawyer might add: "A lawyer, upon passage of the Bar examination, is not a finished product." To determine ways new lawyers can be helped in moving up the steep learning curve that separates law students from competent professionals, the State Bar of Georgia, through its Committee on the Standards of the Profession, is conducting a Transition into Practice Pilot Project.

Outrageous Opponents: How To Stop Them In Closing Argument, Ronald L. Carlson, Michael S. Carlson

Popular Media

Most attorneys try to sum up their cases in a fashion that comports with accepted law and local practice. All too frequently, however, one has the misfortune of running into Rambo, the over-the-top opponent. Before his peroration is concluded, Rambo has trampled on the law of trial practice by making half a dozen improper arguments. He urges evidence that never came up at trial. He injects hearsay into the proceedings. He adds his own opinions about which witnesses were lying and the legal fault of your client. And, this is just the beginning. Adding insult to injury, the unjust tactics …

Roman Law And The Armenian Draft Civil Code, Alan Watson

Popular Media

Professor Watson served along with other eminent scholars as a consultant to the drafters of the Armenian Code. This article is condensed from his book: Ancient Law and Modern Understanding: At the Edges.

Should Michigan Rule Of Evidence 703 Be Revised?, Brian Benner, Ronald L. Carlson

Popular Media

Technical witnesses regularly assist the fact-finding process in Michigan trials. Jury or bench trials in federal and state courts routinely feature the appearance of experts. Properly policed by our courts, few forms of testimony hold more promise for advancing the truth-seeking function of American litigation. The expanding presence of experts raises hard questions. Are the Michigan rules in turn with modern needs? Should the state rule controlling the basis for expert opinion be aligned with the federal pattern? If Michigan Rule of Evidence 703 could stand revision, does proper alteration require significant additions not presently contained in either state or …

Georgia's Historic Law Schools -- Part Ii: University Of Georgia - History Of The University Of Georgia School Of Law, C. Ronald Ellington

Popular Media

In June 1859, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, William Hope Hull, and Thomas R.R. Cobb, under the authority of the University of Georgia's Board of Trustees, issued a printed announcement of the opening session of a law school on October 1 of that year. Law courses had been offered up to that time as one part of the curriculum of the Franklin College, but the reorganization plan unveiled called for the establishment of a law school with a faculty of three. The law professors would be unsalaried and were to be compensated from tuition collected. The School of Law was formally created …

Current Problems With Venue In Georgia, C. Ronald Ellington

Popular Media

Georgia's first constitution, the Constitution of 1777, contained a section providing that "all matters in dispute between contending parties, residing in different counties, shall be tried in the county where the defendant resides, except in cases of real estate, which shall be tried in the county where such real estate lies." The practice of specifying rules of venue in the constitution thus dates from the very beginning of our state and has been repeated and expanded in subsequent constitutional revisions. The Constitution of 1798, for example, added the rule that joint obligors, residing in different counties, may be sued in …