Legal Education Commons^™

How We Can Best Support Neurodivergent Patrons, Mari Cheney, Annalee Hickman Pierson, Geraldine Kalim, Julia M. Pluta

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When law librarians think about making out libraries a welcoming and inclusive environment for all library patrons, we need to include individuals of all abilities in this process. This article discusses how law librarians can best create a welcoming and inclusive environment in their libraries and services. It also focuses on how to best support neurodivergent patrons through universal design.

Generative Ai And Finding The Law, Paul D. Callister

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Abstract

Legal information science requires, among other things, principles and theories. The article states six principles or considerations that any discussion of generative AI large language models and their role in finding the law must include. The article concludes that law librarianship will increasingly become legal information science and require new paradigms. In addition to the six principles, the article applies ecological holistic media theory to understand the relationship of the legal community’s cognitive authority, institutions, techné (technology, medium and method), geopolitical factors, and the past and future to understand the changes in this information milieu. The article also explains …

Legal Education And Nextgen: Recommendations For Transitioning To A New Assessment Model, Wanda Temm

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No abstract provided.

Restoring Confidence In Educational Technologies, Ariel Newman

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No abstract provided.

Behind The Mask: Teaching Gen Z As One Of Its Own, Ariel Newman

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No abstract provided.

Frederick Douglass And The Hidden Power Of Recording Deeds, Randall K. Johnson

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This Essay answers a single question: What led Frederick Douglass to accept an appointment as the D.C. Recorder of Deeds, especially at the height of his public service career? A possible answer, which is informed by the historical record and more contemporary accounts, is that Douglass accepted such an appointment for three reasons. The first reason is that the D.C. Recorder has been long recognized as an exemplar of fairness, perhaps due to its ministerial obligations, even when there could be no such expectation with respect to how Black folks are treated. The second reason is this office provided Douglass …

An Ecological And Holistic Analysis Of The Epistemic Value Of Law Libraries, Paul D. Callister, Dana Neacsu

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We examine the libraries' roles within the "epistemic foundation of society.” Our analysis is in response to the omission of Yale Law Dean Gerken of the role of libraries in her recent article about legal education's new focus and to remarks by AALS President Vicki Jackson that suggest an uncertain role for libraries. We have adapted holistic ecological media theory, as developed by Ronald Deibert, to reject a technologically deterministic view of libraries as having no future. We have considered the role of law libraries in the social epistemology or cognitive authority of the legal community, the role of law …

Microaggressions, Questionable Science, And Free Speech, Edward Cantu, Lee Jussim

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The topic of microaggressions is hot currently. Diversity administrators regularly propagate lists of alleged microaggressions and express confidence that listed items reflect what some psychologists claim they do: racism that is, at the very least, unconscious in the mind of the speaker. Legal academics are increasingly leveraging microaggression research in theorizing law and proposing legal change. But how scientifically legitimate are claims by some psychologists about what acts constitute microaggressions? The authors—one a law professor, the other a psychologist—argue that the answer is “not much.” In this article, the authors dissect the studies, and critique the claims, of microaggression researchers. …

Submission Of Law Student Articles For Publication, Nancy Levit, Lawrence D. Maclachlan, Allen Rostron, Staci J. Pratt

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Each year law students collectively write a large number of papers that could become law review articles but that are never published. Most law schools require students at some point during their time in law school to research and write an academic paper of publishable quality or seminar paper. Some of these are law review notes and comments that are not selected for publication. Others of these are papers written for specific substantive classes or to fulfill research and writing requirements. Most of these student papers - even very worthy ones - will never be published or posted online. The …

Law, Artificial Intelligence, And Natural Language Processing: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To My Search Results, Paul D. Callister

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Renowned legal educator Roscoe Pound stated, “Law must be stable and yet it cannot stand still.” Yet, as Susan Nevelow Mart has demonstrated in a seminal article that the different online research services (Westlaw, Lexis Advance, Fastcase, Google Scholar, Ravel and Casetext) produce significantly different results when researching case law. Furthermore, a recent study of 325 federal courts of appeals decisions, revealed that only 16% of the cases cited in appellate briefs make it into the courts’ opinions. This does not exactly inspire confidence in legal research or its tools to maintain stability of the law. As Robert Berring foresaw, …

Attorney As Accompagnateur: Resilient Lawyering When Victory Is Uncertain Or Nearly Impossible, Margaret Reuter

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Social justice lawyers come to the profession intending to make a difference through the instruments of law. And gloriously, they often make a difference in people’s lives for the better. They make our world a more just, compassionate, and tolerant place. But there is no denying that, in poverty law practice, legal success can be elusive, ephemeral, or perhaps a mirage. How does that lawyer feel when the legal remedies at her disposal, even if “successful,” fail to mitigate the injustices suffered by her clients? Are there definitions of professional satisfaction and success that are enduring, even if legal success …

Scènes À Faire As Identity Trait Stereotyping, Jasmine C. Abdel-Khalik

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Judge Learned Hand's decision in Nichols v. Universal Pictures is unquestionably seminal in the development of copyright law. For the first time, a court articulated that stock characters, a form of scènes à faire, are so fundamental that all should have access. Therefore, a stock character, like one defined simply as a butcher with a cleaver and in a white coat, is not copyright protectable material.

However, the specific stock characters identified by Judge Hand raise some previously unexplored questions. The decision identifies two stock characters: "the low comedy Jew and Irishman." What exactly is “the low comedy Jew and …

Externship Assessment Project: An Empirical Study Of Supervisor Evaluations Of Extern Work Performance, Margaret Reuter

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Field supervisors’ evaluations of their student externs are packed with lively stories. They deliver a fly-on-the-wall perspective, giving us color about the work entrusted to our students, the behaviors our students exhibited, and the enjoyment the attorneys reaped. The authors decided the evaluations were so fertile that they should be systematically scrutinized to seek meaningful, reliable insights about the extern experience, especially regarding the variety, complexity, and responsibility levels of their work. We also saw a prime opportunity to assess an externship program and find ways to improve it. Thus, the Externship Assessment Project was born. We deployed qualitative data …

Assessing Law Students As Reflective Practitioners, Margaret Reuter

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We begin with two premises. One, legal educators, particularly clinical faculty who teach experiential courses, aim for their students to become reflective practitioners. Two, despite the highly personal nature of reflection, law faculty can assess law students’ ability to reflect meaningfully by reviewing and evaluating their reflective journals and essays. This is a story about the three authors of this essay: the genesis of our teaching techniques in reflective practice; how we discovered our similar approaches to assessing reflective practice; and how we have embarked on a project to discover whether a rubric we developed collectively can become the basis …

What Is Meant By Freedom?, Paul D. Callister

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Freedom is overlooked as a legal and social concept, with few attempts to define it. Lon Fuller articulated the critical question about freedom: “How can the freedom of human beings be affected or advanced by social arrangement, that is by laws, customs, institutions, or other forms of social order that can be changed or preserved by purposive human actions?” Freedom needs to be defined in the context of this question — as an ideal to be advanced by our social institutions, laws, and customs. The article first begins with a framework for freedom established by Lon Fuller in a neglected …

Taking Teaching And Learning Seriously: A Tribute To Professor Susan Martyn, Irma S. Russell

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Professor Susan Martyn is an inspiring and dedicated teacher. She inspires me by her teaching, her work with students in the classroom, as well as with lawyers in continuing legal education programs, and her writing for scholars and the public. The invitation to write in a law review edition honoring this amazing professor and scholar provided the opportunity to contemplate a topic that is central to my life and the lives of most who teach: What is good teaching, and how do we increase good teaching and good learning in legal education today? We are in a time of stunning …

Introduction To The Symposium On Entrepreneurial Lawyering, Anthony J. Luppino, Ellen Suni

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No abstract provided.

Out Of The Shadows: What Legal Research Instruction Reveals About Incorporating Skills Throughout The Curriculum, Barbara Glesner Fines

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No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned About Classroom Teaching From Authoring Computer-Assisted Instruction Lessons, Barbara Glesner Fines

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No abstract provided.

A Law Clinic Systems Theory And The Pedagogy Of Interaction: Creating Legal Learning System, Patrick C. Brayer

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This article introduces a clinical systems approach that reframes professional experience as an interaction with a professional environment. The article encourages clinical faculty and other legal educators to contemplate the pedagogy of systemic interaction when teaching from experience and to then expand professional interactive opportunities within the short period of student participation. Clinical systems theory operates on the premise that students should reframe how they look at their surroundings so that the challenges that make up their professional system are not seen as problems but as means to a solution. Reframing by the student is realized in a clinical system …

Family Law Education Reform: Progress And Innovation, Barbara Glesner Fines

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No abstract provided.

Lawyers Suing Law Firms: The Limits On Attorney Employment Discrimination Claims And The Prospects For Creating Happy Lawyers, Nancy Levit

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It is more than a mild irony that anti-discrimination law fails lawyers in particular. This article addresses doctrinal and pragmatic limits on employment discrimination lawsuits by lawyers against their law firms. It considers the failures of the Title VII template to remedy the sorts of discrimination and dissatisfactions lawyers face in the practice of law, and concludes that many of the things that make lawyers unhappy are simply not reachable through employment discrimination lawsuits. The latter portion of the article turns to the recently emerging science of happiness literature. It suggests that the interests of lawyers and their firms may …

Time To Blossom: An Inquiry Into Bloom’S Taxonomy As A Hierarchy And Means For Teaching Legal Research Skills, Paul D. Callister

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Within law librarianship and legal education, there has been far too little scholarly engagement on the underlying pedagogy at the heart of legal research instruction. To correct this deficiency, law librarianship needs to open a dialogue and should consider adapting Bloom’s Taxonomy as a common schema for a collaborative effort.

This paper was initially presented at the "Conference on Legal Information: Scholarship and Teaching," held at the University of Colorado Law School on June 21-22, 2009, as part of its Boulder Summer Conference Series. It follows the author's own recently published challenge to law librarianship and legal research instructors to …

Opposition To Clinics Tests Attorney-Client Privilege; Students Working On Pro Bono Cases Leave Schools Vulnerable To Confidentiality Challenges, Patrick C. Brayer

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This National Law Journal article draws attention to past attempts by government and private parties to pierce the protections of the attorney client relationship, specifically confidentiality, when it comes to the representation of clients by law school clinics. Several law school clinics and innocence projects have defended themselves against actions by prosecuting attorney offices and opposing parties who have attempted to obtain information that is traditionally protected by state and federal confidentiality rules. Law school clinics, public interest organizations, innocence projects, government agencies and Public Defender organizations can better protect themselves from future attempts by opposing parties to invade the …

The Theory And The Practice Reflective Writing Across The Curriculum, Nancy Levit

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No abstract provided.

Thinking Like A Research Expert: Schemata For Teaching Complex Problem-Solving Skills, Paul D. Callister

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The difference between expert and novice problem solvers is that experts have organized their thinking into schemata or mental constructs to both see and solve problems. This article demonstrates why schemata are important, arguing that they need to be made explicit in the classroom. It illustrates the use of schemata to understand and categorize complex research problems, map the terrain of legal research resources, match appropriate resources to types of problems, and work through the legal research process. The article concludes by calling upon librarians and research instructors to produce additional schemata and develop a common hierarchical taxonomy of skills, …

Pedagogic Techniques: Multi-Disciplinary Courses, Annotated Document Review, Collaborative Work & Large Groups, Anthony J. Luppino

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No abstract provided.

Can Do: Training Lawyers To Be Effective Counselors To Entrepreneurs, Anthony J. Luppino

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This Report is the result of a grant to the University of Missouri-Kansas City from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to research and describe current methods of training law students and lawyers destined to represent entrepreneurs, and to identify promising pedagogy in pursuit of the goal of educating effective counselors to entrepreneurial clients. Entrepreneurs clearly need help in dealing with a multitude of increasingly complex laws and regulations. They may also require counsel in obtaining financing and negotiating their transactions, within the bounds of the applicable rules, to achieve their goals. The research reflected in this Report indicates that there …

Fundamental Principles And Challenges Of Humanizing Legal Education, Barbara Glesner Fines

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No abstract provided.

Caring Too Little, Caring Too Much: Competence And The Family Law Attorney, Barbara Glesner Fines

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No abstract provided.