Legal Profession Commons^™

Cat, Cause, And Kant, Richard J. Peltz-Steele

Faculty Publications

These are precarious times in which to launch a new law school and a new law review. Yet here we are. The University of Massachusetts is now in its first year of operation with provisional ABA accreditation. This text is a foreword to the first general-interest issue of the University of Massachusetts Law Review. Now marks an appropriate time to take stock of what these institutions mean to accomplish in our unsettled legal world.

Is It Time For A Rule 11 For The Patent Bar?, Ralph D. Clifford

Faculty Publications

The failure to require the patent bar to be completely candid in its dealings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) is one of the reasons behind the patent quality problem in the United States. Although PTO regulations impose a duty of candor on both the patent applicant and his or he attorney, this duty of disclosure is limited to matters already known by the parties. The regulations impose no duty to become educated about the technology that underlies a claimed invention. Indeed, there are rational reasons why a patent applicant might seek an uneducated attorney and order him …

Connecting Law And Creativity: The Role Of Lawyers In Supporting Creative And Innovative Economic Development, Amanda M. Spratley

Faculty Publications

This article explores multiple ways in which lawyers and the legal community can connect with arts-oriented and other creative businesses to both invigorate the experience of the lawyers offering assistance and highlight ways for the legal community to position itself as relevant and helpful in the new creative economy.

This article's discussion is directed to lawyers who wish to know more about the creative economy and their position within it, but may also be informative to artists and professionals in creative enterprises by highlighting some of the legal considerations that may affect them and examining ways that seeking legal assistance …

Your View: Top Funding Needed For Legal Assistance Corporation, Justine A. Dunlap

Faculty Publications

Lawyers - we love to hate them until we need one. The good news that, in certain critical situations, lawyers are available. They are a constitutional entitlement for the criminally accused. They can be retained on a contingency fee basis in certain kinds of cases. Legal services may be available through a work-based pre-paid plan. And, if you have lots of money, legal services are, of course, readily procurable. That's the stuff of legal "dream teams".

Time For A Top-Tier Law School In Arkansas, Richard J. Peltz-Steele

Faculty Publications

A simple change in state law could improve the quality of legal education in Arkansas and the quality of legal services available to our consumers - and save significant amounts of taxpayers' money. With an Afterword on academic freedom. Also available from Advance Arkansas Institute website.

A Statistical Analysis Of The Patent Bar: Where Are The Software-Savvy Patent Attorneys?, Ralph D. Clifford, Thomas G. Field Jr., Jon R. Cavicchi

Faculty Publications

Among the many factors that impact the declining quality of U.S. patents is the increasing disconnect between the technological education patent bar members have and the fields in which patents are being written. Based on an empirical study, the authors show that too few patent attorneys and agents have relevant experience in the most often patented areas today, such as computer science. An examination of the qualification practices of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) suggests that an institutional bias exists within the PTO that prevents software-savvy individuals from registering with the Office. This paper concludes with suggestions of …

Intellectual Property Rights In An Attorney’S Work Product, Ralph D. Clifford

Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the main intellectual property consequences of practicing law and whether attorneys can prevent others from using their work-product. The article does not assume that the reader is an expert in intellectual property law; instead, it is designed to answer the types of questions practitioners have about their rights.

Bringing Light To The Halls Of Shadow, Richard J. Peltz-Steele

Faculty Publications

Appellate judges operate in the shadows. Though they don’t see it that way. “We are judged by what we write,” said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. True too, court proceedings and records are presumptively open to the public. The West Wing of the White House is certainly not so vulnerable to public scrutiny, and the backrooms of legislative chambers are famously smoke-filled. Yet the parts of court activity that we see and hear seem only to whet our appetite for the rest of the process. In this Preface, the author introduces the subject of the journalist and the court, …

Popular Culture As A Lens On Legal Professionalism, Hillary B. Farber, Alexander Scherr

Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the cultural images of lawyering provide opportunities for teaching professionalism that go well beyond the teaching of ethical rules using hypothetical facts. We contend that use of different media allows teachers to chart the broad middle ground between disciplinary minima and aspirational maxima - the map of realistic professional practice. This ground includes both rule- and conduct-based ideas of professionalism: careful role definition; responsible practice management; appropriate balance between public and private commitments; and concerns over manners, dress, and work ethic. The middle ground also includes less traditional content, discussion of which brings students to appreciate …

I Don't Want To Play God: A Response To Professor Tremblay, Justine A. Dunlap

Faculty Publications

In Acting "A Very Moral Type of God": Triage Among Poor Clients, an article in this Symposium issue, Professor Paul R. Tremblay argues for the need for triage in the selection of legal services cases and clients and suggests a formula for making those triage decisions. While many of Professor Tremblay's views are unassailable, there is a part of me that rejects absolutely his hierarchy of case selection. In this musing on Professor Tremblay's meditation, I attempt to sort out the basis for my strong reaction to some of his points. I join others who have rejected a system …