Legal Profession Commons^™

Calls To Eliminate Bar Exams Are Premature, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

Calls for eliminating bar exams to improve fairness and diversity in the legal profession are increasing, but A. Benjamin Spencer, dean of William & Mary Law School, argues that eliminating them is not the answer. They should be transformed into a more effective gauge of professional readiness, which, he contends, can be achieved if more states adopt the Uniform Bar Exam.

Law Schools, Law Firms Must Share Responsibility For Diversity, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

Law schools and law firms must partner to ensure that a pipeline of underrepresented students apply to law school and receive the professional development support they need to remain and advance at firms, William & Mary Law School Dean A. Benjamin Spencer says. Those who make, interpret, and apply the law must reflect the full range of human experiences, thought, and insight into the human condition, he says.

The Clerkship-Academia Continuum, Merritt E. Mcalister, Katherine Mims Crocker

Popular Media

In the spring 2021 edition of Judicature (Vol. 105 No. 1), Florida International University Law Professor Howard Wasserman published data analyzing the number of current law professors who have served in clerkships and for which judges those professors clerked. His study offered a compelling picture of “academic feeder judges,” or those on the bench whose clerks tended to matriculate professionally in large numbers within the halls of the academy.

We asked two law professors, Merritt McAlister at the University of Florida, and Katherine Mims Crocker of William & Mary Law School, to reflect on Wasserman’s findings and to offer a …

The Limits Of Prosecutorial Power, Jeffrey Bellin

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Neuroscience Changes More Than You Can Think, Paul S. Davies, Peter A. Alces

Faculty Publications

In this Essay, we consider the contribution of a startling new book, Law & Neuroscience (L&N), by Owen Jones, Jeffrey Schall, and Francis Shen. It is a law school course book (a genre not often the focus of a scholarly review essay) that supports fundamental inquiry into the relationship between emerging neuroscientific insights and doctrinal conceptions in the law. We believe that the book shifts the paradigm and so may profoundly affect the course of normative evaluation of law. In this Essay, we trace and evaluate the “argument” of the book and suggest ways in which its contribution to the …

An All-Volunteer Force: Law Students And Pro Bono Lawyers Helping Veterans, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Attorney Competence In An Age Of Plea Bargaining And Econometrics, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

This Essay explores the concept of attorney competence in a criminal justice system dominated by plea bargaining. It focuses, in particular, on the results of a widely-reported empirical study of Philadelphia murder cases that found “vast” differences in legal outcomes based on the type of defense attorney assigned to the case. The first part of the Essay explores the implications of these empirical findings, which appear to stem from a counter-intuitive form of professional competence, persistence in convincing one’s client to plead guilty. The findings are particularly intriguing in light of the Supreme Court’s recent expansion of ineffective assistance of …

From "War On Poverty" To Pro Bono: Access To Justice Remains Elusive For Too Many, Including Our Veterans, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty. The Legal Services Program of 1965, along with the Legal Services Corporation formed in 1974, considerably increased civil legal aid to America’s poor. Yet today, there is only one legal aid attorney for every 6,415 people living in poverty. Veterans, comprising 4.6%of those living in poverty, often suffer additional obstacles and extensive legal needs, including assistance in obtaining benefits to which they are entitled. While encouraging additional pro bono service among attorneys incrementally increases the availability of legal services to the poor, law school clinics across the country …

Some Thoughts On Technology And The Practice Of Law, Fredric I. Lederer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Section On The Education Of Lawyers Remains Committed To Improving Legal Training, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

The Law School Critique In Historical Perspective, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Contemporary critiques of legal education abound. This arises from what can be described as a perfect storm: the confluence of softness in the legal employment market, the skyrocketing costs of law school, and the unwillingness of clients and law firms to continue subsidizing the further training of lawyers who failed to learn how to practice in law school. As legal jobs become increasingly scarce and salaries stagnate, the value proposition of law school is rightly being questioned from all directions. Although numerous valid criticisms have been put forth, some seem to be untethered from a full appreciation for how the …

Imputed Liability For Supervising Prosecutors: Applying The Military Doctrine Of Command Responsibility To Reduce Prosecutorial Misconduct, Geoffrey S. Corn, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Substance Abuse And Mental Health Among Lawyers, Susan Grover, Mark R. Voss

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

The Lawyer As Catalyst Of Social Change, James E. Moliterno

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Attorney-Client Privilege In The Public Sector: A Survey Of Government Attorneys, Nancy Leong

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Focus Factor, B. Glenn George

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Politically Motivated Bar Discipline, James E. Moliterno

Faculty Publications

Bar discipline and admission denial have a century~long history of misuse in times of national crisis and upheaval. The terror war is such a time, and the threat of bar discipline has once again become an overreaction to justifiable fear and turmoil. Political misuse of bar machinery is characterized by its setting in the midst of turmoil, by its target, and by its lack of merit. The current instance of politically motivated bar discipline bears the marks of its historical antecedents.

Assessment Of Clinical Skills In Medicine And Law, Jayne W. Barnard

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Incremental Bar Admission: Lessons From The Medical Profession, Jayne W. Barnard, Mark Greenspan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Section 2: Supreme Court Advocacy, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Renewable Bar Admission: A Template For Making "Professionalism" Real, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

The citizens of this country should expect no less than the highest degree of professionalism when they have entrusted administration of the rule of law-one of the fundamental tenets upon which our society is based-to the legal profession. Re-examination was not originally required of medical specialists, but [the American Board of Medical Specialties] quickly recognized that a lifetime certification, even with required continuing education provided little incentive for doctors to keep up with new medical knowledge and techniques. Similarly, continuing [legal] education requirements alone are not sufficient to assure the integration of new law and procedure into a lawyer's practice. …

The Legal Profession And Its Future: Recapturing The Ideal Of The Statesman-Lawyer, Timothy J. Sullivan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of In The Opinion Of The Court, Laura A. Heymann

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of The Insider's Guide To Law Firms, James S. Heller

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Electronic Conferences: The Report Of An Experiment, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Attitudinal Barriers To Hiring Attorneys With Disabilities, Michael Ashley Stein

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of National Directory Of Legal Services, James S. Heller

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Lawyer Professionalism, Timothy J. Sullivan

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Residency Requirements For Attorneys: Home Is Where The License Is?, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Judge's Role In The Enforcement Of Ethics - Fear And Learning In The Profession, John M. Levy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.