Digital Commons Network^™

The Expanding Patent Document: Fewer Claims, More Words, And The Drivers Of Growth, Dennis D. Crouch

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Patent specifications have nearly quadrupled in length over the past four decades, rising from approximately 3,500 words in the early 1980s to over 13,000 words by 2025. At the same time, the average number of claims per patent has declined since peaking in 2005. Using the population of 7.6 million published patent applications from 2005 through early 2025, this Article advances a supply-side explanation for the persistent growth in specification length. The divergence between expanding specifications and contracting claims reflects a structural asymmetry in the USPTO fee schedule: excess claim fees impose a per-unit cost that visibly constrains claim counts …

Using The Inform Consumers Act To Combat China’S Online Counterfeiters, Daniel C.K. Chow

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Everyday millions of counterfeit goods are shipped from suppliers on Alibaba’s website based in China to retailers on Amazon, Walmart, and other e-commerce platforms and sold to U.S. consumers. The significance of this massive pipeline seems to have eluded brand owners and U.S. government authorities. Most brand owners have concentrated their efforts on suppressing counterfeits on U.S. e-commerce markets after the counterfeits have already appeared on their sites. These efforts have proven to be ineffective as once millions of counterfeits are commingled with genuine products on the internet their suppression becomes an impossible task. The key to successful interdiction of …

Table Of Contents, Jared Brown

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Prestige Economy Of Legal Scholarship, Jeffrey A. Katz, Jacob Sandler

Florida Law Review

Law reviews sit at the center of American legal scholarship, but their role is widely misunderstood. They are not peer-reviewed, yet the academy treats their placement decisions as markers of scholarly merit. This Essay argues that law reviews function as participants in a prestige economy—one in which reputation, familiarity, and institutional brand often matter more than substantive judgment. Tracing the student-edited model from its pedagogical origins to its modern professional consequences, this Essay shows how prestige became currency, how that currency shapes editorial and authorial behavior, and why the system strains under political and methodological pressure. It concludes by urging …

How A Theory Can Make A Difference, Marc O. Degirolami

Florida Law Review

I want to offer three brief reflections on Professor Girgis’s Lecture. First, he is convincing about the difference originalism no longer makes: it no longer constrains constitutional judges from introducing their moral or political views into constitutional cases wholesale in a way that distinguishes it categorically from moral-political reasoning in common law judging. Indeed, originalism is sometimes self-conscious about disclaiming any interest in doing just this. The originalism of original authority might also constrain judges by requiring adherence to whatever the legal propositions of the original authority are, but its object is not first-order methodological constraint—that is, constraint as to …

Editors And Staff Members

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editors

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using Data To Discern Whether Nepa Causes Delay, And What Can Be Done About It, John C. Ruple, David E. Adelman, Jamie Pleune

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This article proceeds in three principal parts. Part I provides an overview of NEPA that is focused on the requirements contained in the Act itself, the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, and developments involving agency NEPA regulations. Part II summarizes what we know about factors causing or contributing to delays in permitting in general and NEPA compliance in particular. The central question examined in Part II is the extent to which changes to NEPA respond to barriers to development and are therefore likely to be effective. Part III offers recommendations and is …

Testing Prior Appropriation As Drought And Climate Change Push States Toward Water Code Reform: Lessons From And For Oregon, Adell L. Amos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Part I outlines approaches to addressing the challenges that have arisen in water management under state water codes that have been considered—some adopted, and some still under consideration—in Oregon. This section examines some historical material on Oregon water law and describes the current moment as a way for setting the stage for the work that is currently underway. The dynamics described for Oregon are replicated in many western states. So, while the details are Oregon-related, the storyline is a familiar one in the West.2 Part II describes the efforts of a working group of water law attorneys that the Oregon …

Salt In The Public Wound: The Public Trust Doctrine And The Great Salt Lake, Shoshana Grossman

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This paper analyzes how the Utah PTD applies to the non- navigable tributaries that affect the GSL, and whether Utah must consider the PTD in water rights management. Section I explains the GSL case, outlining the issues, the Physicians’ claims, and Judge Scott’s order. Section II outlines the PTD in Utah. Section III first compares the GSL to other decisions applying the PTD to non-navigable water resources and water rights. Section III then assesses whether Utah’s PTD applies to non-navigable tributaries that affect navigable resources like the GSL, and what that may mean for water allocation in Utah. The paper …

"In Keeping With The Constitution’S Original Design": History And Tradition In Federal Indian Law, Meghanlata Gupta

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This Article examines the Supreme Court’s use of history and tradition in federal Indian law. In recent years, the Court has increasingly relied on Founding-era practices and historical traditions to determine constitutional meaning in areas such as firearm regulation, substantive due process, and religious liberty. At the same time, while the Founding-era record contains substantial evidence that Native nations were understood and treated as independent, sovereign political communities, this evidence has not yet been fully incorporated into the Supreme Court’s Indian law jurisprudence. Examining decisions from Oliphant to Castro-Huerta, this Article describes the Court’s approaches to historical analysis in Indian …

Trystan Edwards '26 And Andrew Ricks '26 Awarded The Mark Whitlock Scholarship, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law announced that Trystan Edwards ('26) and Andrew Ricks ('26) were selected as the 2026 recipients of the Mark Whitlock Scholarship. The annual award recognizes outstanding third-year J.D. students whose leadership, service, and commitment have strengthened student life and the Cardozo community while honoring the legacy of alumnus Mark Whitlock ('10).

The Class Of 2026'S Achievements Celebrated At Commencement Awards Ceremony, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law honored members of the Class of 2026 during its annual Commencement Awards Ceremony, recognizing outstanding academic achievement, leadership, public service, legal writing, advocacy, and contributions to the law school community. The ceremony celebrated recipients of numerous faculty- and donor-sponsored awards prior to commencement.

What’S In A Name? Much Ado About “War-Sustaining” Objects, W. Casey Biggerstaff

International Law Studies

Recent conflicts have renewed the long-running debate over the legality of attacking economic objects under the law of armed conflict. Within that discourse, observers frequently frame the controversy in relation to an abstract U.S. “war-sustaining” position. Critics often characterize the United States as advancing a distinctive and overly permissive interpretation of military objectives that allegedly departs from the targeting criteria set forth in Article 52(2) of Additional Protocol I. This article challenges that characterization. It concludes that the United States does not apply a separate “war-sustaining” lex specialis to economic objects. Rather, U.S. practice reflects a contextual application of Article …

Extra Omnes: Analyzing The United States’ And Ireland’S Methods Of Quelling The Criminal Clergy Sexual Abuse Scourge, Dana Aprigliano

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

In late 2008, an Irish businessman was successful in legally preventing sexual assault claims from being brought against him. In explaining why one “victim” should be discredited, the court cited a threat she made against the businessman to make allegations of a sexual nature against him if he did not pay her a sum of money. In particular, she told him that if he did not pay her, she would “have him . . . ’plastered all over the front of the Evening Herald like those p[e]dophile priests.’ ” Although the businessman was not a priest or, as it …

Will Power: Reconciling Halakha With Modern Estate Planning, Amanda Koptyev

Journal of Catholic Legal Studies

(Excerpt)

This Note will begin with an overview of Jewish laws of inheritance, using the biblical story of the daughters of Tzelafchad as a foundation and exploring Torah-based principles such as the double portion for the firstborn son and chukat mishpat. Part II examines Halakhic Wills, explaining their necessity and the mechanisms that make them compatible with Jewish law and secular systems. It also discusses the limitations of relying on the principle of dina d’malchuta dina, the principle that under certain circumstances, Jewish law requires that Jews be governed by the laws of the sovereign state, in cases …

Originalism, Methodolatry, And The Only Guarantee Of Wisdom, Chad Oldfather

Florida Law Review

More work on originalism would seem to be among the last things the world needs. Yet the author hope to add two things to the debate. The first is a suggestion that originalist practice and theorizing have fallen prey to the phenomenon of methodolatry. This refers to an excessive focus on refinement of method for its own sake and in a manner that loses sight of the goals the method is designed to serve and, more importantly, the tendencies and capacities of those who must implement it. The second is to point out that there is an ingredient of …

Originalism As Disruption, Susan D. Carle

Florida Law Review

This Article challenges the conventional understanding of originalism as a method that promotes unchanging constitutional meanings. Drawing on four and a half decades of experience since Attorney General Edwin Meese first championed originalism as a conservative project, this Article demonstrates that originalism has generally proven destabilizing rather than stabilizing to constitutional law. Landmark cases such as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and Shelby County v. Holder show that the Supreme Court frequently deploys originalism when it seeks to upend settled constitutional doctrine, …

Tradition And Discretion, Jonathan Green

Florida Law Review

Professor Sherif Girgis’s Dunwody Lecture argues that today’s originalists face a choice between two irreconcilable goals: constraining judges’ moral or policymaking discretion and adhering to the Constitution’s original meaning. In the academy, they’ve generally opted to sacrifice judicial constraint for the sake of fidelity to original law. But the Supreme Court’s originalists are far less comfortable with that move. Where the Constitution’s original meaning is underdetermined, or seems to invite discretionary judgment calls, they’ve looked for other non-originalist tools to tie their hands. According to Girgis, that explains why the Court is increasingly using “tradition,” rather than normative balancing tests, …

Equity's Bruen Moment: Trump V. Casa And Lessons For The Future Of History And Tradition, Jacob D. Charles

Florida Law Review

In Trump v. CASA, the Supreme Court expounded on and applied a methodological framework that mimics the test the Court has recently begun deploying in Second Amendment and other individual rights cases. That test has three primary components: (1) search for historical analogues; (2) apply historical principles; and (3) abjure contemporary concerns that can be labeled “policy” considerations. Bruen’s echoes in CASA are noticeable and telling. So too are the lessons that CASA can teach about how the Court’s approach to history and tradition is continuing to develop.

This Article analyzes CASA as a window into the Court’s …

What Makes An Opinion Originalist?, Christopher R. Green

Florida Law Review

Is originalism the law today? Because judicial opinions are an important part of how we know the law, it is important exactly what makes a judicial opinion originalist. Lower courts interpreting the opinions of a higher court lack the power to smooth out inconsistencies, fill in assumptions about what is really motivating the higher court, or dismiss stated rationales that conflict with what those lower courts take to be the facts. If, then, we assess opinions the way lower courts must assess them—i.e., on the basis of their texts—the only proper criterion to govern whether an opinion is originalist is …

Nyu Cardozo Robotaxi Symposium, Heyman Center On Corporate Governance, The Guarini Center On Environmental, Energy & Land Use Law

2026 Event Invitations

In the past year, interest in robotaxis in New York has surged. Last summer, Waymo started testing its vehicles on Manhattan streets. In January, Governor Hochul proposed automated vehicle pilot programs upstate. But in February, she withdrew her proposal under pressure. And in March, Waymo’s testing permit expired. The future of robotaxis in New York is an open question. This Symposium will explore the legal and policy issues that robotaxis raise. Our goal is to enrich the public conversation by bringing together experts from around the country to share their knowledge and experience. There will be two panels: one on …

Cardozo Celebrates 34th Inspire! Awards, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law celebrated the 34th INSPIRE! Awards, recognizing alumni, students, and community members for their outstanding commitment to public service. The event honored leaders in immigration advocacy, presented student leadership and service awards, and featured a live recording of the SPARKS podcast focused on careers in public interest law.

Bridging The Justice Gap: A Comparative Study Of Legal Aid Marketing In Canada, Australia, And The United States, Farah O. Haq

Student Theses and Dissertations

Access to justice remains a central challenge across legal systems, particularly for immigrants and refugees, Indigenous communities, and survivors of domestic violence. While legal aid organizations play a critical role in bridging this gap, their effectiveness increasingly depends on how clearly and compassionately they communicate legal information online to their target audience. This thesis conducts a comparative content analysis of nine nonprofit legal aid organizations in the United States, Canada, and Australia, three countries united by a common law tradition but divided by the communication barriers their communities face, examining 180 social media posts and nine websites through the lens …

State Of Nevada V. Rocky Stanley Salazar, 123 Nev. Adv. Op. 45 (May 28, 2026), Bowen Fuller

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

When second-degree murder by a controlled substance starts on tribal land but consummates on nontribal land, the state has jurisdiction to prosecute the crime.

Nevada Health And Bioscience Asset Corporation V. State Of Nevada Ex Rel. Department Of Taxation And Nevada Tax Commission, 142 Nev. Adv. Op. (May 28, 2026), Collin Faught

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The court held that contracting with a government entity does not prevent an otherwise qualifying charitable organization from receiving a sales and use tax exemption.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Inc. V. State Ex Rel. Office Of The Nevada Attorney General (Civil), 142 Nev. Adv. Op. 40 (May 28, 2026), Charnel Gibson

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Nevada’s parental notification abortion statute is likely unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide physicians with adequate notice of the conduct required and permits arbitrary enforcement.

Maryland Reproductive Freedom And The Full Personhood Of Pregnant People, Margaret E. Johnson

All Faculty Scholarship

Pregnant and birthing people are inappropriately criminalized. Such criminalization is for behavior during their pregnancy that would not otherwise be criminalized, including when there was no harm to the later born baby, and for birth outcomes like miscarriages and still births. Law supports criminalization in part because of the historic legal significance given to fetal “viability” as a demarcation between full personhood rights for pregnant people and the encroachment of fetal “personhood” on those rights. Focusing on Maryland’s new constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom, this essay examines how the new amendment offers promise in restoring the full personhood rights for …

Originalisms' Indifferences?: Friendly Amendments To Professor Girgis's "Originalism's Difference?", Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Florida Law Review

In this Essay, the author begins by summarizing their many areas of agreement with Girgis’s Dunwody Lecture, Originalism’s Difference?. Then they turn to each of Girgis’s three differences to ask a question and perhaps pose a critique. Has Girgis placed too much emphasis on “constraint”? Is “intensity” a virtue without sufficient care, balance, and open-mindedness, and perhaps a vice if it is a tendentiously intense control-f search? Is avoiding “palpable” moral reasoning a virtue if the Court is using historical evidence to cover for ideological motives and cognitive biases? This Essay turns to some of Girgis’s own examples of …