Digital Commons Network^™

Lawyering For Social Justice, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is an honor, albeit a sad one, to be invited to write this Essay in commemoration of Tom Stoddard and as commentary on his final publication.

I first met Tom in the late 1970s, when we both joined the Board of Directors of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Both of us were American Civil Liberties Union staff attorneys, Tom for the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and I for the Reproducfive Freedom Project in the national office. Later, for the last half of the 1980s, Tom was the Executive Director of Lambda during the same period …

Selected Bibliography: The Reintegration Of Hong Kong Into China, Journal Editor

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The reintegration of Hong Kong into the People's Republic of China (PRC) on July 7, 1997, will bring together two countries, one capitalist and one communist, under one rule. As evidenced by the variety of perspectives offered at the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law's Symposium on Hong Kong's Reintegration into the People's Republic of China (PRC), there is much scholarly debate concerning how this merger will occur and what effect it will have on the people and politics of both countries as well as on the international community as a whole. This bibliography includes books and articles written specifically about …

The Cultural Exception: Does It Exist In Gatt And Gats Frameworks? How Does It Affect Or Is It Affected By The Agreement On Trips?, Sandrine Cahn, Daniel Schimmel

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Negotiating Demands For Justice: Public Interest Law As A Problem Solving Dialogue, David Dominguez

In the Public Interest

No abstract provided.

Legal Ethics And Fugitive Slaves: The Anthony Burns Case, Judge Loring, And Abolitionist Attorneys, Paul Finkelman

Cardozo Law Review

Judges and lawyers seek to enforce and uphold the "law" while also proclaiming an interest in an abstraction we call "justice." As we know, there is often a tension between the two. Consequently, serving the law often means not serving justice. Similarly, often a tension exists between a lawyer's duty both to seek a legal remedy to a problem and to act in the best interests of a client. Activist lawyers can have an agenda that is at odds with members of the class they claim to serve. These two problems are complicated by a third. Lawyers and judges have …

Measuring Poverty: A New Approach, Benjamin Hoorn Barton

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Measuring Poverty: A New Approach by The National Research Council.

Recent Trends In The Organization Of Legal Services, Frederick H. Zemans

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Political Lawyering, One Person At A Time: The Challenge Of Legal Work Against Domestic Violence For The Impact Litigation/Client Service Debate, Peter Margulies

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The premise of this Article is that, in his assertion that client service work is political lawyering, Ralph Reed is right. Indeed, Gary Bellow made a similar point about the political content of both impact litigation and client service work in a classic article written almost twenty years ago. Of course, Reed and Bellow are hardly ideological soulmates. Reed disapproves of the political content of service work, while Bellow heartily endorses it. On that point, this Article sides with Bellow. It employs the example of domestic violence lawyering to demonstrate why Bellow and Reed are correct that client service work …

An Executive's Lesson In The Law From A Typical Business Encounter, Harold A. Segall

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article recommends that business executives consider potential legal problems when entering into business transactions. It argues that the American civil legal system is unsatisfactorily costly, slow and risky. The Article provides examples of the perils of litigation and explains that business executives can avoid these perils by anticipating potential legal problems. The Article argues that the successful business executive must find a way to balance an optimistic, entrepreneurial spirit with a lawyerlike way of considering potential future problems. Similarly, the proper role of a commercial lawyer is to provide judgment and practical advice, as well as legal expertise.

An Executive's Lesson In The Law From A Typical Business Encounter, Harold A. Segall

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article recommends that business executives consider potential legal problems when entering into business transactions. It argues that the American civil legal system is unsatisfactorily costly, slow and risky. The Article provides examples of the perils of litigation and explains that business executives can avoid these perils by anticipating potential legal problems. The Article argues that the successful business executive must find a way to balance an optimistic, entrepreneurial spirit with a lawyerlike way of considering potential future problems. Similarly, the proper role of a commercial lawyer is to provide judgment and practical advice, as well as legal expertise.

Giving Texas Lawyers Their Dues: The State Bar's Liability Under Hudson And Keller For Political And Ideological Activities., Ralph H. Brock

St. Mary's Law Journal

The State Bar must provide information for members to assess the propriety of mandatory dues and establish a procedure for members to challenge improper expenditures, however, the Texas State Bar provides no such procedure. Although most states have unified bars, opposition to compulsory bar membership is steady—due largely, to using membership dues to lobby state legislatures in favor of positions which some members may oppose. Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson and Keller v. State Bar of California are the culmination of labor union and unified bar cases which uphold compulsory membership but establish constitutional limits on the uses of mandatory …

Union Lawyer's Obligations To Bargaining Unit Members: A Case Study Of The Interdependence Of Legal Ethics And Substantive Law, The Symposium: The Lawyer's Duties And Liabilities To Third Parties, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

One of the largest groups of purported nonclients to whom lawyers might have obligations are members of bargaining units represented by unions. Despite the much publicized decline of labor unions, they have almost 16.4 million members. In addition, many workers are members of bargaining units represented by labor unions, but are not union members. The relationship of union lawyers to these millions of bargaining unit members, whether members of the union or not, is unclear. An examination of how this relationship influences and is influenced by labor law offers a fascinating case study of the synergy between the substantive law …

Limits On Marketing Of Attorney Services, Veronica Wooten Brace

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

What If? The Legal Consequences Of Marriage And The Legal Needs Of Lesbian And Gay Male Couples, David L. Chambers

Articles

Laws that treat married persons in a different manner than they treat single persons permeate nearly every field of social regulation in this country - taxation, torts, evidence, social welfare, inheritance, adoption, and on and on. In this article I inquire into the patterns these laws form and the central benefits and obligations that marriage entails, a task few scholars have undertaken in recent years. I have done so because same-sex couples, a large group not previously eligible to marry under the laws of any American jurisdiction, may be on the brink of securing the opportunity to do so in …

The Color Of Money, Paul F. Campos

Publications

No abstract provided.

Elder Law: Practice Developments And 1995 Legislative Outcomes, Oregon Law Institute, Wesley D. Fitzwater, Charles E. Davis, Laurie P. Sitton, Sharon Gary Smith, Sally Ringholm, Mark M. Williams, Lisa N, Bertalan, Penny L. Davis, Rees C. Johnson

Oregon Law Institute, 1995

Course Materials from the July 28, 1995 Program in Portland

An Authentic Life In The Law: A Tribute To James K. Logan, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Works

UMKC School of Law Professor Irma S. Russell reflects on the professional life and legacy of Judge James K. Logan, exploring his career as a model of integrity, intellect, and dedication to justice. Through the lens of her experiences as his former law clerk, Russell examines broader questions about what constitutes a meaningful and ethical life in the legal profession. Blending biography, personal reflection, and professional critique, Russell argues that authenticity in law arises from commitment to community, ethical responsibility, and the pursuit of the common good.

Proverbial Practice: Legal Ethics From Old Testament Wisdom, Gordon J. Beggs

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Old Testament book of Proverbs supplied foundational moral values for our nation's legal ethics. With the adoption and revision of formal codes, moral teaching has virtually disappeared from legal ethics. This essay suggests that the wisdom of Proverbs offers a timely challenge to the character of the legal profession by advocating values which include justice, purity, mercy, humility, honesty, candor, truthful testimony, and civility.

Taking It To The Streets: Putting Discourse Analysis To The Service Of A Public Defender's Office, Clark D. Cunningham, Bonnie S. Mcelhinny

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Taking Private Ordering Seriously, Avery W. Katz

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, the rules and practices of private groups have attracted substantial attention within the field of law and economics. In applications ranging from Robert Ellickson's seminal work on rancher/farmer relations in Shasta County, California, to Lisa Bernstein's investigation of extralegal contractual relations among wholesale diamond traders, to Robert Cooter's study of aboriginal customs in Papua New Guinea, to Robert Scott and Alan Schwartz's analysis of the rulemaking procedures of the American Law Institute, an increasing number of legal and economic scholars have shown how private systems of rules work to regulate economic relations among the communities that adopt …

The Texas Homestead: The Last Bulwark Of Liberty Forum., Henry B. Gonzalez

St. Mary's Law Journal

For more than 155 years Texans have adamantly supported the principle that the fundamental need for shelter justifies strict constitutional protection of homes from creditors in all but a few situations. This Article discusses where homestead protection came from and why it should not be lightly discarded. The Texas Constitution contains many rights and liberties for the protection and benefit of the state’s citizens. Unique among these treasured liberties is the protection of a person’s homestead from forced sale or foreclosure by creditors. A group of bankers and other financiers—for whom a homestead is nothing more than collateral and a …

Professionalism Paradigm Shift: Why Discarding Professional Ideology Will Improve The Conduct And Reputation Of The Bar, The, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

The Article explains how the Professionalism Paradigm distinguishes between self-interested businesspersons and altruistic professionals who place the public good above their own interests and those of their clients. The legal profession has used this Business-Profession dichotomy to obtain control of the delivery legal services, including a legislative monopoly on the practice of law. Today, the Professionalism Paradigm faces a crisis as leading lawyers, judges, and scholars complain that law has become a business and is no longer a profession. The Article “identifies this shift as a time for hope rather than as a cause for despair. Applying Thomas S. Kuhn's …

Working For Social Change And Preserving Client Autonomy: Is There A Role For ‘Facilitative’ Lawyering?, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Practicing Community (Book Review), Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Against Marriage, Steven K. Homer

Faculty Scholarship

What is marriage? In the debate surrounding same-sex marriage, the central term has gone undefined. Using the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in Baehr v. Lewin as a starting point, this Note argues that marriage lacks legal as well as experiential coherence. A series of legal and social moves intended, on the one hand, to preserve the dominance of heterosexuality over gays and lesbians and, on the other, to allow, heterosexuals to escape the dominance of heterosexuality over themselves, has left little conceptual space for marriage. That is, to speak of "extending marriage" to same-sex couples creates the illusion that marriage …

Delivery Of Legal Services To Ordinary Americans, Roger C. Cramton

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Word On Trial, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Milner Ball's extraordinary book, The Word and the Law, begins with a narrative account of "seven practices in law." The seven practitioners Ball brings to life for the reader share two powerful traits: they all, in quite different ways, use law to lessen the multiple sufferings of various communities of poor people, and they all, by doing so, strengthen the communities within which and for which they labor. The reader gains from these accounts not only a sympathetic understanding of the lives of seven lawyers, but a renewed sense of the possibilities their practices present. This can be put any …

The Dark Secret Of Progressive Lawyering: A Comment On Poverty Law Scholarship In The Post-Modern, Post-Reagan Era, William H. Simon

Faculty Scholarship

In 1971, Stephen Wexler argued in "Practicing Law for Poor People" that what poverty lawyers should be doing was, in a word, organizing. I Wexler flaunted a tough-minded disdain, not only for individual claim assertion, but also for the purely individual concerns of particular clients. Instead, he advocated efforts to assist the poor to collective power.

In his 1977 diagnosis of the state of poverty practice, Gary Bellow argued that what legal services lawyers should be doing was "focused case pressure." He proposed aggregating small housing or welfare claims in order to generate pressure on institutions engaged in systemic misconduct …

Impoverished Practices, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

No abstract provided.

Nurturing The Impulse For Justice, Lynne N. Henderson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.