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Clinic Times, University Of Michigan Law School

Newsletters

Fall 2010 issue of the University of Michigan Law School Clincs' newsletter

Class Notes, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Two former classmates prepare for a Supreme Court battle; alumnus and visiting professor Noah Hall, '98, does his part ot defend the Great Lakes from asian carp; Michigan Law grads form a dynamic duo on Capitol Hill; new deputy mayor for NYC is no stranger ro economic challenges; Genser honored with humanitarian award; Sereno, LL.M. '93, named to Supreme Court of Philippines; John B. Schwemm's major gift makes an impact; Ron Garber trades in his briefcase for a coach's whistle.

Faculty News, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

New faculty provide expertise in administrative, international, environmental, and antitrust law; Waggoner completes 20 years of drafting ALI restatement for wills, trusts

Going The Distance, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Seeking justice of Cambodians whose loved ones died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Searching for remedies for Mississippians whose rents doubled. Reviewing refugee claims in New Zealand. Examing police brutality cases at the Department of Justice. This past summer, Michigan Law students worked in venues ranging from Kentucky to Cambodia, and from New York to New Zealand. Curious about their day-to-day experiences, we invited four of them to blog about their summer positions.

The Rise In Elder Bankruptcy Filings And Failure Of U.S. Bankruptcy Law, John A. E. Pottow

Law & Economics Working Papers

Recent empirical legal scholarship on the consumer bankruptcy system has uncovered a marked rise in the proportion of elder Americans filing for relief under the Bankruptcy Code. But these studies have not probed the reasons behind that rise, an omission this Article seeks to address. Professor John Pottow and colleagues recently assembled the new dataset of the Consumer Bankruptcy Project (CBP), the largest national sample of consumer debtors in this country, which he uses to explore the sources of elder bankruptcy. The findings are both striking and ominous. While multiple factors, such as health problems and medical debts, contribute to …

Charity And Information: Correcting The Failure Of A Disjunctive Social Norm, Brian Broughman, Robert Cooter

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Charitable donations fund social goods that the state and markets undersupply. Despite widespread belief in the importance of private charity, most Americans donate little or nothing. Experiments in behavioral economics show that anonymity, not human nature, causes low contributions. Anonymity poses a particular challenge for charity because of the special character of the obligation. Charity is a disjunctive social norm, meaning the obligation is owed to "A or B or C or ...". Disclosure of each individual's aggregate conduct is necessary for the effectiveness of any disjunctive social norm. To revitalize charity we propose a public registry where each taxpayer …

Faculty News, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

New faculty and faculty updates.

Class Notes, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Change of plans; alumni argue for Serbia in Kosovo independence case; a few words about the dictionary man; return to engagement; around the world in 36 days; serving a purpose

Capitation Taxes; Congress, U.S.; Davis, James John; Einstein, Albert; Guggenheim, Meyer; Immigration Act Of 1882; Immigration Act Of 1917; Immigration Lawyers; New York City, Howard Bromberg

Book Chapters

Contributions by Howard J. Bromberg to Encyclopedia of American Immigration.

Representing Children And Youth, Donald N. Duquette, Ann M. Haralambie

Book Chapters

The role of the child's attorney is unique in American jurisprudence and not yet clearly defined by law or tradition. There is a growing consensus, however, that children in dependency cases should have lawyers who are as active and as involved in their cases as are lawyers for any other party in any other litigation. Yet there continues to be confusion and debate over the role and duties of the lawyer, particularly as to what voice the child should have in determining the direction and goals of the litigation. Policy makers have differed as to whether the child's lawyer should …

The Challenges Of Calculating The Benefits Of Providing Access To Legal Services, J. J. Prescott

Articles

In this invited essay, I explore how policymakers and other public-interested actors have empirically calculated the benefits of providing low-income access to civil legal services in the past, and how they might improve upon existing methods going forward. My argument proceeds in five parts. First, I briefly explain the optimal approach to allocating public funds from a welfare economics perspective. Second, I introduce the challenges of valuing “benefits” in the context of the public provision of legal services. Third, I summarize and critique existing attempts to quantify the benefits of and need for legal services funding. Specifically, I review, criticize, …

Doing Good While Doing Deals: Early Lesson In Launching An International Transactions Clinic, Deborah Burand

Articles

That is not to say that the launch of this clinic was easy. Four of the most challenging issues the ITC faced in its first year of operation were: 1) developing a client pool, 2) defining client projects so as to be appropriate to student clinicians’ skill levels and capacity, 3) making use of efficient and inexpensive technology to foster international communication with clients and transaction management, and 4) tapping supervisory attorney talent capable of supporting student clinicians in their international transactional work. The first two issues were the biggest challenges that we faced in launching the ITC and so …

If I Had A Hammer: Can Shepardizing, Synthesis, And Other Tools Of Legal Writing Help Build Hope For Law Students?, Edward R. Becker

Articles

Are lawyers mechanics? In 1920, photographer Lewis Hines took a striking photo of a powerhouse mechanic sure-handedly wielding a large wrench to tighten bolts on a steam pump. This picture may bring to mind many things, but I suspect that many legal writing professors in our (past or present) incarnations as practicing attorneys would not look at this image and think, "My job is a lot like that." Similarly, I assume that many of our students do not think of a lawyer's role in this way. Indeed, many of our students might have chosen to pursue a career in law …

Alimony Treatment For A Single Payment, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

Before 1942 alimony paid to a former spouse was not included in the spouse’s gross income. In 1942 Congress adopted the antecedent to section 71. Although an alimony recipient must recognize gross income, section 215 provides the payer with a nonitemized deduction for the payment. Therefore, the alimony tax provisions provide a congressionally approved income-splitting arrangement which can benefit the parties by shifting income from a high-bracket taxpayer to one in a lower tax bracket. The parties can divide the resulting savings between them by altering the amount paid to the former spouse.

Penalizing Poverty: Making Criminal Defendants Pay For Their Court-Appointed Counsel Through Recoupment And Contribution, Helen A. Anderson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Over thirty years ago the United States Supreme Court upheld an Oregon statute that allowed sentencing courts, with a number of important procedural safeguards, to impose on indigent criminal defendants the obligation to repay the cost of their court appointed attorneys. The practice of ordering recoupment or contribution (application fees or co-pays) of public defender attorney's fees is widespread, although collection rates are unsurprisingly low. Developments since the Court's decision in Fuller v. Oregon show that not only is recoupment not cost-effective, but it too easily becomes an aspect of punishment, rather than legitimate cost recovery. In a number of …

Faculty Views: Starting Out: Changing Patterns Of First Jobs For Michigan Law School Graduates, Terry K. Adams, David L. Chambers

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

For 40 consecutive years, from 1967 through 2006, the Law School surveyed its graduates 15 years after graduation about their law school experiences and their careers. For more than 30 years (from 1973 through 2006), the survey included the graduates five years out, and for 10 years (from 1997 through 2006), the graduates 25, 35, and 45 years out. The following details some of results found.

Special Feature: Jobs In Firm, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

In-firm: A tumultuous year could lead to major changes in the way law firms operate; Survival tips for firms; Survival tips for individual; The job search, with help from Michigan Law; Making the most of a deferral; Going public: Lawyers seek steady ground as firms struggle; Blue helping blue: Alumni assist younger generation by conducting mock interviews; New faculty member's focus: Employability of grads.

Briefs, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Innocence Clinic secures first exonerations; Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, Human Trafficking Clinic open; Amicus newsletter; Four alumni clerk fo the High Court; Professorship named for Branch Rickey and Rickey honored at new Mets stadium.

Michigan Law Sesquicentennial Celebration, University Of Michigan Law School

Event Materials

Schedule of events for the Michigan Law Sesquicentennial Celebration.

The Tort Of Betrayal Of Trust, Caroline Forell, Anna Sortun

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Fiduciary betrayal is a serious harm. When the fiduciary is a doctor or a lawyer, and the entrustor is a patient or client, this harm frequently goes unremedied. Betrayals arise out of disloyalty and conflicts of interest where the lawyer or doctor puts his or her interest above that of his or her client or patient. They cause dignitary harm that is different from the harm flowing from negligent malpractice. Nevertheless, courts, concerned with overdeterrence, have for the most part refused to allow a separate claim for betrayal. In this Article, we suggest that betrayal deserves a remedy and propose …

Legal Services; Supreme Court And Banking Law; Supreme Court And Land Law; Zoning, Commercial., Howard Bromberg

Book Chapters

Contributions by Howard J. Bromberg to Historical Encyclopedia of American Business

Untold Stories: Gender-Related Persecution And Asylum In South Africa, Lindsay M. Harris

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article explains the particular difficulties that female asylum seekers and survivors of gender-related persecution face, reaffirming the need for the practical and sensitive application of international and domestic gender guidelines. Extensive research into client files and interviews with key decision makers prove that, despite scholarship suggesting that women may be advantaged in asylum proceedings, a focus on gender is still needed in the South African context. While there are undoubtedly problematic elements of the 1998 Refugees Act warranting its revision, the addition of gender as an additional category under the refugee definition, as proposed by the recent Refugees Amendment …

Competences Of The "Union" And Sex Equality: A Comparative Look At The European Union And The United States, Barbara Havelková

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The delivery of substantive sex equality guarantees in the European Union and the United States is substantially affected by the division of powers ("competences" in European terminology) between the constituent units and the center. This Commentary compares the technical similarities and differences between the structures of competence of the federal systems of the United States and the European Union. This Commentary also briefly sketches their impact on substantive sex equality law.

Campaign Report, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

A Campaign Report for "Building On": The Campaign for the University of Michigan Law School

Faculty, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Faculty News, The Changing Face of the Law School

Alumni, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Alumni News, Class Notes, In Memoriam

The Curriculum, University Of Michigan Law School

Miscellaneous Law School History & Publications

A brochure providing an overview of the curriculum at the University of Michigan Law School.

The Role Of Nonprofits In Ced, Dana A. Thompson

Book Chapters

Nonprofit institutions play an integral role in community economic development (CED) in the United States. These entities initiate and implement most CED activities, and the CED movement would be significantly weakened without their existence. This chapter briefly explores the historical context of various nonprofit organizations in assisting low- and moderate-income communities across the United States, the ways in which modern-day nonprofit organizations are effecting change in their communities, and the challenges to their effectiveness.

The first section of this chapter discusses community development corporations (CDCs), neighborhood-based organizations that are the primary instruments used to drive and implement revitalization in low- …

Starting Out: Changing Patterns Of First Jobs For Michigan Law School Graduates, Terry K. Adams, David L. Chambers

Articles

In the early 1950s, the typical graduate of Michigan Law began his career working as an associate in a law firm with four other lawyers and earned about $5,000 in his first year. Surprising to us today, in his new job he would have earned slightly less than other classmates whose first jobs were in government. Fifty years later, in the early 2000s, the typical graduate still started out as an associate in a law firm, but the firm she worked for had more than 400 lawyers. She earned about $114,000 in her first year, about three times as much …

Administrative Governance As Corporate Governance: A Partial Explanation For The Growth Of China's Stock Markets, David A. Caragliano

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note argues that during the first decade of stock market development (roughly 1990-2000) Chinese institutions, which emphasized administrative direction and control, functioned in lieu of legal and financial institutions. Preexisting modes of administrative governance introduced incentives that mitigated information asymmetry problems inherent in initial public offerings (IPOs) and contributed to enhanced market valuation during the post-IPO phase. The author focuses on two sui generis Chinese institutions employed during this time period: the quota system for equity share issuance and the Special Treatment (ST) system for underperforming issuers. In short, the thesis is that administrative governance substituted for corporate governance.