Digital Commons Network^™

Community Development Law, Economic Justice, And The Legal Academy, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

The evolution of community economic development (CED) over the past several decades has witnessed dramatic growth in scale and complexity. New approaches to development and related lawyering, and to philosophies underlying these approaches, challenge us to reimagine the framework of CED. From the early days of community development corporations to today’s sophisticated tools of finance and organization, this evolution reflects “why law matters” in pursuit of economic justice and opportunity. Change is visible in new approaches to enterprise development and novel grassroots initiatives that comprise a virtual “sharing economy,” as well as intensified advocacy around low-wage work and efforts to …

Sex Industry And Sex Workers In Nevada, Rachel T. Macfarlane, Celene Fuller, Chris Wakefield, Barbara G. Brents

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Las Vegas has long been known as the symbolic center of the commercial sex industry. Nevada is host to the only legal system of prostitution in the United States. From the early legalization of quickie divorce and marriage to the marketing of its large resorts, sexuality has been a key component of Nevada’s tourist economy. If trends continue, for good or for ill, the sex industry will be an even larger part of the economy in the future.

The sex industry refers to all legal and illegal adult businesses that sell sexual products, sexual services, sexual fantasies, and actual sexual …

Aging Trends & Challenges In Nevada, Jennifer R. Keene, Jacqueline Ragin

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Societal aging is one of the most important social trends of the 21st century. It affects our political, social, and economic institutions and also the nature of our interpersonal and family relationships (Quadagno 2011). In the coming decades, both as individuals and as a society, we will have to make important decisions regarding the consequences of our aging population. Policy makers, families, businesses, local, state, and federal governments, health care providers will have to meet the growing needs of the older population in the U.S. and in Nevada.

By the year 2020, the percent of the U.S. population over age …

The Economic Justice Imperative For Transactional Law Clinics, Lynnise E. Pantin

Faculty Scholarship

The economic, political, and social volatility of the sixties and seventies, out of which clinical legal education was born, has certain mythical qualities for most law students, and perhaps some law professors. America still bears the scars of the economic policies of those previous eras, such as redlining, blockbusting, poverty and urban decay. While the realities of the era may seem out of reach for many of our students, those arising out of that era have contributed to the wealth gap in this country, which has worsened over the last twenty years. Now more than ever, society needs social justice …

Choice Of Law In Lawyers' Engagement Agreements, Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Nathan Crystal

Penn State Law Review (2003 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Barring Survivors Of Domestic Violence From Food Security: The Unintended Consequences Of 1996 Welfare And Immigration Reform, Claire R. Thomas, Ernie Collette

Articles & Chapters

During the 1990s, Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) to create forms of immigration relief for previously neglected vulnerable groups. One such group—survivors of domestic violence—was aided through the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”), which amended the INA to allow abused spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to self-petition for family-based immigration benefits without the abuser’s knowledge. Both abused female and male spouses are able to receive immigration benefits under VAWA, as well as spouses in same-sex marriages.

Despite protections in immigration law for survivors of domestic violence, two other acts—the Personal Responsibility …

Refugee Reception And Perception: Us Detention Camps And German Welcome Centers, Karla M. Mckanders, Valeria Gomez

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The reception of refugees and asylum seekers has emerged as one of the most critical contemporary global issues. In 2015, the world experienced the most forced migrants since World War II. This essay compares the treatment of asylum seekers at reception in United States and Germany through each countries’ freedom and restriction of movement laws. This comparative analysis is based on Professor Karla McKanders’ December 2015 exploratory trip to Germany to learn more about the processing refugees in the midst of Germany accepting unprecedented numbers of refugees; and attorney Valeria Gomez’s December 2015 volunteer experience in the South Texas Family …

Does Tort Reform Affect The Market For Lawyers? Evidence From The U.S States., Ablaye Camara

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper investigates the determinants of the market for lawyers with a focus on demand variables including tort reform laws. In this study, I used the Feasible Generalized Least Squared method and a Panel Corrected Standard Error method, with year and State identifiers applied to a panel of U.S states, to estimate the determinants of the Number of Lawyers. I also used the Fixed Effect model with year and state identifiers to evaluate the effects of these determinants on the Earnings of Lawyers.

The findings show that the Lagged Number of Lawyers and the Lagged Alternative Earnings are both significant …

Carson V. Cernx, California Superior Court

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

Driggs Bill & Day V. Utah State Bar, District Of Utah

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

Allstate V. Amazon.Com, District Of New Jersey

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

Castillo V. Facebook, California Superior Court

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

A Mental Health Checkup For Children At The Doctor’S Office: Lessons From The Medical-Legal Partnership Movement To Fulfill Medicaid’S Promise, Yael Cannon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Traumatic childhood events and the stress they cause can negatively affect health over a lifetime. For children with Medicaid coverage, visits to the doctor’s office present an opportunity to improve this trajectory. Medicaid’s Early Periodic Screening Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) mandate requires that children receive more than a basic physical when they see a doctor for regular “well-child checks.” As part of a comprehensive look at their development, they should receive mental health check-ups that could identify childhood trauma, its impacts, and the interventions that could help improve health and mental health. Data suggests that many children do not receive …

Law School Clinic And Community Legal Services Providers Collaborate To Advance The Remedy Of Implied Warranty Of Habitability In Missouri, Karen Tokarz, Zachary Schmook

Publications

Missouri tenants have few defenses to uninhabitable housing conditions. In a statistical study conducted by the Washington University Civil Rights & Community Justice Clinic and the Metropolitan Saint Louis Equal Housing & Opportunity Council, which encompassed 6,369 landlord-tenant cases from the 2012 calendar year, only two cases (0.03%) resulted in a judgment in favor of the tenant, while 4,934 cases (77.5%) resulted in judgments in favor of the landlord, with the remaining cases being dismissed without a judgment. These findings suggest that unpresented low-income tenants seeking to raise defenses in rent and possession and eviction cases in the Missouri state …

Operationalizing Free, Prior, And Informed Consent, Carla F. Fredericks

Publications

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has acknowledged varying ways in which international actors can protect, respect and remedy the rights of indigenous peoples. One of these methods is the concept of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as described in Articles 10, 19, 28 and 29. There has been much debate in the international community over the legal status of the UNDRIP, and member states have done little to implement it. In applied contexts, many entities like extractive industries and conservation groups are aware of risks inherent in not soliciting FPIC and have endeavored to …

From Rome To The Military Justice Acts Of 2016 And Beyond: Continuing Civilianization Of The Military Criminal Legal System, Fredric I. Lederer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Law 658/G: Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Brett C. Stohs

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark portfolio summarizes a study conducted by Professor Brett C. Stohs of students in the Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic during the 2017 Spring semester. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether students who participate in the clinic develop their professional identities as soon-to-be lawyers. Using qualitative and quantitative measurements, the study determined that participating students do tend to develop their professional identities while in the clinic. This portfolio examines the extent of that development and identifies opportunities for continued course improvement.

Free Speech Or Slavery Profiteering?: Solutions For Policing Online Sex--Trafficking Advertisement, Marguerite A. O'Brien

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Online sex trafficking is big business. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that sex trafficking generates billions of dollars per year. The marketplace for sex has moved from the street corner to classified ad websites such as Backpage.com, and all too often the victims of online sex trafficking are minors. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported an 846 percent increase in reports of child sexual exploitation between 2010 and 2015--growth the organization attributes to the availability of sex ads on websites such as Backpage.com. Law enforcement agencies and victims have sought to hold Backpage.com liable for facilitating …

Legal Education In The Blockchain Revolution, Mark Fenwick, Wulf A. Kaal, Erik P.M. Vermeulen

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The legal profession is one of the most disrupted sectors of the consulting industry today. The rise of Legal Technology, artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, and, most importantly, blockchain technology is changing the practice of law. The sharing economy and platform companies challenge many of the traditional assumptions, doctrines, and concepts of law and governance--requiring litigators, judges, and regulators to adapt. Lawyers need to be equipped with the necessary skill sets to operate effectively in the new world of disruptive innovation in law. A more creative and innovative approach to educating lawyers for the twenty-first century is needed.

Open To Justice: The Importance Of Student Selection Decision In Law School Clinics, Deborah N. Archer

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

"Toiling In The Danger And In The Morals Of Despair": Risk, Security, Danger, The Constitution, And The Clinician's Dilemma, Michael L. Perlin, Alison Lynch

Articles & Chapters

Persons institutionalized in psychiatric hospitals and “state schools” for those with intellectual disabilities have always been hidden from view. Such facilities were often constructed far from major urban centers, availability of transportation to such institutions was often limited, and those who were locked up were, to the public, faceless and often seen as less than human.

Although there has been regular litigation in the area of psychiatric (and intellectual disability) institutional rights for 40 years, much of this case law entirely ignores forensic patients – mostly those awaiting incompetency-to-stand trial determinations, those found permanently incompetent to stand trial, those acquitted …

Blurring Professional Borders In Service Of Anti-Poverty Collaboration: Combining Social Work Skills And An Anti-Oppressive Feminist Lens With Legal Aid, Andrew C. Schoeneman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The history of legal aid is contested and gendered. Like social work, since the late 1800s professionalization and broader political forces have pushed legal aid toward greater focus on individual-level interventions to alleviate poverty. As a result, the capacity of contemporary legal aid programs to work collaboratively with low-income communities to address their legal and non-legal concerns is limited. This article traces the shared histories and commitments of legal aid and social work, calls for an increased collaboration between legal aid programs and social workers, and proposes an anti-oppressive, feminist theoretical perspective to guide this collaboration. By embracing collaboration across …

Judges Need To Exercise Their Responsibility To Require That Eligible Defendants Have Lawyers, Robert C. Boruchowitz

Faculty Articles

There are many courts in the United States, particularly misdemeanor courts, in which accused persons appear and often plead guilty without ever receiving the advice of counsel, even when they are eligible for a public defender. In various states, between twenty-five and sixty-eight percent of the defendants in misdemeanor cases do not have lawyers. In many courts in South Carolina, there is no public defender ever available. The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) has filed a class action lawsuit against two South Carolina cities, alleging that they are unconstitutionally denying counsel to eligible accused persons.

There is no question that …

Diversity Dispatch: Welcoming And Supporting Transgender Patrons, Erin Gow

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This review of a 2017 session on "Meeting the Legal Information Needs of Transgender Library Patrons" at the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting highlights ideas and research presented during the session that are applicable to all kinds of libraries.

Transactional Clinics As Change Agents In The Trump Era: Lessons From Two Contexts, Priya Baskaran, Michael Haber

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The results of the 2016 presidential election and the efforts by the Trump administration to make sweeping changes to a wide range of federal policies have left communities across the country feeling overwhelmed and threatened. In its first year, the Trump administration has been working steadily to slash budgets for health care, housing, infrastructure, schools, and other public benefits that help low-income and middle-class Americans, while adopting policies and engaging in rhetoric that has made many immigrants, Muslims, people of color, and LGBTQ people feel increasingly vulnerable and marginalized.

The authors of this commentary run law clinics that provide pro …

Reimagining Legal Education: Incorporating Live-Client Work Into The First-Year Curriculum, Nancy Vettorello, Beth Hirschfelder Wilensky

Articles

Since 2015, Legal Practice faculty have partnered with local legal services organizations and the law school’s own clinics to provide our 1L students with client interaction, under the close supervision of experienced attorneys. So far, our students have worked with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, and the school’s Unemployment Law Clinic.

The Role Of Ngos As Intermediaries: Negotiating The Space Between Donors And Community Members, Mara Horn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

South Africa is considered one of the most unequal countries in the world, even after the fall of the apartheid government in 1994. In order to address the disparities present within the country and the inability of the government to meet the needs of the disadvantaged, NGOs emerged as a possible solution and development alternative. This study aims to understand how NGOs currently operating in Durban, South Africa negotiate their role as intermediaries between donors and community members. Focusing on the perspectives of experts who work for justice-oriented NGOs, each participant’s understanding of their organization’s intermediary position is explored: what …

Model Rule 5.7 And Lawyers In Government Jobs - How Can They Ever Be Non-Lawyers, Hugh D. Spitzer

Articles

This article focuses on the application of the Rules of Professional Conduct to licensed attorneys who serve in non-lawyer jobs in government. There is a fair amount of literature about members of the bar who serve as staff counsel in legislatures or executive agencies. There is also literature on Rule 5.7 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (“Responsibilities Regarding Law-related Services”) in the context of practicing lawyers who participate in ancillary “non-lawyering” business activities. Model Rule 5.7 deals with “services that might reasonably be performed” or “are related to the provision of legal services” but which are permitted …

The Advent Of Lawyers In Japanese Government, Daniel H. Foote

Articles

Until 2003, Japanese lawyers were prohibited by law from entering full-time employment in governmental bodies. That year, in line with recommendations by the Justice System Reform Council, the Lawyers Act was amended to permit lawyers to undertake such employment. Incorporating information and insights from interviews with former government lawyers and other concerned parties, this article examines the rise in the hiring of government lawyers and its impact. The article considers factors that have contributed to the increase, examines the roles played by these lawyers, considers prospects for the future, and discusses implications for government, the legal profession, clients, and legal …

A Campaign Approach To Challenging The Prosecution Of Youth As Adults, Marcy Mistrett, Jeree Thomas

South Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.