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Full-Text Articles in Law

Legal Writing--What’S Next? Real-World, Persuasion Pedagogy From Day One, Adam Lamparello, Charles Maclean Nov 2013

Legal Writing--What’S Next? Real-World, Persuasion Pedagogy From Day One, Adam Lamparello, Charles Maclean

Adam Lamparello

No abstract provided.


Using The Client-File Method To Teach Transactional Law, Bradley T. Borden Nov 2013

Using The Client-File Method To Teach Transactional Law, Bradley T. Borden

Bradley T. Borden

This Article presents a teaching method (the client-file method) for transactional law courses that combines the business school case-study method with the law school case method. The client-file method of teaching requires students to become familiar with real-word legal issues and the types of documents and information that accompany matters that transactional clients bring to attorneys (i.e., the contents of a client file). The method also requires students to learn and apply substantive law to solve problems that arise in a transactional law practice. Because the client-file method places students in a practice setting, it helps them become more practice-ready …


Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq. Oct 2013

Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

This study analyzes official statistics of the Federal Judiciary, legal provisions, and other publicly filed documents. It discusses how federal judges’ life-appointment; de facto unimpeachability and irremovability; self-immunization from discipline through abuse of the Judiciary’s statutory self-policing authority; abuse of its vast Information Technology resources to interfere with their complainants’ communications; the secrecy in which they cover their adjudicative, administrative, disciplinary, and policy-making acts; and third parties’ fear of their individual and close rank retaliation render judges unaccountable. Their unaccountability makes their abuse of power riskless; the enormous amount of the most insidious corruptor over which they rule, money!, …


Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq. Oct 2013

Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

This study analyzes official statistics of the Federal Judiciary, legal provisions, and other publicly filed documents. It discusses how federal judges’ life-appointment; de facto unimpeachability and irremovability; self-immunization from discipline through abuse of the Judiciary’s statutory self-policing authority; abuse of its vast Information Technology resources to interfere with their complainants’ communications; the secrecy in which they cover their adjudicative, administrative, disciplinary, and policy-making acts; and third parties’ fear of their individual and close rank retaliation render judges unaccountable. Their unaccountability makes their abuse of power riskless; the enormous amount of the most insidious corruptor over which they rule, money!, …


Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq. Oct 2013

Exposing Judges' Unaccountability And Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing: Pioneering The News And Publishing Field Of Judicial Unaccountability Reporting, Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

Dr. Richard Cordero Esq.

This study analyzes official statistics of the Federal Judiciary, legal provisions, and other publicly filed documents. It discusses how federal judges’ life-appointment; de facto unimpeachability and irremovability; self-immunization from discipline through abuse of the Judiciary’s statutory self-policing authority; abuse of its vast Information Technology resources to interfere with their complainants’ communications; the secrecy in which they cover their adjudicative, administrative, disciplinary, and policy-making acts; and third parties’ fear of their individual and close rank retaliation render judges unaccountable. Their unaccountability makes their abuse of power riskless; the enormous amount of the most insidious corruptor over which they rule, money!, …


"Shut Up. Pay More. This Is What You Voted For." Why You Don't See Me At San Francisco's Hall Of Justice., David D. Butler Sep 2013

"Shut Up. Pay More. This Is What You Voted For." Why You Don't See Me At San Francisco's Hall Of Justice., David D. Butler

David D. Butler

This 2,285 essay combines California's often violent history with European and American high and low culture to explain my decision to leave San Francisco in the 1970's and to study and practice law in other states. At the time, I was platflorm man (operator) on the 30 Stockton electric trolley through South of Market, the Financial District, Chinatown, Pacific Heights, and the Marina. Nevertheless, at the time the Nation of Islam had at least one armed group, the Zebra killers, murdering Whites, often slowly with machetes. I joined the White, Middle-Class, Taxpaying majority in their diaspora to safer places. My …


Legal Writing As Good Writing; Tips From The Trenches, Michael A. Zuckerman, Andrey Spektor Sep 2013

Legal Writing As Good Writing; Tips From The Trenches, Michael A. Zuckerman, Andrey Spektor

Michael A. Zuckerman

No abstract provided.


The Viability Of The $30 Casebook: Intellectual Property, Voluntary Payment, Open Distribution, And Author Incentives, Lydia P. Loren Aug 2013

The Viability Of The $30 Casebook: Intellectual Property, Voluntary Payment, Open Distribution, And Author Incentives, Lydia P. Loren

Lydia P Loren

It is not uncommon for a new hardbound copy of today’s law school casebooks to exceed $200. And, each year, the prices inch ever higher. After exploring the various dynamics in the traditional publishing market that have led to the current prices for casebooks, this article describes the experiences of Semaphore Press, a publisher of law school casebooks that offers a very different approach to providing law school casebooks. Semaphore Press offers digital copies of required textbooks for law school classes (in pdf format with no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions) at a suggested price of $30. In addition, students …


Creating A Six-Semester Writing Requirement: Using Legal Writing's "Hobble" To Solve Legal Education's Problem", Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione Aug 2013

Creating A Six-Semester Writing Requirement: Using Legal Writing's "Hobble" To Solve Legal Education's Problem", Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

Kristen Konrad Robbins-Tiscione

The attached article argues that the best way to solve the current crisis in legal education is for law schools to commit to teaching writing by creating a six-semester writing requirement. In a 2011 article published in the Journal of Legal Education, John Lynch urged legal writing faculty to return to an outmoded and ineffective writing pedagogy, the “product approach,” on the grounds that it would make teaching legal writing easier. This article demonstrates that what Lynch calls legal writing’s hobble has become legal education’s problem. By failing to commit to teaching writing, law students are graduating without adequate preparation …


Student, Esquire?: The Practice Of Law In The Collaborative Classroom, Nantiya Ruan Aug 2013

Student, Esquire?: The Practice Of Law In The Collaborative Classroom, Nantiya Ruan

Nantiya Ruan

Law faculty and non-profit lawyers are working together in a variety of partnerships to offer students exposure to “real life” clients in the first year of law school, as well as in advanced courses in substantive areas. Teachers engaged in client-centered advocacy through experiential frameworks have broken out of their isolated silos in the law school (e.g., legal writing, clinical, externship, and doctrinal) and begun to work together. To help students develop a sense of professional identity, cultivate professional values, and tap into key intrinsic motivations for lawyering, such as serving the public good, collaborative classrooms have an important role …


Synaptic Plasticity In Neurological Deficit As A Form Of Indemnification: The Utility Of Analogical Thinking, Madeleine Schachter, Madeleine Schachter Jul 2013

Synaptic Plasticity In Neurological Deficit As A Form Of Indemnification: The Utility Of Analogical Thinking, Madeleine Schachter, Madeleine Schachter

Madeleine Schachter

The need for creative problem-solving is as infinite as are the ways in which to engage in it. This article posits that one useful, albeit not flawless, mechanism in which to seek scientific advancements is through the use of analogical thinking. The technique has been invoked in virtually all disciplines, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. The utility of thinking by analogy lies, paradoxically, in its capacity to conceptualize a solution or a viable avenue of further inquiry as much as in its capacity to expose flaws in the analogical concept hypothesized. As such, it is an important means of stimulating …


Will The Income-Based Repayment Program Enable Law Schools To Continue To Provide "Harvard-Style" Legal Education?, Greg Crespi Jun 2013

Will The Income-Based Repayment Program Enable Law Schools To Continue To Provide "Harvard-Style" Legal Education?, Greg Crespi

Greg Crespi

Legal education provided in the prevailing “Harvard-style” now costs students on average between $160,000 and $250,000 for their three years of study, the precise amount depending on the law school attended, the alternative employment opportunities foregone, and the amount of scholarship assistance provided. However, the median starting salary for full-time, entry-level legal positions has declined in recent years to only $60,000/year, and upwards of 45% of recent law graduates are now unable to obtain full-time legal employment, and this dismal employment situation is unlikely to significantly improve over the next few years. While the attractive job opportunities still available to …


Is There Life After Laptops? Further Thoughts On The Effects Of Unplugging A Uniquely "Wired-In" Generation, Eric A. Degroff May 2013

Is There Life After Laptops? Further Thoughts On The Effects Of Unplugging A Uniquely "Wired-In" Generation, Eric A. Degroff

Eric A DeGroff

The Millennial Generation is the most technologically savvy age group ever to enter the legal academy. Many, however, enter law school with learning styles and other traits that make a legal education challenging. Though research suggests that accommodating student learning styles may enhance the educational experience generally, there is mounting evidence that accommodating student preferences for technology in the classroom may be counterproductive in some ways. This article summarizes that evidence, discusses the results of the author's two-year experiment with a no-laptop policy in his first-year doctrinal course, and suggests that such a policy may be well received by most …


A Dialogue On Jordanian Legal Education, George Critchlow, Nisreen Mahasneh Mar 2013

A Dialogue On Jordanian Legal Education, George Critchlow, Nisreen Mahasneh

George Critchlow

This a readable article about the need for legal education reform in Jordan. It grew out of the experiences, discussions, and shared interests of the co-authors – a Jordanian female law professor and an American male law professor who have worked with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) and Jordanian law faculties to develop strategies for strengthening legal education in Jordan. The article is unusual in that it is presented as a dialogue in order to identify and reflect the authors’ different professional and cultural perspectives. The text is supported by citation to authority in conventional …


Lessons From Teaching Students To Negotiate Like A Lawyer, John Lande Feb 2013

Lessons From Teaching Students To Negotiate Like A Lawyer, John Lande

John Lande

The legal education system is in a major crisis now, in part because law schools do not prepare students adequately to practice law. Law schools should do a better job of teaching negotiation, in particular, because it is a significant part of the work of virtually every practicing lawyer. This includes lawyers who handle civil and criminal matters and lawyers who do litigation as well as those who do transactional work. Negotiation is especially important because most litigated cases are settled and virtually all unstandardized transactions are negotiated. Most law school negotiation courses rely primarily or exclusively on simulations in …


Reimagining Merit As Achievement, Aaron N. Taylor Feb 2013

Reimagining Merit As Achievement, Aaron N. Taylor

AARON N TAYLOR

Higher education plays a central role in the apportionment of opportunities within the American meritocracy. Unfortunately, narrow conceptions of merit limit the extent to which higher education broadens racial and socioeconomic opportunity. This article proposes an admissions framework that transcends these limited notions of merit. This “Achievement Framework” would reward applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds who have achieved beyond what could have reasonably been expected. Neither race nor ethnicity is considered as part of the framework; however, its nuanced and contextual structure would ensure that racial and ethnic diversity is encouraged in ways that traditional class-conscious preferences do not. The overarching …


Class Participation As A Learning And Assessment Strategy In Law: Facilitating Students’ Engagement, Skills Development And Deep Learning, Alex Steel, Anna Huggins, Julian Laurens Jan 2013

Class Participation As A Learning And Assessment Strategy In Law: Facilitating Students’ Engagement, Skills Development And Deep Learning, Alex Steel, Anna Huggins, Julian Laurens

Alex Steel

Well designed assessment can be a vehicle for encouraging students to learn and engage more broadly than with the minimums required to complete the assessment activity. In that sense assessment need not merely ‘drive’ earning, but can instead act as a catalyst for further learning beyond what a student had anticipated. In this article we reconsider the potential roles and benefits in legal education of a form of interactive classroom learning we term assessable class participation (ACP), both as part of a pedagogy grounded in assessment and learning theory, and as a platform for developing broader autonomous approaches to learning …


Good Practice Guide (Bachelor Of Laws): Law In Broader Contexts, Alex Steel Jan 2013

Good Practice Guide (Bachelor Of Laws): Law In Broader Contexts, Alex Steel

Alex Steel

This Good Practice Guide was commissioned by the Law Associate Deans Network to support the implementation of Threshold Learning Outcome 1: Knowledge. The Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) for the Bachelor of Laws were developed in 2010 as part of the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards (LTAS) Project, led by Professors Sally Kift and Mark Israel. TLO 1 states: Graduates of the Bachelor of Laws will demonstrate an understanding of a coherent body of knowledge that includes: (a) the fundamental areas of legal knowledge, the Australian legal system, and underlying principles and concepts, including international and comparative contexts, (b) the broader …


Broader Social Context As A Lens For Learning: Teaching Criminal Law, Alex Steel, Melanie Schwartz Jan 2013

Broader Social Context As A Lens For Learning: Teaching Criminal Law, Alex Steel, Melanie Schwartz

Alex Steel

This chapter considers how best to teach criminal law in broader social contexts and beyond a focus on positivist doctrinal accounts. It provides examples of how broader social science research could be included within a criminal law curriculum.


Clarifying Assessment: Developing Official Typologies And Instructions For Forms Of Assessment In Law, Alex Steel Jan 2013

Clarifying Assessment: Developing Official Typologies And Instructions For Forms Of Assessment In Law, Alex Steel

Alex Steel

Law students are expected to complete a range of assessment throughout their degree, and do so with varying levels of success. Increasingly, research has examined the ways in which student performance can be enhanced. While much focus has been on how to best to provide students with feedback that can be acted on, this paper examines the extent to which standardisation of the way in which assessment tasks are described could assist students. The use of the same name to describe different variations of an assessment task can create confusion for students and for new members of staff. Research demonstrates …


‘Works Well With Others’: Examining The Different Types Of Small Group Learning Approaches And Their Implications For Law Student Learning Outcomes, Julian Laurens, Alex Steel, Anna Huggins Jan 2013

‘Works Well With Others’: Examining The Different Types Of Small Group Learning Approaches And Their Implications For Law Student Learning Outcomes, Julian Laurens, Alex Steel, Anna Huggins

Alex Steel

In the current regulatory climate, there is increasing expectation that law schools will be able to demonstrate students’ acquisition of learning outcomes regarding collaboration skills. We argue that this is best achieved through a stepped and structured whole-of-curriculum approach to small group learning. ‘Group work’ provides deep learning and opportunities to develop professional skills, but these benefits are not always realised for law students. An issue is that what is meant by ‘group work’ is not always clear, resulting in a learning regime that may not support the attainment of desired outcomes. This paper describes different types of ‘group work’, …


Unsw Law School In The Assessment Project, Alex Steel Jan 2013

Unsw Law School In The Assessment Project, Alex Steel

Alex Steel

This chapter outlines the approach UNSW Law took to developing a whole of curriculum approach to assessment . It included an audit of assessment practices, surveys of student attitudes and experiences and the development of program and course learning outcomes that were mapped across the curriculum.


Defending The Law Review - A Response To Judge Posner & Professor Lindgren, Harvey Gilmore Jan 2013

Defending The Law Review - A Response To Judge Posner & Professor Lindgren, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

I am fairly new to the publication game. I am not a professional writer. I was never a law review editor. My current teaching job does not mandate that I “publish or perish.” On top of that, I do believe that law reviews were invaluable to me in helping me write research papers during my time in law school. I enjoy reading law review articles to this day. In addition, I have enjoyed the privilege of having several of my own pieces accepted for publication as law review articles. Consequently, I have had positive experiences dealing with law review editors …


Recasting The Llm: Course Design And Pedagogy, Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Dharmendra Chatur Jan 2013

Recasting The Llm: Course Design And Pedagogy, Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Dharmendra Chatur

Dharmendra Chatur

The introduction of the one-year Master of Laws (LLM) has been touted as a game changer for post-graduate legal education in India. This paper argues that, despite the unclear rationale for the course and the hastily put together course structure, the one-year LLM may transform post-graduate legal education if rigorous intellectual effort is invested in the process of translating the curriculum into active learning materials allowing for a critical pedagogy to emerge in the classroom. Using the Law and Social Transformation course in the two-year LLM as an example, the paper shows that despite a well designed curriculum, the syllabi …


Constructing Modern-Day U.S. Legal Education With Rhetoric: Langdell, Ames, And The Scholar Model Of The Law Professor Persona, Carlo A. Pedrioli Jan 2013

Constructing Modern-Day U.S. Legal Education With Rhetoric: Langdell, Ames, And The Scholar Model Of The Law Professor Persona, Carlo A. Pedrioli

Carlo A. Pedrioli

This article explains how lawyers like Christopher Columbus Langdell and James Barr Ames, a disciple of Langdell, employed rhetoric between 1870, when Langdell assumed the deanship at Harvard Law School, and 1920, when law had emerged as a credible academic field in the United States, to construct a persona, that of a scholar, appropriate for the law professor situated within the university. To do so, the article contextualizes the rhetoric with historical background on the law professor and legal education, draws upon rhetorical theory to give an overview of persona theory and persona analysis as a means of conducting the …


Student, Esquire?: The Practice Of Law In The Collaborative Classroom, Nantiya Ruan Jan 2013

Student, Esquire?: The Practice Of Law In The Collaborative Classroom, Nantiya Ruan

Nantiya Ruan

Law faculty and non-profit lawyers are working together in a variety of partnerships to offer students exposure to “real life” clients in the first year of law school, as well as in advanced courses in substantive areas. Teachers engaged in client-centered advocacy through experiential frameworks have broken out of their isolated silos in the law school (e.g., legal writing, clinical, externship, and doctrinal) and begun to work together. To help students develop a sense of professional identity, cultivate professional values, and tap into key intrinsic motivations for lawyering, such as serving the public good, collaborative classrooms have an important role …