Law Commons^™

Peter Singer, Drowning Children, And Pro Bono, John M.A. Dipippa

Faculty Scholarship

This Article uses the ethicist Peter Singer's principles to examine and critique the legal profession's pro bono efforts in the face of the persistent gap between the public's legal needs and their ability to meet them. Singer argues that adults should jump into a pond to save a drowning child. Using the drowning child as an analogy, this Article argues that lawyers are morally obligated to (1)increase the amount of their pro bono efforts, (2) be more selective in the cases they take, and (3) be significantly more generous in their financial support for legal services providers. These obligations are …

Theorizing Billable Hours, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

This article looks at the ethical and diversity implications of high billable hour requirements. While corporate counsel have increasingly demanded a diverse legal workforce and emphasized the need to lower the costs of outside counsel, law firms have not responded to these concerns in a manner that is producing results. Instead, women continue to drop out of law firm practice at higher rates than their male counterparts and the costs of legal services remain high. High billable hour requirements exacerbate both these problems and have implications as well for ethical lawyering. Using data from a variety of disciplines, the article …

What Do You Do When Nothing Seems To Work: An Evaluation And Suggested Approach To Addressing The Diversity Issue In Legal Profession, Michael Hunter Schwartz, Jb Smiley Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

50 More Years Of Cleo Scholars: The Past, The Present, And A Vision For The Future, Michael Hunter Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Lawyer, Know Your Safety Net: A Malpractice Insurance Primer For New And Experienced Lawyers, Lauren Schulz, Michael Hunter Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Derrick Bell: Godfather Provocateur, André Douglas Pond Cummings

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Derrick Bell, the originator and founder of Critical Race Theory, passed away on October 5, 2011 at the age of 80. Around the world he is considered a hero, mentor, friend and exemplar. Known as a creative innovator and agitator, Professor Bell often sacrificed his career in the name of principles and objectives, inspiring a generation of scholars of color and progressive lawyers everywhere. Bell resigned a tenured position on the Harvard Law School faculty to protest Harvard’s refusal to hire and tenure women of color onto its law school faculty. For the past twenty years, Professor Bell taught …

Chief Justice Christine M. Durham: Trailblazer, Pioneer, Exemplar, André Douglas Pond Cummings

Faculty Scholarship

In 1978, Christine M. Durham was appointed, in a historic moment, to serve as trial judge to the third judicial district court in the state of Utah by then Governor Scott Matheson. Lost in the appropriate fanfare connected to her groundbreaking appointment as the first woman to serve as a general jurisdiction judge in the state of Utah, was the fact that she would also become the youngest person ever appointed to a judicial post in that great state. Just four years later, this young thirty-something female judge would be elevated by Matheson to sit on the Supreme Court of …

Do Not Go Gentle: Using Emeritus Pro Bono Attorneys To Achieve The Promise Of Justice, Kelly S. Terry

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

No Paradise To Regain: Comments On Russell G. Pearce And Eli Wald, The Obligation Of Lawyers To Heal Civic Culture: Confronting The Ordeal Of Incivility In The Practice Of Law, Kenneth S. Gallant

Faculty Scholarship

This piece responds to Russell G. Pearce and Eli Wald, The Obligation of Lawyers to Heal Civic Culture: Confronting the Ordeal of Incivility in the Practice of Law (presented at the 2011 Altheimer Symposium, UALR Bowen School of Law). It agrees with their view that arguments from "relational self-interest" (viewing self interest as necessarily connected to the interests of others) can address issues of incivility in the American politics and the practice of law in ways that other arguments cannot.

It disagrees with them on a few specific points:

1. The so-called Ordeal of Incivility in American politics, culture and …

Some Thoughts On The State Of Women Lawyers And Why Title Vii Has Not Worked For Them, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

This essay discusses why women lawyers have not been as successful in large firms in spite of graduating from law school in large numbers over the last twenty years. It begins by giving a snapshot of the state of women lawyers, including women lawyers of color. It includes stories and studies of women’s struggles at these firms. It also describes why Title VII has not worked to solve the problems associated with being a successful woman in a law firm. Finally, it suggests some potential solutions that may help women be more successful in these environments.

Externships: A Signature Pedagogy For The Apprenticeship Of Professional Identity And Purpose, Kelly S. Terry

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Not All Lawyers Are Equal: Difficulties That Plague Women And Women Of Color, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Truth Matters: A Call For The American Bar Association To Acknowledge Its Past And Make Reparations To African Descendants, Adjoa A. Aiyetoro

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Insights Into The Woes Of A Profession Review Of How Lawyers Lose Their Way: A Profession Fails Its Creative Minds, By Jean Stefancic & Richard Delgado, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Lawyering Process: An Example Of Metacognition At Its Best, John M.A. Dipippa, Martha M. Peters

Faculty Scholarship

This article celebrates the 25th anniversary of the publication of Gary Bellow and Bea Moulton's The Lawyering Process by looking at the work from personal and theoretical perspectives. From the personal perspective, the authors discuss how The Lawyering Process influenced them as teachers and scholars. From the theoretical perspective, the authors show how the book modeled various metacognitive processes. Combining the personal with the theoretical, the article shows how The Lawyering Process challenged lawyers to be-come aware of their own thinking by demonstrating how it challenged the authors to do so.

The Impact Of Science On Legal Decisions: What Can Social Science Tell The Courts And Lawyers?, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Jacob's Blessing, Cooperative Grace, And Practicing Law With A Limp, John M.A. Dipippa

Faculty Scholarship

How does a lawyer's religious beliefs affect the lawyer's practice? I will answer that question by reflecting on baseball players, wrestling with mysterious strangers, and practicing law with a limp. This essay is divided into four sections. First, I will share the story of baseball star Sandy Koufax's refusal to pitch on Yom Kippur. Second, I will present a brief theology of grace. Third, I will discuss the Genesis story of Jacob's wrestling match with the Angel. Finally, I will relate a personal experience from my own practice. In truth, each of these sections demonstrates the same theme: that God's …

Power Outage: Amplifying The Analysis Of Power In Legal Relations (With Special Application To Unconscionability And Arbitration), Michael Hunter Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Lon Fuller, The Model Code, And The Model Rules, John M.A. Dipippa

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Law School In Continuing Legal Education, Robert R. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.