Law Commons^™

The Partnership Mystique: Law Firm Finance And Governance For The 21st Century American Law Firm, Maya Steinitz

William & Mary Law Review

This Article identifies and analyzes the de facto and de jure end of lawyers’ exclusivity over the practice of law in the United States. This development will have profound implications for the legal profession, the careers of individual lawyers, and the justice system as a whole.

First, the Article argues that various financial products that have recently flooded the legal market are functionally equivalent to investing in and owning law firms and create all the same governance challenges as allowing nonlawyers to directly own stock in law firms.

Second, the Article analyzes Arizona’s groundbreaking legalization of nonlawyer participation in law …

Calls To Eliminate Bar Exams Are Premature, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

Calls for eliminating bar exams to improve fairness and diversity in the legal profession are increasing, but A. Benjamin Spencer, dean of William & Mary Law School, argues that eliminating them is not the answer. They should be transformed into a more effective gauge of professional readiness, which, he contends, can be achieved if more states adopt the Uniform Bar Exam.

Law Schools, Law Firms Must Share Responsibility For Diversity, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

Law schools and law firms must partner to ensure that a pipeline of underrepresented students apply to law school and receive the professional development support they need to remain and advance at firms, William & Mary Law School Dean A. Benjamin Spencer says. Those who make, interpret, and apply the law must reflect the full range of human experiences, thought, and insight into the human condition, he says.

The Clerkship-Academia Continuum, Merritt E. Mcalister, Katherine Mims Crocker

Popular Media

In the spring 2021 edition of Judicature (Vol. 105 No. 1), Florida International University Law Professor Howard Wasserman published data analyzing the number of current law professors who have served in clerkships and for which judges those professors clerked. His study offered a compelling picture of “academic feeder judges,” or those on the bench whose clerks tended to matriculate professionally in large numbers within the halls of the academy.

We asked two law professors, Merritt McAlister at the University of Florida, and Katherine Mims Crocker of William & Mary Law School, to reflect on Wasserman’s findings and to offer a …

A New Era Of Legal Services: The Elimination Of Unauthorized Practice Of Law Rules To Accompany The Growth Of Legal Software, Julian Moradian

William & Mary Business Law Review

Since the inception of bar associations in the early twentieth century, states have promulgated rules that prohibit unlicensed individuals from providing legal services. These unauthorized practice of law rules have created a monopoly on legal services, which in turn has inflated the price of obtaining legal services to a point where a significant percentage of individuals who need such services are unable to obtain them. Legal software has the potential to disrupt the market for legal services and make such services available to the mass market. However, for innovation and widespread use of legal software to gain traction, these unauthorized …

Superwoman And Real Women: Leading, Following, Caring, Evolving, And Sometimes Making Do, William & Mary Law School

Law School Conferences: Ephemera

Held on September 21, 2018 at the William & Mary Law School.

Sponsored by the William & Mary Law School:

• Office of the Dean
• Office of Career Services
• Office of Development and Alumni Affairs
• Asian Law Student Association
• Black Law Students Association
• Business Law Society
• George Wythe Society
• Latinx Law Students Association
• Public Service Fund
• Student Bar Association
• W&M Business Law Review
• W&M Journal of Race, Gender and Social Justice
• Women's Law Society

Nevertheless She Persisted: From Mrs. Bradwell To Annalise Keating, Gender Bias In The Courtroom, Chris Chambers Goodman

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Prosecutorial Power, Jeffrey Bellin

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Neuroscience Changes More Than You Can Think, Paul S. Davies, Peter A. Alces

Faculty Publications

In this Essay, we consider the contribution of a startling new book, Law & Neuroscience (L&N), by Owen Jones, Jeffrey Schall, and Francis Shen. It is a law school course book (a genre not often the focus of a scholarly review essay) that supports fundamental inquiry into the relationship between emerging neuroscientific insights and doctrinal conceptions in the law. We believe that the book shifts the paradigm and so may profoundly affect the course of normative evaluation of law. In this Essay, we trace and evaluate the “argument” of the book and suggest ways in which its contribution to the …

Intentionality & Serendipity: Creating A Career And A Life, William & Mary Law School

Law School Conferences: Ephemera

Held on January 27, 2017 at William & Mary Law School.

Sponsored by William & Mary Law School:

• Office of the Dean
• Office of Development & Alumni Affairs
• Office of Career Services
• William & Mary Business Law Review
• William & Mary Journal of Women & the Law
• Student Bar Association (SBA)
• Black Law Students Association (BLSA)
• Latino Law Students Association (LLSA)
• Public Service Fund (PSF)
• William & Mary Women’s Law Society
• William & Mary National Trial Team

An All-Volunteer Force: Law Students And Pro Bono Lawyers Helping Veterans, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Attorney Competence In An Age Of Plea Bargaining And Econometrics, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

This Essay explores the concept of attorney competence in a criminal justice system dominated by plea bargaining. It focuses, in particular, on the results of a widely-reported empirical study of Philadelphia murder cases that found “vast” differences in legal outcomes based on the type of defense attorney assigned to the case. The first part of the Essay explores the implications of these empirical findings, which appear to stem from a counter-intuitive form of professional competence, persistence in convincing one’s client to plead guilty. The findings are particularly intriguing in light of the Supreme Court’s recent expansion of ineffective assistance of …

Lawyers As Leaders, William & Mary Law School

Law School Conferences: Ephemera

Held on September 12, 2014 at William & Mary Law School.

Sponsored by William & Mary Law School:

• Office of the Dean
• Office of Development & Alumni Affairs
• Office of Career Services
• The William & Mary Journal of Women & the Law
• The William & Mary Business Law Review
• William & Mary Women’s Law Society
• William & Mary Business Law Society
• Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Legal Society (ViCE)
• George Wythe Society

From "War On Poverty" To Pro Bono: Access To Justice Remains Elusive For Too Many, Including Our Veterans, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty. The Legal Services Program of 1965, along with the Legal Services Corporation formed in 1974, considerably increased civil legal aid to America’s poor. Yet today, there is only one legal aid attorney for every 6,415 people living in poverty. Veterans, comprising 4.6%of those living in poverty, often suffer additional obstacles and extensive legal needs, including assistance in obtaining benefits to which they are entitled. While encouraging additional pro bono service among attorneys incrementally increases the availability of legal services to the poor, law school clinics across the country …

Some Thoughts On Technology And The Practice Of Law, Fredric I. Lederer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Lawyers In In-House Practice, William & Mary Law School

Law School Conferences: Ephemera

Held on September 19-20, 2013 at the William & Mary Law School.

Sponsored by the William & Mary Law School:

• Office of the Dean
• Office of Alumni Affairs
• Office of Career Services
• The William & Mary Journal of Women & the Law
• The William & Mary Business Law Review
• William & Mary Women’s Law Society
• William & Mary Business Law Society
• Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Legal Society (ViCE)
• George Wythe Society

Section On The Education Of Lawyers Remains Committed To Improving Legal Training, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

The Law School Critique In Historical Perspective, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Contemporary critiques of legal education abound. This arises from what can be described as a perfect storm: the confluence of softness in the legal employment market, the skyrocketing costs of law school, and the unwillingness of clients and law firms to continue subsidizing the further training of lawyers who failed to learn how to practice in law school. As legal jobs become increasingly scarce and salaries stagnate, the value proposition of law school is rightly being questioned from all directions. Although numerous valid criticisms have been put forth, some seem to be untethered from a full appreciation for how the …

Imputed Liability For Supervising Prosecutors: Applying The Military Doctrine Of Command Responsibility To Reduce Prosecutorial Misconduct, Geoffrey S. Corn, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Substance Abuse And Mental Health Among Lawyers, Susan Grover, Mark R. Voss

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

A Golden Age Of Civic Involvement: The Client Centered Disadvantage For Lawyers Acting As Public Officials, James E. Moliterno

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Citizen-Lawyer - A Brief Informal History Of A Myth With Some Basis In Reality, Robert W. Gordon

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Public Service Must Begin At Home": The Lawyer As Civics Teacher In Everyday Practice, Bruce A. Green, Russell G. Pearce

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Citizen As Lawyer, Lawyer As Citizen, Mark Tushnet

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts About Citizen Lawyers, Lawrence M. Friedman

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Citizen Lawyer, W. Taylor Reveley Iii

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lawyers As Citizens, Deborah L. Rhode

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lawyer As Catalyst Of Social Change, James E. Moliterno

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Red Light, Green Light: Assessing The Stop And Go In The Advancement Of Women In The Legal And Business Sectors, Megan Erb

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

The purpose of this note is to identify the problems professional women have in building a career while caring for a family, and to provide the basis for creating a solution. Part I of this note addresses the various types of problems that force women out of the workplace, as well as the difficulties women have in reentering the job market. Part II of this note compares the alternative work schedules offered in the legal and business communities. Part III focuses on the success the business firms have had, with the help of business schools, in finding a practical solution …

The Price Of Misdemeanor Representation, Erica J. Hashimoto

William & Mary Law Review

Nobody disputes either the reality of excessive caseloads in indigent defense systems or their negative effects. More than forty years after Gideon v. Wainwright, however, few seem willing to accept that additional resources will not magically appear to solve the problem. Rather, concerned observers demand more funds while state and local legislators resist those entreaties in the face of political resistance and pressures to balance government budgets. Recognizing that indigent defense systems must operate in a world of limited resources, states should reduce the number of cases streaming into those systems by significantly curtailing the appointment of counsel in low-level …