Law Commons^™

The Striking Success Of The National Labor Relations Act, Michael L. Wachter

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Although often viewed as a dismal failure, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) has been remarkably successful. While the decline in private sector unionization since the 1950s is typically viewed as a symbol of this failure, the NLRA has achieved its most important goal: industrial peace.

Before the NLRA and the 1947 Taft-Hartley Amendments, our industrial relations system gave rise to frequent and violent strikes that threatened the nation’s stability. For example, in the late 1870s, the Great Railroad Strike spread throughout a number of major cities. In Pittsburg alone, strikes claimed 24 lives, nearly 80 buildings, and over 2,000 …

Statutory Genres: Substance, Procedure, Jurisdiction, Karen Petroski

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To decide many cases, courts need to characterize some of the legal rules involved, placing each one in a specific doctrinal category to identify the rule’s effect on the litigation. The consequences of characterization decisions can be profound, but the grounds for making and justifying them are often left unstated. This Article offers the first systematic comparison of two important types of legal characterization: the distinction between substantive and procedural rules or statutes, a distinction federal courts make in several contexts; and the distinction between jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional rules, especially those relating to litigation filing requirements. The Article explains the …

Innovation And Competition Policy: Statutory Supplement And Other Materials, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

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This Supplement to Cases and Materials on Innovation and Competition Policy includes the following: (1) a statutory supplement containing relevant provisions of the antitrust laws, the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, and the DMCA: (2) an annotated table of contents. Other supplemental materials, including discussion of recent decisions or other developments, will be added from time to time.

This book will be supplemented frequently as important new decisions or other developments occur. However, the author will attempt not to revise individual chapters during the course of the academic semester in order to avoid confusion in pagination or printing. Instead, supplemental …

Knowledge, Attitudes Toward Corporations, And Belief In A Just World As Correlates Of Tort Reform Attitudes, Molly J. Walker Wilson, Ruth H. Warner

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Recent legislation in tort law has resulted in such changes as states capping punitive and non-economic damages as well as abolishing the collateral source rule and joint and several liability. The purpose of the present research is to examine attitudes toward changes in tort law. We asked American adults about their attitudes toward the civil justice system and its players, experiences in the civil justice system, and belief in a just world. We found that a more negative attitude toward litigation and juries, higher belief in a just world, and a more positive attitude toward corporations and doctors predicted a …

American Legal History Survey: Syllabus, Anders Walker

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This syllabus provides an overview of American Legal History, focusing on the manner in which law has been used to organize American society. Several themes will be traced through the semester, including law’s role in encouraging innovation and regulating social relations, in part through the elaboration of legal disciplines like property, tort, contract, criminal law, tax, business associations, administrative law, environmental law, securities regulation, commercial law, immigration, and health law. Emphasis will also be placed on the origins and evolution of constitutional law, from the founding to the present.

Thinking Like A Lawyer Abroad: Putting Justice Into Legal Reasoning, James Maxeiner

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Americans are taking new interest in legal reasoning. Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning by Professor Frederick Schauer suggests why. According to Schauer, American legal methods often require decision-makers “to do something other than the right thing.” There has got to be a better way.

Now comes a book that offers Americans opportunities to look into a world where legal methods help decision-makers do the right thing. According to Reinhard Zippelius in his newly published Introduction to German Legal Methods, German legal methods help decision makers resolve legal problems “in a just and equitable manner.”

This …

Domestic Violence Lawmaking In Asia: Some Innovative Trends In Feminist Lawmaking, Rangita De Silva De Alwis

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Domestic violence lawmaking intersects global human rights norms and domestic women's movements. Domestic violence is both a global and local phenomenon. The World Bank argues that domestic violence accounts for one in five lost years in women aged 15-44. The costs range from direct expenses such as medical care and social services to productivity and labor market costs to the psychological toll imposed by the intergenerational transmission of violence. The international women's movement and the international human rights conventions have confirmed that violence in the home is neither a private issue nor a cultural practice. Domestic violence was placed on …