Law Commons^™

Statesman Or Scribe? Legal Independence And The Problem Of Democratic Citizenship, Aziz Rana

Aziz Rana

No abstract provided.

Making Civility Democratic, Amy R. Mashburn

Amy R. Mashburn

Historically, the concept of civility has been bound up with undemocratic notions of hierarchy and deference. Using insights from studies of civility by social psychologists, linguists, sociologists, historians, and political theorists, this article advances the theory that the legal profession’s self-consciously isolating professionalism ideology allows judges and disciplinary tribunals to apply deference-based notions of civility in their decisions to sanction lawyers. This theory would predict that the lawyers most likely to be sanctioned for incivility and rudeness are those from whom society expects the most deference. To test this theory, the author conducted an empirical study of every available case …

Admitting Foreign-Trained Lawyers In States Other Than New York: Why It Matters, Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Introduction To The Legal Tech Audit, Rachel S. Evans, Jason Tubinis

Presentations

A brief introduction and discussion of the legal tech audit, why it matters and three mini tech lessons for Word, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Gender Diversity In The Patent Bar, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the state of gender diversity across technology and geography within the U.S. patent bar. The findings rely on a new gender-matched dataset, the first public dataset of its kind, not only of all attorneys and agents registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but also of attorneys and agents on patents granted by the USPTO. To enable follow-on research, the article describes all data and methodology and offers suggestions for refinement. This study is timely in view of renewed interest about the participation of women in the U.S. innovation ecosystem, notably the provision …

The Judicial Regulation Of Lawyers In Canada, Amy Salyzyn

Dalhousie Law Journal

The question of whether Canadian lawyers ought to be trusted to govern themselves has been repeatedly raised by the public, policy-makers and the academy over the past several decades. The legal profession has responded on a number of fronts, adopting what has been characterized as a "regime of defensive self-regulation." The analysis in this article complements and complicates this account by arguing that, alongside the profession's efforts at defensive self-regulation, there has been a steady stream of aggressive judicial regulation. The central argument of this article is two-fold: first, that courts have come to occupy an increasingly active role as …

The Indie Lawyer Of The Future: How New Technology, Cultural Trends, And Market Forces Can Transform The Solo Practice Of Law, Lucille Jewel

Scholarly Works

This article is about individual lawyers innovating in the practice of law. New technology, cultural trends, and market forces have the potential to awaken latent markets for one-to-one legal services grounded in the sharing economy, the commons, DIY businesses, and other similar endeavors. These forces might reshape the solo practice of law, which in turn might induce structural change in the legal system itself. Despite the mass commoditization of many law products, there is a potentially new market for craft-oriented lawyers who directly connect with clients.

When we connect the sharing economy and the cultural values that support it with …

Professionalism For The 21st Century: Independence In Context, Rebecca Roiphe

Rebecca Roiphe

Most scholars condemn professionalism as self-serving, anti-competitive rhetoric. This Article argues that professionalism can be a positive and productive way of thinking about lawyers’ work. While it is undoubtedly true that the Bar has used the ideology of the professional role to support self-interested and bigoted causes, professionalism has also served as an important way of developing and marshalling group identity to promote useful ends. The critics of professionalism tend to view it as an ideology, according to which professionals, unlike businessmen, are concerned not with their own financial gain but with the good of their clients and the community …

Law School Training For Licensed 'Legal Technicians'? Implications For The Consumer Market, Elizabeth Chambliss

Faculty Publications

In January 2014, the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education released its report calling, among other things, for limited licensing and the expansion of independent paraprofessional training by law schools. In Washington State, all three law schools are collaborating with community college paralegal programs to design and deliver specialized training for “Limited License Legal Technicians” (LLLTs), who will be licensed to deliver limited family law services beginning in 2015. At least three other states, including California and New York — which together contain nearly twenty-six percent of U.S. lawyers and seventy-six law schools — are actively seeking …

Confronting The Peppercorn Settlement In Merger Litigation: An Empirical Analysis And A Proposal For Reform, Jill E. Fisch, Sean J. Griffith, Steven M. Davidoff

Steven Davidoff Solomon

Shareholder litigation challenging corporate mergers is ubiquitous, with the likelihood of a shareholder suit exceeding 90%. The value of this litigation, however, is questionable. The vast majority of merger cases settle for nothing more than supplemental disclosures in the merger proxy statement. The attorneys that bring these lawsuits are compensated for their efforts with a court-awarded fee. This leads critics to charge that merger litigation benefits only the lawyers who bring the claims, not the shareholders they represent. In response, defenders of merger litigation argue that the lawsuits serve a useful oversight function and that the improved disclosures that result …

Stereotype Threat And Law Librarianship, Ronald E. Wheeler

Faculty Scholarship

Mr. Wheeler looks at the concept of stereotype threat and discusses ways to confront and combat it in a diverse society. He proposes some simple solutions within the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the law librarianship profession to help diminish the effects of this psychological barrier.

The Role Of The Attorney And The Attorney Client Relationship: The Keys To Improved Public Perception Of Attorneys And The Lexus, Jeanne Marie Zokovitch Paben

Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy

It is a pivotal time for the legal profession. Economic challenges are making it harder and harder for the historical law firm to survive. According to the National Law Journal's annual survey, "the 250 biggest firms ... shed more than 9,500 lawyers in 2009 and 2010, nearly 8% of the total [lawyers at those firms]." This represents the largest multiyear decline in the thirty-four years the National Law Journal has conducted this survey.

These same challenges are making it harder for law graduates to get "typical" law jobs. The job statistics for recent law school graduates have not been good. …

Chinese Ritual And The Practice Of Law, Mary Szto

Touro Law Review

While there is much literature about the contemporary practice of law in China, almost no articles discuss the rituals involved. This article describes five common Chinese rituals in the contemporary practice of law: drinking tea, banqueting, drinking alcohol, napping, and karaoke. These rituals are traced to their ancient origins in ancestor worship, traditional Chinese medicine, and Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thought. Then they are explicated for their contemporary meaning. Properly observed, these rituals promote just governance, harmony, balance, and physical and spiritual wholeness. They should be celebrated and practiced without excess.

Relationships Are King, Arnie Herz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: The Profession’S Monopoly And Its Core Values, W. Bradley Wendel

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting The Profession Or The Public? Rethinking Unauthorized-Practice Enforcement, Deborah L. Rhode, Lucy Buford Ricca

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Monopoly Myth And Other Tales About The Superiority Of Lawyers, Leslie C. Levin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cracks In The Profession’S Monopoly Armor, Jack P. Sahl

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hemispheres Apart, A Profession Connected, Dana Remus

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Overstepping Ethical Boundaries? Limitations On State Efforts To Provide Access To Justice In Family Courts, Jessica Dixon Weaver

Fordham Law Review

Family law courts in America are overwhelmed with self-represented parties who try their best to navigate an unfamiliar territory laden with procedural and evidentiary rules. Efforts to level the playing field in these courts have resulted in state entities and judges taking on roles that previously belonged to attorneys. State supreme court judges and state agencies draft and promulgate family law forms, such as divorce pleadings and paternity acknowledgments, to provide poor citizens access to justice. While these efforts have resulted in positive outcomes for some families, reliance on the state’s imprimatur has caused significant harm to others. Upon closer …

Access To Justice Requires Access To Attorneys: Restrictions On The Practice Of Law Serve A Societal Purpose, Lisa H. Nicholson

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Anyone Can “Think Like A Lawyer”: How The Lawyers’ Monopoly On Legal Understanding Undermines Democracy And The Rule Of Law In The United States, Bridgette Dunlap

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Information, The Consumer Law Market, And The First Amendment, Renee Newman Knake

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Globalization And The Monopoly Of Aba-Approved Law Schools: Missed Opportunities Or Dodged Bullets?, Carole Silver

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Control?, Anthony J. Sebok

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Compliance And Claim Funding: Testing The Borders Of Lawyers’ Monopoly And The Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Michele Destefano

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Big Law: Alternative Legal Service Providers To Corporate Clients, John S. Dzienkowski

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Great Disruption: How Machine Intelligence Will Transform The Role Of Lawyers In The Delivery Of Legal Services, John O. Mcginnis, Russell G. Pearce

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lawyer’S Monopoly—What Goes And What Stays, Benjamin H. Barton

Fordham Law Review

We live in a time of unprecedented changes for American lawyers, probably the greatest changes since the Great Depression. That period saw the creation of the lawyer’s monopoly through a series of regulatory modifications. Will we see the same following the Great Recession? Formally, no. This Article predicts that formal lawyer regulation in 2023 will look remarkably similar to lawyer regulation in 2013. This is because lawyer regulators will not want to rock the boat in the profession or in law schools during a time of roil.

Informally, yes! We are already seeing a combination of computerization, outsourcing, and nonlawyer …

The Legal Profession’S Monopoly: Failing To Protect Consumers, Laurel A. Rigertas

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.