Law Commons^™

International Antitrust, Miguel Del Pino, Elizabeth Avery, Rebecca Mahony, Bruno Drago, Paola Pugliese, Milena Mundim, Adam S. Goodman, Peter Wang, Yizhe Wang, Peter Camesasca, Laurie Anne Grelier, Naval Satarawala Chopra, Aman Singh Sethi, Shigeyoshi Ezaki, Vassili Moussis, Kiyoko Yagami, Naoki Uemura, Youngjin Jung, Maria Hajiyerou, Eun Hee Kim, Lara Granville, Neil Cunninghame, Lisl Dunlop

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

International Anti-Money Laundering, Albert Janet

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

International Transportation Law, James Henry Bergeron, Attilio M. Costabel, Peng Xianwei, James Border, Jason Drouyor, Greg Maddaleni

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

International M&A And Joint Ventures, Renata Antiquera, Jason Saltzman, Selena Lucien, Francisco Ugarte, Alejandra Daroch, Yu Zheng, Yueyue Liao, Lu Jia, Xiao Wang, Luigi Pavanello, Anton Dzhuplin, Alexander Kleschev, Anna Kuznetsova, Albert Garrofé, Idoya Fernández, Lola Tejero, Timur Bondaryev, Anna Zorya, Edem Mensitov, Mark Howard, Geoffrey Goodale

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

International Energy And Natural Resources Law, Mariana Ardizzone, Mathias Dantin, Ricardo Alves Silva, Sara Frazão, Tereza Garcia André

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

International Contracts, Martin E. Aquilina, Max Deleon, Stuti Murarka, Willem Den Hertog, Anders Forkman, William P. Johnson, Samuel G. Wieczorek

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Cross-Border Real Estate, Timur Bondaryev, Tetiana Storozhuk, Anton Rekun

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

South Asia/Oceania & India, Kavita Mohan, Amy Tolbert Harris, Aseem Chawla, Sumit Khadaria, Austin J. Pierce, Namrata Patodia Rastogi, Sanjay Notani, Arunabh Choudhary, Aditi Joshi, Amit Gupta, Mansi Kukreja, Vidhi Goel, Ronjini Ray

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

China, Gary J. Gao, Ronnia Zheng, Yanling Zheng, Li Wang

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Mexico, Kelsey Quigley, Christopher Munoz, Cesar Conde, John Walsh, Sara Maldonado, Judith Wilson, Pedro Fernando González Maldonado, Estefania Díaz González, Bruce Greenberg, Mariano Carrizo, Karen Andrea Ortega Cajiga, Vanessa Romero-Rocha, Susan Burns, Rene Alva, Ernesto Velarde

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Canada, Jordan Goodman, Jeremiah Kopp, Julia Webster, Sam Levy, Jacob Mantle, Ashley Paterson, Tim Heneghan, Ramneet Sierra, H. Scott Fairley, Margarita Dvorkina, Adam Mauntah, Jacqueline Bart, Daniel O.W. Smith

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Jason S. Palmer, Kimberly Y.W. Holst

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

If You Cannot Afford An Attorney, None Will Be Appointed For You: Exploring Rates Of Representation By Counsel In Texas Misdemeanor Courts, Andrew L. B. Davies, Shelby Sirivore, Victoria M. Smiegocki

Deason Center Reports

All misdemeanor defendants in the United States have the right to be represented by a lawyer if they are facing the possibility of incarceration. Yet implementation of that right is often left to local policymakers, and rates of non-representation (defendants proceeding without lawyers) vary enormously. Through an examination of data from Texas counties in 2019, we find non-representation rates were highest in the state’s poorest and most rural counties. But we also find signs that local policy choices matter. Counties with public defender offices, and those with less restrictive policies on financial eligibility for indigent defense services, appointed lawyers to …

Rulemaking Behind Closed Doors: Governor Abbott’S Secret Rulemaking. Worse Yet, All State Agencies Are Colluding With The Governor, Ronald Beal

SMU Law Review Forum

In 2019, the Texas Legislature granted the Governor new powers to review the rulemaking process for certain state agencies. Since then, the Governor has apparently extended this authority of review over the rulemaking process to more agencies than he was authorized to. Some journalists and scholars, including this Author, have attempted to access the proposals and comments submitted to the rulemaking process by the Governor’s Office—and yet the records are withheld by the Texas Attorney General under claimed exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act. Despite the Attorney General’s claims, this Author and others maintain that any records of these …

What’S In A Name? Policing, Juliet., Shanée Brown

SMU Law Review Forum

“Child welfare” and “child protection” are misnomers. These terms do not accurately depict the investigatory nature of the system purported to help families, or at the very least, save endangered children. Contrary to public opinion, the “child welfare system” comprises of state actors who police parents and children. It is the naming of this system that convinces the public that these agencies are excised from the category of law enforcement, persuading many that the agencies engage in social work and not police work. Calling the system what it really is—family policing—is a step toward achieving justice for families adversely impacted …

Real Money On Virtual Games: The History And Potential Ways Forward For Esports Gambling Regulation, Roger Davis-Jahnel

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Electronic sports, “esports,” is a rapidly growing industry throughout the world. The global gaming market was valued to be worth approximately 221.24 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach 424.23 billion USD by 2033. It is expected that as technology continues to improve and there are less barriers to access gaming, such as cloud gaming which allows players to access games without expensive hardware, the market for games will continue to grow. In addition to technological advancements, investments the esports industry, such as teams, media rights, and sponsorship deals are expected to help drive growth in the gaming …

Transnational Accountability For Space Debris As A Precursor To Maintaining Peace In Outer Space, Bella Alonzo

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

Beginning with the Space Age in the 1950s, space exploration has accelerated exponentially as humans on Earth are continuously drawn to the mystery and opportunity that lies in outer space. The United States (“U.S.”) and the Soviet Union led the charge in space discovery throughout the “Space Race,” and once other countries saw the value in developing the technology to utilize space as a resource, multiple nations followed suit. While the U.S. and Russia retain the most dominant presence in outer space, other global superpowers like China, India, and Japan have exhibited competitive capabilities.

The Impact Of Catholic Canonical Jurisprudential Theory On The Catholic Church’S Ability To Address Sexual Abuse, Addison Bruce

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The Catholic Church is one of the world’s oldest, largest, and most enduring institutions. Catholic theology’s impact on Western civilization, culture, politics, and morality persists to this day. Thus, when the first reports of widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Lafayette, Louisiana were released, the world paid attention. The truth revealed that priests had been using their positions of power for evil by abusing and engaging in sexual acts with minors and vulnerable adults. While the bulk of crimes were committed during the 1970s and 1980s and thereafter covered up by church leadership by paying hush money to …

The Intersection Of Cultural Rights And The Repatriation Of African Art: A Comparative Analysis Of International And North American Legal And Ethical Frameworks, Kennedy Wilson

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The debate surrounding the repatriation of African and Indigenous art held in global museums is a complex and multifaceted issue that demands an examination of its historical, legal, and ethical dimensions. Emmanuel Macron's 2018 statement in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, encapsulates the core of this debate: “I cannot accept that a large part of the cultural heritage of several African countries is in France,” he declared. “There are historical explanations for this but there is no valid, lasting and unconditional justification. African heritage cannot be only in private collections and European museums.” This sentiment perfectly captures the profound unease surrounding the …

From Hanging To Nitrogen Hypoxia: The Evolution Of Execution And The Case For American Abolition, Anna Kuhlman

The International Law Review Association Student Forum

The death penalty has been a dark fixture in societal punishment for most of human history. It has allowed for grisly, violent executions of people found guilty of misconduct relative to the culture they live in. “The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century BCE in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes.” The first death sentence on record was a member of nobility in 16th-century BCE Egypt, where the wrongdoer was accused of magic and ordered to commit suicide. In the seventh century B.C.E., …

Solving The Public Defense Crisis In Kansas, Malia N. Brink, Pamela R. Metzger

Deason Center Reports

Kansas has a constitutional obligation to provide counsel to any arrested person who cannot afford to hire a private attorney. But attorney shortages in Kansas threaten this core constitutional right. According to the American Bar Association, there are an average of four attorneys per 1,000 people nationwide. However, only six of Kansas’s 105 counties have two or more attorneys per 1,000 people. In 44 counties, there is just one attorney or fewer per 1,000 residents. The situation is particularly worrisome in rural Kansas. In 2023, nearly half of Kansas’s population lived in rural counties, but 80% of its lawyers lived …

Dissecting The Frog: How A Meme Explains The Westlaw/Lexis And Generational Divide, Sam Williams

SMU Law Review Forum

One of the most controversial elements of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris was a drag show during the opening ceremony that allegedly parodied Christianity by recreating Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. A legal meme emerged showing both images side by side, labeling da Vinci’s painting “Westlaw” and the drag show “Lexis.” In this article, I explain why this meme is funny by showing how the differences between Westlaw and Lexis+, and legal minds’ attitudes towards those differences, offer fascinating parallels to this controversy. Westlaw’s print-focused, grid-oriented organization and aesthetic might appeal to the trained legal mind, but …

Emortgage And Crypto-Mortgage In Home Finance, Julia Patterson Forrester Rogers

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Most home mortgage loans today are documented on physical paper, but they are increasingly closed as eMortgages. The move to electronic documents is inevitable and will ultimately be a positive change for lenders and borrowers. However, additional regulation is needed to address issues raised by electronic home mortgage closings and the “crypto-mortgage,” a mortgage loan with the obligation evidenced by or tethered to a non-fungible token.

Lenders have traditionally required that home mortgage loans be evidenced by a wet-signed paper promissory note to gain the advantages and the certainty of Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) governing negotiable …

Breaking Kayfabe, Thomas B. Bennett

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The membership of the Supreme Court affects how it decides cases. This maxim is well accepted among the public. But it is exceedingly rare for Supreme Court opinions to acknowledge this fact, even when it provides the best explanation for the Court’s behavior. And in the unusual instance in which Supreme Court opinions do refer to changes in the Court’s membership, it is jarring. This Article explores two questions that flow from these uncontroversial facts. First, why does it happen so rarely? Second, why does it happen at all?

To answer these questions, the Article looks to an unusual source: …

Reevaluating Felon-In-Possession Laws After Bruen And The War On Drugs, Laura Ginsberg Abelson

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The legal landscape surrounding firearm possession is evolving rapidly. In 2022, the Supreme Court accelerated its expansion of the individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. Since Bruen, courts around the country have struck down nearly all types of firearm regulations, with a notable exception: felon-in-possession laws. This Article examines the implications of a legal landscape where those who have prior felony convictions, and especially prior drug convictions, are punished harshly for the same behavior—possession of a firearm—that is constitutionally protected for nearly everyone else. I argue …

The Tenth Anniversary Of Marriage Equality: How Traditional Marriage Law Led To Constitutional Protection For Same-Sex Marriage, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This essay explores how the history of interstate marriage recognition law was central to the Supreme Court’s recognition of constitutional protection for the right of same-sex couples to marry. Prior to the 1990s, there were essentially no laws on same-sex marriage in the United States. That changed in the 1990s, when the Hawaii Supreme Court issued a ruling in Baehr v. Lewin that made authorization of same-sex marriage seem inevitable in that state. The threat fueled the adoption first of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996 and then mini-DOMAs in most states. Those laws were broad and …

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Reframe: A New Interpretive Framework For Non-Governmental Entity Responsibility In Outer Space, Steven E. Bartz

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The mainstream interpretation of State responsibility for Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) with respect to their commercial operations in outer space may hinder the further development of the commercial space industry. Specifically, that interpretation produces broad responsibility for nation-states (States) under international law and derivative consequences for States and NGEs, but the international space community might avoid the otherwise harsh practical consequences that are likely to hamper the continued growth of commercial activities by NGEs in outer space by reexamining and reinterpreting a few aspects of existing law. This article (1) examines mainstream interpretations of State responsibility for NGEs with respect to …