Law Commons^™

On The Relevance Of The Admissibility Of Scientific Evidence: Tort System Outcomes Are Principally Determined By Lawyers’ Rates Of Return, Lester Brickman

Cardozo Law Review

The attention generated by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reflects the perceived importance of the issue of the admissibility of scientific evidence in tort litigation. In products liability litigation, whether claimants prevail often depends upon expert testimony presented on the issue of causation. Unless a claimant is able to have the expert's testimony admitted, there will be little or no chance of prevailing. Thus, though it is disputed whether Daubert will extend or contract tort liability, it is undisputed that its importance lies in its impact on the scope of tort liability.

Taking Daubert’S “Focus” Seriously: The Methodology/Conclusion Distinction, Kenneth J. Chesebro

Cardozo Law Review

Last June's United States Supreme Court decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., rejected the Frye "general acceptance" test for scientific evidence, and went on to make "some general observations" about proper admissibility analysis under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Daubert was the Court's first decision squarely addressing the expert testimony provisions of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and United States Law Week called Daubert "probably the most important procedural case of the term."

Dna And Daubert, Barry C. Scheck

Cardozo Law Review

The most intriguing aspect of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is that the Supreme Court never applied its new analytic framework for the admissibility of scientific evidence to the facts of the case. Either the deviltry, or the genius, of the Daubert decision lies in the details.

Daubert: Interpreting The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Paul C. Giannelli

Cardozo Law Review

In 1992 Judge Becker and Professor Orenstein referred to the Frye issue - the admissibility of novel scientific evidence-as the "most controversial and important unresolved question" in the Federal Rules of Evidence. Indeed, during the prior decade the federal courts had battled over the issue, as had their state counterparts. Similarly, text writers and law review commentators vigorously disagreed about the proper standard for admitting scientific evidence. While one ABA report on the Federal Rules explored the Frye issue and concluded that it "is not clear that any standard would produce agreement at the moment," another report cited it as …

On The Threshold Of Ethics, Adam Thurschwell

Cardozo Law Review

Can the judiciary exercise its authority to interpret the law without committing itself to particular, substantive views of the Good? If not, can law maintain its legitimacy in a democratic society when this legitimacy rests on the state's democratic claim to neutrality vis-i-vis the competing moral visions of its citizens? The fear addressed by these questions-the familiar "counter-majoritarian difficulty"-is that unelected judges will irresponsibly impose their individual moral preferences on an unwilling citizenry. The traditional answer is that interpretation requires no recourse to moral or ethical judgment, because case outcomes may be rationally determined from precedent and other authoritative legal …

Table Of Contents - Cardozo Law Review, Volume 15, Issue 5

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Looking For Rights In All The Wrong Places: Resolving Custody Disputes In Divorce Proceedings, Katherine Hunt Federle

Cardozo Law Review

Eleven-year-old Shane P. left the office of his court-appointed law guardian in tears. Already upset by the escalating custody battle between his divorcing parents, Shane told his father that he wanted to "get rid of" his law guardian and subsequently sent her a letter notifying her that she was fired. Influenced, in part, by the case of Gregory K., Shane then retained the services of another attorney with funds provided by his father. Although the trial judge initially ruled that only the court could dismiss the law guardian who had been appointed to represent Shane's best interests, the judge subsequently …

"Reading At The Limit", Elizabeth Weed

Cardozo Law Review

In the future, when we reflect upon the phenomenon of "postmodernity," we may be most surprised by its permissiveness. Accustomed as we are to the blurring of genres and disciplinary boundaries, we can forget that the disciplinary gates have been open only a few decades and that they may well close again. Of course, philosophers have always moved freely within the discipline of the law; historians and sociologists have had their place; and now, literary critics and feminist theorists move there as well, through Critical Legal Studies (PoL pp. 100-05), feminist studies (PoL pp. 100-03), critical race theory, …

The Fallacies Of Contemporary Fraudulent Transfer Models As Applied To Intercorporate Guaranties: Fradulent Transfer Law As A Fuzzy System, Jack F. Williams

Cardozo Law Review

Fraudulent transfers and obligations are as varied as fish in the sea. Gifts by insolvents, bogus sales by a debtor to his or her relative, highly leveraged transactions, recapitalizations, real property foreclosures-none escapes the panoptic scrutiny of fraudulent transfer law. Some of these transfers have no legitimate business purpose and are easily condemned, while others are economically beneficial and are not so easily or confidently dispatched.

Beyond Reasonable Accommodation: The Availability And Structure Of A Cause Of Action For Workplace Harassment Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Frank S. Ravitch

Cardozo Law Review

Employment discrimination law has undergone a metamorphosis in the last few years. New legislation and judicial interpretation of existing legislation have broadened the rights available to the victims of discrimination, and have created new duties with which employers must comply. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act added one of the largest pieces to the new employment discrimination puzzle. Because the ADA is still in the early stages of development, it is essential to define the bases for potential causes of action under the Act, and to delineate workable structures for analyzing those causes of action.

Leave No Child Behind, Marian Wright Edelman

Cardozo Law Review

The forty-sixth Cardozo Memorial Lecture, delivered in memory of Benjamin N. Cardozo at the House of the Association on December 17, 1992.

Adequate Protection Payments And The Surrender Of Cash Collateral In Chapter 11 Reorganization, David G. Carlson

Cardozo Law Review

The Bankruptcy Code is deeply confused about the metaphysics of the undersecured creditor. In general, it wants to stop the clock on creditor claims. Creditor claims are allowed as of the day of the bankruptcy petition; they may not grow over time. Thus, postpetition interest is forbidden, because this would admit that time exists. But, inconsistently, postpetition interest is allowed to oversecured creditors-though only to the extent of the equity cushion. Thus, time is not abolished for oversecured creditors. Yet every oversecured creditor is implicitly an undersecured creditor, and perhaps vice versa. That is to say, once an equity …

Doctor Duxbury’S Cure: Or, A Note On Legal Historiography, Peter Goodrich

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Language And Materialism, Christina Crosby

Cardozo Law Review

A report issued by the United Nations recently predicted that "[i]t will take nearly 1,000 years for women to gain the same economic and political clout as men if current trends continue." Indeed, when one reflects on the wrongs done worldwide to women-the silent violence of exploitation and indifference, the pervasive violence of disgust and contempt, the brutal violence of murder and mutilationone wonders, first, whether even a millennium will bring "equal representation in 'the higher echelons of political and economic power,' and second, whether anything would really be changed if women one day come to exercise the same "clout" …

Adoption Nightmares Prompt Judicial Recognition Of The Tort Of Wrongful Adoption: Will New York Follow Suit?, Marci J. Blank

Cardozo Law Review

On May 13, 1966, Martin and Phyllis Juman adopted a sixteenmonth-old baby boy named Michael. The adoption agency, Louise Wise Services, represented to the Jumans that Michael was healthy. However, over the past twenty-seven years, Michael, now twentyeight, has experienced a myriad of psychological problems and has been hospitalized on several occasions.

Lev V. Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Rabbinical Court, Aharon Barak, Dov Levin, Shlomo Levin

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

Petitioner 1 and Respondent 3 were in divorce proceedings. In the context of a suit for marital reconciliation filed by Respondent 3, he requested that Respondent 1 prevent Petitioner 1 from leaving the country. His request was granted. Petitioner 1 requested that the order be vacated because her trip was intended as a vacation with her eldest daughter as well as for conducting business …

Dayan V. Wilk, Aharon Barak, Shlomo Levin, Eliezer Goldberg

Translated Opinions

Facts: The petitioner applied for a permit to hold an assembly directly outside the home of Rabbi Ovadya Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas political party. The District Commissioner of Police refused the permit, because it would violate the rights of privacy of the rabbi, his family and his neighbours.

Held: It is necessary to balance the petitioner’s right to freedom of assembly against the right of privacy of the public figure, his family and his neighbours. According to Vice-President Barak, these rights are of equal importance: in principle there is a right to hold an assembly outside the private …

Hoffman V. Director Of The Western Wall, Menachem Elon, Meir Shamgar, Shlomo Levin

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.] 

Facts:

The two petitions concern the arrangements for prayer in the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem.

The Petitioners request to conduct prayer services in the Western Wall Plaza, while carrying Torah scrolls and wearing tallitot [prayer shawls]. The Petitioners in HCJ 257/89 seek to conduct “prayer groups” that read from the Torah. The Petitioners in HCJ 2410/90 represent some one-thousand women who are members …

Settle Or Sue: What Else Can I Do?, Lela P. Love

Articles

No abstract provided.

Tax Policy V. Revenue Policy: Qualified Plans, Tax Expenditures, And The Flat, Plan Level Tax, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

No abstract provided.

Federalist Society Roundtable Discussion, Timothy Dyk, Robert Bork, Nadine Strossen, John O. Mcginnis, Theodore B. Olson

Articles

This discussion took place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on October 12, 1993.

Response To Bert Van Roermund, Richard H. Weisberg

Articles

The article responds to Bert van Roermund's arguments about the relationship between law and literature, emphasizing that literature serves as a unique jurisprudential source when it mimetically imitates legal expression. The author argues that literature's value lies in its ability to capture the narrative structures of legal communication, particularly in genres like the novel or novella, which self-consciously replicate legal narrativity. This mimetic quality distinguishes literature from other forms of art and makes it uniquely relevant to legal theory.

Justice Byron White And The Argument That The Greater Includes The Lesser, Michael E. Herz

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Marginal Relevance Of Choice Of Law Theory, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

The article critiques the current state of choice of law theory, arguing that existing methodologies, such as interest analysis and territorial approaches, fail to provide a coherent framework for judicial decision-making. It contends that these theories are overly rigid and do not account for the practical, fact-driven nature of how judges make choices. The author proposes a new test based on expressive similarity to address the complexities of modern copyright disputes, aiming to distinguish between protected expression and unprotected ideas. This approach seeks to balance the protection of creative works with the need to prevent overprotection, which could streamline litigation …

Artificial Impairment And The Single Asset Chapter 11 Case, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article critiques the use of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for single asset real estate cases, arguing that the doctrine of artificial impairment undermines the purpose of Chapter 11 by allowing creditors to bypass valuation and unfairly dismiss cases without merit. It contends that the repeal of section 1124(3) in 1994 has created uncertainty about the viability of artificial impairment as a tactic, while courts and creditors continue to grapple with the classification and treatment of claims in these cases.

Is Article 8 Finally Ready This Time? The Radical Reform Of Secured Lending On Wall Street, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

The article critiques the 1977 proposed amendments to Articles 8 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), arguing that while they aim to modernize securities law by replacing the outdated physical possession metaphor with the concept of "control," they fail to adequately address the complexities of indirect holdings through intermediaries. The revisions introduce "supernegotiability," prioritizing secured creditors over customers, but raise ethical concerns about rewarding dishonest behavior and potentially undermining consumer protections. The article concludes that while the changes improve market efficiency and clarity, further refinements are needed to balance the interests of all stakeholders.

Saving Public Television: The Remand Of Turner Broadcasting And The Future Of Cable Regulation, Monroe E. Price, Donald W. Hawthorne

Articles

The article critiques the Supreme Court's decision in *Turner Broadcasting* for failing to adequately address key First Amendment issues, particularly the distinction between commercial and noncommercial broadcasters. While the Court focused on historical context and government-media relationships, it overlooked the unique role of noncommercial broadcasters in serving public interests like education and culture. The authors argue for a more nuanced First Amendment approach that supports public interest media without infringing on free speech rights, urging courts to recognize the value of noncommercial broadcasting.

1994-1995, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Student Handbooks

No abstract provided.

1994 Cardozo Life (Winter) Special Section, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Life Magazine

Table of Contents:

The Classroom at Cardozo, page 1

Our Goals, page 1

The Faculty, page 1

The First-Year Curriculum, page 1

The Upperclass Curriculum, page 1

International Law, page 1

Science and Technology, page 2

Entertainment, Communications and the Arts, page 2

Business Law, page 2

Jurisprudence, page 3

Law and Literature, page 3

Alternative Dispute Resolution, page 3

Public Service, page 4

Remember The Sabbath? The New York Blue Laws And The Future Of The Establishment Clause, Marc A. Stadtmauer

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.