Law Commons^™

Tax Shelter Malpractice Cases And Their Implications For Tax Compliance , Jay A. Soled

American University Law Review

In malpractice lawsuits, taxpayers prevailed in courtrooms, around arbitration tables, and in settlement negotiations against peddlers of abusive tax shelters. This analysis illustrates how the tax shelter malpractice experience embodies many virtues that yield tax compliance. From these virtues emerge several important lessons on how to curb aggressive tax planning. Evident from these virtues and lessons is that malpractice litigation is a powerful tool in the sphere of tax compliance, and, where possible, reforms should be instituted to further promote its use.

Intolerable Situations And Counsel For Children: Following Switzerland's Example In Hague Abduction Cases , Merle H. Weiner

American University Law Review

In the twilight days of 2007, Switzerland took decisive action to protect children who were being harmed by the application of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ("Hague Abduction Convention" or "Convention"). 1 Its Parliament passed the Federal Act on International Child Abduction and the Hague Conventions on the Protection of Children and Adults ("Swiss Act"). 2 The Swiss Act, which should enter into force in mid-2009, 3 gives important and necessary guidance to Swiss courts about the phrase "intolerable situation" in Article 13(b) of the Hague Abduction Convention. 4 The Swiss Act also directs …

Mercury Rising: The Omnibus Autism Proceeding And What Families Should Know Before Rushing Out Of Vaccine Court, Gordon Shemin

American University Law Review

This Comment sheds light on the “opt-out” provision of the Vaccine Act. It namely discusses the effect of short-form petitions and their impact on subsequent civil action, by examining consequences flowing from the Omnibus Autism Proceeding. In short, it argues that the Vaccine Court erred with its decision to permit short-form petitions by overlooking that procedure’s long-term implications on vaccine plaintiffs. In addition, this Comment lays out a scenario to illustrate the potential pitfalls of a hasty exit from the OAP and offers some guidance to plaintiffs to avoid this outcome. The final part of this Comment offers some ideas …

Candor, Zeal, And The Substitution Of Judgment: Ethics And The Mentally Ill Criminal Defendant , John D. King

American University Law Review

This Article explores the tension between autonomy and paternalism that characterizes the attorney-client relationship when a criminal defense attorney represents a mentally impaired client. Specifically, the Article analyzes the ethical frameworks that constrain the discretion of the attorney in this situation and proposes a new paradigm for ethical decisionmaking when an attorney represents a marginally competent client.

The criminal defense attorney is both a zealous advocate for her client and an officer of the legal system. In representing a marginally competent client, the initial ethical dilemma facing the attorney is whether she has an obligation to alert the court to …

Disparity In Copyright Protection: Focus On The Finished Image Ignores The Art In The Details , Karen D. Williams

American University Law Review

Courts initial reactions play a major role in the assessment of copyright protection. A quick recognition of pictorial quality can result in an easy finding of originality. Based upon the extremely low threshold, such a quick summation is not surprising or necessarily refutable. However, the blanket assumption of a pictorial quality in photography creates a disparity in copyright protection for works of graphic design, like maps, which may not emit that immediate pictorial or aesthetic quality but may still employ creative choice. Those works that “scream” their pictorial nature get cursory review while the more subtle are being categorized as …

To Abstain Or Not To Abstain: A New Framework For Application Of The Abstention Doctrine In International Parallel Proceedings, Jocelyn H. Bush

American University Law Review

It is obvious to most that the ties between people and businesses in different countries have increased dramatically in recent years. One of the effects of this globalization of the world’s economies and societies is an increase in international or transnational litigation. As traveling and conducting business across international borders becomes easier and cheaper, and the number of international business transactions increases, so too have the number of lawsuits involving parties and transactions or occurrences from different countries. This development has led to a corresponding increase in the number of lawsuits before United States courts which are similar, or indeed …

Should Summary Judgment Be Granted?, Bradley Scott Shannon

American University Law Review

This article discusses (and criticizes) the recent change from "shall" to "should" in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 to describe the standard by which a federal district court is to decide a "properly made and supported" motion for summary judgment. The article concludes that the text of Rule 56, which formally provided that such a motion "shall" be granted, cannot plausibly be construed as meaning "should"; that this change was not supported by those authorities cited by the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee; and that, as a normative matter, "should" is an inappropriate standard in this context. Federal district …

Are You Still My Mother, Interstate Recognition Of Adoption By Gays And Lesbians , Rhonda Wasserman

American University Law Review

Parents and their biological children routinely cross state borders safe in the assumption that the parent-child relationship will be recognized wherever they go. The central issue raised in this Article is whether the law guarantees parents and their adopted children the same security if the parents are gay. This question is part of a broader debate about the obligation of states to recognize changes in family status effected under the laws of other states, such as same-sex marriages and migratory divorces. The debate is divisive because it pits the family against the state; one state against another; and the needs …

Say Cheese! Examining The Constitutionality Of Photostops, Molly Bruder

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Weighing Influence: Employment Discrimination And The Theory Of Subordinate Bias Liability, Keaton Wong

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enacting A Reasonable Federal Shield Law: A Reply To Professors Clymer And Eliason, James Thomas Tucker, Wermiel

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Problems With The Reporter's Privilege, Eliason D. Eliason

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Left Out In The Cold - Welcome Remarks, Nadine Strossen

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transcript: Left Out In The Cold? The Chilling Of Speech, Association, And The Press In Post-9/11 America , American University Law Review

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reforming Fourth Amendment Privacy Doctrine, Jim Harper

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deep Background: Journalists, Sources, And The Perils Of Leaking, William E. Lee

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

, Mary Ellen Coster Williams

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Espionage Act And National Security Whistleblowing After Garcetti, Stephen I. Vladeck

American University Law Review

Should government employees ever have a right to disseminate classified national security information to the public? As a general matter, of course, the answer is "no." It is necessarily tautological that the central purpose of classifying information is to keep that information secret. But what if the information pertains to what we might describe as "unlawful secrets," and the individual in question has exhausted all possible non-public remedies - and to no avail? Are there any circumstances in which the law enables the government employee to come forward? Should there be? As this Essay suggests, because of the broad language …

Does The Supreme Court Still Matter?, Timothy B. Dyk

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Acquiring Innovation, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

American University Law Review

In recent years, the innovation market has witnessed a new business model involving companies that are mere patent holding shells and not operating entities. They have no customers or products to offer, but they do have an aggressive tactic of using patent portfolios to threaten other operating companies with potential infringement litigation. The strategy is executed with the end goal of extracting handsome settlements. Acquisitions of patents for offensive use have become a major concern to operating companies because such acquisitions pose the threats of patent injunction, interrupting the business and crippling further innovation. While many operating companies today know …

2007 Patent Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Dean L. Fanelli, Victor N. Balancia, Robert J. Smyth, Carl P. Bretscher, Arthur M. Antonelli, Mark J. Sullivan, Kent E. Basson

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2007 Trademark Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Susan M. Kayser, David Jaquette

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

2007 International Trade Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Munford Page Hall Ii, Michael S. Lee

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Speaking Against Norms: Public Discourse And The Economy Of Racialization In The Workplace, Terry Smith

American University Law Review

Free speech controversies erupt from reactions to outlier voices, and these voices are often those of subordinated citizens such as racial minorities. Employing the tools of narrative, interviews with litigants and subjects, and interdisciplinary analysis of case law, Professor Terry Smith probes whether the social inequality of government employees of color affects the rigor of the First Amendment protection afforded their speech. Professor Smith argues that all public sector employees lack sufficient protection because their speech typically does not receive the highest constitutional scrutiny and because of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos, which stripped public sector …

Arbitrary And F^@#$*! Capricious: An Analysis Of The Second Circuit's Rejection Of The Fcc's Fleeting Expletive Regulation In Fox Television Stations, Inc. V. Fcc (2007), Justin Winquist

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Blocking Access To Assets: Compromising Civil Rights To Protect National Security Or Unconstitutional Infringement On Due Process And The Right To Hire An Attorney? , Danielle Stampley

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Big Boi, Dr. Seuss, And The King: Expanding The Constitutional Protections For The Satirical Use Of Famous Trademarks , Aaron Jaroff

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vicarious Criminal Liability And The Constitutional Dimensions Of Pinkerton, Alex Kreit

American University Law Review

This article considers what limits the constitution places on holding someone criminally liable for another's conduct. While vicarious criminal liability is often criticized, there is no doubt that it is constitutionally permissible as a general matter. Under the long-standing felony murder doctrine, for example, if A and B rob a bank and B shoots and kills a security guard, A can be held criminally liable for the murder. What if, however, A was not involved in the robbery but instead had a completely separate conspiracy with B to distribute cocaine? What relationship, if any, does the constitution require between A's …

Tactical Ineffective Assistance In Capital Trials, Kyle Graham

American University Law Review

Are defense attorneys sandbagging in their death-penalty cases? In Poindexter v. Mitchell, a habeas corpus case decided in 2006, Chief Judge Danny Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit wrote that by conducting a deliberately defective investigation into mitigation evidence that might otherwise have been presented at the penalty phase of a capital trial, a defense attorney can virtually guarantee that any death sentence the jury returns will be vacated in later proceedings. The likelihood of such an outcome, Boggs wrote, will more than make up for the somewhat greater chance that a jury that …

Tributes: The Honorable Irma S. Raker, Robert M. Bell, Glenn T. Harrell, Mary Ellen Barbera, Andrew L. Sonner, David A. Aaronson, Elizabeth I. Boals, Anthony C. Morella, Bruce A. Fredrickson, Barlow Burke, Linda D. Schwartz, Gerard M. Babendreir

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.