Law Commons^™

Reflections On The Practice Of Law As A Religious Calling, From A Perspective Of Jewish Law And Ethics, Samuel J. Levine

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This Essay is based on introductory remarks Levine delivered at the inaugural conference of the Pepperdine Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, "Can the Ordinary Practice of Law be a Religious Calling?," held on February 6-7, 2004 at Pepperdine University School of Law. In thinking about the practice of law as a religious calling, Levine argues that we should first consider the broader issue of the general relevance of religion to various areas of life, including work. From a perspective of Jewish law and ethics, moral conduct comprises an imperative at home and at the workplace no less than at …

Paper Versus Electronic Sources For Law Review Cite Checking: Should Paper Be The Gold Standard?, April Schwartz, Mary Rumsey

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Despite law students' reliance on electronic sources for legal research, a survey confirmed that many journals make their staff members check authors' citations against paper sources. Rumsey and Schwartz argue that the advent of image-based document collections should change this practice, making life easier for law students and law school librarians.

Problem-Solving Advocacy In Mediations: A Model Of Client Representation, Harold Abramson

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Many sophisticated and experienced litigators realize that mediation calls for a different approach, but they still muddle through the mediation sessions. They are learning on the job. Even though many attorneys prefer a problem-solving approach to negotiations, attorneys are still in the early stages of figuring out how to do it in mediations. Many attorneys went to law school before courses on dispute resolution were offered, and the dispute resolution courses that have emerged in law schools over the last twenty-five years have been largely limited to teaching students to be mediators, not advocates. Continuing legal education programs are only …

Identifying State Actors In Constitutional Litigation: Reviving The Role Of Substantive Context, Michael L. Wells

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While most section 1983 suits are brought against local governments and officials, an increasing number of plaintiffs target private persons and businesses who have collaborated with government in one way or another. In such cases, plaintiffs claim that private entities have acted "under color of state law" in violation of the plaintiffs' rights. They must establish that the defendants are nonetheless "state actors" in order to prevail on the constitutional claims they raise. The broad range of cases includes, among others, efforts to obtain relief against creditors who use self-help remedies, litigation directed at persons who have cooperated with state …

School Funding Litigation: Who's Winning The War?, John Dayton, Anne Proffitt Dupre

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This Article examines how the landscape of school funding litigation has changed over the three decades since Serrano and Rodriguez. The first part of the Article sets forth the history of school funding litigation since Serrano and Rodriguez and unravels the legal theories that have driven the school financing cases, explaining past dispositions and point out likely future trends. At first blush it would appear that the attorneys seeking social change through greater equity in school funding are litigating similar issues in each state. Yet judges have approached these matters from different directions with results that vary significantly from state …

Law Student Field Projects In Community Law, Fran Ansley

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An online teaching and learning portfolio.

The Green Development Movement: Smart Growth With A Green Label, Patricia E. Salkin

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No abstract provided.

Employment Discrimination Remedies And Tax Gross Ups, Gregg D. Polsky, Stephen F. Befort

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This article considers whether a successful employment discrimination plaintiff may be entitled, under current law, to receive an augmented award (a gross up) to neutralize certain adverse federal income tax consequences. The question of whether such a gross up is allowed, the resolution of which can have drastic effects on litigants, has received almost no attention from practitioners, judges, and academics. Because of the potentially enormous impact of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on discrimination lawsuit recoveries, however, the gross up issue is now beginning to appear in reported cases.

The three principal federal anti-discrimination statutes - Title VII, the …

Toward A Contractual Approach To Arbitral Immunity, Peter B. Rutledge

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This Article breaks from conventional wisdom in both case law and scholarship. It proposes a simple but novel thesis: Arbitrators and arbitral institutions, in cases of voluntary submission of disputes, should not be entitled to any form of legal immunity. Instead, any limit on or waiver of the arbitrator's or institution's liability should come in the form of a contractual release-either adopted in the parties' arbitration agreement or negotiated between the parties and the arbitrator.

Central to this thesis is a distinction between two types of immunity. The first form of immunity is “contractual immunity.” The hallmark of contractual immunity …

An End Of Term Exam: October Term 2003 At The Supreme Court Of The United States, Peter B. Rutledge, Nicole L. Angarella

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The goal of this Essay is to provide a resource of digestible proportions that any Court watcher (judge, lawyer, professor, student) can use to inform himself or herself about current developments at the Court. While the Essay discusses how the current Term compares to past ones, it does not do so simply as an exercise in dry social science. Instead, it highlights those trends of interest to both the scholar and the practitioner. Likewise, while the Essay discusses particular cases, it does not simply summarize facts and holdings. Instead, it places those doctrinal developments in a larger context, analyzes them, …

Foreword: Rethinking Reconstruction After Iraq, Diane Marie Amann

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Foreword to a symposium held on March 12, 2004 by the UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy. Entitled “Rethinking Reconstruction After Iraq,” the symposium was designated a regional meeting of the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association, and further was sponsored by the American National Section of the International Association of Penal Law and the International Human Rights Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

I Do Know How She Does It (But Sometimes I Wish I Didn't), Rebecca White

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I care deeply about the issue of women's attrition from the legal profession. Admittedly, I have not written any scholarly work on this exact topic. When I learned who the other symposium guests were and how much extensive work they have done on this subject, I was left to wonder what I could contribute to our discussion. I have not conducted any empirical studies; I do not have any new and brilliant insight. What I do have, is experience. I have performed ‘the juggling act’ that simultaneous full-time lawyering and mothering requires. I have worked part-time in a large law …

Race And Equality Across The Law School Curriculum: The Law Of Tax Exemption, David A. Brennen

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What is the relevance of race to tax law? The race issues are apparent when one studies a subject like constitutional law. The Constitution concerns itself explicitly with such matters as defining rights of citizenship, allocating powers of government, and determining rights with respect to property. Given the history of our country -- with slavery followed by periods of de jure and de facto racial discrimination -- these constitutional law matters obviously must have racial dimensions.

Tax law, however, does not generally concern itself explicitly with matters of race. Tax law is often thought of as completely race neutral in …

"May It Please The Camera,...I Mean The Court"--An Intrajudicial Solution To An Extrajudicial Problem, Lonnie T. Brown

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This Article explores the depths of the ethical issues presented when lawyers zealously advocate on behalf of their clients to the media, as well as the negative public policy ramifications that such behavior generates. The latter effect most seriously signals the need for reform in this area. Part II of the Article provides insight into the principal source of the problem--the ineffectiveness of the existing regulatory devices. This section traces the evolution of the ethical rules that pertain to public commentary by lawyers from the early days of steadfast condemnation to the modern appraoch of cautious equivocation. It also considers …

Two Early Codes, The Ten Commandments And The Twelve Tables: Causes And Consequences, Alan Watson

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Comments on the legal history of the ten commandments and the Roman Twelve Tables, and a comparison of the two legal collections. This paper also discusses the peculiarities in the traditions behind the collection of these laws; and the rules of behavior between humans covered by these laws.

Between 'Merit Inquiry' And 'Rigorous Analysis': Using Daubert To Navigate The Gray Areas Of Federal Class Action Certification, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

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In recent years, the class action certification hearing has become the latest forum for disputes over the reliability of expert testimony. Since these hearings may involve complex technical matters, litigants frequently try to introduce expert testimony to either establish or challenge the basic requirements for class certification. Yet, most courts do not conduct a Daubert analysis before admitting expert testimony during certification, evaluate the evidence according to a uniform standard, or adequately weigh opposing expert opinions.

Even though the Federal Rules of Evidence codify procedures to ensure the reliability of expert testimony, courts have been reluctant to employ them during …

Necessity Never Made A Good Bargain: When Consumer Arbitration Agreements Prohibit Class Relief, Thomas V. Burch

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The American system of arbitration is constantly evolving. From the first formal arbitration tribunal in 1786—established by the New York Chamber of Commerce—to the creation of the Federal Arbitration Act in 1925—passed to suppress judicial hostility towards arbitration -- the system has continuously adapted to accommodate changing business practices and rising judicial concerns over the legitimacy of the institution. In fact, the system’s adaptation has been so effective that the Supreme Court now recognizes a “national policy favoring arbitration.” This “national policy” is the most recent phase of the arbitration evolution, and it raises several concerns. Most significantly, lower courts …

Report Of The Governor's Workers' Compensation Review Commission, Thomas A. Eaton, David B. Mustard

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The editors of the Georgia Law Review asked me to write this Foreword to explain why a government report of this nature should be published in an academic journal. I write solely in my capacity as a law professor--not as Chair of the Governor's Workers' Compensation Review Commission. My case, simply put, is that the Report illustrates how service and scholarship can go hand in hand.

Exceptions, Lawrence Raful

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No abstract provided.

The Use Of International Sources In Constitutional Opinion, Daniel M. Bodansky

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My argument for the use of international materials to interpret the Constitutional will proceed in four parts. First, I will argue that international law has a venerable history in constitutional interpretation. Second, I will argue that American courts and foreign courts are engaged in a common legal enterprise and could learn from one another. Third, I will argue that the text of certain constitutional provisions invites the use of international materials. Finally, I will argue that taking international opinion into account has strong pragmatic justifications.

The Embarrassing Rule Against Perpetuities, Peter A. Appel

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The Rule Against Perpetuities offers an opportunity for those who teach property or trusts and estates to review some of the major schools of jurisprudence and how accurately or inaccurately those schools characterize law and legal development. At first blush, the idea that the rule can be used to advance a student's mastery or consideration of theory seems absurd. But this essay will outline an innovative approach to the rule that allows those who teach it to mix theory in with the difficult problems that the rule creates.

The modern pedagogical approach to the rule treats it as an embarrassment …

Fifteen Famous Supreme Court Cases From Georgia, Dan T. Coenen

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John Inscoe, UGA professor of history and editor of the New Georgia Encyclopedia, invited Hosch Professor Dan T. Coenen to contribute a series of essays on the most significant U.S. Supreme Court cases that originated in the state of Georgia. This article, which proposes an unranked top 15 list, is built on this work.

International Norms In Constitutional Law, Michael Wells

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Whether the Supreme Court should look to international law in deciding constitutional issue depends largely on what is meant by "looking to" international law. Some international norms are legally binding on American courts, either because we have agreed to follow them by adopting treaties or because they form part of the federal common law. I certainly agree that the Supreme Court, like the rest of us, ought to obey these aspects of international law. But the role of international norms in American courts has recently attracted attention for a different reason. In Lawrence v. Texas the Supreme Court, overruling Bowers …

State Anti-Discrimination Law As A Model For Amending The Americans With Disabilities Act, Alex B. Long

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No abstract provided.

Let's Make It Official: Adding An Explicit Preplan Sale Process As An Alternative Exit From Bankruptcy, George Kuney

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No abstract provided.

The Aba, The Rules, And Professionalism: The Mechanics Of Self-Defeat And A Call For A Return To The Ethical, Moral, And Practical Approach Of The Canons, Benjamin H. Barton

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In this Article I argue that there was once a single animating goal for American legal ethics - providing moral, ethical, and practical guidance on practicing law. Throughout the 20th Century lawyer regulators worked to bisect that goal, and we now have two quite distinct, and frequently conflicting goals. On the one hand, bar regulators pushed ceaselessly to narrow the regulations governing lawyer conduct to black-letter minimum, and eliminated the broadly moral from the Rules. On the other hand, bar regulators sought to raise lawyers' ethical and moral standards through professionalism and other non-mandatory efforts.

These bisected goals clash in …

The Security Of Securitization And The Future Of Security, Thomas E. Plank

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The securitization of mortgage loans and other receivables benefits society and rests on a strong legal foundation. Securitization lowers the financing costs for borrowers and originators of loans by avoiding the costs imposed by the Bankruptcy Code on the secured creditors of operating companies. This article demonstrates how securitization avoids these costs by combining two long recognized legal devices, (1) a true sale of receivables to a buyer (2) that is a separate legal entity whose sole purpose is to finance the receivables. This structure separates the risks associated with the receivables, which creditors can more easily assess, from the …

Buying Stock In Tennessee: An Annotated Model Tennessee Stock Purchase Agreement, Joan Macleod Heminway

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The coauthors have constructed a model stock purchase agreement, annotated with footnotes on substantive law and legal drafting issues. This model is intended to be used as a research piece, teaching tool, and practitioner resource. This agreement is part of a series of acquisition agreements and related ancillary contracts and instruments published by 'Transactions: Tennessee Journal of Business Law' beginning in 2003.

Space Law In The 21st Century: Some Thoughts In Response To The Bush Administration's Space Initiative, Glenn Harlan Reynolds

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No abstract provided.

Unipolar Disorder: A European Perspective On U.S. Security Strategy, Diane Marie Amann

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Much has been said about the National Security Strategy that U.S. President George W. Bush released one year after the terrorist assaults of September 11, 2001. The Strategy's declaration that the United States would strike first to prevent attack even before an enemy possessed the capability to attack-a point in time much earlier than when tradition would have condoned an act of anticipatory self-defense-provoked considerable comment. Debate within America encompassed multiple points of view; nonetheless, and perhaps not surprisingly, much of the debate reflected an American perspective. This essay, in contrast, considers the Strategy from a European perspective, one that …