Law Commons^™

Eyes On The Prize, Head In The Sand: Filling The Due Process Vacuum In Federally Administered Contests, Steven L. Schooner, Nathaniel E. Castellano

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The article introduces readers to the recent proliferation of federal prize contests, which sovereigns have employed, albeit sporadically, since the mid-sixteenth century to incentivize breakthrough innovation. In the past decade, the federal government’s use of prize contests has skyrocketed, which makes sense in an era of constrained government resources. Prize contests offer seemingly unlimited potential to break through existing technological barriers at less expense than traditional innovation incentivizing tools such as contracts, grants, and patents. But that upside potential comes at a cost.

For every ebullient prizewinner, there are potentially innumerable “losers,” many of whom feel wronged, exploited, or, at …

Prizes! Innovating, Risk Shifting, And Avoiding Contracts And Grants, Steven L. Schooner, Nathaniel E. Castellano

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This short piece introduces prizes (or prize contests), which have become the darling of the Obama administration. Public managers increasingly find prizes more attractive than the more conventional and heavily regulated vehicles that they replace, contracts and grants. The paper explains some of the advantages of this increasingly popular approach and signals a cautionary note, particularly to contestants. Unfortunately, the government has not yet provided a straightforward means for contestants to obtain meaningful review if and when disputes arise. Accordingly, the authors suggest that, while shifting risk to the private sector is fair game, contest-sponsoring agencies should respect the private …

Rhetoric Versus Reality In Arbitration Jurisprudence: How The Supreme Court Flaunts And Flunks Contracts (And Why Contracts Teachers Need Not Teach The Cases), Lawrence A. Cunningham

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Supreme Court rhetoric about the role of contracts and contract law in arbitration jurisprudence differs sharply from the reality of its applications. In the name of contracts, the Court administers a self-declared national policy favoring arbitration, a policy directly benefiting the judicial branch of government. This often puts the Court’s preferences ahead of those of contracting parties while declaring its mission as solely to enforce contracts in accordance with contract law. The Court thus cloaks in the rhetoric of volition a policy in tension with constitutionally-pedigreed access to justice and venerable principles of federalism.

This Article documents the rhetoric-reality gap …

Ensuring A 'Yes-Pets' Rule, Joan Schaffner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

For many people, their companion animal is their "life-line." Almost 65% of all US households have a companion animal. Moreover, it is well-documented that living with a companion animal is therapeutic. Unfortunately, obtaining housing that allows companion animals can be very difficult. It is common for rental leases to prohibit companion animals. Moreover, many mobile home parks, cooperatives, condominiums and homeowners associations are banning companion animals, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for people to benefit from the love of a companion animal. Last but not least, many homeless animals are needlessly destroyed because no-pet rules eliminate options for placing them. …

Ipse Dixit: The Restatement (Second) Of Contracts And The Modern Development Of Contract Law, Gregory E. Maggs

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article considers how courts have responded to the inclusion of six innovative rules in the Restatement (Second) of the Law of Contracts. It observes that most courts simply have deferred to the new rules. In the vast majority of cases, courts gave no reasons for their decisions to embrace the six rules. They simply cited them as they would cite a statute or code and did not question their authority. This practice raises an important normative question: Should courts follow the Restatement (Second) as readily as they currently do? The article concludes that, although some arguments counsel against deference …

Reconstructing Langdell, W. Burlette Carter

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article traces the development of the modern American law school curriculum including the case method, as designed by Christopher Columbus Langdell and the Socratic method as implemented by James Barr Ames; discusses early tensions between law schools and the American Bar Association and the ultimate triumph of law schools as the primary method of law study and frames the Langdell legacy for a modern time.