Law Commons^™

An Empirical Study Of Associate Satisfaction, Law Firm Culture, And The Effects Of Billable Hour Requirements - Part One, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This article considers billing practices, the effects of hourly billing pressure, and firm culture as reflected in a survey of associates in Texas law firms. Part I of this article reports the empirical information from the survey. This information includes insight into the toll an increase in billable hour requirements has taken on legal practitioners and the consequent affect on the legal field. Part II discusses what the data means and how it might be used to improve the outlook for attracting and retaining good associates.

Presidential Management Of The Administrative State: The Not-So-Unitary Executive, Robert V. Percival

Duke Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Psychology Of Accountability And Political Review Of Agency Rules, Mark Seidenfeld

Duke Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Economic Analysis Of Evidence Law: Common Sense On Stilts, Richard O. Lempert

Articles

There was a time when the empire of Law was not overrun by economists. The economists had their own fiefdoms to be sure-there was the Duchy of Antitrust and the Kingdom of Regulatory Law-but the economists lived in peace within these borders, welcoming many unlike themselves into their midst, only gently proselytizing their students in the first few classes of a term, and swearing fealty to the law. It is true that a few marauders from beyond the borders saw the wealth of the empire and sought to colonize it, but even the most daring, Archbishop Coase and Duke Gary …

Property Rights And Liability Rules: The Ex Ante View Of The Cathedral, Lucian Arye Bebchuk

Michigan Law Review

This Article aims to contribute to the study of how the law should allocate and protect entitlements in the presence of externalities. In their classic article published thirty years ago, Calabresi and Melamed studied such questions and offered what they labeled "one view of the Cathedral." I seek to add to the inquiry started by Calabresi and Melamed by offering an ex ante perspective and analyzing how allocations of entitlements affect parties' ex ante actions and investments. Suppose that an upstream Factory would benefit from an activity that would pollute a river and harm an activity conducted by a downstream …

Executive Compensation In America: Optimal Contracting Or Extraction Of Rents?, Lucian A. Bebchuk, Jesse M. Fried, David I. Walker

Faculty Scholarship

This paper develops an account of the role and significance of rent extraction in executive compensation. Under the optimal contracting view of executive compensation, which has dominated academic research on the subject, pay arrangements are set by a board of directors that aims to maximize shareholder value by designing an optimal principal-agent contract. Under the alternative rent extraction view that we examine, the board does not operate at arm's length; rather, executives have power to influence their own compensation, and they use their power to extract rents. As a result, executives are paid more than is optimal for shareholders and, …

Presidential Review As Constitutional Restoration, John O. Mcginnis

Duke Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tortious Interference And The Law Of Contract: The Case For Specific Performance Revisited, Deepa Varadarajan

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Of 1995: A Review Of Its Key Provisions And An Assessment Of Its Effects At The Close Of 2001, James A. Kassis

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Athlete Agent Legislation In The New Millenium: State Statutes And The Uniform Athlete Agents Act, Diane Sudia, Rob Remis

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

The Growth Of Ncaa Women's Rowing: A Financial, Ethical And Legal Analysis, Scott R. Rosner

Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law

No abstract provided.

The Pathological Politics Of Criminal Law, William J. Stuntz

Michigan Law Review

Substantive criminal law defines the conduct that the state punishes. Or does it? If the answer is yes, it should be possible, by reading criminal codes (perhaps with a few case annotations thrown in), to tell what conduct will land you in prison. Most discussions of criminal law, whether in law reviews, law school classrooms, or the popular press, proceed on the premise that the answer is yes. Law reform movements regularly seek to broaden or narrow the scope of some set of criminal liability rules, always on the assumption that by doing so they will broaden or narrow the …

Swallowing The Apple Whole: Improper Patent Use By Local Rule, Ellisen S. Turner

Michigan Law Review

During patent infringement litigation, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("FRCP") and the federal district court's local rules govern the parties' pretrial discovery and motion practice. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has adopted the most comprehensive local rules to date covering pretrial procedures in the patent litigation context. The Northern District of California Patent Local Rules ("Local Rules") may come to have a significant impact throughout the federal courts, as it appears that other jurisdictions and commentators are looking to the Local Rules for guidance. For instance, the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books recenlty received by Michigan Law Review.

Communis Opinio And The Methods Of Statutory Interpretation: Interpreting Law Or Changing Law, Michael P. Healy

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Interpretive methodology lies at the core of the Supreme Court's persistent modern debate about statutory interpretation. Supreme Court Justices have applied two fundamentally different methods of interpretation. One is the formalist method, which seeks to promote rule-of-law values and purports to constrain the discretion of judges by limiting them to the autonomous legal text. The second is the nonformalist or antiformalist method, which may consider the legislature's intent or purpose or other evidence as context for understanding the statutory text. The debate within the current Court is commonly framed and advanced by Justices Stevens and Scalia. Justice Scalia is now …

Burdine V. Johnson -- To Sleep, Perchance To Get A New Trial: Presumed Prejudice Arising From Sleeping Counsel, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Few images slice as deeply into our self-image as a fair society than that of a defendant on trial for his very life depending upon the services of an attorney who naps throughout the proceedings. Although this scenario is not new, the courts have yet to resolve definitively how they should respond to a defendant burdened with snoozing counsel. This note discusses the outcome of the latest attempt. UPDATE: While a conscious lawyer is presumably a requirement of due process, some jurisdictions make no similar demand that judges remain awake: see http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2007/273.html

Baker V. State And The Promise Of The New Judicial Federalism, Charles Baron, Lawrence Friedman

Charles H. Baron

In Baker v. State, the Supreme Court of Vermont ruled that the state constitution’s Common Benefits Clause prohibits the exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and protections of marriage. Baker has been praised by constitutional scholars as a prototypical example of the New Judicial Federalism. The authors agree, asserting that the decision sets a standard for constitutional discourse by dint of the manner in which each of the opinions connects and responds to the others, pulls together arguments from other state and federal constitutional authorities, and provides a clear basis for subsequent development of constitutional principle. This Article explores …

Imcremental Commitment And Reciprocity In A Real Time Public Goods Game, Bart Wilson, Robert Kurzban, Keving Mccabe, Vernon Smith

Bart J. Wilson

No abstract provided.

The President's Column, Jane Kent Gionfriddo

Jane Kent Gionfriddo

No abstract provided.

Diversity Issues In Gilbert, Arizona: Effectiveness Of Human Relations Commission For Resolving Human Rights Violations, Penny L. Willrich, Pamela M. Smith

Penny Willrich

In response to unwelcome, unattractive media attention and citizen political pressure, Mayor Cynthia Dunham of Gilbert, Arizona appointed 36 citizens to the Diversity Task Force in September 2000. Its purpose was to make recommendations to the town Council on issues of diversity. The town had been plagued for a number of years with incidents of violence, white supremacist gang intimidations and various other acts of discrimination. The stigma of a prejudiced community led to a negative perception that many wanted to correct. The Task Force recommended the creation of a human relations commission and identified eight critical social issues facing …

An Idea Schools Can Use: Lessons From Special Education Legislation, Terry Jean Seligmann

Terry Jean Seligmann

A look at the educational, legal and policy critiques of special education legislation within the context of current regular and special education reform proposals; a call for a commitment to an appropriate education for all children.

Once More Into The Bramble Bush: Duty, Causal Contribution, And The Extent Of Legal Responsibility, In Symposium, The John W. Wade Conference On The Third Restatement Of Torts, Richard W. Wright

Richard W. Wright

Courts, lawyers, law students, and academics continue to confuse the empirical issue of causal contribution with the distinct normative issues of tortious conduct and legal injury, which precede and frame the causal-contribution inquiry, and the normative issue of the extent of legal responsibility for tortiously caused consequences, which follows the causal-contribution inquiry. In a number of prior articles, I have tried to distinguish and clarify these various issues, which arise not only in tort law, but also in much the same form in criminal law and many other areas of the law. I have focused primarily on distinguishing and clarifying …

Current Developments In Multistate Taxation, John Galloway, D. French Slaughter Iii

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Recent Tax Developments In Virginia: September, 2000-2001, William L.S. Rowe

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Representing The Failing Company Where The Irs Is "Knocking On The Door", Craig D. Bell, T. Keith Fogg, George C. Gretes, Nina E. Olson

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Planning For Real Estate Developers, Charles H. Egerton

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

The Like Kind Exchange: A Current Review, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Tax Planning For Real Estate Ownership, Stefan F. Tucker

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

Interview With Morris M. Shuster, Todd J. Griset, Morris M. Shuster, Legal Oral History Project, University Of Pennsylvania Carey Law School

Legal Oral History Project

For transcript, click the Download button above. For video index, click the link below.

After 35 years in private practice, Morris M. Shuster (L'56) began teaching clinical practice and dispute resolution at Penn Law School in 1991. He endowed a faculty chair in clinical practice at Penn Law (currently held by Douglas Frenkel) and a public interest fellowship program through the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. He died in 2012.

International Red Cross Must Include Israel, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

Israel's corresponding relief agency, the Mogen David Adom, has provided emergency services to countries all over the world since 1939, and it meets or surpasses every other standard for IFRC membership. Yet Israel remains the only nation left out of the 178- country federation. Why?

An IFRC spokesman says that it is "governments, not the federation, that give emblems the protective force of international law," and that "governments" are preparing to adopt an additional emblem, with no religious or national connotations, to stand alongside the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, one that Israel could adopt as its own.

The …