Law Commons^™

The Fight For Information With The Obstructionist Lawyer, Michael Flynn

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Revocable Trusts Under The Florida Trust Code, Donna Litman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fraud Is Fun: Or How A Foreclosure Rescue Scam Changed My Life, Peter A. Holland

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Copyright, Private Copying, And Discrete Public Goods, Glynn S. Lunney Jr

Faculty Scholarship

Understanding if, and when, copyright should attempt to proscribe private copying deserves far more than the simplistic treatment it has so far received from a handful of courts. This Essay aims to begin that conversation. Part I begins by introducing simple models that compare the market and socially optimal production of continuous and discrete public goods models and discussing their implications for copyright. Part II will then focus on the limits of the market's ability to produce efficiently discrete public goods in the absence of government intervention. Part III will then consider the implications of the discrete public goods model …

A Hole In Need Of Mending: Copyright And The Individual Marking Of Advertisements Published In Collective Works, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Over 20 years ago, the United States brought its copyright law into sync with international norms through the adoption of the Berne Convention. As a result, copyright notice is no longer a prerequisite to copyright protection. But because Congress implemented the Berne Convention through amendments to the (rather than adoption of a wholly new) Copyright Act, litigants have argued and at least some courts have held that certain works still must be noticed. This Article is concerned to rebut that contention.

Taking Empirical Research Seriously, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This essay considers how empirical research on the legal profession can bridge the divide between theory, social science, and the ethical practice of law. After providing background information on the growing field of empirical legal research, Part I of this essay focuses on developments in empirical legal research on lawyering. Part II discusses how collaboration with practitioners and other stakeholders can help researchers address challenges related to accessing data. Once data are obtained, Part III suggests how dissemination and sharing of research can link the academy and practicing lawyers. The conclusion urges a collaborative course of action for legal ethics …

An Empirical Analysis Of Reversal Rates In The Eighth Circuit During 2008, Robert E. Steinbuch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Why Doctors Shouldn't Practice Law: The American Medical Association's Misdiagnosis Of Physician Non-Compete Clauses, Robert E. Steinbuch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Imperfect Property Rights, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

In theory, property rights allow markets to achieve Pareto optimal allocations. But the literature on contracting largely ignores what happens when property rights are imperfectly defined and enforced. Although some models include weak enforcement or poorly defined rights or "anticommons," this paper develops a general model that includes all of these possibilities. I find that combinations matter: Policy prescriptions to remedy individual imperfections are sometimes inappropriate under other conditions. For example, stronger penalties for violating rights can decrease Pareto efficiency, contrary to a common view. Also, collective rights organizations, such as patent pools, sometimes worsen problems of overlapping claims.

The Us-China Wto Cases Explained, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

In August 2009, the WTO dispute settlement body released a panel concerning the US-China dispute over the trading rights and distribution services for publications, sound recordings and audiovisual entertainment products. Earlier this year, a different WTO panel addressed a related US-China dispute on the protection and enforcement of IP.

The recent decision provides an excellent opportunity to revisit the earlier decision, exploring its implications for IP protection and enforcement. That decision focuses on three main issues: the high thresholds for criminal procedures and penalties in the IP area; the failure of the Chinese authorities to properly dispose of confiscated infringing …

Organophosphates, Friend And Foe: The Promise Of Medical Monitoring For Farm Workers And Their Families, Adriane J. Busby, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Millions of farm workers nation-wide who load, mix and/or apply pesticides are exposed to incredible amounts of pesticides on a daily basis. Various inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the regulatory system - including insufficient illness reporting data systems, lack of regulatory compliance and enforcement, and inadequate data and information on the chronic effects of exposure and overexposure to various pesticides - increase the likelihood that these workers will continue to be exposed to dangerous amounts of pesticides.

This Article assesses the existing mechanisms designed to protect farm workers from occupational exposure to pesticides and identifies and analyzes some of the shortcomings …

Socio-Economic Rights And Refugee Status:Deepening The Dialogue Between Human Rights And Refugee Law, Fatma E. Marouf, Deborah Anker

Faculty Scholarship

reviewing Michelle Foster, International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation (2007)

Rethinking Private Attorney Involvement Through A Low Bono Lens, Luz E. Herrera

Faculty Scholarship

Those who frequent our courthouses and work with low and moderate - income individuals have no illusions about the large gap between the rhetoric of justice and the present reality of our legal system. All over the country, courts are plagued by long dockets, slashed personnel, scarce resources, and self-represented individuals who are not literate in the law and represent themselves in complex legal proceedings or transactions out of necessity. If the accessibility of the legal system remains the top priority for ensuring justice, then perhaps we must consider forging new alliances, healing the political wounds of previous generations, and …

The Declining Significance Of Presidential Races?, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Osamudia James

Faculty Scholarship

This Symposium Essay examines the campaign that led up to the last presidential election to illuminate the complex interplay between race and class within our society. Specifically, it explores how race and class functioned together to disadvantage President Obama in the race to the White House (even as he ultimately won the election). Section II focuses on how Obama’s income, job status, and prestigious education functioned as markers of elitism during the campaign, even as compared to opponents with more elite and wealthier backgrounds, and how these factors were used as tools by his opponents to convince lower-class white voters …

What's Race Got To Do With It? Press Coverage Of The Latino Electorate In The 2008 Presidential Primary Season, Laura Gomez

Faculty Scholarship

This article presents a critical analysis of press coverage of Latinos and the presidential election during the Democratic Primary, from January through June 2008. The foundation of this article is a content analysis of 408 articles published in four newspapers about Latinos and the presidential election during the primary season. The four newspapers -- The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Dallas Morning News -- were selected because they are well respected as newspapers of record and because they represent diverse regions of the country (two from the northeast, two from the southwest). Each …

The Fog Of Certainty, Robert B. Ahdieh

Faculty Scholarship

In a recent essay in the Yale Law Journal, constitutional law scholar Michael Stokes Paulsen argues that “[t]he force of international law, as a body of law, upon the United States is . . . largely an illusion.” Rather than law, he suggests, international law is mere “policy and politics.”

For all the certainty with which this argument is advanced, it cannot survive close scrutiny. At its foundation, Professor Paulsen’s essay rests on a pair of fundamental misconceptions of the nature of law. Law is not reduced to mere policy, to begin, simply because it can be undone. Were that …

Misguided Relief: The Real Property Tax Addition To The Standard Deduction, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

The push to use federal money for benevolent purposes occasionally produces more cost than benefit, particularly when the outlay comes in the form of taxes forgiven. The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 added a supplement to the basic standard deduction. A nonitemizing taxpayer may claim a deduction for real property taxes paid, up to $500, $1,000 in the case of a joint return. Initially, the change applied only to 2008, but subsequent legislation extended its life through 2009, and pending legislation would make it a permanent part of the Code. Although well intentioned, the real property tax provision makes …

How (Not) To Think Like A Punisher, Alice Ristroph

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Governing Corporate Compliance, Miriam H. Baer

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Morphing Of Mtic Fraud: Vat Fraud Infects Tradable Co2 Permits, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud has been slowly morphing from cell phones and computer chips to other commodities. In the last few months however MTIC made a dramatic appearance in tradable CO2 permits. It closed exchanges and prompted France and the Netherlands to unilaterally change their tax treatment of CO2 trades. The UK has followed the French treatment in large measure. On Monday June 8, 2009 rumors of MTIC fraud in carbon emission permits closed the main European exchange for spot trading of European Union carbon emissions permits and Kyoto offsets. When BlueNext began trading permits again on Wednesday, June …

Like Sands Through The Hourglass: How To Develop A Good Legal Research Problem, Susan T. Phillips

Faculty Scholarship

Attorneys have a duty to conduct adequate legal research. Law schools have an obligation to educate students in the standard research techniques. To learn research, students must actually perform research using research problems. Therefore, professors must design appropriate problems for students to learn research skills. The first part of this article discusses the fundamentals of developing a research problem. The second part provides examples of research problems with an explanation of their development.

The Organ Conscription Trolley Problem, Adam J. Kolber

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Unified Rationale For Section 2-607(3)(A) Notification, William H. Henning, William H. Lawrence

Faculty Scholarship

An aggrieved buyer that fails to give its seller timely notification of breach, or that gives a timely but insufficient notification, suffers serious and sometimes catastrophic consequences under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC or Code). On the serious end, a buyer entitled to reject must provide its seller with a timely notification that makes it clear that the goods again belong to the seller, with failure as to either timeliness or sufficiency resulting in acceptance rather than rejection. Obvious policy rationales support both requirements. The timeliness requirement creates an incentive for a buyer to exercise its inspection …

Political Economy Of Criminal Procedure, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter presents a public choice theory of criminal procedure. The core idea is that criminal procedure is best understood as a set of rules designed to thwart attempts to use the state's law enforcement power in a predatory fashion or in order to transfer wealth generally. For the most part we focus on a set of core procedural protections that can be considered long-established norms.

Judging Journalism: The Turn Toward Privacy And Judicial Regulation Of The Press, Amy Gajda

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Thug Life: Hip Hop’S Curious Relationship With Criminal Justice, André Douglas Pond Cummings

Faculty Scholarship

I argue that hip hop music and culture profoundly influences attitudes toward and perceptions about criminal justice in the United States. At base, hip hop lyrics and their cultural accoutrements turns U.S. punishment philosophy upon its head, effectively defeating the foundational purposes of American crime and punishment. Prison and punishment philosophy in the U.S. is based on clear principles of retribution and incapacitation, where prison time for crime should serve to deter individuals from engaging in criminal behavior. In addition, the stigma that attaches to imprisonment should dissuade criminals from recidivism. Hip hop culture denounces crime and punishment in the …

Is Law - Constitutional Crisis And Existential Anxiety, Alice Ristroph

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Changing The Paradigm Of Internet Access From Government Information Systems: A Solution To The Need For The Dod To Take Time-Sensitive Action On The Niprnet, Joshua E. Kastenberg

Faculty Scholarship

The DOD is currently lacking sufficient regulatory authority to ensure the availability of access to conduct operations through cyberspace, because the conduct of its members is predicated on a number of false assumptions which are written into outdated or otherwise poorly designed current regulations. This article addresses those assumptions and existing regulations and argues for new guidance to alter the current paradigm of almost unfettered access. This article is divided into three sections. Section I touches on the nature of DOD cyberspace and the potential harms that result from current social behaviors of the department's personnel. Section II analyzes shortcomings …

Teaching Transactional Skills In A Clinic, Serge A. Martinez, Robert Statchen

Faculty Scholarship

Transactional matters tend to come to us more complicated as is, and there is not a transactional equivalent of the SSI hearing or a drop-in transactional clinic at a soup kitchen. In this presentation, the author reviews clinic goals, time management, and facilitating the students' ability to produces client ready documents.

The Status And Evolution Of Laws And Policies Regulating Privately Owned Tigers In The United States, Philip J. Nyhus, Michael Ambrogi, Caitlin Dufraine, Alan Shoemaker, Ronald L. Tilson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.