Law Commons^™

What Attorneys “Ott” To Do: The Supreme Court Clarifies Judgmental Immunity In Georgia, Valeria Notte

Mercer Law Review

The Supreme Court of Georgia dealt a swift blow to the Court of Appeals of Georgia’s interpretation of judgmental immunity in a recent decision. For over three decades, the court of appeals recognized a subjective defense that shielded attorneys from liability for mistakes made while representing a client. Under this interpretation of judgmental immunity, attorneys prevailed on motions for summary judgment by demonstrating that they had exercised their honest professional judgment in making the challenged decision. Now, in Cox-Ott v. Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, a unanimous opinion by the supreme court held that attorneys are no longer entitled to the …

404 Error - Relevance Not Found: Georgia’S Shift To Stricter Scrutiny Of 404(B) Evidence In Wilson V. State, Savannah Walker

Mercer Law Review

For decades, Georgia courts have treated Georgia Rule of Evidence 404(b) (“Rule 404(b)”) as an “evidentiary rule of inclusion,” an approach centered on the idea that if a prior act appeared relevant, it belonged in front of the jury. This practice was grounded in the belief that relevant prior criminal acts, like other forms of evidence, “should not lightly be excluded when central to the prosecution’s case.” In Wilson v. State, the Supreme Court of Georgia narrowed the standard for the admissibility of other-acts evidence, signaling a continuing judicial shift toward stricter evidentiary control that aligns more closely with the …

From “Filed Under Seal” To “Frivolous On Appeal”: Potts V. Richardson And Georgia’S Movement Toward Enforceable Professionalism, H. Walker Purvis

Mercer Law Review

Potts v. Richardson marks a turning point in Georgia’s professionalism movement. On its face, the case involved an application of Georgia’s anti-SLAPP statute and the privilege afforded to communications made in connection with judicial proceedings. But the Court of Appeals of Georgia did more than resolve a defamation dispute. By imposing a $2,500 sanction under Rule 7(e) for what the court deemed a frivolous appeal, it in effect sanctioned a lawyer for conduct that violated the Georgia Lawyer’s Creed and Aspirational Statement on Professionalism.

Georgia has been a leader in the modern professionalism movement for decades. Central to that commitment …

Del Toro (Juan) V. State Of Nevada, 142 Nev. Adv. Op. 33 (May 7, 2026), Ashley Arita

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Under NRS 176.0931, sex offenders are not required to complete their full registration period before becoming eligible for release from lifetime supervision.

How Do Minimum Wages Affect Workplace Injuries?, Michael Davies, R. Jisung Park, Anna Stansbury

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Georgia’S New Direct Action Landscape For Motor Carriers, William M. Davis

Mercer Law Review

A direct action is a lawsuit in which an injured claimant sues the alleged tortfeasor’s liability insurer directly—often joining the insurer as a defendant alongside—or instead of—the insured. Such suits are typically based on a statute or policy provision that authorizes that suit before the claimant has obtained a judgment against the insured.

Direct actions are generally not allowed in Georgia; however, there are specific statutory exceptions permitting direct actions under certain circumstances. One such statutory exemption was made for direct actions against liability insurers of motor carriers. Until the enactment of S.B. 426 in 2024, direct actions against the …

Admiralty, John P. Kavanagh Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The cases discussed herein represent decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, as well as district courts within the circuit, issued in 2025. While not an all-inclusive list of maritime decisions during that timeframe, the Author identified and provided summaries of key rulings of interest to the maritime practitioner.

Criminal Law, Thomas D. Church, Reid M. Koski

Mercer Law Review

This Article provides a tour of the most important criminal law opinions published by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2025. Rather than engage in an exhaustive review of the facts and laws in each case, we focus on the key holdings from the most noteworthy, published decisions. Section I of this Article addresses rulings specific to substantive offenses such as fraud, drug trafficking, and sex crimes, while Section II covers issues arising under the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Section III deals with the Federal …

Bankruptcy Law, E. Tate Crymes, Siena Berrios Gaddy, Victoria Barbino Grantham

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on bankruptcy opinions issued by the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Topics addressed include: (1) Trustee’s avoidance powers under § 544(b) and waiver of sovereign immunity for state law claims; (2) priority of a claim and determination of whether the federal tax claim sounded in tort or contract; (3) subchapter V eligibility plan confirmation, stay relief, abstention, and bankruptcy court jurisdiction; (4) annulment of the automatic stay; (5) applicability of § 523(a) to corporate debtors in the context of a subchapter V bankruptcy case; (6) …

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on recent cases concerning federal labor and employment laws. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Risky Business: Uncertainty, Trade Policy, And The Impact On Mergers & Acquisitions, Talia E. Levine

Mercer Law Review

“If there’s one thing that’s certain about life, it’s uncertainty.” It’s closing day for a deal. Executives, lawyers, and advisors surround the boardroom table. Diligence is complete, financing is secured, and the goals of the buyer and target are aligned. Then, a midnight executive order rolls through, imposing a 10% tariff on half the target’s supply chain. Uncertainty ensues. Negotiations stall. The deal does not close.

The rise of trade-related uncertainty has become a significant disruptor in mergers & acquisitions (“M&A”) and private equity (“PE”) transactions. Uncertainty impedes the flow of strategic transactions in the M&A and PE markets by …

Title Ix Without Tenure: The Eleventh Circuit Bars Sex Discrimination Suits By Educational Employees In Joseph V. Board Of Regents, Lily Kachmar

Mercer Law Review

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In just thirty-seven words, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ushered in a transformative era of protections for gender equality in higher education. Yet, courts remain split on the overall scope of those protections.

In Joseph v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (“Joseph II”), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit became the latest …

Cardozo Law Announces Three New Faculty Appointments, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Archive

Cardozo School of Law announced the appointments of three new faculty members: Assistant Professor of Law Mridula Raman, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Civil Rights Clinic Stefen R. Short, and Harold A. Stevens Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Fregine Sheehy. Their expertise spans criminal law, civil rights, disability justice, critical race theory, evidence, and human rights law.

Betting On The Body: Private Equity Portfolio Funding Of Medical Malpractice Litigation And The Financialization Of Patient Justice, Barry J. Cohen

Journal of Law and Health

Portfolio-level third-party litigation funding in medical malpractice creates conflicts of interest that existing professional responsibility doctrine under Model Rule 1.7 was not designed to address. Unlike single-case consumer funding, which may improve access to justice, portfolio funding aggregates dozens or hundreds of malpractice claims into diversified investment vehicles, optimizing for internal rates of return on the portfolio instead of outcomes for individual plaintiffs. What follows, is the first sustained analysis of this gap.

Drawing on clinical and legal perspectives, the analysis distinguishes a single-case from portfolio funding and identifies four portfolio-specific conflicts under MRPC 1.7: the swing-for-the-fences problem, cross-subsidization, information …

The Rise Of Realism And The Search For Justice In 19th Century Literature, Isabella R. Clark

Honors Theses

This thesis follows parallel legal and literary arcs towards “Realism.” While these two movements do not have the exact same timeline, they both characterized the 19th century. This thesis intertwines the literary shift towards writing that more closely resembles reality with the legal realist aim at a justice that more closely relates to its society. As we look at three novels from the 19th century, we will see how the change in literary form relates to a change in legal philosophy as the popular literary style and goal was later formalized by the law. In our study of each novel, …

Relationship Between Judges’ Gender And Caseload Clearance In Jamaica’S Parish Courts, Sonia Bertram Linton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Mental Illness, Probation, And Recidivism: Standardizing Uniform Mental Health Docket Legislation In Ohio, Holly Lloyd

Journal of Law and Health

The rise of Mental Illness diagnoses in the United States unique to the criminal justice system. Specifically in Ohio, individuals with mental illness diagnoses have increased within the criminal justice system leading to the implementation of the Mental Health Court Docket. The Mental Health Docket has led to a decrease in recidivism by providing Defendants with appropriate mental health treatment. Within Ohio there is no universal standard for individuals being admitted into the Docket which has led to inconsistencies throughout the State and restrictive clinical requirements like requiring a diagnosis with psychosis. These inconsistencies contribute to higher recidivism rates and …

Online Voting: Should Ohio Adopt Online Voting For Voters With Disabilities?, Audrey Mcconihe

Journal of Law and Health

This Note argues that Ohio should implement a limited online voting system for voters with disabilities in order to expand meaningful access to the voting while preserving election integrity. Drawing on the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Help America Vote Act, this Note contends that Ohio’s current absentee voting framework continues to impose substantial barriers on disabled voters by denying many individuals the ability to cast ballots privately, independently, and safely.

The Note examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed longstanding deficiencies in American voting infrastructure, particularly for disabled …

Penitential Systems In The Latin West And Byzantine East, Elijah C. Dodson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the development and organization of penitential discipline in early medieval Christianity through a comparison of the penitential tradition associated with Theodore of Canterbury in the Latin West and the canons attributed to John the Faster in the Byzantine East. The study focuses on how these texts regulated sexual sin and what their structures reveal about the institutional role of the Church in different historical contexts. The analysis is based on a comparative reading of penitential texts, supported by patristic writings and modern scholarship. By examining how specific categories of sexual misconduct are classified and disciplined, this study …

Unequal Paths: Experiences Navigating The U.S. Naturalization Process And The Role Of Education, Cecilia Rayburn

Honors Theses

This study examines how educational attainment shapes immigrants’ experiences with the U.S. naturalization process, with a focus on how education influences confidence, access to resources, and the ability to manage bureaucratic demands. While the legal requirements for naturalization are standardized, the ability to navigate them varies widely across individuals. Applicants’ experiences reveal that the U.S. naturalization process is often more complex and unequal than it may appear. This research was conducted through five semi-structured interviews with naturalized citizens of varying levels of higher education. These interviews explored participants’ experiences with the application process, including their preparedness, access to support systems, …

Suatu Tinjauan Atas Pemberian Suaka Terhadap Pengungsi Berdasarkan Konvensi Internasional, Yon Riezky Prasetyo

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Kajian Hukum Sengketa Tanah Di Lokasi Transmigrasi Kecamatan Muara Sungkal Kabupaten Lampung Utara Propinsi Lampung, Suparjo Sujadi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Keuangan Daerah: Berdasarkan Uu No. 32 Tahun 2004 Tentang Pemerintahan Daerah, Harsanto Nursadi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Master Settlement And Acquisition Agreement (Msaa) Dan Master Refinancing And Note Issuance Agreement (Mrnia) Dalam Perspektif Hukum Perdata (Suatu Tinjauan Singkat), Ari Wahyudi Hertanto

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Komisi Yudisial Sebagai Lembaga Kontrol Terhadap Hakim, Lintong O. Siahaan

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Hukum Rakyat A La Friedrich Karl Von Savignyl, Antonius Cahyadi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga Terhadap Perempuan, Dewi Lestari

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Mahkamah Konstitusi Dan Hak Asasi Manusia Dalam Era Reformasi: Peran Mahkamah Konstitusi Dalam Menyusun Konsepsi Keadilan Transisional Di Indonesia, Muhammad Ajisatria

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Upaya-Upaya Hukum Terhadap Penetapan, Nurul Elmiyah, Suparjo Sujadi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract

Peranan Partai Politik Menyerap Aspirasi Masyarakat Dan Hukum Politik Yang Tidak Semantik, Ramly Hutabarat

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Abstract