Law Commons^™

Table Of Contents, Jared M. Brown

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Skrmetti And The Problem Of Incidental Intent, Martin J. Katz

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The modern Supreme Court has defined “discriminatory intent” as a strict-liability concept. It does not matter why the government sorts people by a protected characteristic, such as race or sex; it matters only that the government does sort people by such a characteristic. This principle is the key holding of affirmative-action cases, such as Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College. Yet, in the recent case United States v. Skrmetti, the Court seemed to focus not on the question of whether the government sorted people by sex (it did), but on the question …

Mmu: 02/02/26-02/08/26, Student Bar Association

Monday Morning Update

This Week @ NDLS

Mass Times

Commons Daily Menu

Saint of the Week

General Announcements

Vol. 70, No. 4 (February 2, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Can The Eu’S Foreign Subsidy Regulation ‘Discipline’ U.S. Subsidies?, Reuven S. Avi-Yonah, Jennifer Farrell, Domenico Imparato

Articles

Stress Test for Anti-Subsidy Rules Recently, globalization has taken a markedly different turn in the form of renewed prominence of state intervention in the economy and a resurgence of industrial policy favoring domestic firms. Even the emergency measures deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot serve as a reliable benchmark: These were primarily aimed at keeping businesses afloat or preventing foreign acquisitions through financial assistance (for example, domestic handouts) or “golden power” regulations.

Framing Harmonization: Illusion And Reality In The Riyadh Design Law Treaty, Christine Farley, Margo Bagley

Editorial Contributions

Introduction:

From the outside, the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (RDLT) has long appeared as a modest administrative measure. Negotiated in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Trademarks (SCT), it has repeatedly been characterized as a “procedural treaty” concerned with filing formalities rather than substantive reform. The contrast with the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK Treaty) is striking. Both treaties were adopted in 2024 after 20+ years of negotiation. But only the GRATK Treaty attracted sustained scholarly and civil society engagement; the RDLT attracted almost none.

Debt’S Dominion: A New Epilogue, David Skeel

BYU Law Review

This Essay, written for the “Who Governs Debt’s Dominion” symposium, looks back on Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America as the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book’s publication nears. The Essay begins, in Part I, by briefly describing how Debt’s Dominion came about. Part II identifies and seeks to explain a striking decline in optimism about American bankruptcy law since Debt’s Dominion was first published. Part III explores a few of the major recent developments in consumer bankruptcy, small business bankruptcy, and large-scale corporate reorganization that I would have analyzed in the book if it were written today. …

Green Rules, Fragmented Fields: Member-State Approaches To Sustainability In Eu Competition Law, Niccolò Galli, Armando Santoni

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

This article provides a comparative, normative-evaluative examination of how sustainability is being incorporated into European competition law. Combining doctrinal legal analysis with economic reasoning, it clarifies competing definitions of sustainability, maps the contest between the consumer-welfare paradigm and sustainability proponents, and evaluates the legal and institutional implications of the Commission’s 2023 Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines. Drawing on national initiatives across Member States plus the UK, the study highlights contrasting instruments, from Austria’s statutory environmental exemption to the Dutch soft-law safe harbour and Greece’s experimental sustainability sandbox, and shows how these divergent approaches produce fragmentation and legal uncertainty for cross-border cooperative initiatives. …

Law School News: Roger Williams University Marks Fred Korematsu Day With Reflection On Rights And Responsibility 02-02-2026, Kelly Brinza, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 02.02.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• 2026 Galilee Immersion Program: Exposing First-Year Law Students to the Impact of Public Interest Law
• Professor Jeffrey Pojanowski Named Inaugural Sydney Public Law Visiting Fellow

Student News

• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)’s Knowledge Hub for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published a new issue brief co-produced with the Notre Dame Global Human Rights Clinic. Student researchers and drafters from the Clinic worked closely with Professor Diane Desierto and research associate Faisal Yamil Meneses in contributing to the brief.

Faculty Briefs

• A.J. Bellia
• Michael Addo
• Fr. John Paul Kiimes
• Nicole …

Caremark Claims Following Disasters: Why Plaintiffs Should Sue The Board When It Causes A Disaster, Eli Mizock

UC Law Journal

Fire disasters have become an inevitability for California residents. After a fire disaster, the public is primarily concerned with compensating the victims. However, securities fraud class actions brought by shareholders of the responsible utilities companies also accompany fire disasters. This Note argues that, instead of securities class actions, derivative claims under the Caremark jurisprudence may better serve corporate litigants following fire disasters. Historically, surviving the initial motion to dismiss under the Caremark standard has been a challenging hurdle for plaintiffs. However, under Marchand v. Barnhill and In re Clovis Oncology Derivative Litigation, “mission critical” risks of life and limb, or …

The Equal Protection Problem: The Right To Vote, Gerrymandering, And Lessons From Canada, Gabriel Renneisen

UC Law Journal

In the wake of Rucho v. Common Cause, partisan gerrymandering remains a nonjusticiable political question. This retreat from judicial oversight leaves a significant gap in the protection of democratic governance. The United States Constitution, as currently interpreted, offers little substantive support for voters’ rights as such. Courts locate the right to vote in the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, but that Clause protects equal access to voting rights—not meaningful participation, representation, or influence; it requires scrutiny only where legislatures rely on unconstitutional criteria to classify voters. Notably, at the time of this writing, California and Texas are in …

Three (Unfashionable) Words About Rick Marcus, Steve Gensler

UC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rick Marcus, Andrew Bradt

UC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Richard Marcus: An Encomium, Deborah R. Hensler

UC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Unlached: The Case Against Laches In Actions Brought In Replevin By Foreign Sovereigns For Objects Of Cultural Heritage, Peyton M. Kendall

William & Mary Law Review

The American judicial system sanctions the theft of objects of immense cultural value from source nations—countries whose modern borders encompass territory previously inhabited by culturally rich civilizations—by allowing the allegedly equitable doctrine of laches to serve as an affirmative defense to actions brought by foreign sovereigns in replevin.

Courts have treated laches as a valid affirmative defense in foreign-sovereign-plaintiff replevin actions, treating the foreign sovereigns no differently than they would a private citizen bringing suit for a piece of artwork. While the value of the artwork may be the same in the two instances—both in terms of cultural and monetary …

We The People: Ending Subminimum Wage Through Alternative Means Where Legislation Has Failed, Heather N. Kainz

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Towards Customizing Principled Negotiation Based On Culture: A Differentiated Approach, Monique Carels, Yannic Anthony Ratt

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Negotiation is a common part of our lives. We often negotiate with our spouses about the monthly budget, with our children to complete chores or homework, and when trying to get a better deal on a pre-owned vehicle. The negotiation process encompasses various aspects that are carried out differently and are influenced by culture. Thus, negotiation becomes intercultural when it involves at least two parties from different cultural backgrounds trying to agree on mutual interests

When Constitutional Protection For Religious Liberty Gets Lost In Translation: A Case Study From Washington State, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Protecting religious liberty can present difficult challenges when religious liberty conflicts with laws prohibiting discrimination. Balancing religious liberty and nondiscrimination requires courts to accurately apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s complex First Amendment jurisprudence, including cases that address compelled speech, expressive association, and church autonomy. Amidst all the complexity, protection for religious liberty can get lost in translation. One important venue where protection can get lost in translation is in religious liberty cases decided by state supreme courts. The decisions of state supreme courts are especially significant because they provide the authoritative construction for state statutes and the state constitution. In …

Subsidiarity Municipalism In Action: On Vincent V. Adams, Gregory E. Louis

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

Building on the author’s recent article Protecting Commoners’ Goods: Pluralist Coexistence Through the Common Good Constitution’s Subsidiarity Municipalism (PCG), this Essay deconstructs the recent New York appellate opinion in Vincent v. Adams. That case reverses a trial court opinion that PCG criticizes as an example of how current law misunderstands the proper relationship between local government and federal and state authorities. This Essay uses the appellate court decision in Vincent v. Adams to reinforce PCG’s thesis of subsidiarity municipalism, to offer another illustration of subsidiarity municipalism’s progressive potential, and to suggest how subsidiarity municipalism can inform the relationship between …

Vacancies Filled By Voters’ Voices: A Call For Open Special Elections With Ranked Choice Voting In New York, Fordham Law School Rule Of Law Clinic, Dani D'Annunzio, Dawn Edelman, David Zwick

Rule of Law Clinic

New York’s special election system for filling vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives and the State Legislature excludes voters from the candidate selection process. Instead of voters selecting nominees, political party leaders designate their parties’ respective candidates. In this report, the Fordham Law School Rule of Law Clinic recommends reforming this system by implementing open special elections using ranked choice voting. All candidates who meet petition signature requirements, regardless of party affiliation, would compete in a single election. This reform would improve participation, representation, and accountability without sacrificing efficiency.

A ‘Digital Dominion’: Launching The Commonwealth Model Law On Digital Trade, Craig Atkinson

Centre for Digital Law

A legislative text published for the benefit of its 56 member countries, the Commonwealth of Nations officially adopted the Model Law on Digital Trade (MLDT) in September 2025. The Commonwealth MLDT addresses a persistent barrier to digital trade (i.e., all trade that is digitally ordered and/or digitally delivered): the laws of many jurisdictions do not sufficiently recognise the legal requirements of electronic commerce (e-commerce) and continue to emphasise paper-bases for commercial communications and transactions in domestic and cross-border contexts.

Criminal Caselaw Notebook 2026, Hon. Ronald Kessler

Washington State Books

This publication from King County Superior Court judge Ronald Kessler is updated semi-annually and is distributed free of charge. It includes citations to Washington state case law on a variety of criminal law topics.

New York Environmental Legislation In 2025, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

In 2025, New York State overhauled its State Superfund law and extended the State Superfund Program for ten years. The state also enacted laws restricting chemicals in menstrual products and firefighter personal protective equipment; expanding the extended producer responsibility program for batteries to include electric scooter and bike batteries; and protecting monarch butterflies and horseshoe crabs. These and other new and amended environmental and energy laws — as well as notable vetoes — are discussed in this article.

Amendments to two of New York’s most important laws may be up for consideration by the Legislature during the current session. Governor …

The Eunomics Of Intellectual Property, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

Faculty Scholarship

Originally developed by the legal theorist Lon L. Fuller, eunomics is the “study of good order and workable arrangements,” directed at understanding the structure, form, or ordering adopted by an area of law. Yet, unlike the ordinary analysis of institutional design, eunomics views the form adopted by an area of law as neither preordained nor wholly contingent. Instead, eunomics sees form as playing an important role in clarifying and developing the goals of an area through a means-ends interaction. This Article develops the central insights of Fuller’s eunomics project for intellectual property. Until now, most theoretical accounts of intellectual property …

Comparative Authoritarian Law, Madhav Khosla, Benjamin L. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, comparative constitutional lawyers have turned their attention to the study of democratic backsliding. However, such scholarship is yet to draw on the now extensive literature on traditional authoritarian systems. The bifurcation of regime type that has structured comparative legal research for decades — for comparative constitutional lawyers and for scholars of specific authoritarian regions — is now under strain. With the global rise of authoritarianism and the growing use of law by authoritarian states, the world is harder to neatly separate into two camps than it once might have been. This Article reflects on how we might …

Trump V. Cook And The American Rule Of For-Cause Removal, Jane Manners, Lev Menand

Faculty Scholarship

Halfway through oral argument in Trump v. Cook, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Solicitor General John Sauer when a statute authorizing an officer’s removal should be read to require process. “Why shouldn’t we do the same thing that the Shurtleff court did,” Barrett asked, “and say that, well, as we said in Shurtleff, when a statute specifies the grounds for removal, there must be notice and a hearing given?”

In response, Sauer distinguished between statutes authorizing removal for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office (INM) — which he conceded require process — and statutes using the more …

The Brady Materiality Standard, Brandon L. Garrett, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

The Brady doctrine requires prosecutors to disclose all favorable and material evidence to the defense. To effectuate that rule, the U.S. Supreme Court has defined materiality as a “reasonable probability” that the evidence would have affected the outcome at trial. But apart from that definition, the Court has resisted offering any further guidance to lower courts. While far too little is known about how Brady materiality claims are actually adjudicated, there is strong evidence that courts often reject Brady claims involving withheld evidence on the grounds that the evidence was not significant enough to be material.

To examine how Brady …

Is History Precedent?, Allison Orr Larsen

Faculty Publications

It has been just over three years since the Supreme Court instructed lower courts to evaluate Second Amendment challenges by examining history and tradition. And it is no secret that the courts have struggled. This Article tackles a phenomenon that is born of that struggle. Overwhelmed by the task of evaluating historical claims, lower courts instead are turning to other judges as authorities on history. They are using what I call in this Article “historical precedents”—meaning language about history from an older decision that the subsequent judge then treats as authority, not as part of a legal rule but for …

Deepfake Liability, Ayelet Gordon-Tapiero, Yotam Kaplan, Gideon Parchomovsky

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.