Law Commons^™

Introduction: What We Know And Need To Know About The State Of 'Access To Justice' Research, Elizabeth Chambliss, Renee N. Knake, Robert L. Nelson

Faculty Publications

Ongoing, systematic research on civil legal needs and services is an essential component of improving the quality and availability of such services. Collaboration among researchers, legal services providers, and regulators will only become more important as innovations in the delivery of legal services progress. This volume brings together sixteen white papers by subject matter experts who assess "what we know and need to know" about various aspects of civil legal services delivery. The product of a partnership between the South Carolina Law Review and the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, the collection is intended to serve as …

Context Matters - What Lawyers About Choice Of Law In Merger Agreements, Juliet P. Kostritsky

Faculty Publications

Finding out the truth about a matter can proceed in many different ways. Neoclassical law and economists would construct models built on certain assumptions. The empiricists and contextualists would collect data about the matter in the inductive not deductive sense.

The choice of law in merger agreements presents an opportunity to study a contractual provision in the context of merger deals to see what we can learn from studying the choices in detail.

There are a variety of ways to approach these provisions in merger agreements. Can we learn anything about how choices are made in the drafting of these …

Lessons From Mediators' Stories, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

This article is part of a symposium discussing the book, Stories Mediators Tell, edited by Eric Galton and Lela Love. The book consists of accounts of 31 actual mediations, followed by reflections of each mediator-author. Some of the chapters tell of extraordinary cases and others are more routine.

What Sally Soprano Teaches Lawyers About Hitting The Right Ethical Note In Adr Advocacy, Elayne E. Greenberg

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Paradoxically, when lawyers opt to mediate or arbitrate, lawyers may still wind up selecting, shaping and advocating in these dispute resolution processes to resemble the very litigation process they have sought to avoid. After all, litigation likely comports with the lawyer’s own conflict style, comfort level and concepts of justice. As a consequence of this litigation bias, we see that the metaphorical doors of a multi-door courthouse that once offered a menu of dispute resolution choices are increasingly leading us back to one choice: a variation of the litigation door. Even though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct confirm …

Teaching Students To Negotiate Like A Lawyer, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

Some important stages might include: (1) initial client interview, (2) negotiation of a retainer agreement, (3) developing good working relationships with counterpart lawyers, (4) conducting factual investigation and/or legal research, (5) working with counterparts to plan the negotiation process, (6) resolving discovery disputes, (7) preparing client for negotiations, (8) conducting an ultimate negotiation, (9) engaging a mediator and mediating the matter, and (10) drafting a settlement agreement. This essay suggests that by using both single-stage and multi-stage simulations, instructors can better prepare students for negotiations that they will actually conduct in practice. These suggestions grow out my book, Lawyering with …

Do Ask And Do Tell: Rethinking The Lawyer’S Duty To Warn In Domestic Violence Cases, Margaret B. Drew, Sarah Buel

Faculty Publications

Empirical data document that while domestic violence victims face high risk of recurring abuse, batterers’ lawyers may be privy to information that could avert further harm. Attorneys owe a duty of confidentiality to their clients that can be breached only in extraordinary circumstances, such as when counsel learns her client plans to commit a crime. To resolve the tension between client confidentiality and victim safety, this Article argues that, in the context of domestic violence cases, lawyers have an affirmative duty to (1) screen battering clients who have indicated a likelihood of harming others, (2) attempt to dissuade them from …