Law Commons^™

William Webb Lavender Notebook, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The William Webb Lavender Notebook contains Lavender's handwritten notes on various cases and legal issues. The notebook dates from the early 1890s. Lavender was born in Greensboro, Alabama, graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1891, and practiced law in Centerville, Alabama.

Watt Espy Collection, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The Watt Espy Collection consists of eight cubic feet of journals, clippings, note cards, letters, drafts of articles and editorials, correspondence concerning Espy and his research, and legislation on the topic of the death penalty in America. Espy, a former salesman and librarian, began research on the death penalty in America in the 1970s and compiled information on more than 15,000 American executions dating from 1608. The papers are organized in chronological order from 1608 through 1967; then on a state-by-state basis.

None But The Sheriffs Statute, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

None But the Sheriffs, full title "None But the SHERIFFS ought to name and return JURORS to serve in Inquests before Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer," is a statute that states that no one but sheriffs should name and bring people to serve as jurors on court cases. The author's intention is unclear, as it oscillates between stating the statute as fact, and insulting sheriffs and calling them untrustworthy.

Law Library Blog (January 2026): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Roman V. City Of Providence, 333 A.3d 74 (R.I. 2025)., Alexander I. Sanchez

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nothing To See Here. Yet. Ames V. Ohio Department Of Youth Services, Michael J. Yelnosky

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pona V. State, 329 A.3d 485 (R.I. 2025)., Trina Capezza

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sepulveda V. Buffum, 334 A.3d 98 (R.I. 2025)., Jack A. Burum

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thornton V. State, 332 A.3d 912 (R.I. 2025)., Matthew Alden Zeller

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Receiverships V. Bankruptcy As A Secured Creditor, Benjamin Nicholas

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Market, which is the fourth-largest asset market in the US, has faced high uncertainty.  Many workers were either unemployed or working from home, and many consumers were forced to shop online instead of visiting traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts. These market shifts significantly impacted Commercial Real Estate Companies (CRECs), as high vacancy rates were observed in corporate offices, and many retailers struggled to attract customers to their stores.

Although five years have passed since the pandemic, many CRECs are still struggling to recover from COVID-19’s lasting impact on the economy. …

Batting Around Section 363: Sports Franchise Sales, League Consent, And The Boundaries Of Bankruptcy, Katelyn Pantano

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

The question presented is whether a bankruptcy court may authorize the sale of a professional sports franchise without league consent, and whether bankruptcy courts should permit such sales as a matter of policy.

The client, The New York Bets (“the Bets”), is a professional baseball franchise experiencing financial distress and is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate a sale to a new owner. The MLB’s governing documents require league approval, a three-quarters vote of all club owners, for any ownership transfer. The client is now considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid this approval process and instead have …

Corporate Cybersecurity Governance: Director Liability Under Europe’S Nis2 Directive And The Emerging Fiduciary Duty Of Proactive Cybersecurity Oversight, Stacey B. Barrack

American University Business Law Review

This Comment examines the implications of the European Union’s Network and Information Security 2 Directive (“NIS2”) on corporate cybersecurity governance, with a particular focus on the fiduciary duties of directors in multinational corporations operating in the United States. The NIS2 Directive, adopted in 2023 and currently being transposed into national law by EU member states, mandates that boards of directors must directly approve and oversee—and can be liable for—the cybersecurity risk management measures taken by their companies. 

This Comment delves into the intersection of NIS2 with Delaware corporate law and examines how NIS2 influences the fiduciary duty of oversight for …

The Future Of Monetary Federalism: Rethinking Supremacy In The Stablecoin Era, Richard H. Fair

American University Business Law Review

[INTRODUCTION] In the summer of 2023, the State of Wyoming enacted a law authorizing its state treasurer to issue a blockchain-based, state-backed digital stablecoin known as the Wyoming Stable Token (“WYST”). Two years later, Congress passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act, GENIUS, or the Act), moving to establish a comprehensive federal regulatory regime for stablecoins. These dueling initiatives have sparked more than regulatory confusion; they have set the stage for a structural clash between state financial innovation and federal monetary supremacy. At the heart of this confrontation lies a question that the Constitution …

Can Corporations Be Trusted? Voluntary Compliance And The Limits Of Non-Coercive Business Regulation, Yuval Feldman

American University Business Law Review

This Article extends the voluntary compliance framework developed in Can the Public Be Trusted? The Promise and Perils of Voluntary Compliance, to the corporate context. While recent scholarship has explored when states can rely on non-coercive regulatory approaches with individual citizens, comparatively little attention has been paid to whether these insights translate to business entities. This Article argues that corporations present both greater challenges and greater opportunities for voluntary compliance regimes. On one hand, the instrumental orientation of corporate decision-making, amplified by fiduciary duties and competitive pressures, may systematically undermine the intrinsic motivations that voluntary compliance frameworks depend upon. Drawing …

A Proposed Tort To Address The Negligent Enablement Of Cloud Data Breaches, Michael L. Rustad

American University Business Law Review

[INTRODUCTION] The term “cloud computing” means the remote storage of software applications, tools, and data accessed through the internet. Cloud customers enter into subscription agreements with providers who give 24/7, on-demand, as-needed access to software, storage, and networking services owned and managed by providers through a web browser. “Many businesses are transitioning to the cloud for data storage, remote work, and collaboration.” Cloud providers operate their software as a software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) model, under which customers pay a subscription fee to access the software. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are examples of subscription services that deliver television programs and videos through …

Preserving Platform Innovation With A Narrow Exception: Section 230(C)(1) Immunity For Algorithmic Recommendations, John "Jack" Di Masi

American University Business Law Review

This Comment examines Section 230(c)(1)’s immunity for online platforms that use machine-learning algorithms to recommend third party content and proposes a narrow exception for truly “bad-actor” cases. It reviews Section 230’s text, as well as its early cases, showing that Congress intended broad protection for editorial functions such as content organization. It then traces how recommendation algorithms evolved and how courts treat algorithmic sorting as a neutral tool. This Comment addresses conflicting interpretations and defends broad immunity for routine curation. This Comment argues that immunity should be stripped only after a balancing test under a three-factor “bad-actor” framework—one that evaluates …

The Growing Divide: The Video Privacy Protection Act’S Inconsistent Subscriber Standard And The Need For Reform, Andrea Pacheco

American University Business Law Review

The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (“VPPA”) has been brought into the twenty-first century due to a series of class action lawsuits surrounding consumer privacy rights in an increasingly digital world. A circuit split has emerged among the federal appellate courts on the meaning of the word “subscriber” under the VPPA and whether the statute’s protections should extend to casual users of goods and services provided by videotape service providers. The outcome of this debate carries significant implications for consumer privacy and business compliance obligations due to the escalation of business practices involving the collection of consumer data and …

Blame It On The Algorithm (But Sue Them Both): Joint Enterprise And Agency In Ai-Driven Hiring Discrimination, Khushi Palan

American University Business Law Review

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring processes has created a significant accountability gap in employment discrimination law. While federal statutes like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act focus on finding liability for traditional employers, they fail to adequately address the unique role of third-party AI vendors whose algorithms often drive discriminatory outcomes. This Comment examines the emerging legal landscape through the lens of Mobley v. Workday, where the District Court for the Northern District of California recognized that AI vendors can function as “agents” of …

Public Facing, Privately Shielded: The Employment Gap Created By Title Vii’S Private Club Exemption, Ansley Salmon

American University Business Law Review

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination by employers but exempts “bona fide private membership clubs” that are tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c). Despite this seemingly clear statutory language, there is a notable lack of appellate decisions interpreting this exemption under Title VII. This scarcity of precedent has led to inconsistent approaches across circuits. For example, the Fifth Circuit has drawn heavily from the Private Club Exemption under Title II of the Civil Rights Act while the Seventh Circuit has treated the two exemptions as entirely distinct. This Comment argues that the Title …

The Tech-Nuclear Renaissance: A New Critical Juncture For American Nuclear Energy Policy, Henry P. Otte

CMC Senior Theses

Nuclear energy has re-emerged as a central priority in American energy policy. This thesis examines the Trump administration’s efforts to support nuclear energy development and plant restarts, and asks whether today’s nuclear renaissance represents a critical juncture for nuclear energy policy. By analyzing American, French, and Swedish nuclear energy history, this thesis applies a three-variable analytical framework, state autonomy and administrative structure, political permeability, and crisis influence, to identify the institutional conditions necessary for durable policy change and evaluate the structural characteristics of this new environment. The central finding is that today’s push is distinct from prior attempts at expansion, …

In The Beginning There Was Positive Law: Section 25, Calder V. Bull, And Constitutional Continuity, Kevin C. Walsh

Scholarly Articles

From the beginning of its operation as fundamental law for the government of the United States, the Constitution has continually operated as supreme and judicially enforceable positive law. This is the principal claim I offer as an “original-law originalist” in response to contrary claims advanced by Professor Jonathan Gienapp in Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique. Gienapp argues in Against Constitutional Originalism that “[h]istoricizing the original Constitution . . . poses a foundational challenge to originalism as it has long been conceived.”2 Constitutional originalism depends on perceived continuity with the past. But the perception of constitutional continuity turns out to …

Laudato Si' And The Limits Of Law: Reflections On The Vocation To Protect Integral Ecology, Lucia A. Silecchia

Scholarly Articles

In 2015, Pope Francis’s widely anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, was released. It was a wide-ranging commentary on the state of the world, with much to say to economists, ecologists, farmers, theologians, educators, architects, artists, and pastors. It may, however, have been of particular interest to lawyers eager to see what Pope Francis had to say about law’s particular role. 

On this question, Laudato Si’ painted an inconsistent portrait of law’s suitability to this task. Pope Francis spoke passionately about the need for law at all levels to tackle the complexities of caring for our …

Qui Tam Relators As Article Iv Officials, Chad Squitieri

Scholarly Articles

Since the earliest days of the republic, Congress has empowered private plaintiffs—called qui tam relators—to bring claims in court on behalf of the United States. Today, qui tam litigation accounts for billions of dollars in judgments and settlements each year. But despite qui tam’s modern significance and historical pedigree, its constitutionality has recently been questioned. To wit, several sitting Supreme Court Justices have suggested that qui tam violates the President’s Article II authority because it empowers private relators—who are neither appointed nor supervised by the President—to enforce federal law. Following similar logic, a lower federal court recently ruled a prominent …

Strict Scrutiny And The Viewpoint Continuum, A.G. Harmon

Scholarly Articles

Consider the following instances: A cell phone photograph picturing a man's left kneecap. A statement that the speaker thinks, "The name Josiah is really cool." A woman who runs her bicycle over a business owner in order to gain celebrity and increase attention for her new podcast. An intentional lie told to acquire a job. A student who insists on answering his math exam questions in runic symbols.

At one point or another, American courts have considered the merits found in favor of instances similar to these and other like circumstances as amounting to "viewpoints." As such, they …

Samuel Anthony Rumore, Jr. Collection, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The Samuel Anthony Rumore Collection consists of research materials and drafts of Rumore's project "Building Alabama Courthouses," photographs of Alabama county courthouses and federal buildings, materials from Rumore's tenure as president of the Library School Association, and correspondence with UA's School of Library and Information Studies.

Law Center Architectural Drawings Collection, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The Law Center Architectural Drawings Collection consists of site plans, main building plans, and detailed interior plans of the University of Alabama Law Center furnished by Charles R. Ralston, Architect. The primary architects for the project were: Edward Durell Stone and Associates, New York; and Pearson Tittle, Narrows and Associates, Montgomery, Alabama. Additionally, there is 1 cubic foot of architectural drawings for the John C. Payne Special Collections Reading Room by Birchfield, Penuel and Associates.

Law Center Materials Collection, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The Alabama Law Center Materials Collection mainly consists of printed and physical ephemera from the building phase and opening of the University of Alabama Law Center in the 1970s.

Alabama Criminal Code Development Collection, University Of Alabama School Of Law

Manuscript Collections

The Alabama Criminal Code Development Collection contains copies of the Criminal Code of Alabama, original drafts and edits, and email correspondence and meeting notes regarding creation.

Treatment Of Assignment Of Rents In Bankruptcy Under New York Law, James Agoglia

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Assignments of rents are a common feature of commercial real estate financing in New York. In connection with a mortgage or other secured loan, a borrower that owns income-producing property typically grants the lender an assignment of rents as additional security, entitling the lender to rental income generated by leases at the property upon the borrower’s default. These assignments are intended to protect the lender’s interest by providing an alternative source of repayment and by limiting the borrower’s ability to divert rental income during periods of financial distress.

Disputes concerning assignments of rents often arise when a borrower defaults …

Priority Of Warn Act Claims In Bankruptcy And Rights Of Independent Contractors, Colin Hanlon

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

The Bankruptcy Code establishes a tiered priority system for the payment of unsecured claims, governing the order of distribution when there are insufficient assets to pay all creditors in full. The priority system is fundamental to the operation of the Bankruptcy Code because in most bankruptcy cases, the debtor lacks adequate assets to fully pay all creditors. The Bankruptcy Code grants fourth-level priority up to $17,150 per individual for “wages, salaries, or commissions, including vacation, severance, and sick leave pay earned by an individual.” To receive priority treatment, wages must be earned within 180 days before either the petition …