Jurisprudence Commons^™

The Unique Jurisprudence Of Letters Of Credit: Its Origin And Sources, Gao Xiang, Ross P. Buckley

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article seeks to illumine the legal nature of the letter of credit instrument, and catalogue the various sources of law and rules that can govern it; and, by doing so, render a service to those who must quickly come to grips with letter of credit law. The Article is in two parts. The first part examines the legal nature of the letter of credit by looking at its definition, operation, and history and by comparing it with negotiable instruments and contracts. The second part considers the rules, customs, and regulations governing letters of credit and introduces the two fundamental …

The Stumbling Block: Freedom, Rationality, And Legal Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Stumbling Block: Freedom, Rationality, And Legal Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

The article critiques the dominance of policy-oriented legal scholarship, particularly in law and economics, arguing that it oversimplifies human behavior by focusing on predictable, instrumental rationality. It advocates for a more balanced approach that incorporates jurisprudential, theoretical, and doctrinal scholarship, drawing on speculative theory from Continental philosophy and psychoanalysis to provide a richer understanding of rationality and human subjectivity. The author suggests that critical legal scholarship could be revitalized by engaging with thinkers like Kant, Hegel, and Lacan, who offer deeper insights into freedom, spontaneity, and the symbolic order.

Pragmatism Regained, Christopher Kutz

Michigan Law Review

Jules Coleman's The Practice of Principle serves as a focal point for current, newly intensified debates in legal theory, and provides some of the deepest, most sustained reflections on methodology that legal theory has seen. Coleman is one of the leading legal philosophers in the Anglo-American world, and his writings on tort theory, contract theory, the normative foundations of law and economics, social choice theory, and analytical jurisprudence have been the point of departure for much of the most interesting activity in the field for the last three decades. Indeed, the origin of this book lies in Oxford University's invitation …

Economic Rationality, Empathy, And Corporate Responsibility, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

Judge Richard A. Posner - the doyen of the law and economics movement - is probably the leading proponent of the hypothesis that legal subjects act as if they were economically rational. Over the years, however, Posner's conception of rationality has devolved from end-means reasoning by a conscious individual human actor, to unconscious instinct which is, nevertheless, beneficial to an individual subject (animal or human) to the mechanistic reproductive activity of individual genes which may or may not be beneficial to either the organism of which the gene is a part - or even to the gene itself. Indeed, all …

Law, Economics, And The Skeleton Of Value Fallacy, Kyron Huigens

Articles

Experiments in the last decade or so have demonstrated persistent failures on the part of ordinary individuals rationally to pursue self-interest. The experiments pose serious challenges to economics, rational choice theory, and the law and economics school. Some experiments, for example, suggest an "endowment effect", that contradicts the Coase Theorem; the notion that, in the absence of transaction costs, goods will find their most efficient distribution regardless of their initial assignment. Cass Sunstein has collected a set of essays by economists and legal scholars exploring these challenges, in a volume entitled Behavioral Law and Economics.

Can Evolutionary Science Contribute To Discussions Of Law?, Jeffrey E. Stake

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Evolutionary Theory can be helpful in understanding the law and determining what it should be. There are two ways in which the evolutionary perspective differs from an economic perspective on law. Not only does the evolutionary approach shift our attention from the world today to the environment of evolutionary adaptation, it shifts our focus from rational individuals to rational genes and from rational behaviors to rational design of mental architecture. Finally, the law of law's leverage makes predictions about the relative elasticities of demand for all sorts of behaviors, including those that did and did not exist in the environment …

Reinventing The Deal: A Sequential Approach To Analyzing Claims For Enforcement Of Modified Sales Contracts, Irma S. Russell

Faculty Works

This article explores the legal and economic complexities surrounding the enforcement of modified sales contracts under Section 2-209 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). While contract modification allows parties to adapt agreements to changing circumstances, courts have struggled with the absence of a consistent standard for determining when such modifications should be enforced. The discussion critiques the ambiguity of the UCC’s “good faith” requirement and the unpredictability it creates in judicial decision-making. To address these issues, the article proposes a “sequential approach” that examines each stage of the modification process, requiring the initiating party to demonstrate reasonable grounds for seeking …

Rationality In Law And Economics Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

Jeanne L. Schroeder critiques Richard Posner's conception of rationality in law and economics, arguing that his broad and evolving definition dilutes the concept, rendering it too vague and analytically weak. She advocates for a more nuanced approach that integrates psychological insights and acknowledges the limitations of traditional economic models. Schroeder emphasizes the need for empirical accuracy and theoretical rigor, challenging Posner's dismissal of behavioral economics and his reliance on evolutionary biology for explanations of irrational behavior.

Property Rights In John Marshall's Virginia: The Case Of Crenshaw And Crenshaw V. Slate River Company, 33 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1175 (2000), J. Gordon Hylton

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Marshall Court And Property Rights: A Reappraisal, 33 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1023 (2000), James W. Ely Jr.

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Critical Race Theory And Postcolonial Development Theory: Observations On Methodology, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Causes Of Inequality In The International Economic Order: Critical Race Theory And Postcolonial Development, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

In Praise Of The Efficiency Of Decentralized Traditions And Their Preconditions, John O. Mcginnis

Articles

No abstract provided.

The End Of The Market: A Psychoanalysis Of Law And Economics, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

The perfect market is the end of all actual markets - it is their ideal form. In normative economics, actual markets are the means of achieving the end or ideal of the perfect market. But this means that to achieve a perfect market would result in the end of all actual markets. Despite the centrality of the ideal of the perfect market in the subset of law and economics scholarship based on classical price theory, there is surprisingly little literature on its parameters. In this Commentary, Professor Schroeder examines this literature in order to explicate the nature of this ideal. …

The Political Economy Of Cooperative Federalism: Why State Autonomy Makes Sense And "Dual Sovereignty" Doesn't, Roderick M. Hills Jr.

Michigan Law Review

It is commonplace to observe that "dual federalism" is dead, replaced by something variously called "cooperative federalism," "intergovernmental relations," or "marble-cake federalism." According to this conventional wisdom, state and local officials do not enforce merely their own laws in their distinct policymaking sphere. Rather, as analyzed in a voluminous literature, state and local governments also cooperate with the federal government in many policymaking areas, ranging from unemployment insurance to historic preservation. These nonfederal governments help implement federal policy in a variety of ways: by submitting implementation plans to federal agencies, by promulgating regulations, and by bringing administrative actions to enforce …

Understanding Mahon In Historical Context, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Despite its enormous influence on constitutional law, Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon is just such an opinion; the primary purpose of the author’s article Jam for Justice Holmes: Reassessing the Significance of Mahon is to clarify Holmes's intent by placing the opinion in historical context and in the context of Holmes's other opinions. While other scholars have also sought to place Mahon in context, his account differs in large part because of its recognition, as part of the background of Mahon, of a separate line of cases involving businesses affected with a public interest.

The author argues that at …

Toward Humanistic Theories Of Legal Justice, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In an oft-quoted aside, Justice Holmes once remarked that when lawyers in his courtroom make appeal to justice, he stops listening: such appeals do nothing but signal that the lawyer has neither the facts nor law on his side, or worse, that he is ignorant of whatever law might be relevant.' Holmes's remark has not gone unheeded. Holmes's legacy, in part, is precisely this lapse: we don't have, or teach, a guiding theory of legal justice, nor do we have, or teach, a family of competing theories of legal justice, that might inform our work in law, at least as …

Tyrannous Lex, Thomas E. Baker

Faculty Publications

Professor Baker presents a fundamentally unique question. Including all of the legal opinions, statutes and administrative rules, how much law do we have? Is there way to calculate a “Gross Legal Product” for the United States and what effect does this “GLP” have on the U.S. economy? What about all of the secondary legal sources? What do they add, if anything, to our ability to understand all of the law that is constantly being produced? All these and more are the subject of Professor Baker’s article.

"Do Justice!": Variations Of A Thrice-Told Tale, Michael Herz

Articles

Although recent debates would suggest that narrative scholarship is brand new,4 lawyers, judges, and law professors, like all humankind, have always offered stories for illustration or support or to make a point in an indirect, and often more effective, way. Learned Hand's story about telling Justice Holmes to "do justice" is one widely-used example, offered by many writers in addition to Judge Bork and Professor Chayes. Its popularity is easy to understand. The story has a substantive message, pithily expressed, on a basic jurisprudential issue; it involves two members of the pantheon; and it crams a lot of human interest …

Increasing Recognition Of Enterprise Principles In Determining Parent And Subsidiary Corporation Liabilities, The, Phillip Blumberg

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Posner, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

Book Review of Overcoming Law. By Richard A. Posner. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1995.

Anglo-American Jurisprudence And Latin America, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Law And Economics: Nexus Of Science And Belief, Robert C. Downs

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Grant Gilmore, Holmes, And The Anxiety Of Influence, Charles M. Yablon

Articles

The article explores Grant Gilmore's ambivalent relationship with Oliver Wendell Holmes, particularly in The Death of Contract. Gilmore both praises Holmes's intellectual brilliance and critiques his formalistic approach to contract law. Drawing on Harold Bloom's The Anxiety of Influence, the analysis suggests that Gilmore engages in a struggle with Holmes's legacy, reflecting a mix of admiration and opposition, akin to how strong poets handle influential predecessors.

Virgin Territory: Margaret Radin's Imagery Of Personal Property As The Inviolate Feminine Body, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

Margaret Jane Radin's theory of property for personhood posits that certain personal property is deeply intertwined with individual identity, necessitating legal protections that go beyond traditional property rights. While her approach offers a feminist perspective by emphasizing the body and body-like objects as extensions of selfhood, critics argue that her framework lacks an account of community and intersubjectivity, rendering it incomplete. The article suggests that integrating insights from Hegel and Lacan could provide a more comprehensive understanding of property relations, addressing both personal and communal dimensions.

On The Margins Of Microeconomics, David G. Carlson

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Enriched Economic Model Of Political Patronage And Campaign Contributions: Reformulating Supreme Court Jurisprudence, Richard L. Hasen

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Efficiency And Individualism, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

Law and economics-the systematic application of neoclassical price theory to legal problems has dominated the legal academy in recent years. One recent study found that law and economics "for several decades appears to have pervaded about one quarter of scholarship in elite law reviews," and that figure may seriously

understate the theory's influence. A number of justifiably well regarded scholarly journals devote themselves almost exclusively to economic analysis of law, and the subject is now a regular part of law school curricula.' Perhaps most importantly, law and economics is a pervasive and influential presence in informal academic discussions. Even legal …

Normativity And The Politics Of Form, Pierre Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.