Legal Education Commons^™

Commentary On John Makdisi's "Survey Of Aals Law Schools Teaching Islamic Law", Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

John Makdisi's survey raises two questions: what is "Islamic law"? And, why is it a good idea to teach it in American law schools? The answer to the first question is not as straightforward as it might seem and the answer to the second largely depends on the answer to the first.

Incorporating Literature Into A Health Law Curriculum, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

Literature has had a long relationship with medicine through literary images of disease, literary images of physicians and other healers, works of literature by physician-writers, and the use of literature as a method of active or passive healing. Literature also has had a long relationship with the law through literary images of various legal processes, lawyers, and judges, works of literature by lawyer-writers, and the use of literature as therapy. How can the field of law and literature inform the study of health law? And how can the field of literature and medicine help the field of law and literature …

Reflections On The Perpetual Myth Of The University As Seeker Of Truth, Michael I. Krauss

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Viola A. Bird On The Occasion Of Her 100th Birthday, Patrick E. Kehoe

Librarians' Articles

Consists of a biographical sketch and reminiscences of Mrs. Bird by former students and co-workers.

Process Reengineering And Legal Education: An Essay On Daring To Think Differently, Karen Gross

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Rise And Fall Of American Legal Education, Richard A. Matasar

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reflections On The Essential Role Of Legal Scholarship In Advancing Causes Of Citizen Groups, Nadine Strossen

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reflections On Diversity, William Murray Tabb

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Words, Words, Words!!! Teaching The Language Of Tax, Stephen B. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The basic course in federal income tax is usually a challenge for both teacher and student because so many different and difficult things are being taught at once: a prolix and opaque statute; complex financial transactions; and economic, political, and social analysis of the effects of the tax law. In addition, I believe that a teacher of tax must be a teacher of language, focusing explicitly and self-consciously on the ambiguous, imprecise, and confusing words that are embedded in tax law and discourse and that constitute a significant obstacle for students taking the basic course in federal income taxation.

Women As Supreme Court Advocates, 1879-1979, Mary Clark

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

On Academic Discrimination, Janet Ainsworth

Faculty Articles

Professor Ainsworth addresses President Lawrence H. Summers’ explanation of the paucity of women academics in the physical sciences, and discusses how Summers does not address the possibility that the lack of female academics could be due to discrimination.

Allegory From The Cave: A Story About A Mis-Educated Profession And The Paradoxical Prescription, Natasha Martin

Faculty Articles

The article reviews and engages Professor Derrick Bell’s more recent scholarship on the nature of the legal profession and the practice of law – ETHICAL AMBITION: LIVING A LIFE OF MEANING AND WORTH – placing Bell’s work in the broader framework of the entire legal enterprise highlighting its relevance to legal ethics, the ills of the profession and legal training. The article juxtaposes Bell’s more contemporary critique of the legal profession and practice with the observations of Carter G. Woodson in THE MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO, another African-American educator largely unfamiliar to the broader legal academy. The author proposes that …

Teaching Enron, Milton C. Regan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

What follows is a discussion of several transactions that the Examiner analyzed for the Enron bankruptcy court. These represent only a portion of the many transactions that the Examiner analyzed, but constitute a large number of the transactions with respect to which he focused on the conduct of attorneys. In most of these cases, the Examiner found that Enron's lawyers potentially could be liable to the company under various causes of action. In some instances, the Examiner did not find potential liability. These transactions are included in my discussion, however, because they can be used to explore certain ethical issues …

Albany In The Life Trajectory Of Robert H. Jackson, John Q. Barrett

Faculty Publications

We recall Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954) for many reasons, but certainly a leading one is the striking contrast between his humble origins and his exalted destinations. Jackson's life began literally in the deep woods, on a family farm in the gorgeous rural isolation of Spring Creek Township in northwestern Pennsylvania's Warren County. He spent his boyhood and obtained his basic public school education in Frewsburg, a small town in southwestern New York State. While still a teenager, Jackson spent one additional year as a high school student in nearby Jamestown, New York, but he …

Introduction: A Good Idea, Mark L. Movsesian

Faculty Publications

With this volume, the editors of the Hofstra Law Review introduce a new section: "Ideas." "Ideas" will serve as the vehicle for short pieces—from three to ten pages in length and having a minimal number of footnotes—on topics of interest to scholars and practitioners. There will be no subject-matter restrictions and no requirement that the pieces relate to one another. "Ideas" will not be a symposium, but a collection of brief observations on important legal questions. The editors hope to attract submissions from the academy and from prominent members of the bench and bar as well.

The inauguration of this …

A Tyrannosaurus-Rex Aptly Named "Sue": Using A Disputed Dinosaur To Teach Contract Defenses, Miriam A. Cherry

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In August 1990, commercial fossil hunters from the Black Hills Geologic Institute ("Black Hills") discovered the remains of an almost complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton located in the Badlands of South Dakota. Named "Sue" after her discoverer, the fossil immediately became the subject of controversy. Although many of the facts were disputed, the collectors gave the purported owner of the land, a Native American rancher named Maurice Williams, a check for $5,000, which he cashed, and the collectors excavated Sue. The fair market value of a T-Rex skeleton with that degree of completeness was over eight million dollars.

Once the …

Theory Saved My Life, Kris Franklin

Articles & Chapters

In part a tribute to the groundbreaking work of legal theorist Ruthann Robson, this article argues that theory and theorizing are under-examined yet basic skills which must be taught to all beginning law students. Positing that in order to be effective in law school and legal culture law students must learn to see, construct, deconstruct and use legal theories, the article articulates several common approaches to basic legal pedagogy and asks how they might be enhanced if pedagogy is embedded in a theoretical comprehension of thestudents' roles as interpreters of law. The article offers as examples artwork far removed from …

Dispute Resolution And Legal Education: A Bibliography, Trevor C.W. Farrow

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This selected bibliography is designed to act as a resource to assist in the ongoing, collaborative development of dispute resolution initiatives and programs in legal education and research in North America and abroad. Further, the particular focus of this bibliography, in addition to the teaching and research of dispute resolution generally, is the emphasis that law reform initiatives are putting on dispute resolution processes as potentially useful tools for increasing access to systems of civil justice around the common law world.

User Surveys: Libraries Ask, "Hey, How Am I Doing?", Dwight B. King

Journal Articles

Mr. King offers suggestions on how to create and use surveys effectively to assess the quality of a library.

A Tribute To Frederic L. Kirgis, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

Now, hearing of Rick's retirement, I find it hard to imagine Sydney Lewis Hall without him standing guard over the Law Center, or in the dean's office, or from some other nearby vantage point. If Washington and Lee is lucky, Rick will continue to play a role in the welcoming committee, making a welcoming place even warmer. Knowing Rick's commitment to the law school there, I have no doubt he would embrace the role.

While those of us that consider Rick a friend and colleague greet news of his retirement with a reluctant happiness, there is one group that cannot …

Telling Stories About Health Insurance: Using New Films In The Classroom, Elizabeth Pendo

Articles

In keeping with the theme of "The Mass Media's Influence on Health Law and Policy," this essay is designed to share my experience using clips from three recent popular films as a method of enhancing coverage and discussion of legal and policy issues surrounding the private health insurance system, and to provide some practical advice for others interested in doing the same. It builds upon a presentation that I gave along with Professors Timothy S. Hall and Ross D. Silverman at the 2004 Health Law Teachers Conference entitled "Health Law, Policy and Media," and was inspired by Professor Paul Bergman's …

Lawrence Summers' Speech On "Innate" Differences Between Men And Women-A Different Perspective, Thomas C. Fischer

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Professional Responsibility Redesigned: Sparking A Dialogue Between Students And The Bar, Lois R. Lupica

Faculty Publications

In recent years, there have been many public and private, formal and informal complaints about the behavior of lawyers. Moreover, lawyers' tenuous reputation for honesty and integrity has been tarnished by recent, well-publicized scandals. The public, as well as members of the bench and bar, have further decried a decline in attorney professionalism. More than once, it has been suggested that in some way, failings of law schools are to blame. In response to these observations about the professional behavior of lawyers and as a result of the author's experiences of teaching a traditional, Socratic-method Professional Responsibility class for many …

Constitutionalization, Girardeau A. Spann

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Students of constitutional law tend to suspect pretty early on that the Constitution simply means whatever the Supreme Court says that it means. Rather than fight that intuition, I think it is best to treat the student insight as one of the basic starting assumptions when teaching a course in Constitutional Law. The goal then becomes to help students figure out how best to maneuver and feel comfortable in a legal universe where the Constitution has only contingent meaning.

What the Supreme Court does when it clothes its political policy preferences in the garb of constitutional law can be described …

Great Case For Clinical Courses, Brandt Goldstein

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Lakshman D. Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Brief Survey Of Deconstruction, Pierre Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Response To Professor Bix, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Dangerous Supplement, Daria Roithmayr

Publications

No abstract provided.

In The Mountain/Green Eggheads And Old Hams, Thomas L. Shaffer

Journal Articles

This article presents In the Mountain and Green Eggheads and Old Hams. Green Eggheads and Old Hams is an academic variation on a theme of Professor Seuss.