Legal Education Commons^™

Preparing Future Lawyers To Draft Contracts And Communicate With Clients In The Era Of Generative Ai, Kristen Wolff

Articles

Thank you all for coming today. This is, I think, a really important topic. Important enough that the conference has decided to have two talks on the same topic, and Mark will be presenting on this in the next session, too. I plan on attending because I don’t think you can get enough perspectives on it right now. And hearing this information, I had to attend several talks myself before I really digested it and understood what this was all about. So, I hope that I can give you a little bit of that today. My name is Kristen Wolff. …

Forward-Looking Academic Impact Rankings For U.S. Law Schools, Matthew Sag

Faculty Articles

Although the very concept of law school rankings is currently under fire, rankings abolitionism is misplaced. Given the number, diversity, and geographic dispersion of the more than 190 law schools fully ac­credited by the American Bar Association, rankings are essential to en­able various stakeholders to make comparisons between schools. How­ever, the current rankings landscape is dire. The U.S News law school rankings rely on poorly designed, highly subjective surveys to gauge "reputational strength," rather than looking to easily available, objec­tive citation data that is more valid and reliable. Would-be usurpers of U.S. News use better data but make other arbitrary …

Finding Our Way: Teaching Legislative Advocacy Clinics, Anita Weinberg, Elizabeth B. Cooper

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Legislative advocacy clinics are excellent vehicles for teaching lawyering skills, for achieving broad-based social change, and for imparting to law students the important roles they can play in preserving and strengthening our democracy. Notwithstanding their growth over the last 15 years, there has been little scholarly reflection about the pedagogy of teaching such clinics. This Article helps to fill this gap. We provide a roadmap through the challenges that come with teaching legislative advocacy clinics-some inherent to working within legislative bodies and some that accompany working with organizational clients and advocacy partners-identifying ways that clinicians can ensure an excellent learning …

Dedication To Professor Emerita Marie Failinger, Edwin Butterfoss

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Turn The Question Around: The Case For Early Student-Critique Exercises, Alison M. Mikkor

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teaching The Choice Between Vagueness And Precision In Contracts, Naveen Thomas

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

One Semester, One Deal: A Transactional-Practice Focused Syllabus, Kari Sanderson

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

Training Law Students To Model Civility When Social Media Makes Civility Harder To Maintain, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Anti-Bias Cle: A Serious Problem Deserves More Meaningful Response, Rima Sirota

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay addresses the problematic convergence of two recent trends: (1) the expansion of jurisdictions requiring anti-bias training (ABT) as part of mandatory continuing legal education (CLE), and (2) the growing recognition among social scientists that such training, at least as currently practiced, is of limited effectiveness.

Forty-six American states require continuing legal education (CLE), and eleven of these states now require lawyer ABT as one facet of CLE requirements. I have previously criticized the mandatory CLE system because so little evidence supports the conclusion that it results in more competent lawyers. The central question tackled by this essay is …

Brown Now: The Surprising Possibility Of Progressive Reform, Louis Michael Seidman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For four decades, the Supreme Court has engaged in a determined, systematic and successful effort to transform and tame Brown v. Board of Education. But in this article, written for a symposium on Brown at 70, I suggest a surprising counterweight to the standard narrative. If one takes modern doctrine seriously -- a big if, I concede-- it has the potential to support some progressive goals.

In particular, modern doctrine might provide progressives answers to three questions:

1. Are race-conscious but facially neutral means of increasing diversity at state institutions of higher education constitutional?
2. Are legacy admissions to state run institutions …

We Shall Overcome: The Evolution Of Quotas In The Land Of The Free And The Home Of Samba, Stella Emery Santana

Seattle University Law Review

When were voices given to the voiceless? When will education be permitted to all? When will we need to protest no more? It’s the twenty-first century, and the fight for equity in higher education remains a challenge to peoples all over the world. While students in the United States must deal with the increase in loans, in Brazil, only around 20% of youth between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four have a higher education degree.

The primary objective of this Article is to conduct an in-depth comparative analysis of the development, implementation, and legal adjudication of educational quota systems within …

Pacific Islands And The U.S. Military: The Legal Borderlands Of The Environmental Movement, Sonia Lei

Seattle University Law Review

Climate change remains an urgent, ongoing global issue that requires critical examination of institutional polluters. This includes the world’s largest institutional consumer of petroleum: the United States military. The Department of Defense (DoD) is a massive institution with little oversight, a carbon footprint spanning the globe, a budget greater than the next ten largest nations combined, and overly generous exemptions to environmental regulations and carbon reduction targets. This Comment examines how this lack of accountability and oversight plays out in the context of three Pacific islands that have hosted U.S. military bases for decades. By considering the environmental impact of …

Pioneers Of Progress: Celebrating The Women Of Roger Williams University School Of Law On Its 30th Anniversary, Natalie Rogge, Aidan Boisvert

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (January 2024): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Externships For Equity, Lauren K. Valastro

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

This article examines the crucial role of externships in improving employment outcomes for marginalized law students, who often face systemic barriers to success in the legal field. Despite advancements, these students continue to have lower employment rates after graduation, largely due to institutional failures. Externships offer a low-cost, high-impact opportunity for students to gain the competencies employers seek, thus significantly enhancing their chances of securing employment. By analyzing data, the essay highlights the positive effect of externships on marginalized students' hiring outcomes. It also addresses broader questions on how legal employers evaluate candidates and proposes that expanding and supporting externship …

After Affirmative Action: Contextual Admissions And The Future Of African American Law School Enrollment, Nathan L. Bennett Fleming

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appoint Judge Ana De Alba To The Ninth Circuit, Carl Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

The United States Senate must rapidly appoint Eastern District of California Judge Ana de Alba to the Ninth Circuit. This appellate tribunal is a preeminent regional circuit, which faces substantial appeals, has the largest complement of jurists, and clearly includes a massive geographic expanse. The nominee, whom President Joe Biden designated in spring 2023, would offer remarkable gender, experiential, ideological, and ethnic diversity realized primarily from serving productively with the California federal district, and state trial, courts after rigorously litigating for one decade in a highly regarded private law firm. For over fifteen years, she deftly excelled in law’s upper …

Cognitive Decline And The Law, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law, Law-Medicine Center

Case Law-Med

• Message from the co-directors
• Newsflash
• Research roundup
• Faculty briefs
• Legal insights
• Noteworthy
• Top Ranked: Awards & accolades
• Cognitive decline and the law
• Unwavering advocacy
• Experiential education
• Joining the team

Un Ésprit Sérieux, Pierre Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.

Advanced Online Continuing Legal Education: How To Leverage Technology-Mediated Education For Lawyers' Lifelong Learning, Seth C. Oranburg

Scholarly Articles

Continuing legal education ("CLE") is theoretically important not only for lawyers but also for society. CLE aims to keep lawyers' knowledge of ever-changing law and technology up to date so that lawyers can continue advancing law on its long bend toward justice. CLE can socialize lawyers to the rapidly changing human phenomenon we call culture so that they remain keenly aware of what justice requires. And CLE could help attorneys fulfill their duty of technological competence by keeping attorneys' understanding of legal technology current. For these reasons, as well as others, most states mandate that lawyers take several hours of …

Merging The Bench, Bar, And Law Schools: How A Student Scholars Program Achieves Professional Identity Through Scholarly Writing, Mentorship, And Presentation, John C. Foley, Robin Boyle-Laisure, Troy Kessler

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Legal education is transforming. The American Bar Association's accreditation standards now require law schools to provide students with substantial opportunities for the development of professional identities together with an education that results in competencies in oral and written communication. As the professional identity formation requirement changes law school curricula, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in the practice of law resulting in an emphasis on remote advocacy and presentation skills. This article explains the design and implementation of an innovative co-curricular program that addresses the new educational standard and the realities of practicing law today. In the Student Scholars …

In-House Counsel(Or): The Case For Providing Integrated Mental Health Support Services To Law Students, Eric W. Shannon

Faculty Publications

While some American law schools currently provide onsite mental health support services to their student populations, many still do not. This essay is the first to argue that all law schools should provide onsite mental health support services to their students—ideally, by way of a mental health professional integrated within the law school’s staff (an “integrated mental health professional,” or “IMHP”) who is familiar not only with the unique pressures of law school generally, but also with the school-specific environment. It explores current data on law student well-being as well as external considerations including ABA recommendations and standards for law …

Critical Race Thinking In A Pro-Black Space: An Asian American Law Professor's Reflections On Teaching At An Hbcu, Philip Lee

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been the subject of both scholarly criticism and praise. Some of these colleges have shut down in recent years. Many HBCU law schools could face the same fate due to bar passage and other issues. However, with the recent Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admission, Inc. (SFFA) v. Harvard invalidating long-standing race-conscious admissions policies in higher education, HBCUs have become even more relevant in the educational landscape. As admission to historically White institutions (HWIs) become more elusive and as racial diversity at these places plumets, HBCUs are expected to admit …

Having Fun While Learning: Pedagogical Techniques For Teaching Contract Drafting, Robin Boyle

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Welcome everyone. Thank you very much for coming. It’s so exciting that we’re all together. I was looking forward to this conference. I’m Robin Boyle and I haven’t been here in a long time, unfortunately. So, it’s wonderful to come back and to see all of you.

My foray into contract drafting began about twenty years ago, when I started teaching Drafting Litigation Documents and Contracts (3 credits), which had a contract drafting component. The school also created a standalone Contract Drafting course (2 credits). The books that I’ve been using over the years have been very helpful. I …

Outside The Margins: Journal Alternatives For Professional Skill And Identity Development, Eric W. Shannon

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Every summer I hear from students who did not receive an offer to join their preferred journal—or sometimes any journal at all. Overall student interest in journal staff member positions generally outnumbers available spots in publications. Still other students opt out of participating in the writing competition entirely because of significant out-of-school responsibilities or other constraints on their time.

The appeal of journal membership is in many ways self-evident. It affords the space, time, and resources to sharpen legal research and writing skills. It can facilitate exploration of subject-matter areas of interest and help staff members decide on an …

The Music & The Movement: Race, Rhythm, And Social Justice, Renee Nicole Allen

Faculty Publications

From Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" to J. Cole's "Be Free," music has played a vital role in energizing social justice movements and elevating the legal and social issues facing Black people. An examination into the legal, historical, and social contexts for the music created during ten key movements in Black history reveals the role of lyrics and rhythm. Through the lens of music, ten movements—Freedom, Lynching, the Great Migration, Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Feminism, Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, Black Love, and Black Lives Matter—demonstrate that Black music is more than entertainment. It is …

The Stories We (Don’T) Tell: Using Case Briefing To Explore Bias And Oppression In The Law, Ashley B. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

Traditional case briefing focuses on the text of the opinion—how courts frame and resolve legal issues. This Essay explores how to teach case briefing to investigate bias and oppression in the law. By discussing socio-historical context during class or assigning reimagined judicial opinions alongside the original opinion, teaching case briefing this way asks students to consider the stories that judges don’t tell (and why). This Essay proffers two examples that illustrate these approaches: United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973) and Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co., 350 F.2d 445 (1965).

Breaking The Rules, Rima Sirota

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

“Breaking the Rules” is a legal research and writing assignment that I crafted for students completing their first year of law school. The assignment honors new students’ desire for skills that will allow them to effectively challenge the status quo of settled but discriminatory legal rules. Part I of this article is an essay that contextualizes and explains the assignment; Part II provides the assignment itself.

The Consumer’S Choice To Boycott, Agnes Bresee

Seattle University Law Review

In the wake of employees losing their jobs upon voicing their political opinions concerning Israel, Harvard and Columbia law students’ job offers being rescinded upon expressing support for Palestine, and the names and social media profiles of individuals who support Palestine being collected and listed on Canary Mission, such backlash may leave many Americans wondering what form of resistance to settler-colonialist apartheid is acceptable in the twenty-first century. Recently, the movement to collectively boycott brands like Starbucks, which sued its Worker’s Union for a tweet expressing support for Palestine; Disney, which donated money to Israel; and McDonald’s, where a location …

Civil Appeals Mediation Program 2023 Mediation Colloquy "Thinking 101" And Mediation

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.