Legal History Commons^™

Legal Medievalism In Lex Mercatoria Scholarship, Ralf Michaels

Faculty Scholarship

This short reaction piece to an article by Emily Kadens asks why a long-refuted story of an alleged uniform medieval lex mercatoria is still being maintained. The answer is that the story serves not as an actual history but instead as a foundation myth. Attempts to falsify the myth with historical data are therefore futile: the myth derives its value not from its truth value but from its symbolic power.

Constitutional Backdrops, Stephen E. Sachs

Faculty Scholarship

The Constitution is often said to leave important questions unanswered. These include, for example, the existence of a congressional contempt power or an executive removal power, the role of stare decisis, and the scope of state sovereign immunity. Bereft of clear text, many scholars have sought answers to such questions in Founding-era history. But why should the historical answers be valid today, if they were never codified in the Constitution's text?

This Article describes a category of legal rules that weren't adopted in the text, expressly or implicitly, but which nonetheless have continuing legal force under the written Constitution. These …

The Aba, The Aall, The Aals, And The “Duplication Of Legal Publications”, Richard A. Danner

Faculty Scholarship

Between 1935 and 1940, the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the American Association of Law Libraries joined forces to work on solutions to a problem often referred to as the “duplication of legal publications.” The need for practicing attorneys and law libraries to purchase multiple and duplicative versions of published law reports and other law books was burdensome in costs, complicated the research process, and contributed to what the American Law Institute identified as the two chief defects of American law: “its uncertainty and its complexity.” This article highlights the efforts of the ABA, the …

Introduction, Paul Finkelman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Beyond The Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role Of Politics In Judging, Marin Roger Scordato

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Heeding The Clarion Call For Sustainable, Spiritual Western Landscapes: Will The People Be Granted A New Forest Service?, Charles Wilkinson, Daniel Cordalis

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Foolosophy Of Justice And The Enigma Of Law, Peter Goodrich

Articles

The article explores the symbolic meaning of legal images, particularly the figure of Justitia (Justice) and her blindfold, in 16th-century legal texts. It argues that these images, often overlooked, are enigmatic symbols rooted in legal and theological traditions, conveying meanings that have been forgotten over time. The blindfold, in particular, signifies the separation between divine and human law, emphasizing the limits of human understanding and the enigmatic nature of legal symbolism.

The Failed Promise Of A General Theory Of Pure Economic Loss: An Accident Of History?, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

The article explores the evolution and challenges of pure economic loss doctrine in American tort law, focusing on the contrasting approaches of Robert Rabin and Gary Schwartz. While Schwartz critiques the feasibility of a general theory due to the diversity of economic injuries, Rabin advocates for a nuanced, fact-specific approach. The article highlights the ad hoc nature of the doctrine, as seen in key cases like JAire Corp. v. Gregory and Aas v. Superior Court, which reflect shifting judicial attitudes toward negligence and liability. It concludes that the failure to establish a coherent principle for determining duty underscores the ongoing …

Book Review, Barbara Babcock's Woman Lawyer: The Trials Of Clara Foltz, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Woman Lawyer tells the story of Clara Foltz, who in 1878 became the first female lawyer in California. Today her legacy is memorialized in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. The courthouse recognizes Foltz’s efforts to establish the office of the public defender. Barbara Babcock is eager to tell Foltz’s story, and the details come tumbling out.

Restoring "Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness" In Our Constitutional Jurisprudence: An Exercise In Legal History, Patrick J. Charles

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Pluralism And Property, Gregory S. Alexander

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Welfarism is no longer the only game in the town of property theory. In the last several years a number of property scholars have begun developing various versions of a general vision of property and ownership that, although consistent with welfarism in some respects, purports to provide an alternative to the still-dominant welfarist account. This alternative proceeds under different labels, including “virtue theory” and “progressive,” but for convenience purposes let us call them collectively “social obligation” theories. For what they have in common is a desire to correct the common but mistaken notion that ownership is solely about rights. These …

Comparing Appels And Oranges: Evaluating The Link Between Appeal Processes And Judiciary Structures In Canada And France, Mike Madden

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Back To The Drawing Board: Re-Examining Accepted Premises Of Regional Circuit Structure, Martha Dragich

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Battling Clearance Culture Shock: Comparing U.S. Fair Use And Canadian Fair Dealing In Advancing Freedom Of Expression In Non-Fiction Film, Sarah Sklar-Heyn

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note explores the tension between intellectual property rights and freedom of expression, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by nonfiction filmmakers in navigating copyright laws. It highlights how fair use and fair dealing doctrines in the U.S. and Canada serve as critical tools for balancing these competing interests. The analysis emphasizes the importance of flexible legal frameworks to accommodate the unique needs of documentary filmmaking, which often relies heavily on the use of preexisting works. The note also examines the potential for international harmonization of these doctrines to facilitate global distribution of audiovisual works.

Deconstructing 'Just And Proper': Arguments In Favor Of Adopting The 'Remedial Purpose' Approach To Section 10(J) Labor Injunctions, William K. Briggs

Michigan Law Review

Congress, through the 1947 addition of section 10(j) to the National Labor Relations Act, authorized district courts to grant preliminary injunctive relief for unfair labor practices if they deem such relief "just and proper." To this day a circuit split persists over the correct interpretation of this "just and proper" standard. Some circuits interpret "just and proper" to require application of the traditional equitable principles approach that normally governs preliminary injunctions. Other circuits interpret "just and proper" to require an analysis of whether injunctive relief is necessary to preserve the National Labor Relations Board's remedial power This Note examines the …

The Two Faces Of American Freedom: A Reply, Aziz Rana

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Samantar, Official Immunity And Federal Common Law, Peter B. Rutledge

Scholarly Works

This essay examines the theoretical underpinnings of the immunity of foreign government officials following the Supreme Court's recent decision in Samantar. Part of a forthcoming symposium with the Lewis and Clark Law Review, the paper tackles the federal common law in the Court's decision and, more broadly, international civil litigation. It criticizes the Court's unexamined assumption that its federal common law power extended to create an immunity that, at best, coexists only uncomfortably alongside the legislative framework of the FSIA. It explains the problematic implications of this assertion of federal common law, both for suits against foreign officials and for …

Property Rights In Land, Agricultural Capitalism, And The Relative Decline Of Pre-Industrial China, Taisu Zhang

San Diego International Law Journal

Scholars have long debated how legal institutions influenced the economic development of societies and civilizations. This Article sheds new light on this debate by reexamining, from a legal perspective, a crucial segment of the eighteenth and nineteenth century economic divergence between England and China: By 1700, English agriculture had become predominantly capitalist, reliant on managerial farms worked chiefly by hired labor. On the other hand, Chinese agriculture counterproductively remained household-based throughout the Qing and Republican eras. The explanation for this key agricultural divergence, which created multiple advantages for English proto-industry, lies in differences between Chinese and English property right regimes, …

The Genius Of Roman Law From A Law And Economics Perspective, Juan Javier Del Granado

San Diego International Law Journal

The Article is organized as follows: The first part of this Article will introduce Roman private law, and sketch out the law and economics methodology to be applied to the Roman classical system. The second part of this Article will discuss the Roman private law of property, obligations, as well as commerce and finance. The third part will discuss the interaction of private law and private morality in the construction of Roman social order. The fourth part of this Article will discuss private procedural aspects of the Roman legal system. The fifth and final part of this Article will discuss …

"No Sinecure": William Young As Attorney General Of Nova Scotia, 1854-1857, William H. Laurence

Dalhousie Law Journal

Focusing on the tenure (1854-1857) of William Young, this article examines the legal work of nineteenth-century Nova Scotian attorneys general. Although he served without the benefit of an established justice department, Young fulfilled a wide range of duties and completed an impressive volume of work, which required knowledge of both public and private law, and which demanded advocacy advisory, solicitorial, and legislative drafting skills. This article argues that though Young's performance as a Crown prosecutor received the most public attention, his accomplishments outside the criminal courtroom, especially those relating to the administration ofjustice and legislative development, had the most significant …

No Longer "Naked And Shivering Outside Her Gates": Establishing Law As A Full-Time On-Campus Academic Discipline At Mcgill University Inthe Nineteenth Century, A J. Hobbins

Dalhousie Law Journal

Although Canada was a single province (1763-1791), subsequently divided into Upper and Lower Canada, legal education developed very differently in the two components. The Law Society of Upper Canada controlled legal education in Ontario until the second half of the twentieth century, while in Quebec, where the legal system was based on both civil and common law, university-based legal education began in the first half of the nineteenth century. This study examines how legal education developed at McGill University, moving from part-time teaching by professionals off-campus to an on-campus faculty taught by full-time academics by the end of the century …

The Impeachment Of The Judges Of The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, 1787-1793: Colonial Judges, Loyalist Lawyers, And The Colonial Assembly, Jim Phillips

Dalhousie Law Journal

In 1790 the Nova Scotia House of Assembly passed seven "articles of impeachment" against two ofthe colony's Supreme Courtjudges, the firstattempt bya British North American assembly to remove superior courtjudges. Although the impeachment failed when the British government rejected the charges, it is noteworthy nonetheless. The product of a dispute between newly arrived loyalist lawyers and a local elite of "old inhabitants, " it was at one and the same time a political struggle between the Assembly and the executive branch, and one that involved concerns about judicial competence. The impeachment crisis also demonstrates the close links between the judiciary …

Madison's Full Faith And Credit Clause: A Historical Analysis, Charles M. Yablon

Cardozo Law Review

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has created a new wave of interest in the Full Faith and Credit Clause and its apparent contradictions. Important recent scholarship has shown that American lawyers in the eighteenth century often viewed the term "full faith and credit" as referring to an evidentiary rule. This interpretation ameliorates, but does not actually resolve, the apparent conflict between the first sentence of the Clause, which seems to create a mandatory rule of sister state deference, and the second sentence of the Clause, which seems to give Congress plenary power to abrogate that rule. Rather than seek …

Earth Jurisprudence And Lockean Theory: Rethinking The American Perception Of Private Property, Traci Lynne Timmons

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Earth Jurisprudence and Lockean Theory

Abstract by Traci Lynne Timmons

Thomas Berry, father of the Earth Jurisprudence movement, called for re-examining human-Earth relations. Earth Jurisprudence aspires to promote a greater respect for nature and all living things on Earth, aiming to intertwine Earth’s natural law with the body of law that governs humanity. This paper explores Earth Jurisprudence as an alternative to the property regime in the United States. It examines the fundamental principles of property ownership, frequently attributed to the philosophy of John Locke, but digs deeper into these “Lockean” roots to reveal important caveats to Locke’s general principles …

The Origins Of African American Interests In International Law, Henry J. Richardson Iii

Buffalo Human Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Secularity And Secularism In The United Kingdom: On The Way To The First Amendment, Iain Mclean, Scot M. Peterson

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Settlers And Immigrants In The Formation Of American Law, Aziz Rana

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the early American republic is best understood as a constitutional experiment in “settler empire,” and that related migration policies played a central role in shaping collective identity and structures of authority. Initial colonists, along with their 19th century descendants, viewed society as grounded in an ideal of freedom that emphasized continuous popular mobilization and direct economic and political decision-making. However, many settlers believed that this ideal required Indian dispossession and the coercive use of dependent groups, most prominently slaves, in order to ensure that they themselves had access to property and did not have to engage …

Gambling With Lives: A History Of Occupational Health In Southern Nevada, 1905--2010, Michelle Ann Turk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In April 2009, the Pulitzer committee awarded its public service prize to the Las Vegas Sun for its coverage of the high fatalities on Las Vegas Strip construction sites. The newspaper attributed failures in safety policy to "the exponential growth in the Las Vegas market." In fact, since Las Vegas' founding in 1905, rapid development in the region has always strained occupational health standards. From transporting hazardous railroad cargoes to building Hoover Dam, chemical processing at Basic Magnesium, nuclear testing, and dense megaresort construction on the Strip, workers, residents, and tourists alike have been exposed to the threat of living …

Paul R. Verkuil, Antonin Scalia

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Paul Verkuil: An Outstanding Scholar In His Spare Time, Richard J. Pierce Jr.

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.