Legal Profession Commons^™

Herding Bullfrogs Towards A More Balanced Wheelbarrow: An Illustrative Recommendation For Federal Sentencing Post-Booker, Brian R. Gallini, Emily Q. Shults

ExpressO

The Article argues in favor of shifting the balance in federal sentencing toward a more indeterminate system. By exploring the post-Booker legal landscape at both the federal and state levels, the Article asserts that the judiciary's continued reliance on the “advisory" Guidelines has practically changed federal sentencing procedures very little in form or function. Accordingly, the Article proffers that, rather than insisting upon the Guidelines' immutability, federal sentencing would do well to reflect upon its own history, and the evolution of its state counterparts.

Flattening The World Of Legal Services? The Ethical And Liability Minefields Of Offshoring Legal And Law-Related Services, Carole Silver, Mary C. Daly

ExpressO

This article examines offshore outsourcing of legal and law-related services as the newest twist in the international market for legal services. We consider the impact of offshore outsourcing on the profession generally and analyze the ethical issues raised by offshore outsourcing, both as it exists today and as the practice may develop in the future. The article begins by situating offshore outsourcing in the framework of relationships created in the context of delivery of legal services. This framework is used, in turn, to construct a structure of analysis for the ethical implications of offshore outsourcing. Lawyers who outsource to offshore …

Tough Talk From The Supreme Court On Free Speech: The Illusory Per Se Rule In Garcetti As Further Evidence Of Connick’S Unworkable Employee/Citizen Speech Partition, Sonya K. Bice

ExpressO

Garcetti v. Ceballos was intended to clear up an area of First Amendment law so murky that it was the source not only of circuit splits but also of intra-circuit splits—panels from within the same circuit had arrived at opposite results in nearly identical cases. As it turned out, the Supreme Court itself was as splintered as the circuits. Of all the previously argued cases that remained undecided during the Court’s transition involving Justice O’Connor’s retirement and Justice Alito’s confirmation, Garcetti was the only one for which the Court ordered a second argument. This suggested to some that without a …

Imagining The Law-Trained Reader: The Faulty Description Of The Audience In Legal Writing Textbooks., Jessica E. Price

ExpressO

In law schools today, first-year legal writing courses play a crucial role in helping students learn to communicate about the law. Many legal writing teachers approach legal writing education in a practical way, attempting to pass on their own experiences in law practice settings to students. Unfortunately, as other writers have observed, such reliance on personal knowledge about “what lawyers are like” may lead legal writing teachers to oversimplify a complicated matter – the needs and preferences of the audience for legal writing – and may even amount to indoctrination in stereotypes about law practice. This article offers a closer …

Searches & The Misunderstood History Of Suspicion & Probable Cause: Part One, Fabio Arcila

ExpressO

This article, the first of a two-part series, argues that during the Framers’ era many if not most judges believed they could issue search warrants without independently assessing the adequacy of probable cause, and that this view persisted even after the Fourth Amendment became effective. This argument challenges the leading originalist account of the Fourth Amendment, which Professor Thomas Davies published in the Michigan Law Review in 1999.

The focus in this first article is upon an analysis of the common law and how it reflected the Fourth Amendment’s restrictions. Learned treatises in particular, and to a lesser extent a …

Vol. 4, No. 06 (September/October 2006)

Indiana Law Update

No abstract provided.

Institutional Professionalism For Lawyers: Realizing The Virtues Of Civic Professionalism, Steven K. Berenson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Franklin Pierce Law Center: Leading The Way In Legal Education For New Hampshire, John D. Hutson

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "This issue of the Pierce Law Review is the first devoted entirely to the practice of law in New Hampshire. This venture is appropriate because the Franklin Pierce Law Center is the only law school in the State. We are truly New Hampshire’s law school. Our Trustees, faculty, staff, and students feel this responsibility profoundly. Pierce Law serves as both a state law school and a national and international school. While we send a greater percentage of our graduates out of state than any other law school in the country except one, our alumni comprise fully one-third of the …

Carpe Diem: An Opportunity To Reclaim Lawyers' Independence, Louis A. Craco

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Learning To Writing In Code: The Value Of Using Legal Writing Exercises To Teach Tax Law, Scott A. Schumacher

ExpressO

Traditionally, law school tax courses have been taught using a mix of problems, class discussion, the Socratic method, and one end-of-term exam. The goal of these courses is to introduce students to key concepts of tax law and to teach them the essential skill of reading and interpreting the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations. This traditional method of instruction is an efficient and cost-effective way of transmitting a great deal of complex information to a large number of students. It is also a good vehicle to teach the essential skill of reading and interpreting the Code. However, the time …

Explaining The Value Of Transactional Lawyering, Steven L. Schwarcz

ExpressO

This article attempts, empirically, to explain the value that lawyers add when acting as counsel to parties in business transactions. Contrary to existing scholarship, which is based mostly on theory, this article shows that transactional lawyers add value primarily by reducing regulatory costs, thereby challenging the reigning models of transactional lawyers as “transaction cost engineers” and “reputational intermediaries.” This new model not only helps inform contract theory but also reveals a profoundly different vision than existing models for the future of legal education and the profession.

Multistable Figures: Sexual Orientation Visibility And Its Effects On The Experiences Of Sexual Minorities In The Courts, Todd Brower

ExpressO

A multistable figure is a cognitive illusion in which a single drawing contains multiple, competing images. On first viewing a person will see one image, but not the other – it usually requires additional information to trigger the viewer’s awareness of the second image. However, once you know about the disparate figures in the illustration, you cannot erase that knowledge from your mind and see a sole image as you did originally. This inability to ignore information and its effect on subsequent experience has parallels in lesbians’ and gay men’s treatment in the courts.

Courts today are deeply involved in …

Finding Redemption: How Picking Up The Phone Can Change A Lawyer's Life, Sean O'Brien

Faculty Works

The winner of the 2006 ABA Ross Essay Contest debated with himself whether to take a phone call from a death row inmate scheduled to be executed in 9 hours who turned out to be calling to request help for other prisoners. "As I hung up the phone, I experienced a profound awareness that no matter what each of us had previously done in our lives, at that moment Doyle Williams was a better human being than I. If a death row inmate can find redemption, maybe a lawyer can too."

Peace Is Not The Absence Of Conflict: A Response To Professor Rogers' Article: "Fit And Function In Legal Ethics", Kirsten D. Weisenberger

ExpressO

This paper takes the theoretical model Professor Catherine Rogers developed in her article “Fit and Function in Legal Ethics: Developing a Code of Conduct for International Arbitration,” 23 MICH. J. INT’L L. 341 (2002) as the starting point for an original argument that conflicts of laws analysis should be used to determine which legal ethics rules should apply to lawyers practicing international arbitration. The argument is supported by the new ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct rule on choice of law explicitly applies conflicts of laws analysis to lawyers practicing in the multijurisdictional settings. This paper analyses the new ABA …

In Facetiis Verititas: How Improv Comedy Can Help Lawyers Get Some Chops, Steven Lubet

ExpressO

Lawyers can learn a lot from the theory of improvisational comedy, and it isn’t just a matter of thinking on your feet. As we will explain, the key concept in both disciplines is the creation of a new, temporary reality. In improvisation, the cast must draw the audience into sharing the constructed reality of the stage, such that they can actually “see” the objects and characters portrayed, without the use of props or costumes. In trial, the lawyer must draw the jury into sharing the re-constructed reality of past events, such that they “see” what happened, even though they were …

Vengeance, Forgivness, Resentment, Jurisprudence, Dispute Resolution, Theodore Y. Blumoff

ExpressO

Vengeance is generally accompanied by the moral emotion of resentment and indignation, which are also natural psychological reactions. We can and do give these emotions cognitive content, inasmuch as they have developed and matured over time with culture, but they are primitive. They arise when an individual suffers a non-trivial injury that was inflicted without excuse or justification. Among other injuries suffered, the harm done discounts the value we hold of ourselves as human beings, so that when this discounting (the crime or a substantial tort) occurs and we react defensively; our worth as an individual feels threatened. We hope …

Vol. 4, No. 05 (July/August 2006)

Indiana Law Update

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Volume 39, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2006

Nebraska Transcript

World's First Law-Psych Program, with Its Integrative Approach. Continues to Rank Among Best
Law-Psychology Program Attracts Students Worldwide
Trial Consultant Uses His Training To Help Lawyers Be Successful
Juries & Civil Justice: Law-Psychology's Program of Excellence Conference Seeks to Improve Understanding of Jury Process
Utah Connection: Thanks to Efforts of Prof. Marty Gardner, Many Utah Students Attend Law School in Lincoln
Constitution Day: University 'Celebrates' the Constitution Even While Calling Into Question Constitutionality of Its Day
The World of Public Interest Law: Students Breaking the Mold
The New Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct: A Brief Overview
"Hope for a Global …

Unconscionable Contracting For Indigent Defense: Using Contract Theory To Invalidate Conflict Of Interest Clauses In Fixed-Fee Contracts, Jacqueline Mcmurtie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Indigent defense remains in crisis and yet constitutional challenges to promote systemic change have met with mixed success. This Article explores the new strategy of applying contract theory and principles to challenge indigent defense contracts that violate the canons of professional responsibility. This Article begins by discussing the author's experience working on cases of indigent defendants whose convictions were overturned through the efforts of the Innocence Project Northwest. The erroneous convictions were facilitated by the indigent defense contract in place at the time of the convictions. Pursuant to this contract, the indigent defense contractor agreed to provide representation in all …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Transsystemia–Are We Approaching A New Langdellian Moment? Is Mcgill Leading The Way?, Peter L. Strauss

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Transnationalizing The Legal Curriculum: How To Teach What We Live, Rosalie Jukier

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Saving Legal Education, Daniel J. Morrissey

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The “Csi Effect”: Better Jurors Through Television And Science?, Michael D. Mann

ExpressO

This Comment discusses how television shows such as CSI and Law & Order create heightened juror expectations. This will be published in the Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal's 2005-2006 issue.

The Professionalization Of Law Firm In-House Counsel, Elizabeth Chambliss

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the structural evolution of the "firm counsel" position from a volunteer, part-time position filled by an existing partner to a specialized, often full-time position increasingly filled by career in-house counsel. Based on focus groups and interviews with firm counsel, as well as participant observation at meetings and conferences aimed at firm counsel, I examine how the professionalization of the firm counsel position affects: (1) the definition of the firm as the client; (2) the authority of firm counsel with partners; and (3) firm counsels' professional commitments and attitudes about ethical rules. I find that, from a regulatory …

Justice Will Prevail (With A Little Help From Her Friends): Pro Bono In Utah, Steven B. Scudder

Utah Law Review

The Utah State Bar wants more lawyers to work for free. The state's 7,000 lawyers are encouraged to perform fifty hours of free, or pro bono, work each year, but fewer than a third are reporting it when they annually renew licenses. "It's not discouraging, but it's not encouraging," said Brooke Bruno, the bar's pro bono coordinator. The state bar this fall will create a committee, the Utah Access to Justice Council, to study free legal work as well as other issues. "We want to better define the role of pro bono work," bar spokesman Toby Brown said. The American …

Review Essay: Using All Available Information, Max Huffman

ExpressO

This is a review essay entitled “Using All Available Information,” in which I review and comment on Justice Stephen Breyer’s new book, Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution, published in September 2005. Justice Breyer’s book, adapted from the Tanner Lectures given in 2005 at Harvard Law School, serves partly as a response to Justice Scalia’s 1997 volume A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law. I review Justice Breyer’s book in part by comparison to and contrast with Justice Scalia’s. I propose that much about Justice Breyer’s interpretive philosophy, which centers on determining the “purposes” of texts and interpreting …

Vol. 4, No. 04 (May/June 2006)

Indiana Law Update

No abstract provided.

The Multistate Bar Exam As A Theory Of Law, Daniel J. Solove

Michigan Law Review

What is the most widely read work of jurisprudence by those in the legal system? Is it H.L.A. Hart's The Concept of Law? Ronald Dworkin's Law's Empire? No. It is actually the Multistate Bar Exam ("Bar Exam"). Perhaps no other work on law has been so widely read by those in the legal profession. Although the precise text of the Bar Exam is different every year, it presents a jurisprudence that transcends the specific language of its text. Each year, thousands of lawyers-to-be ponder over it, learning its profound teachings on the meaning of the law. They study …

Clark Memorandum: Spring 2006, J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law School

The Clark Memorandum

• In Search of Atticus Finch (Lance B. Wickman)
• Reflections on the Lord's Legal Storehouse (Craig D. Galli)
• Lifting Others (Jon Huntsman, Sr.)