Legal Profession Commons^™

Disconnected Connection, Dyane L. O'Leary

Arkansas Law Review

Lawyering is a human experience in a digital world. Lawyers have long derived pride from labels like personal counselor, trusted advisor, and steady confidant. Sure, sometimes a productized legal service or one-off Turbo-Tax-style filing is all a client needs. But it’s still a people profession, the lifeblood of which is connection with others: clients, colleagues, witnesses, and countless more. Calls for attention to lawyers’ so-called “soft” skills have grown louder in recent years, tagged with descriptors like “people” or “business” or “professional” skills. Modern communication tools facilitate connection and relationship building like never before. But that which connects us threatens …

Vol. 70, No. 5 (February 9, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Roger Williams University School Of Law Launches Spring Cle Series For Rhode Island Attorneys 02-09-2026, Eryn Parlin, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Seeing Beyond The Words: What Interdisciplinary Methodologies Reveal About International Law, Matthew S. Erie, Mark Pollack, Wolfgang Alschner, Beth Simmons, Katerina Linos

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: On April 24, 2025, the International Law and Social Science Interest Group debuted at the ASIL Annual Meeting with a panel that posed a deceptively simple question: how can social science tools advance the work of international lawyers? Chaired by Chantal Thomas, the session brought together Matthew Erie, Wolfgang Alschner, Beth Simmons, and Katerina Linos— scholars who bridge doctrinal and empirical inquiry—to show how ethnography, computational text analysis, counterfactual inference, and mixed-method design can illuminate legal puzzles that doctrine alone cannot solve. The four short essays in this symposium provide parallel illustrations of this core theme: Erie’s ethnographic approach …

Vol. 70, No. 4 (February 2, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (February 2026): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Specialization And The Permanence Of Federal Bankruptcy Law, Rafael I. Pardo

BYU Law Review

Traditional historical accounts posit that federal bankruptcy specialization in the United States first developed under the system established by the Bankruptcy Act of 1898. That view assumes that the structural and temporal conditions necessary to foster specialization did not exist under the nation’s earlier federal bankruptcy systems—those created by the Bankruptcy Acts of 1800, 1841, and 1867. This Article theorizes that federal bankruptcy specialization very likely occurred under the pre-1898 systems and marshals evidence to that effect, primarily focusing on the Bankruptcy Act of 1841 (the 1841 Act). That statute marked a critical turning point in federal bankruptcy law, shifting …

Disinterestedness In Bankruptcy Cases: Does It Really Matter?, Michelle M. Harner

BYU Law Review

The title of this Essay asks whether disinterestedness (of professionals) in bankruptcy cases really matters. Spoiler alert: Yes, it really does.

Elite Bankruptcy, Laura N. Coordes

BYU Law Review

“The influence of bankruptcy lawyers over bankruptcy law seems almost inevitable.” —David Skeel

In Debt’s Dominion, David Skeel wrote that bankruptcy professionals have played a key role in shaping U.S. bankruptcy law. He predicted that these professionals would continue to shape the bankruptcy process long into the future. Today, we can see that Skeel’s prediction has come true. Although Congress has yet to overhaul the Bankruptcy Code, bankruptcy professionals have succeeded in their own form of overhaul by creating what this Essay calls “elite bankruptcy:” a type of bankruptcy accessible only to the rich and powerful. Elite bankruptcy is practiced …

Finding Debtor’S Counsel, Anthony Casey, Emma Lotts

BYU Law Review

In this Essay, we explore the question of how to assess the independence of debtor’s counsel in Chapter 11. The question has arisen in recent high-profile bankruptcy cases, attracting renewed attention from commentators. We examine these cases and revisit the unique role that debtor’s counsel serves.

From this analysis, a few guiding principles emerge for determining independence and managing conflicts that may arise. First, consistent with the rules outside of bankruptcy, sophisticated parties are capable of waiving conflicts and should be free to do so when their interests alone are affected by the conflict. Second, the possibility of conflicts—both real …

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program Offering Free Tax Assistance Through March 24, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Qualifying local taxpayers will again have help navigating federal and state tax returns this spring, as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program returns to the Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

Both U.S. and certain international taxpayers are eligible to utilize the free services, which will run on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6:30–9:30 p.m. beginning January 26 and continuing through March 24. Services will be available on a first-come, first-served basis in Room 121 on the first floor of the Law School, located at 211 South Indiana Avenue in Bloomington.

Vol. 70, No. 3 (January 26, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Governing Debt’S Dominion: Then And Now, Here And Abroad, Brook E. Gotberg

BYU Law Review

Widely regarded as a landmark in bankruptcy scholarship, Professor David Skeel’s Debt’s Dominion charts the evolution of American corporate bankruptcy law and the forces that have governed it.1 In this seminal work, Skeel traces federal bankruptcy laws from their roots in the U.S. Constitution through their development over the twentieth century, detailing the political dynamics that shaped their scope and administration. Among those dynamics, he identifies the emergence of a specialized bankruptcy bar as one of the most influential forces shaping the law. As he explains, “bankruptcy professionals have spearheaded a relentless expansion of both the scope of the bankruptcy …

Prof. Andrew Hammond Appointed To Seventh Circuit Advisory Committee On Circuit Rules, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Andrew Hammond, Professor of Law and Harry T. Ice Faculty Fellow at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Circuit Rules for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“I am honored to serve on the Seventh Circuit’s Advisory Committee on Circuit Rules,” Hammond said. “My first job out of law school was clerking for then-Chief Judge Wood of the Seventh Circuit, and my experience working for her and later Judge Dow in the Northern District of Illinois helped shape how I think about federal practice and procedure. I am also …

Adaptable Ai Apprentices: Law Practice Sidekicks, Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

University of Miami Law Review

Two case studies involving motorcycle-accident negligence and administrative law in the context of drone regulation violations explore the transformative potential of generative AI in legal practice. Four AI engines—DeepSeek, Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok—were asked to analyze transcripts of client interviews by identifying legal claims and assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

The results demonstrate that current AI technology effectively processes natural-language client interviews, identifies viable legal theories, and assesses claim strengths and weaknesses in both tort and administrative law contexts. The AI systems demonstrated proficiency in parsing legal theories and citing relevant statutes and administrative regulations, though case citations were frequently …

Vol. 70, No. 2 (January 19, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence For Lawyers: I’M Sorry Dave, I’M Afraid I Can’T Do That: Competence, Confidentiality, And Communication, Cliff Mckinney

Arkansas Law Notes

In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the spaceship’s onboard computer, HAL, calmly refuses to follow the astronaut’s command with the chilling words, “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” HAL’s response has become a cultural shorthand for what happens when human expectations collide with machine limitations. The line endures because it captures the chilling reality that machines may appear capable, but they cannot always be trusted to act in ways humans expect or need.

This installment explores three pillars of Formal Opinion 512: competence, confidentiality, and communication. These pillars focus on what lawyers need to understand about …

Law Schools Should Teach How To Integrate Ai Tools Into Practice, Robert A. Mackenzie, David J. Reiss

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Now that artificial intelligence tools for lawyers are widely available, we decided to integrate them for a semester in our Entrepreneurship Clinic. We have some important takeaways for legal education in general and the transactional practice of law in particular.

First, employers and educators need to account for law students who already are using AI tools in their legal work and guide new lawyers about how to use such tools appropriately.

Second, different AI products lead to wildly different results. Just demonstrating this to law students is very valuable, as it dispels the notion that AI responses can replace their …

From Contracts To The College Football Playoffs: Stephen Harper’S Unlikely Path To Iu Athletics, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

On Monday night, as the Indiana University football team takes the field with a national championship on the line, Stephen Harper ’11 will be where tens of thousands of IU alumni wish they could—on the sidelines of Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

For Harper, Indiana’s chief operating officer for athletics, the moment is the culmination of a journey that began far from packed stadiums and playoff spotlights. Before contract negotiations, NIL policy, and Big Ten championship trophies, Harper was a high school English teacher and basketball coach at Bloomington North High School.

A Human Enablement Theory Of Copyright, Akshat Agrawal

Indian Journal of Law and Technology

Copyright policy, designed to protect creators and disseminators from market imperatives, has ironically deepened their market dependency. This transformation stems from two critical theoretical errors: first, the “incentives”/“reward for labour” story that mistakes protection from market pressures for market encouragement; second, market fundamentalism that treats exclusionary rights as natural and as the source of “liberty”. These misconceptions, reinforced by fallacies about pre-social creativity and physicalism, have transformed copyright from an enabler in a market society into one that commodifies creative expression itself, intensifying rather than ameliorating the economic vulnerability of cultural producers.

This theoretical misunderstanding has produced three interlocking harmful …

The National Jurist Names Kellye Testy ’91 Most Influential Person In Legal Education, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The National Jurist has named Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumna Kellye Y. Testy ’91 the most influential person in legal education, placing her at the top of its annual list of the 25 most influential leaders in the field.

The ranking is based on a survey of law school deans nationwide. In explaining the methodology, The National Jurist noted that respondents were asked to identify individuals who “sparked new ideas, introduced reforms, inspired their peers, or pushed them to see their work differently.” The resulting list, the publication said, highlights leaders who are “moving the field forward and …

Social Equity And Cannabis Explained: History, Regulatory Implementation And The Drug War Reform Efforts 01-13-2026, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Vol. 70, No. 1 (January 12, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence For Lawyers: Shall We Play A Game? The Rise Of Artificial Intelligence And The First Cases, Cliff Mckinney

Arkansas Law Notes

In the 1983 movie WarGames, a young computer hacker accidentally accesses a United States military supercomputer programmed to run nuclear war simulations. Four decades after WarGames, lawyers are now facing similar challenges of learning to use and communicate with artificial intelligence––hopefully without destroying the world. Artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, are quickly being incorporated into legal practice. These systems can draft documents, perform analysis, and support other legal tasks. While lawyers adjust to these new technologies, courts and regulatory authorities are actively developing appropriate frameworks to guide and supervise the use of these tools within the …

Law School News: A Quiet Success Story: Rwu Law's Enduring Partnership With The Center For Justice 01-09-2026, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ghostwriting The Government, Bridget C.E. Dooling

Marquette Law Review

Ghostwriting is when a writer prepares materials to be issued under someone else’s name. The word describes a politician’s use of a speechwriter, a student’s purchase of a term paper, or a tongue-twisted admirer asking a poet to craft a love letter on his behalf. It also happens inside organizations every day: staff draft documents for others “up the chain” to sign. But when legislators rely on staff and lobbyists to draft bills, when an agency head relies on staff or contractors to write a rule, and when a judge relies on her clerk for a draft opinion, the benefits …

Conditional Admission And The Hazards Of Lawyer Assistance Programs Operating Without Transparency Or Oversight, Paula Schaefer

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Required Learning, Voluntary Service: A Critical Look At Mandatory Cle And Pro Bono Options, Rima Sirota

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This chapter critically examines the intersection of mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) and pro bono service in the United States, focusing on the growing practice of awarding MCLE credits for pro bono work. It argues that MCLE, widely justified as promoting lawyer competence, rests on a striking lack of empirical support and is structured in ways that undermine effective professional learning. A pro bono option for earning MCLE credit, introduced as an incentive to expand access to justice, has similarly failed to demonstrate measurable impacts on pro bono participation. Nonetheless, the pro bono option holds untapped potential because, if properly …

Practicing Law From Home During The Pandemic: Findings From The University Of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey, David L. Chambers

Bibliography of Research Using UMLS Alumni Survey Data

The University of Michigan Law School, through its Alumni Survey Project, conducts annual surveys of its graduates regarding their current work and their careers as a whole.  In the surveys conducted in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the Project included questions about the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on various aspects of graduates’ work – their productivity, their co-worker relationships, their client relationships, the balance of their work and family life, and their income – as well as on their work experience overall. 819 graduates who had practiced law fulltime during the pandemic responded to the questions and more than half …

The Ai Advocate: Tracking The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Trial Advocacy, John G. Browning

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In his annual State of the Judiciary address on December 31, 2023, Chief Justice John G. Roberts chose to focus on the use of generative AI. He cautioned that while AI "has great potential to dramatically increase access to key information for lawyers," its use "requires caution and humility" because of the risk of "dehumanizing the law." Chief Justice Roberts' timely warning, made at the height of concerns nationally about lawyers relying on fabricated case citations caused by the "hallucinations" of generative AI, could have just as easily been targeted not only to the legal profession generally, but to trial …