Legal Profession Commons^™

Voting Matters: Materiality Considerations And The Shareholder Vote, Renee M. Jones

Seattle University Law Review

For the shareholder franchise to have meaning, shareholders must have access to relevant information to inform their voting decisions. The securities laws’ disclosure requirements play an essential role in informing the shareholder vote.

This Essay focuses on the question of the materiality of information in the context of shareholder voting. It addresses the question of whether ESG-related information is material, positioning the materiality inquiry within the context of shareholders’ voting decisions. It explores the definition of materiality with a focus on the “reasonable investor” concept embedded within the definition. The Essay argues that the implicit expectations of many commentators that …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Understanding The Big Three’S Wavering Support Of Environmental And Social Shareholder Proposals, Jeff Schwartz, Jefferson Jensen

Seattle University Law Review

Because of their substantial equity portfolios, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street (the Big 3) are central players in corporate governance. It is, therefore, critical to understand how they vote. One puzzle is that their support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social matters appears to waiver. In 2020, for instance, BlackRock supported 11.1% of environmental proposals at S&P 500 firms. In 2021, it seemingly reversed course, supporting 55.2%. It then flipped again, supporting 32.1% in 2022. Such statistics suggest that the Big 3 are constantly changing their views on these topics. This Article seeks to better understand whether this is …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Expertise, Ideology, And Dissent, Paul R. Gugliuzza, Jonathan R. Nash, Jason Rantanen

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Economy In The Age Of Ai, Yonathan A. Arbel

Articles

Individuals do not vindicate the majority of their legal claims because of access to justice barriers. This entrenched state of affairs is now facing a disruption. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools to perform legal tasks tools that sharply reduce the costs of generating legal materials. There is finally hope that AI might allow many more to access justice.

Paradoxically, what we gain in access to justice we might lose in the delivery of justice. The problem is not that AI tools are ineffective. Indeed, they are even more effective than most realize affecting every stage …

Visual Legal Rhetoric In The Age Of Generative Ai And Deepfakes: Renaissance Or Dark Ages?, Michael D. Murray

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The paradoxical development of visual generative AI tools, such as OpenAI’s DALL-E 3, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, simultaneously signals a renaissance and a potential dark age in visual rhetoric and communication. On the one hand, these tools democratize the creation of visual content, empowering attorneys and others to become artists and illustrators of their legal communications without needing to learn how to draw. These AI systems can simplify complex legal concepts, bridge language barriers, and enhance advocacy. But on the other hand, the proliferation of deepfakes presents significant challenges for visual rhetoric. Deepfakes can quickly and easily create realistic but …

Tribal Legal Licensing Of Attorneys, House Counsel Status, And The Opportunity To Redefine The Jd Preferred Position And The Entire Lawyer Ecosystem, Nicholas J. Stamates

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The recognized right of Indian Tribes to license has been a known reality dating back to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832) where state law was found inapplicable on the lands of the Cherokee. However, the modern implications of tribal licensing and regulation have only just begun to be explored in the context of the modern American regulatory system. In fact, the ability of Indian Tribes to license attorneys to practice law within their court systems has largely gone unexamined outside of a few exceptions such as the Tribal Law and Order Act …

Green Dividends: A Case Study In Green Dividends And The Conditions For Private Ordering Solutions, Anne M. Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay introduces a novel private ordering solution to facilitate corporate investments in pro-social and environmental initiatives: Green dividends. Green dividends are an optional increase in shareholder dividends that are returned to the company to be reinvested in environmental initiatives or kept by a shareholder.

Green dividends pose an alternative to the current gridlocked debate that corporations can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and shouldn’t even try to act in pro-social or environmental ways. Turning the common refrains on their head converts each narrative into an element for a successful private ordering solution: authority, accountability, shareholder buy-in, and government- backed enforcement. With Green …

Does Climate Disclosure Work To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Emerging Evidence Suggests Cautious Optimism, Cynthia A. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

Significant regulatory resources have been spent developing global, voluntary climate and sustainability disclosure standards, such as the TCFD, TNRD, and ISSB’s Sustainability and Climate Disclosure standards, or domestically required disclosures, such as in the EU and in the U.S. Thus, it is important to evaluate whether this disclosure, particularly voluntary, qualitative disclosure, will have the power to shift the allocation of capital, will have a significant effect on the management of climate risk within firms, and ultimately will reduce climate change risk and biodiversity loss.

In this Article, several interrelated questions will be discussed. First, what does the empirical evidence …

Survivors Behind Bars: The Criminalization Of Abuse, Assault, And Human Trafficking Victims And The Need For A Trauma-Informed Approach, Jamie Beck, Chelsea Estes

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Technology Competency Road Map In Rhode Island: Reforming Professional Rules And Continuing Legal Education With Modern Educational Frameworks And Instructional Design Principles To Protect Clients, Myrta L. Ventura

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Elected Judge, Matthew Dale Kim

UF Law Faculty Publications

Many legal scholars and jurists oppose electing judges. Their core criticism against judicial elections is that elected judges are incentivized to avoid issuing unpopular, countermajoritarian decisions in constitutional law cases and thus fail to safeguard minority rights against abuses of the majority. Scholars have described this problem as the elected judges’ “majoritarian difficulty.” Numerous empirical studies suggest that elected judges do, in fact, fear electoral backlash and allow majoritarian demands to affect their decision-making.

This Article asks whether such fears are warranted. Elected judges should not allow majoritarian pressures to affect their decision-making unless the American public is aware of …

Crip The Law: Representation As A Key Component Of Liberation Lawyering, Marissa Ditkowsky

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Do Federal Circuit Courts Of Appeal Provide Adequate Assistance To Self-Represented Litigants? A Review Of The Circuits’ Websites Resources, Jona Goldschmidt

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

United States Senior District Judge William E. Smith – A Judge For All Seasons, Patricia A. Sullivan

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remarks On The 20th Anniversary Of The Founding Of The District Of Columbia Access To Justice Commission, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

I'm very excited to be here and honored that you invited me to be one of the speakers for this very timely and amazing symposium. I'm especially excited because you're also recognizing the 20th anniversary of the District of Columbia's Access to Justice Commission. The topic of the symposium is the evolution of the legal profession, A Different World. Looking at the phoenix on the UDC Law school logo, the flames are really appropriate now when we talk about the evolution of the legal world with all the technological developments and other interesting issues that we confront.

First, I want …

Pro Bono Publico Versus Pro Bono Presidential, S. I. Strong

Faculty Articles

In March and April 2025, the Trump Administration issued a series of executive orders directed at various law firms that had represented clients or undertaken actions with which the President disagreed. Those executive orders imposed various sanctions capable of destroying the firms financially. The Administration also threatened numerous other law firms with similar types of executive orders.

Although a few law firms challenged the executive orders in court, the majority of firms targeted by the President entered into informal settlement agreements whereby the firms promised to provide between $40 million and $125 million worth of free “pro bono legal services” …

Networking Among The Human Capitalists: The Organizational Dynamics Of Change And Power In The Large Corporate Law Firm, Alan James Klugel

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Law firms are unique creatures. They are subject to market pressures as well as ethical obligations and professional norms. They are in direct competition with other organizations for both clients and the lawyers necessary to perform work for those clients. They are comprised of lawyers who are simultaneously cooperative and competitive with one another. They are neither hierarchy nor anarchy, neither a collection of independent actors nor an entity under which its employees are subsumed. Instead, they are organizations shaped and reshaped by their members; organized around shared goals, internal contestations and external constraints; and defined by the ties between …

Dobbs V. Brown, Benjamin H. Barton

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization1is the most important and impactful Supreme Court decision since at least Roe v. Wade, and potentially since Brown v. Board of Education. Past survey data show that most Americans can only name two Supreme Court opinions: Roe and Brown. Dobbs will surely join that list. This Article compares the history, drafting, and opinions of Dobbs and Brown to show what a missed opportunity Dobbs represents. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the opinion, it should be clear that Dobbs was one of those unique times (like that of Brown) where the Court …

Promise And Pitfalls Of Ai In Mass Arbitration, Amy J. Schmitz

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Mass arbitration has emerged as a strategic response to arbitration clauses that preclude class actions, allowing large numbers of claimants to bring individual arbitration demands against companies for similar grievances. Unlike class actions where a lead claimant represents others, mass arbitration requires each claimant’s active participation in separate proceedings, creating significant administrative burdens and costs. Following a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that solidified mandatory individual arbitration clauses, consumers and employees increasingly turned to mass arbitration filings. While the American Arbitration Association’s rule updates aimed to improve efficiency through measures like one-time initiation fees and process arbitrators, challenges remain in managing …

Trial Lawyers And An Ethos Of Leadership: Enhancing Legal Education To Meet Evolving Demands, Anthony J. Ghiotto

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

Empowering Women In The Richmond Legal Community, Lily Goodman

Law Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Human-Centered Advocacy: Requiring Trauma-Informed Lawyering Through Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, Meghan Sheldon

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Paradoxical Pedagogy: Teaching Trauma-Informed Principles Within A System Built On Emotional Detachment, Sarah Mcconnell, Leah Lunetta

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civic Virtue: Judge William E. Smith's Gifts To Rwu Law, Michael J. Yelnosky

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

For The Reasons Elucidated Above: Lessons From Judge Selya On Law, Writing, And Life, Stefanie D. Fischer, Colten H. Erickson

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Wellness Connection January 2025, Roger Williams University School Law Office Of Student Life

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Bar Examination: A Verb, Not A Noun, Marsha Griggs

All Faculty Scholarship

The legal profession, long steeped in tradition, is witnessing a transformative shift in the protocols for licensing new attorneys. Multiple jurisdictions are moving away from reliance on standardized testing as the sole gateway to law practice and are developing individualized (and potentially reciprocal) systems of state licensure. Ironically, the planned launch of a new standardized exam—the NextGen bar exam—appears to be a major catalyst in the transformation of state licensure pathways. This shift has the potential to realign the regulatory hierarchy in attorney admission. Such a realignment is vital to the preservation of lawyer self-governance, and it offers great promise …

To Free A Predator: The Flawed Rationale For Overturning Bill Cosby’S Conviction, Michael C. Kovac

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.