Legal Profession Commons^™

Law School News: Rwu Day Of Law And Justice Showcases Powerful Combinations At The Statehouse 4-9-2026, Jordan J. Phelan

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Roger Williams University School Of Law Receives Historic $4 Million Gift From Mark Mandell To Establish Premier Trial Advocacy Center 4-9-2026, Hillary Lima, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Gender And Emotional Expression In The Courtroom: Mock Juror Perceptions Of Attorney Effectiveness, Emma Cantrell

Undergraduate Theses

This quantitative study examines how gender and emotional expression influence mock jurors' perceptions of an attorney's courtroom effectiveness. Using mock jurors, this study extends previous research suggesting that assertiveness and emotional displays are evaluated differently by gender. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of four closing statements in a mock burglary trial. The videos were of either a male or a female attorney delivering a passive or an aggressive argument. Participants then evaluated the attorney’s effectiveness across four categories: competence, persuasiveness, ability to instill confidence, and emotionality. Male participants generally rated female attorneys as less effective than female participants …

Teaching A Social Justice Approach To Leadership In Law Schools, Tamar Ezer

Articles

Leadership is critical for social justice. Our law students have the potential to serve as future social justice leaders, building strong organizations and movements to carry out this work. Drawing on both leadership theory and practical examples from clinical legal education, this piece argues for a broad definition of leadership, embracing diversity and encompassing the counter-cultural values of listening and humility. It further proposes a three-dimensional model of social justice leadership, engaging the mind, heart, and spirit, and suggests teaching practices to strengthen each component. The first dimension focuses on cognitive competencies, including substantive mastery of an area of law …

Sanctioning Lawyer-Criminals, Jon J. Lee

Washington and Lee Law Review

Until now there has been relatively little consideration given to disciplinary agencies’ sanctioning of lawyers who commit or are convicted of crimes, so called “lawyer-criminals.” This is likely because most assume that these offenders make up a tiny percentage of disciplinary cases. It also may explain why jurisdictions continue to employ disparate approaches regarding what types of criminal conduct warrant professional intervention, the appropriate sanctions to impose on lawyer-criminals, and whether lawyers convicted of certain offenses should be automatically excluded from practice.

This Article makes three primary contributions to the discourse on reforming professional lawyer regulation to protect the public …

Inexcuseable? Building An Artificial Intelligence Microexpert On Contract Excuse Doctrine, Mark Edwin Burge

Faculty Scholarship

This article details and advocates for a general methodology for creating a "microexpert" grounded in a user-defined set of legal sources and widelyaccessible tools for integrating generative artificial intelligence (AI) into legal analysis. The study focuses particularly on background contract excuse doctrines of impossibility, impracticability, and frustration of purpose, which are collectively a methodologically challenging area of law to rationalize due to factintensive variables that undermine their predictability. Particular challenges include assessing the foreseeability of the event that led to the contract's nonperformance, the extent of the hardship or burden on the party seeking excuse, and the purpose of the …

Behind The Suit: How Recovering A Biblical Worldview And Implementing Spiritual Formation Practices Can Improve The Mental Health Crisis In The Legal Profession, Makayla G. Johnson

Senior Honors Theses

A Biblical worldview is the foundation upon which the United States government and legal system is built, however in recent years the understanding of a Biblical Worldview has been in decline. This shift has had a profound impact on the legal field, causing a loss of purpose and meaning in the profession, which research asserts has in part caused many mental health issues found in the legal field. With this in mind, the following study will include information regarding the extent to which the implementation of spiritual formation practices, when practiced specifically by those in the legal profession, could impact …

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

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Friend Or Foe? Generative Ai And Legal Writing, Peter Nemerovski

Maine Law Review

Much has been made in recent years of the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence ("Generative AI") programs in performing law-related tasks. We have learned, for example, that OpenAI's product, GPT-4, is capable of passing the Uniform Bar Exam with flying colors. ChatGPT also earned passing grades on the final exams in four different law school courses. Another study found that "AI assistance consistently induced large declines in the amount of time taken to complete tasks" like drafting complaints, contracts, and employee handbook sections. These and other success stories have led commentators to predict that Generative AI programs "will revolutionize what …

Law School News: Isiah Dipina L'27: From Personal Experience To Policy Change 3-26-2026, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: From Textbooks To Truth: A Civil Rights Journey 3-23-2026, Naomi Zhang

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence For Lawyers: Standalone Resource: Model Policy And Training Program For Responsible Ai Use, Cliff Mckinney

Arkansas Law Notes

Every significant technological change in law, including computers, email, and online research, has required practical tools to implement ethically. Artificial intelligence is no different. This final installment of the artificial intelligence ethics series offers a “starter kit” for responsible adoption by law firms: a Model Law Firm Policy on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence and a Model Training Program for Legal Professionals.

With this installment, the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers series comes full circle. We have moved from the first sanction cases, to the ABA’s initial guidance, to legislative and regulatory developments, and now to practical steps …

Law School News: Women In Law Leadership Lecture Welcomes Victims' Rights Attorney Carrie Goldberg To Roger Williams University School Of Law 3-19-2026, Mikayla Larguinha

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Vol. 70, No. 9 (March 9, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Roger Williams University School Of Law Ranked No. 11 Nationally For Social Justice 3-9-2026, Kelly Brinza, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Roger Williams University's Law 401 Podcast Now Streaming On Ctv 3-4-2026, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Vol. 70, No. 8 (March 2, 2026)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

What Start-Up Lawyers Should Know About Bankruptcy, Christopher D. Hampson

UF Law Faculty Publications

Bankruptcy has long been regarded as a gloomy area of law, one that fits uneasily with the heady optimism usually associated with start-ups. At the same time, start-up lawyers need to understand how downside scenarios will play out, both inside and outside bankruptcy court, in order to advise their clients appropriately. That is especially true for social enterprises – where the decisions throughout a company’s life affect its ability to stick to its mission during times of financial distress. In a forthcoming book chapter, I map out the various elements that start-up lawyers need to consider.

Law Firm Silence, Katrina Lee

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fostering An Equitable Scrum: A Conceptual Framework For Using Antiracist Enrollment Management Practices To Counter Job Market Discrimination, Aaron N. Taylor

AccessLex Institute Research

For most law students, attending law school is an investment. At stake are immense amounts of time and money spent pursuing the degree. The most desired payoff is a lucrative and fulfilling career. This chapter argues that law schools must adopt enrollment management practices that attempt to account for the job market their entering students will face at graduation. In proffering this argument, the chapter presents a conceptual framework for aligning class size targets to the future job market and proposes an equity-based approach to tuition discounting that accounts for job market racism. Graduates of color, particularly Black graduates, experience …

Lawyers’ Career Aspirations In Canada And The United States, Meghan Dawe, Ronit Dinovitzer

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Clark Memorandum: Spring 2026, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• Going Forward with Religious Freedom and Nondiscrimination
• Saving Our Democracy
• Contention Is of the Devil; Confrontation Is of God
• Mystery, Faith, and Law

The Brave New World Of Judicial Election, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election heralded the arrival of a new generation of judicial races in which state supreme courts are becoming war-torn forums for the resolution of deeply divisive policy questions that the federal courts and the other branches of government are unwilling or unable to address. It is a development that portends to be of unprecedented intensity, relative to the fractious “new politics of judicial elections” of the recent past and poses new challenges for legal theory and the existing judicial elections literature to explain. It adds new urgency to an increasingly stark choice: fight for the …

Still A Picture, Not A Life: Scrutinizing Media In Federal Court, Hope Forsyth

Washington Law Review

Before COVID-19, federal judges largely resisted cameras in their courtrooms; during it, they used webcams to hold court. The American legal system is designed for in-person interaction, yet cases during the pandemic were frequently adjudicated outside the courtroom’s shared physical space. Judges and policymakers must now harmonize pre-pandemic law and policy with pandemic-era experience. To do so, decisionmakers need an analytical framework to harmonize adjudication’s tangible foundation and media’s intangible effects. This Article provides it.

The Article first argues that pre-pandemic judicial intuition (as seen in three judicial philosophies) holds post-pandemic promise. The strictest philosophy requires physical presence for crucial …

Copyrighting Nature, Cathay Y. N. Smith -- Professor Of Law

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article introduces a "work of nature" doctrine for copyright law. In 1903, the U.S. Supreme Court established the principle in copyright law that, while anyone can copy the original source of a copyrighted work, they cannot copy an author's copy of the original source. A century later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hinted at a "work of nature" exception, suggesting that even if copying the copy is restricted, copying elements of expression that nature displays for all observers is permissible. U.S. patent law excludes products of nature from protection, but this Article is the first …

Opting Out Of Court? Reputation And Informal Norms In Private Equity, Kobi Kastiel Professor Of Law, Yaron Nili Professor Of Law

Vanderbilt Law Review

Private equity, an industry characterized by high-stake investments and complex contractual arrangements, operates almost entirely outside of courts. Despite the substantial financial stakes involved--billions of dollars locked in for years--and the potential for fiduciary conflicts, litigation between limited partners ("LPs") and general partners ("GPs") who manage the investment is exceptionally rare. In stark contrast to public markets, where shareholder litigation plays a prominent role in deterring misconduct and shaping corporate norms, the private equity world is largely defined by its absence. The puzzle, then, is this: In an industry where fiduciary breaches or misaligned incentives are not uncommon, why do …

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

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Foreword: The Professional Socialization Of Lawyers, Matthew Diller

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

All The King’S Lawyers, Rebecca Aviel

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law's Penal-Professional World Order, Pilar Margarita Hernández Escontrías

Fordham Law Review

The attorney discipline regime has been propagandized as a necessary mechanism to police poor attorney conduct to protect the public. According to this myth, professional associations investigate attorney misconduct and impose sanctions, thus protecting the “noble profession” from attorneys who would tarnish its reputation. Violations of ethics rules lead to investigation, prosecution, and punishment by the state bar. In structure and language, state bars and judicial officers replicate the state in their use of disciplinary frameworks and regimes.

The self-regulating bar is a form of punitive governance used by the state to control entry into and expulsion from the profession. …