Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Our Meanings Can Never Be The Same: Reflections On Language And Law, James Boyd White

Articles

For me it is a starting point in all thought about language that, whatever I say or do with words, my expression will never mean exactly the same thing to you that it does to me; and of course yours will never mean exactly the same thing to me that it does to you. It cannot: each act of expression is a gesture against a context; it derives its meaning largely. perhaps entirely, from its relation to that context; and for each of us the context of every gesture is different, if only because one of us is doing it, …

Review Essay - Feminist Jurisprudence, Christina Whitman

Reviews

In the 1970s feminist legal theory furthered feminist legal practice. Feminist lawyers saw themselves as advocates of "women's rights," interested in winning legal victories in particular cases. Because their attention was focused on reform through legislation or litigation, the theory they developed was deliberately, if uncritically, grounded in what would be persuasive to those who held power in government institutions. They built directly upon the precedent made in race cases, precedent which assumed that the appropriate goal for social change was equality and defined equality as the similar treatment of similarly situated individuals. The key to the early legal victories …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review.

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review.

Of Two Minds About Law And Minds, Larry Alexander

Michigan Law Review

Present-oriented interpretation is an interpretive approach to legal texts that assigns them the best meaning, in terms of contemporary social policy, that they could plausibly convey were they written today rather than at the actual times of their enactment. Steven Smith has recently argued that present-oriented interpretation is a view of law in which law is literally "mindless." That is, present-oriented interpretation would have us be ruled by the fortuity of what present meanings the words of a text can bear, whereas, according to Smith, we should be ruled by what the enacting political authorities actually decided furthers the public …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A list of books received by Michigan Law Review

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

"Aliens Are Coming! Drain The Pool", John D. Ayer

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Doing What Comes Naturally: Change, Rhetoric and the Practice of Theory in Literary and Legal Studies by Stanley Fish. And Law and Literature: A Misunderstood Relation by Richard A. Posner

The Interpreters, Kenneth L. Karst

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Justice as Translation: An Essay in Cultural and Legal Criticism by James Boyd White

Concerned Readers V. Judicial Opinion Writers, Erik Paul Belt

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this action, Plaintiffs sought a writ of mandamus compelling the offending judges to write better, but the court below denied the writ. Plaintiffs then petitioned for relief from poor writing. Because some judges do, in fact, write clear and effective opinions, we have granted certiorari to resolve the differences between the various courts. The issue before us, then, is whether judges and clerks have abused their discretion by writing weak opinions and, if so, how they can improve their writing. Because stronger writing greatly eases the reader's job and makes opinions more effective, we hold that judges and clerks …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Selected Bibliography On Europe 1992, Michigan Journal Of International Law

Michigan Journal of International Law

Bibliography on Europe 1992

Judging The Judges: Three Opinions, James Boyd White

Articles

For some time I have been working on the problem of judicial criticism, focusing especially on the question: What is it in the work of a judge that leads us to admire a judicial opinion with the result of which we disagree, or to condemn an opinion that "comes out" the way we would do if we were charged with the responsibility of decision? The response I have been making is that this kind of judicial excellence (and its opposite too) lies in the sort of social and intellectual action in which the opinion engages: in the character the court …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Law Without Mind, Steven D. Smith

Michigan Law Review

A large part of the work done by lawyers and judges involves the interpretation of enacted law - primarily, statutes and the Constitution. Not surprisingly, legal scholars offer a good deal of advice, usually unsolicited, about how the task of interpretation should be performed. At present, such scholarly advice commonly recommends variations on an approach that may be called "present-oriented interpretation." This approach discourages judges from equating a law with its historical meaning or "original understanding." Instead, it urges them to construe statutes and constitutional provisions in a way that will render the law "the best it can be" in …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Jean-Luc Godard And Critical Legal Studies (Because We Need The Eggs), Jeffrey L. Harrison, Amy R. Mashburn

Michigan Law Review

The New Wave in filmmaking is now thirty years old. Critical Legal Studies (CLS) has been around in one form or another for approximately a third of that time. We believe that by examining the avant-garde movement in film we may be able to anticipate what is in store for the avant-garde movement in law. Our conclusion is that just as New Wave film methodology has had only a limited impact on the film industry generally, CLS is likely to have a limited - perhaps only stylistic - effect on jurisprudential development.

The reason for the shortfall is that Godard …

Untangling "Operation Common Sense": Reopening And Review Of Social Security Administration Disability Claims, Elizabeth S. Ferguson

Michigan Law Review

Part I of the Note outlines how the SSA processes a disability claim and illustrates the ambiguity in the language of the reopening regulations that has caused the split in the courts. Part II examines the four interpretations of the reopening regulations created by courts. Part II begins with the Secretary's interpretation and concludes that this interpretation is plainly inconsistent with the language of the regulations. Thus, courts need not defer, as they normally would, to an agency's interpretation of its own regulation. This Part next examines the alternative interpretations of these regulations advanced by various courts, and describes how …

The Myth Of The Disposable Opinion: Unpublished Opinions And Government Litigants In The United States Courts Of Appeals, Lauren K. Robel

Michigan Law Review

This article discusses the courts' adoption of the limited publication plans and analyzes the methods used by the courts to discourage the use of unpublished opinions. It also discusses the results of a survey conducted to determine if, and how, government litigants - some of the chief unanticipated beneficiaries of the publication plans make use of unpublished opinions. Finally, it challenges the assumption that limited publication is essential in an age of caseload crisis.

Front Cover

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

No abstract provided.

A Message From The Dean

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Dean Lee C. Bollinger announces international receptions, programs, and reunion

Back Cover

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

No abstract provided.

Alumni Notes

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

First European alumni reunion honors Stein; news about our graduates; Class Notes

Briefs

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Strengthening the Law School's international ties; Nippon Life Insurance Co. bestows major gift; new scope for a Law School publication.

Faculty Notes

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Estep, Pierce achieve emeritus status; faculty news notes; visitors enrich Law School community.

Events

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Senior Day: fond farewells; Law Review sponsors symposium on legal storytelling; Campbell Competition tackles right to counsel; first William W. Bishop Lecture looks at Single European Market.

William W. Bishop, Jr.: Vita And Bibliography, Michigan Journal Of International Law

Michigan Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Changes In The Publication Of I.C.J. Reports: Effects Of These Suggestions On Teaching International Law, Ignaz Seidl-Hohenveldern

Michigan Journal of International Law

In August, 1986, the Joint Inspection Unit ("J.I.U.") transmitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations a report on the Publications of the International Court of Justice. The report stressed the desirability of extending the U.N. language regime to the publications of the International Court of Justice. Hitherto, the Judgments and Advisory Opinions of the I.C.J. have been published in English and French only. The texts in these two languages are published in juxtaposition (en regard). The J.I.U. report proposes to publish in the future only a limited number of copies in this way "for the use …