Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Disability Law Compliance Manual, Kathe A. Klare

University of Richmond Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law by President Bush on July 26, 1990, is viewed by many as the most significant civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As a result of census data, national polls, and other studies, there was a recognition that persons with disabilities, as a group, have been relegated to an inferior status in all realms of society. Thus, persons with disabilities have been, and remain, severely disadvantaged in achieving social interactions and vocational, economic and educational goals. The enactment of the ADA seeks to provide persons with disabilities the …

Teaching Legal Research: Past And Present, Joyce Manna Janto

Law Faculty Publications

For years librarians have debated which procedures will most effectively instruct law students in the art of legal research. Ms. Janto and Ms. Harrison-Cox trace the history of these efforts and propose a model program for the teaching of legal research.

Elixir For The Elites, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Tobias offers the editorial board tongue-in-cheek advice in the matter of law review rankings.

Virginia Law Of Products Liability, Thomas W. Williamson Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

When the history of Twentieth Century America's jurisprudence is chronicled, a prominent chapter will be devoted to the rise of product liability law. At the beginning of the century, a person injured by a defective product usually had no recourse against either the product's seller or manufacturer. By 1970, the barriers obstructing recovery had been dismantled and it was generally accepted that a seller or manufacturer of a product would be strictly liable to anyone injured by the defective condition of the product.

Books Received

University of Richmond Law Review

With this issue, the Editorial Board of the University of Richmond Law Review renews the publication of books of particular interest to the Virginia practitioner. We hope that this addition to the Annual Survey of Virginia Law will be of benefit to the practitioner as a source of current publications about Virginia law topics.

Foreword: Law And The Library, Timothy L. Coggins

Law Faculty Publications

A Foreword for the North Carolina Libaries Journal on "Law and the Library."

Handbook On Virginia Civil Procedure, A Guide To Legal Research In Virginia, Gail Starling Marshall, Steven D. Hinckley

University of Richmond Law Review

Professor Bryson's Handbook on Virginia Civil Procedure ("Handbook") which is now out in an expanded second edition, was written as an introduction to Virginia civil procedure for the students who study with him at the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. However, it will find an appreciative audience among two other distinct and occasionally overlapping groups of readers: active litigators who seek a ready reference on Virginia's civil-law procedures and practices, and legal history buffs who enjoy an excursus on the Anglo-American antecedents of Virginia's sometimes unique approach to civil litigation.

In Praise Of Student-Edited Law Reviews: A Reply To Professor Dekanal, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

Prof. Jones responds to a previous writer's arguments that the student-edited law review be replaced by journals edited by law faculty members. He argues that there are not enough willing faculty editors and staff members to sustain the present number and production rate of law journals.

An Introduction To Legal Reasoning, Writing, And Research Techniques; And Trial Preparation And Appellate Advocacy, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of State Legislative Sourcebook, Paul M. Birch

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Hellebust, Lynn. State Legislative Sourcebook--1986: A Resource Guide to Legislative Information in the Fifty States.

Criminal Practice, And Politics And The Constitution In The History Of The United States, Ronald J. Bacigal, Donald O. Dewey

University of Richmond Law Review

When John Lowe asked me to review his book, I confess that I was surprised. Having just authored two books on Virginia Criminal Procedure, I considered John and myself to be competitors. However, after examining his book I now understand that our books serve different purposes and in fact complement each other.

Virginia Circuit Court Opinions, Harrison On Wills And Administration In Virginia And West Virginia, T. S. Ellis Iii, Dennis I. Belcher

University of Richmond Law Review

Jesse Root. Nathaniel Chipman. George Caines. Ephraim Kirby. Most lawyers will not recognize these names. More familiar, perhaps, are Alexander Dallas, Henry Wheaton, and Richard Peters. In fact, all belong to the same distinguished group: compilers and reporters of America's early judicial decisions. With the publication of Volumes One and Two of the Virginia Circuit Court Opinions (hereinafter "Opinions"), Professor Hamilton Bryson bids fair to join this distinguished group.

Virginia Torts Case Finder, Paul J. Zwier

University of Richmond Law Review

Brien Roche's Virginia Torts Case Finder ("Case Finder") provides a useful research aid for the students and practitioners of tort law in this state. This Case Finder, as the name implies, is a digest-like research tool for tort cases found in the Virginia Reports.

Antitrust & Local Government, Search And Seizure, Howard Feller, J. Robert Brame Iii, Ronald J. Bacigal

University of Richmond Law Review

The United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder has been aptly described as "a lightning bolt with potentially thunderous repercussions." City of Boulder basically established that local government activity is not immune from federal antitrust laws unless it is undertaken pursuant to a clearly articulated and affirmatively expressed state policy to replace competition with regulation or monopoly public service.

Evidentiary Foundations, Fundamentals Of Trial Techniques, Thomas F. Guernsey

University of Richmond Law Review

Any lawyering skill should be taught so as to provide the student or lawyer with the opportunity to plan, implement, and reflect on the execution of the skill. In these two books, Professors Imwinkelried and Mauet have accomplished just that. In writing books that are aimed primarily at the law school market, the authors have provided a valuable resource for the student as well as for the beginning trial lawyer.

Federal Regulation Of Consumer-Creditor Relations, Susan B. English

University of Richmond Law Review

As anyone who has taught or practiced in the area of consumer law knows, there have been no texts written until now which attempt to bring together in a concise manner the many statutes and regulations which govern this rapidly developing area of law. Kenneth R. Redden, Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, and James McClellan, Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Subcommittee on the Separation of Powers of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, have taken the first step to fill this gap by providing us with a text in the area of consumer-creditor relations.

Legal Education In Virginia 1779-1979; Land Use Law: Issues For The Eighties, Lewis T. Booker, Susanne L. Shilling

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Techniques Of Legal Drafting: A Survival Manual, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to identify and demonstrate various legal drafting concepts and techniques in order to give the law student and legal practitioner a working knowledge of the fundamental principles of legal drafting. Although this article does not purport to be an exhaustive treatise on the subject, it is offered to law students and practitioners alike for what it is-a basic survival manual for the aspiring legal draftsman.

Postconviction Remedies, And Federal Jurisdiction: Tensions In The Allocation Of Judicial Power, Robert Popper, William B. De Meza

University of Richmond Law Review

Postconviction Remedies deals with a subject of great importance to the practitioner of criminal law. It is concerned with the procedures available to persons who seek relief from their convictions after trial and after direct review in the appellate courts. Though not usually a part of the law school curriculum and therefore not part of the attorney's formal training, the intricacies of postconviction remedies must be mastered by the lawyer who wishes to render skillful service to the convicted client. The trial and appeal are important battles, but others remain to be fought which can decide crucial issues seriously affecting …

Faithful Magistrates And Republican Lawyers: Creators Of Virginia's Legal Culture, 1680-1810, E. Lee Shepard

University of Richmond Law Review

That well-known but inadequately understood institution, the county court, was brought to life and placed in clear perspective as an integral part of the life of colonists of every variety of status and calling nearly thirty years ago in Charles Sydnor's classic, albeit impressionistic, study, Gentlemen Freeholders: Political Practices in Washington's Virginia (1952). Sydnor proclaimed that in eighteenth-century Virginia planters, not lawyers, dominated the political scene and thus dispensed with the legal profession. Sydnor's domain was politics; his discussion centered on the "county oligarchies." In recent years scholars have recognized the pressing need for a deeper understanding of the operations …

Techniques Of Legal Drafting: A Survival Manual, Peter Nash Swisher

University of Richmond Law Review

The charge that we lawyers cannot write plain English is often supported by the quality of our legal documents. Legal drafting has aspects of complexity and precision not found in the great bulk of writing with which pre-law students are familar. Yet the traditional apprentice method for training competent legal draftsmen has failed "either because the typical young lawyer has been apprenticed to the wrong master or because the law schools have been unable to provide enough competent ones." This lack of a proper emphasis on legal drafting skills in America is demonstrated by the fact that of the four …

Teaching Legal Reasoning In Law School, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

With the understanding that reasonable scholars and critics may differ, it is nevertheless this article's contention that law schools today must still strive to teach the basic logical principles-and process-of legal reasoning. By analogy, a swimmer must learn at least a few basic strokes in order to survive in his new environment. The same is true with law students and legal reasoning. An elementary foundation in legal reasoning skills, limited though it may be, is still better than nothing at all-especially when the latter alternative offers only confusion and misunderstanding.

The purpose of this article is to discuss one such …

The "Plain English" Trust, J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

Professor Johnson argues in favor of, and then provides an example of, a trust drafted in "plain English."

Knowledge And Politics, And Law In Modern Society- By Roberto Mangabeira Unger, James M. O'Fallon

University of Richmond Law Review

Professor Unger has given us two striking books, which present an ununusual problem for the reviewer. The great run of books, as the great run of thought, falls into established conventions. They are concerned with elucidating aspects of the convention of which they partake, or challenging competing conventions. Reviewer and reader will usually be aware of the general outlines of the convention, leaving the reviewer with the relatively simple tasks of placing the work within the appropriate convention, and making such critical remarks as appear warranted.

A Note On Robinson's Brief Collection Of ... Courts Of Records, William Hamilton Bryson

Law Faculty Publications

IN 1953 R. L. Rickard edited for the Camden Miscellany a short tract by Richard Robinson which describes briefly the various English courts of law as they were at the end of the sixteenth century: 'A Briefe Collection of the Queenes Majesties Most High and Most Honourable Courtes of Recordes.' In addition to the three manuscript copies which Rickard mentioned in his preface, fourteen others have recently been identified of which he appears to have been unaware. Since one of these is more complete and several are more interesting than the copy which was edited, a short note is required …