Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

When Truth Is Not Truth: Thoughts On Teaching In An Era Of Alternative Facts, Joy Kanwar

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Time Traveling With Timelines: Web Apps For Storytelling In Libraries, Sharon Bradley, Rachel S. Evans

Articles, Chapters and Online Publications

From online embeds to interactive displays, timelines can serve many purposes and tell powerful stories. At the University of Georgia’s Law Library we have teamed up with faculty and staff to bring history to life, engage students, and preserve scholarly and institutional milestones. Through trial and error we have found a variety of tools for creating timelines digitally. In this article we share our four favorite web-based applications for creating timelines including Tiki-Toki, TimeToast, Prezi and Piktochart.

Eliminating Barriers To Voting: How Allowing College Students To Use Their Student Ids To Vote In Certain Southeastern States Can Help Make Voting Great In America, Tracey B. Carter

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the impact of state voter identification laws on college students’ ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote, with a particular focus on seven Southeastern states: Tennessee and its six contiguous neighbors—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. Building on prior scholarship, the Article categorizes these jurisdictions as either “college student friendly” or “college student unfriendly” based solely on whether college student identification cards were accepted as valid forms of voter identification during the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections and the 2018 midterm elections.

After reviewing the historical development of voter ID laws, relevant provisions of …

Brief For Amici Curiae Christopher T. Robertson, Kelly Bergstrand, And D. Alexander Winkelman In Support Of Appellants' Petition For Initial Hearing En Banc, Christopher Robertson, Kelly Bergstrand, D. Alex Winkelman

Faculty Scholarship

Plaintiffs-Appellants have asked the Court to reconsider its decision in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, 599 F.3d 686 (D.C. Cir. 2010), which gave rise to so-called Super PACs and similar independent expenditure organizations.3 The Court in SpeechNow recognized that the “appearance of corruption” could justify campaign finance regulation under Supreme Court precedent. Id. at 692. But the Court went on to state that, “[i]n light of the [Supreme] Court’s holding as a matter of law that independent expenditures do not corrupt or create the appearance of quid pro quo corruption, contributions to groups that make only independent expenditures”—like …

Advocacy Before The Eleventh Circuit: A Clerk’S Perspective, Kevin Golembiewski, Jessica Arden Ettinger

University of Miami Law Review

Appellate attorneys must tailor their advocacy to the court hearing their appeal. Each court of appeals has different jurisprudence, rules, traditions, and decision-making processes. Yet there are few articles on appellate advocacy tailored to a particular court. We wrote this article to help fill that gap. As former law clerks for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, we offer advice specifically for attorneys who practice before the Eleventh Circuit. Our advice is based on our experiences as clerks, as well as our analysis of the Eleventh Circuit’s rules, procedures, and public statistics. We offer no inside …

Table Of Contents & Pepperdine Law Review Masthead, Colten Stanberry

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To Legal Research, Anne Burnett, Stephen Wolfson

Presentations

As part of UGA Summer Academy Legal Camp two law librarians teamed up to give an introduction to legal research to high school students from across the country, including tips and strategies for using Google effectively.

A Time Lord, A Timeline And Legal Instruction, Rachel S. Evans, Sharon Bradley, Eleanor Lanier

Presentations

From online embeds to interactive displays, timelines can serve many purposes and tell powerful stories. In this session librarians team up with an archivist and a clinician to bring history to life, engage students, and preserve the scholarly and institutional milestones. A variety of tools for creating digital timelines and gathering content will be shared including TikiToki, TimeToast, and Piktochart. Comparisons will be given based on cost, technical limitations, collaborative potential, and general ease of use. Potential applications for timelines will also be shared in the form of examples including:

• a TimeToast embedded timeline tribute for individual faculty scholarship as …

From Decoder Rings To Deep Fakes: Translating Complex Technologies For Legal Education, Jason Tubinis, Rachel S. Evans

Presentations

Technological developments are disrupting the practice of law” is a common refrain, but the last few years has seen some particularly complex pieces of technology become the hot new thing in legal tech. This session will look at blockchain, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and ‘Deep Fakes’ as examples of how instructors can stay abreast of technological developments and inform themselves about their impacts in the legal profession. Then we will look at how to translate the complexities and jargon of these examples into lessons for for-credit courses, one-off informational sessions, or meetings with stakeholders.

Learning outcomes:

• Participants will be able …

Non-English Materials For The English Speaker : European Languages, Erin Gow

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

So many legal materials are in languages other than English worldwide, that it is inevitable that most of us will need to find or access one of these documents at some point. Foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) librarians often work with materials in languages in which they are not fluent, and can provide useful ideas and insight for the non-FCIL specialist faced with this type of research. This portion of a 2019 AALL webinar titled "Non-English Materials for the English Speaker" focuses on European languages, and provides practical guidance in finding English translations of European laws, tips and techniques …

Why Legal Writing Is “Doctrinal” And More Importantly Profound, Harold Anthony Lloyd

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Automatically Extracting Meaning From Legal Texts: Opportunities And Challenges, Kevin D. Ashley

Georgia State University Law Review

This paper surveys three basic legal-text analytic techniques—ML, network diagrams, and question answering (QA)—and illustrates how some currently available commercial applications employ or combine them. It then examines how well the text analytic techniques can answer legal questions given some inherent limitations in the technology. In more detail, ML refers to computer programs that use statistical means to induce or learn models from data with which they can classify a document or predict an outcome for a new case. Predictive coding techniques employed in e-discovery have already introduced ML from text into law firms. Network diagrams graph the relations between …

Legal Intelligence Through Artificial Intelligence Requires Emotional Intelligence: A New Competency Model For The 21st Century Legal Professional, Alyson Carrel

Georgia State University Law Review

The nature of legal services is drastically changing given the rise in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Legal education and training models are beginning to recognize the need to incorporate skill building in data and technology platforms, but they have lost sight of a core competency for lawyers: problem-solving and decision-making skills to counsel clients on how best to meet their desired goals and needs. In 2014, Amani Smathers introduced the legal field to the concept of the T-shaped lawyer. The T-shaped lawyer stems from the concept of T-shaped professionals who have a depth of knowledge in …

Predicting Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Outcomes Using The Federal Judicial Center Idb And Ensemble Artificial Intelligence, Warren E. Agin, Gill Eapen

Georgia State University Law Review

In this project, the authors obtained public data on over 100,000 Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and used machine and deep-learning methodologies to explore whether models could be designed to predict Chapter 11 case outcomes. The data used was obtained from the Federal Judicial Center’s bankruptcy Integrated Database and included information about case filing dates, the court where the case was filed, the type of business entity, and basic information about assets and liabilities. Using this information, the authors initially sought to predict whether a particular case was dismissed, converted to another Chapter under the Bankruptcy Code, or closed with a …

Automation & Predictive Analytics In Patent Prosecution: Uspto Implication & Policy, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Georgia State University Law Review

Artificial-intelligence technological advancements bring automation and predictive analytics into patent prosecution. The information asymmetry between inventors and patent examiners is expanded by artificial intelligence, which transforms the inventor– examiner interaction to machine–human interactions. In response to automated patent drafting, automated office-action responses, “cloems” (computer-generated word permutations) for defensive patenting, and machine-learning guidance (based on constantly updated patent-prosecution big data), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should reevaluate patent-examination policy from economic, fairness, time, and transparency perspectives. By conceptualizing the inventor–examiner relationship as a “patenting market,” economic principles suggest stronger efficiencies if both inventors and the USPTO have better …

Uselessly Accurate, Patrick Barry

Articles

There is an accuracy that defeats itself by the overemphasis in details," Justice Benjamin Cardozo wrote in his 1925 collection Law and Literature and Other Essays and Addresses. The problem hasn't gone away, as any reader of legal briefs, contracts, and memos can attest. This essay offers a few ways to help.

An Examination Of Sound Resource Libraries And Their Applications At Bowling Green State University, Madeleine Grimm

Honors Projects

In this applied research project, I have explored the uses and limitations of sound resources at Bowling Green State University for student projects. My goal has been to create a stock music library for students on campus to have easy access to for class projects and portfolio work. In this project I address: How can a university best manage its stock music and sound resources; are there any standards for best practices or outstanding examples? What sound resources currently exist for student use in general and at BGSU? How are these sound resources currently managed at BGSU? What are the …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Opening Statements In Trial: Reconsidering The Classical Canon Of Invention, Andrew Chandler

Undergraduate Theses

This analysis of 21 opening statements probes at current persuasive practices employed by trial attorneys through the lens of mainstream legal advice and an expanded definition of rhetorical invention – one which includes both discovery and creation. An evaluation of such practice reveals the utility, and furthermore the duty of the advocate, to draw upon an expanded realm of available arguments.

Incorporating Social Justice Into The 1l Legal Writing Course: A Tool For Empowering Students Of Color And Of Historically Marginalized Groups And Improving Learning, Sha-Shana Crichton

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The media reports of police shootings of unarmed Black men and women; unprovoked attacks on innocent Jews, Muslims, religious minority groups, and LGBTQ persons; and current pervasive, divisive, and misogynistic rhetoric all cause fear and anxiety in impacted communities and frustrate other concerned citizens. Law students, and especially law students of color and of historically marginalized groups, are often directly or indirectly impacted by these reports and discrimination in all its iterations. As a result, they are stressed because they are fearful and anxious. Research shows that stress impairs learning and cognition. Research also shows that beneficial changes are made …

America's Founding Editors: Writing The Declaration Of Independence, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

On Congress’ behalf, one of its members, 33-year-old Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson, drafted the Declaration of Independence. For the next half century, Jefferson’s fierce pride of authorship, unrestrained by humility, kept him from crediting Congress for skilled editing that helped make him a national icon by sharpening his powerful, but less than polished, draft. The irony of lawyer Jefferson’s enduring bitterness and ingratitude can stimulate today’s lawyers to sharpen their own drafts by respecting cooperative editors as valuable allies, not as troublesome adversaries.

Fear And Lawyering, Heidi K. Brown

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Law Library Blog (May 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Oral Argument Tactics On The Supreme Court Bench: A Comparative Analysis Of Verbal Tools Used By Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, And Gorsuch, Corinne Cichowicz

Politics Honors Papers

Oral argument scholars like Adam Feldman have categorized the Supreme Court justices’ behavior during oral argument using the approach-based method, labeling each as one-sided, even-handed, or restrained. This approach is too narrowly constructed. Scholars sometimes categorize justices in terms of the tools they use, which include questions, hypotheticals, declarations, interruptions, tone of voice, and silence (Feldman 2018a). Neither of these methods alone produce a nuanced analysis of each justice’s actions during an individual case or across a Term. As the Court’s composition and dynamics are continuously changing, scholarship on oral argument needs to adapt to …

Simple Legal Writing Can Improve Business Outcomes In Latin America, Leon C. Skornicki

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Happy Golden Anniversary, St. Mary's Law Journal!, Stephen M. Sheppard

St. Mary's Law Journal

Stephen M. Sheppard, Dean of St. Mary's University School of Law, congratulates the St. Mary's Law Journal on its fiftieth anniversary in this foreword to Volume 50.

St. Mary's Law Journal Fiftieth Anniversary, John Cornyn

St. Mary's Law Journal

Senator John Cornyn of Texas congratulates the St. Mary's Law Journal on its fiftieth anniversary.

The Cold War And The Discipline Of Negotiation, Bazil Cunningham

Global Tides

The Cold War period is perhaps one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history apart from the calamity of World War I and World War II. The juxtaposition of two world superpowers and the proliferation of nuclear arms resulted in extreme tension, uncertainty, and fear during the Cold War era. Although nuclear warfare was averted, experts all unanimously agree that the world barely escaped unscathed. This paper will provide detail surrounding the history of the Cold World Era, an in-depth discussion regarding the application of Negotiation theory to this conflict, and any conclusions that can be drawn. The synthesis …

Law School News: National Admiralty Champs! April 4, 2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents & Pepperdine Law Review Masthead, Colten Stanberry

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Optimizing The Classroom Experience By Collaborating With Colleagues, Karin Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Collaborations with colleagues, whether those colleagues are legal professionals or one’s doctrinal colleagues, can provide an enhanced learning experience for both professor and student in the Legal Writing classroom. Through these collaborations, Legal Writing professors can provide more substantive knowledge on a subject matter than they may have been able to provide in an individual capacity during a classroom lecture. Moreover, multiple-source inputs to the learning experience provide various viewpoints with the potential to increase the knowledge absorbed. Finally, collaborations have the potential of showing students the “big picture” that law is not an experience isolated within each class, while …