Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Why Academic Law Librarians Quit: Results Of The Law Librarian Exit Survey, Laura J. Ax-Fultz

Faculty Scholarly Works

The pandemic exposed the struggles of workers everywhere. The complexity of handling family, work, illness, and a host of other issues led many to reconsider their employment. The phrase “The Great Resignation” summed up the zeitgeist of the early pandemic. Concurrently, open positions for academic law librarians were increasing. I sought to unravel the apparent surge in open positions by surveying academic law librarians to discover why they resigned from their positions or considered leaving them during the period of January 2020 through June 2023.

These findings were evaluated within the context of a high volume of job postings in …

True Law As Genre: Narrative Nonfiction And The Law, Jorge L. Contreras

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

The Genome Defense, which offers a book-length narrative nonfiction account of the civil litigation that led to the elimination of patents on human genes in the United States, is a member of a distinct literary subgenre that I term True Law. Like the older and better-known True Crime genre, True Law narratives blend the conventions of journalism and novelistic writing to describe complex legal disputes in a manner that is engaging and accessible to the general public. True Law accounts, which have increased in number and popularity since the publication of Jonathan Harr’s A Civil Action in 1995, serve …

Legal Scholarship Through The Lens Of Generative Ai, Darkly, Andrew Martineau, Loren Turner

Articles

Unlike traditional search engines limited to connecting users to original source content, generative AI systems produce new, ad-hoc sources of information derived primarily from patterns in their training data and information fed into the system as context. As such, generative AI systems can play a mediating role between users and information sources, especially when these systems are integrated into databases and web search engines. This article examines how GPT-4 (ChatGPT) interacts with law review articles, revealing its unreliability in summarizing them independently but notable accuracy when provided with full-text input. Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) offers a potential solution for improving …

Reclaiming The Genius Of A Free State, Tennessee's Forgotten Anti-Monopolies Clause, Braden H. Boucek

Belmont Law Review

This article argues that Tennessee’s Anti-Monopolies Clause—enshrined in Article I, Section 22 of the Tennessee Constitution since 1796—has been systematically underenforced and misconstrued by Tennessee courts. Although the constitutional text unequivocally provides that “monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State and shall not be allowed,” judicial interpretation has diluted this categorical prohibition by importing deferential federal rational basis review and engaging in “lockstepping” with federal substantive due process doctrine. The author contends that this approach is doctrinally unsound because the U.S. Constitution contains no analogous anti-monopoly provision, rendering federal precedent inapposite. Through historical analysis grounded in originalist …

Regulating Artificial Elections, Courtney A. Barclay

Belmont Law Review

This Article examines the growing role of artificial intelligence in shaping modern election discourse and the resulting tensions with First Amendment doctrine. Focusing on generative AI, deepfakes, chatbots, and synthetic media, the Article evaluates whether existing campaign finance laws—particularly disclosure and disclaimer requirements—adequately address AI-driven distortions in the electoral marketplace of ideas. Surveying the Federal Election Commission’s 2024 interpretive rule on fraudulent misrepresentation, emerging state legislation regulating synthetic media, and proposed federal reforms, the Article argues that current legal frameworks are both constitutionally constrained and practically insufficient. Drawing on the AdChoices model from data privacy regulation, it proposes a hybrid …

Pure Imagination: A World Of Agentive Ai And Anti-Adhesion Contracting, Jeff Lingwall, Steven Hyde

Belmont Law Review

Jeff Lingwall and Steven J. Hyde’s Pure Imagination: A World of Agentive AI and Anti-Adhesion Contracting examines the transformative—and destabilizing—effects of large language models (LLMs) on contract law. The Article situates LLM-mediated contracting within the historical evolution of contractual formalities, arguing that agentive AI introduces a new phase in which negotiation, offer, acceptance, performance, and even litigation may be conducted without meaningful human mediation. The authors develop a model of legal risk that increases as LLMs shift from human-reviewed drafting tools to autonomous agents purporting to negotiate or bind parties. They then explore the possibility of “anti-adhesive” mass-bespoke contracts, in …

Harvesting Humans, Joanmarie Ilaria Davoli

Belmont Law Review

This Article examines allegations of systematic forced organ harvesting by the People’s Republic of China and argues that existing U.S. federal criminal law provides an underutilized mechanism to deter American participation in that industry. Tracing the historical development of China’s transplant system—from the use of executed prisoners to the alleged targeting of prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong practitioners and Uyghurs—the Article situates organ procurement practices within broader human rights and genocide concerns. It contends that despite congressional hearings, resolutions, and proposed sanctions, meaningful deterrence has been limited. The Article advances a novel enforcement theory: prosecution of U.S. persons under …

But-For Or Not But-For, The Question Is Answered, Samuel Rawlings Barnett Jr.

Belmont Law Review

In But-For or Not But-For, the Question Is Answered, Samuel Rawlings Barnett Jr. examines the ongoing federal circuit split regarding the appropriate causation standard for retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While some circuits apply a “motivating factor” standard, others require plaintiffs to prove “but-for” causation. The Note situates this division within the Supreme Court’s broader shift in employment discrimination jurisprudence from the mixed-motive framework of Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins to the stricter “but-for” standard articulated in Gross, Nassar, and Comcast. Through close statutory analysis of 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(1) and § …

Coerced Into Confession: Prosecutorial Pressure And The Misuse Of Plea Bargaining, Molly Mceachern

Belmont Law Review

This Note examines the coercive dynamics embedded in modern plea bargaining and argues that prosecutors’ reliance on conviction rates as a primary measure of success distorts the administration of justice. Tracing the historical evolution of plea bargaining from early English common law skepticism to its constitutional legitimization in Brady v. United States, the article demonstrates how plea bargaining has shifted from a pragmatic case-management tool to a dominant and often coercive mechanism of criminal adjudication,

Historical Perspectives On Family Law: An Annotated Bibliography, Allen Roston

Faculty Works

This bibliography lists articles and books that provide historical perspectives on major aspects of family law. It focuses on legal history, but it includes some works that look at family relationships and issues through the broader lenses of social history, cultural history, or other historical approaches.

Editorial Note, Shreyas Sinha

National Law School of India Review

Editorial Note for Vol 36(1).

Note By The Guest Editor, Siddharth Narrain

National Law School of India Review

Note by the Guest Editor.

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

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Writing Manual (4th Ed.), Jean Mangan, Dylan Cohen, Frank Easterlin, Brittany Goad, Gabrielle Gravel, Chase Lyndale, George "Max" Miseyko, Emily Whitest

Books

This manual provides you with an overview of first-year legal writing topics and provides checkpoints during your writing process. On the other hand, this manual does not answer every question you have ever had on any legal writing concept and it is certainly not a spellbook that will make you instantly awesome at legal writing. Writing as a skill is a lifelong development process. Everyone can be an effective legal writer. Put in the time to study the concepts and then to practice using those concepts in your writing. Seek feedback on your writing and implement the feedback you receive. …

Effectiveness Of Research Plans: A Case Study, Thomas "Tj" Striepe, Savanna L. Nolan

Faculty Datasets

This article presents a case study examining whether the creation and use of research plans enhance the effectiveness of legal research by law students. Despite their emphasized role in legal research pedagogy, research plans are often underutilized by students in their summer jobs, clinical work, and post-graduate employment. Through a three-part study, the authors surveyed upper-level students about their use and impressions of research plans, analyzed performance outcomes from a research simulation involving a legal hypothetical, and evaluated five years of assessment data from a 1L Legal Research course. While the experimental study did not yield statistically significant results, students …

Please Provide Feedback? How To Effectively Receive And Learn From Feedback About Your Writing, Melissa N. Henke

Law Faculty Popular Media

We have all been there. We submit a draft document to a supervising attorney or valued colleague. And then we wait. Will we receive criticism? Will we receive praise? At some point we just hope to hear something in response. Or do we?

Once we get a response, the criticism is hard to receive. We may get angry or upset, we may feel defensive or defeated, or we may just shut down and try to avoid the feedback altogether. Sometimes even feedback framed as praise can leave us feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed.

An aversion to feedback, especially to criticism, is …

Flexibility And Resilience Are Essential Legal Skills, Margie Alsbrook

Articles

The legal profession is facing an era of change driven by technological advancements, environmental crises, shifting client expectations, and evolving societal norms. This article argues that flexibility and resilience are not just positive personality traits but essential legal skills that should be intentionally cultivated in law school curricula. By integrating adaptability into legal education—through emphasizing the evolving nature of law, incorporating interdisciplinary approaches, reshaping assessments, and fostering collaborative learning—law schools can better equip students to navigate an unpredictable future. Encouraging law students to embrace flexibility and resilience as a professional skill will not only enhance their long-term success but also …

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 …

Social Justice, Practical Lawyering, And The Elephant In Solitary Confinement: Why Animal Law Belongs In The Legal Writing Classroom, Conley Wouters

Animal Law Review

Animal law has grown exponentially since its genesis in the late 1970s. It is the subject of survey courses, seminars, clinics, and law reviews. But animal law per se has not made its way into the legal writing discipline, and its absence creates missed opportunities for legal writing instructors to improve our teaching and help our students develop critical lawyering skills. This Article argues that we should seize these opportunities and incorporate animal law into legal writing classes.

The Article begins by summarizing the argument and offering a gen-eral description of how legal writing professors and their students stand to …

Redefining The Relevant Market: Abandonment Or Return To Brown Shoe, Daniel A. Hanley

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Defining a relevant market is arguably the most important requirement in antitrust litigation. Between the 1890s and the 1940s, defining a relevant market was a simple and generalized process, typically undertaken by courts as a cursory matter. However, in the 1960s, defining relevant markets became a centerpiece of antitrust litigation. The modern method originates from the Supreme Court’s landmark 1962 decision in Brown Shoe v. United States. The method commonly known as the Brown Shoe test requires judges to construct relevant markets by carefully analyzing accessible and understandable qualitative data, such as internal corporate documents and consumer surveys. Since the …

Enhancing Law Review Impact, Jeffrey A. Parness

SMU Law Review Forum

This Article advocates law review reforms that would enhance the impact of the ideas within various journals’ published works. Opportunities, yet not often seized, chiefly arise from the new technologically based mechanisms for delivering information. Impact enhancement can be achieved with major, yet low effort, reforms to the solicitation, editing, and distribution stages of journal publication.

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.

Hampton L. Carson (1852-1929): Attorney General, Bar Leader, Writer And Collector, Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

Hampton L. Carson (1852-1929) was a law professor, Pennsylvania Attorney General, President of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, noted orator and prolific writer of legal history and biography, and collector of the largest Anglo-American law books and manuscripts. This article will review his life and work.

Principles Of Legal Writing, Raluca Papadima

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Grading Legal Research, Julie Tedjeske Crane

Faculty Scholarship

Law school grading practices often conflict with legal research instruction goals. Small class sizes render norm-referenced (curved) grading unreliable, and the emphasis on ranking students detracts from learning essential skills. Drawing on scholarship on legal education and other disciplines, this article examines several grading approaches that may better serve students and instructors, including criteria-referenced, specification-based, and equitable grading systems. It offers practical suggestions for improving grading practices, such as working with colleagues on assessment design, being intentional about grading formative work, and using anonymous grading. The article concludes with a call for more discussion about grading in legal research courses.

Masthead

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Perception Pending: What Do Patents Signal To Consumers?, Alexander Billy, Neel Sukhatme

Articles

Patent law encourages inventors to label their products as “patented,” to mark their legal status and potentially secure monetary damages from infringing competitors. We examine whether such labels might have a separate and direct impact on consumers, by affecting how they view patented products and influencing what they purchase. We develop and conduct two experiments to isolate the impact of patent status on consumer behavior. In an online randomized experiment, we demonstrate how increasing the salience of patent status heightens consumers' beliefs that products are innovative and well made. We also reveal consumers' surprisingly sophisticated understanding of the patenting process …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

As They Think Best: A History Of The "One Crowded Hour" Autograph Manuscript, Jennifer L. Behrens

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.