Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Using Data Analytics Tools To Supplement Traditional Research And Analysis In Forecasting Case Outcomes, Mark K. Osbeck

Articles

Companies are now developing legal research tools that employ the power of data analytics to aid case forecasting. These tools hold significant promise as a supplement to the traditional element-focused predictive analysis. Instead of having to rely solely on their own experience to balance the results of the traditional element-focused analysis, lawyers may soon be able to rely on software products that mine data about past cases, and then run the data through algorithms to detect patterns. Those patterns can then inform predictions about likely case outcomes, based upon similarities between the facts, the courts, the individual judges, etc.

No Reason To Blame Liberals (Or, The Unbearable Lightness Of Perversity Arguments), Margo Schlanger

Reviews

In addition to the current extraordinary number of people behind American bars, the other key feature of our current carceral state is the very high concentration of non-whites in that population. That concentration of non-whites has grown significantly since the 1960s, when whites constituted nearly two thirds of American prison population; today, they are only a bit over one-third. Since 72% of Americans are white, the distinction in terms of incarceration rate is far more stark: among white men, the current imprisonment rate (counting only sentenced prisoners) is 4.7/1000; among Latino men it is two-and-a-half times that (11.3/1000); and among …

Law School Culture And The Lost Art Of Collaboration: Why Don't Law Professors Play Well With Others, Michael I. Meyerson

All Faculty Scholarship

I have an Erdős number. Specifically, I have an Erdős number of 5. For the uninitiated, the concept of an “Erdős number” was created by mathematicians to describe how many “degrees of separation” an author of an article is from the great mathematician Paul Erdős. If you coauthored a paper with Erdős, you have an Erdős number of 1. If you coauthor a paper with someone with an Erdős number of 1, you have earned an Erdős number of 2. Coauthoring a paper with someone with an Erdős number of 2 gives you an Erdős number of 3, and so …

The 95 Theses: Legal Research In The Internet Age, Amy E. Sloan

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Analysis, Research, And Communication In Skills-Focused Courses, Ruth Anne Robbins, Amy E. Sloan, Kristen Konrad Tiscione

All Faculty Scholarship

Since the Carnegie Report and Best Practices for Legal Education were published, a new focus has emerged on building students’ traditional foundational skills through increased opportunities for experiential education, including legal research and writing instruction. Although the Carnegie Report explored legal writing pedagogy in some detail, Best Practices devoted little attention to how foundational analytical, research, and writing skills are or should be taught with specificity, which provided the impetus for more extended treatment here. This section identifies some “better practices” being used and urges adoption of best practices.

In skills-focused courses, legal analysis, research, and writing should be taught …

Research Analysis And Planning: The Undervalued Skill In Legal Research Instruction, Robert Linz

Faculty Articles

This article describes a method of research analysis and planning for legal problems. It introduces the framework of research plan, log, and product and provides a detailed research plan and log that students can use as a template for learning research. The article suggests how to teach the method in legal research classes, shares some of the author's experiences in teaching the method, and addresses some possible criticisms of this approach.

Fearful Asymmetry: How The Absence Of Public Participation In Section 7 Of The Esa Can Make The 'Best Available Science' Unavailable For Judicial Review, Travis O. Brandon

Law Faculty Scholarship

Recent empirical studies have shown that public participation is an essential part of the listing process of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) because it provides the wildlife agencies with valuable scientific information regarding candidate species and forces agencies to make politically unpopular decisions to protect species standing in the way of development interests. However, the crucial agency-forcing mechanism of public participation is lacking in the interagency consultation process in section 7 of the ESA, one of the most important provisions by which the ESA’s protections for listed species are enforced. This Article explains how the absence of public input through …

From Youth Sports To Collegiate Athletics To Professional Leagues: Is There Really 'Informed Consent' By Athletes Regarding Sports-Related Concussions?, Tracey Carter

Law Faculty Scholarship

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health issue in the United States. A sports-related concussion is a form of TBI that can occur from participation in both contact and non-contact sports and recreational activities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.6 to 3.8 million sports- and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States every year. This article emphasizes the serious impact of TBI on youth, collegiate, and professional athletes, explores whether athletes are really “informed” regarding sports-related concussions, and provides recommendations to better protect athletes and to decrease the number of sports-related concussions.

Keep Out Fda: Food Manufacturers' Ability To Effectively Self-Regulate Front-Of-Package Food Labeling, Ellen A. Black

Law Faculty Scholarship

The headlines on any given day claim that the American "obesity epidemic" continues to worsen.' According to these headlines, Americans, both adults and children, are increasingly becoming more obese, are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, and will likely prematurely die due to this preventable disease. Numerous private industries, as well as the government, seek to rescue Americans from this crisis. As the obesity epidemic debate intensifies, the call for more government regulation correspondingly grows. There are critics, however, who question the legitimacy of this epidemic and the need for more regulation. For example, some well-known scholars opine that …

Sentencing The Wolf Of Wall Street: From Leniency To Uncertainty, Lucian E. Dervan

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Symposium Article, based on a presentation given by Professor Dervan at the 2014 Wayne Law Review Symposium entitled "Sentencing White Collar Defendants: How Much is Enough," examines the Jordan Belfort (“Wolf of Wall Street”) prosecution as a vehicle for analyzing sentencing in major white-collar criminal cases from the 1980s until today. In Part II, the Article examines the Belfort case and his relatively lenient prison sentence for engaging in a major fraud. This section goes on to examine additional cases from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s to consider the results of reforms aimed at “getting tough” on white-collar offenders. …

The Due Process Conundrum: Using Matthews V. Eldridge As A Standard For Private Hospitals Under The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act, Amy L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the procedural due process protections afforded to physicians under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 (HCQIA), focusing on the statutory requirement of “adequate notice and hearing” in professional peer review proceedings. Although HCQIA was enacted to promote effective peer review and improve the quality of medical care by granting immunity to hospitals and review bodies, the statute conditions immunity on compliance with certain fairness standards. The Article identifies a doctrinal gap between the statute’s safe harbor provisions and the broader, undefined requirement of adequacy, noting that courts frequently resolve immunity questions at summary judgment under …

I Am My Brother's Keeper: How The Crossroads Of Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property And Entertainment Can Be Used To Affect Social Justice, Loren E. Mulraine

Law Faculty Scholarship

Growing up in the Bronx, New York, our neighborhoods served as the fulcrum for the world we knew. Like many in my neighborhood, we were immigrants. My family had come to New York from the West Indies, for higher education, to make a better life and to contribute to a growing, energetic society. In many ways, the ultimate goal was to have a transformative effect upon our family tree. Many children, my sisters and I included, grew up in homes where we welcomed our parents’ siblings and their families – our aunts, uncles and cousins – to live with us …

Keeping Our Eyes On The Prize: Examining Minnesota As A Means For Assuring Achievement Of The 'Triple Aim' Under The Aca, Deborah R. Farringer

Law Faculty Scholarship

A little more than four years after enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“ACA”), daily headlines still abound on newspapers and websites across the country highlighting both successes and failures of the ACA. In analyzing those successes and failures, especially in the context of care delivery, it is important to take a step back to consider the stated goals of the ACA, which goals have their origins in a premise first proposed by Dr. Donald M. Berwick and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (“IHI”) in 2006 referred to as the “Triple Aim.” The Triple Aim …

Open Legal Educational Materials: The Frequently Asked Questions, James Boyle, Jennifer Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

There has been considerable discussion in academic circles about the possibility of moving toward open educational materials—those which may be shared, copied and altered freely, without permission or fee. Legal education is particularly ripe for such a transition, as many of the source materials—including federal statutes and cases—are in the public domain. In this article, we discuss our experience producing an open casebook and statutory supplement on Intellectual Property Law, and answer many of the frequently asked questions about the project. Obviously, open coursebooks are less expensive and more convenient for students. But we found that they also offer pedagogical …

Is This The Law Library Or An Episode Of The Jetsons?, Ronald E. Wheeler

Faculty Scholarship

In this brief essay penned for the inaugural online edition of the Journal of the Legal Writing Institute, Professor Wheeler discusses his vision for the future of law libraries and the future of legal research, legal research instruction, law teaching, and law related technologies.

Hearing Voices: Non-Party Stories In Abortion And Gay Rights Advocacy, Linda H. Edwards

Scholarly Works

During the twelve years after Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court considered a number of abortion issues, but Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists was the first case to raise a direct call for Roe’s demise. The issues galvanized interests on all sides. Among the welter of amicus briefs was a remarkable brief destined to create a new, controversial, and potentially powerful form of appellate advocacy. Primarily authored by Lynn M. Paltrow, the brief was submitted on behalf of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Like a Brandeis Brief, the NARAL brief relies on sources outside …

Indiana's Government Information Day Focuses On Change, Access & Continuity, Jennifer Morgan, Sally Holterhoff

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing: Students, Scholars, And Sources In The Law Library, Jeanne Price

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Stalking Phaedrus: International Legal Structures. David Kennedy. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 1987. Pp. 294. 69,-Dm., David J. Bederman

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

No Tribal Court Is An Island? Citation Practices Of The Tribal Judiciary, Rose Carmen Goldberg

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Improving Legal Writing: A Life-Long Learning Process And Continuing Professional Challenge, Kathleen Elliott Vinson

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

You've Got Rhythm: Curriculum Planning And Teaching Rhythm At Work In The Legal Writing Classroom, Debra Moss Curtis

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fostering A Respect For Our Students, Our Specialty, And The Legal Profession: Introducing Ethics And Professionalism Into The Legal Writing Curriculum, Melissa H. Weresh

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pride And Prejudice: Lessons Legal Writers Can Learn From Literature, Michele G. Falkow

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

"I See And I Remember; I Do And Understand": Teaching Fundamental Structure In Legal Writing Through The Use Of Samples, Judith B. Tracy

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Students As (Re)Visionaries: Or, Revision, Revision, Revision, Susan M. Taylor

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Increased Importance Of Legal Writing In The Era Of “The Vanishing Trial”, Edward D. Re

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Guide To International Legal Research. The George Washington Journal Of International Law And Economics. Salem, New Hampshire: Butterworth Legal Publishers, 1990., Carol A. Watson

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

When Things Went Terribly, Terribly Wrong Part Ii, Steven L. Winter

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Lexis Two-Step: After Two Major Updates In 2014, Lexis Advance Empowers Users With Improved Functionality, Beau Steenken

Law Faculty Popular Media

In this article, the author discusses improvements to the Lexis Advance research platform.