Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Everything You Need To Know About Aristotelian Rhetoric You Can Learn From Kendall Jenner And Serena Williams, Allison Wexler Weiss

Scholarly Articles

Pop culture can teach us a lot about the law: almost everyone knows the Miranda warnings and can recite them by heart, thanks to Law and Order and other crime dramas, the concept of a “conservatorship” is familiar to many because of Brittany Spears, and the notorious RBG has become a household name, recognizable in a crown and jabot, partly due to Kate McKinnon’s portrayal on SNL.

Commercials, and the pop culture icons featured in them, can also teach students about the art of persuasive advocacy. At the start of the spring semester, when I segue from objective analysis to …

Book Review, Her Honor: Stories Of Challenge And Triumph From Women Judges By Lauren S. Rikleen (2024), Ashley Evans

Library Scholarship

In an inspiring collection of stories, Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges takes readers on a journey into the lives and experiences of 25 female judges. These distinguished women are all recipients of the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award, an honor bestowed upon women who achieve professional excellence and serve as inspirations in the legal field. The collection of narratives in this book shines a light on the exceptional lives, hardships, and accomplishments of these exceptional women, leaving readers feeling empowered and motivated.

A Fourth Amendment Pathfinder: Stop-And-Frisk And Race, Emily Pratt

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Henderson And The Objective Observer Standard: The Future Of Race-Conscious Standards Post-Students For Fair Admissions, Gabriela Dionisio

Seattle University Law Review

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Students for Fair Admissions v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down race-conscious admissions policies. Within just a year after its ruling, Students for Fair Admissions has already had a sweeping impact, reaching beyond higher education. Although the Supreme Court did not indicate whether Students for Fair Admissions applies to sectors beyond higher education, law firms, and other employers have already modified their diversity policies and initiatives, erasing race and company diversity considerations. Given those dramatic changes, there is growing fear that Students for Fair Admissions …

Same Crime, Different Time: Sentencing Disparities In The Deep South & A Path Forward Under The Fourteenth Amendment, Hailey M. Donovan

Seattle University Law Review

The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. The American obsession with crime and punishment can be tracked over the last half-century, as the nation’s incarceration rate has risen astronomically. Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2.3 million, outpacing both crime and population growth considerably. While the rise itself is undoubtedly bleak, a more troubling truth lies just below the surface. Not all states contribute equally to American mass incarceration. Rather, states have vastly different incarceration rates. Unlike at the federal level, …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Public Primacy In Corporate Law, Dorothy S. Lund

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explores the malleability of agency theory by showing that it could be used to justify a “public primacy” standard for corporate law that would direct fiduciaries to promote the value of the corporation for the benefit of the public. Employing agency theory to describe the relationship between corporate management and the broader public sheds light on aspects of firm behavior, as well as the nature of state contracting with corporations. It also provides a lodestar for a possible future evolution of corporate law and governance: minimize the agency costs created by the divergence of interests between management and …

Robo-Voting: Does Delegated Proxy Voting Pose A Challenge For Shareholder Democracy?, John Matsusaka, Chong Shu

Seattle University Law Review

Robo-voting is the practice by an investment fund of mechanically voting in corporate elections according to the advice of its proxy advisor— in effect fully delegating its voting decision to its advisor. We examined over 65 million votes cast during the period 2008–2021 by 14,582 mutual funds to describe and quantify the prevalence of robo-voting. Overall, 33% of mutual funds robo-voted in 2021: 22% with ISS, 4% with Glass Lewis, and six percent with the recommendations of the issuer’s management. The fraction of funds that robo-voted increased until around 2013 and then stabilized at the current level. Despite the sizable …

The Limits Of Corporate Governance, Cathy Hwang, Emily Winston

Seattle University Law Review

What is the purpose of the corporation? For decades, the answer was clear: to put shareholders’ interests first. In many cases, this theory of shareholder primacy also became synonymous with the imperative to maximize shareholder wealth. In the world where shareholder primacy was a north star, courts, scholars, and policymakers had relatively little to fight about: most debates were minor skirmishes about exactly how to maximize shareholder wealth.

Part I of this Essay discusses the shortcomings of shareholder primacy and stakeholder governance, arguing that neither of these modes of governance provides an adequate framework for incentivizing corporations to do good. …

The Pioneers, Waves, And Random Walks Of Securities Law In The Supreme Court, Elizabeth Pollman

Seattle University Law Review

After the pioneers, waves, and random walks that have animated the history of securities laws in the U.S. Supreme Court, we might now be on the precipice of a new chapter. Pritchard and Thompson’s superb book, A History of Securities Law in the Supreme Court, illuminates with rich archival detail how the Court’s view of the securities laws and the SEC have changed over time and how individuals have influenced this history. The book provides an invaluable resource for understanding nearly a century’s worth of Supreme Court jurisprudence in the area of securities law and much needed context for …

Three Stories: A Comment On Pritchard & Thompson’S A History Of Securities Laws In The Supreme Court, Harwell Wells

Seattle University Law Review

Adam Pritchard and Robert Thompson’s A History of Securities Laws in the Supreme Court should stand for decades as the definitive work on the Federal securities laws’ career in the Supreme Court across the twentieth century.1 Like all good histories, it both tells a story and makes an argument. The story recounts how the Court dealt with the major securities laws, as well the agency charged with enforcing them, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the rules it promulgated, from the 1930s into the twenty-first century. But the book does not just string together a series of events, “one …

On The Value Of History: A Review Of A.C. Pritchard & Robert B. Thompson’S A History Of Securities Law In The Supreme Court, Joel Seligman

Seattle University Law Review

A.C. Pritchard and Bob Thompson have written a splendid history of securities law decisions in the Supreme Court. Their book is exemplary because of its detailed use of the long unpublished papers of Supreme Court justices, including those of Harry Blackmun, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter and Lewis F. Powell, primary sources which included correspondence with other Justices and law clerks as well as interviews with law clerks. The use of these primary sources recounted throughout the text and 67 pages of End Notes deepens our understanding of the intentions of the Justices and sharpens our understanding of the conflicts …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Memories Of An Affirmative Action Activist, Margaret E. Montoya

Seattle University Law Review

Some twenty-five years ago, the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) led a march supporting Affirmative Action in legal education to counter the spate of litigation and other legal prohibitions that exploded during the 1990s, seeking to limit or abolish race-based measures. The march began at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel, where the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) was having its annual meeting, and proceeded to Union Square. We, the organizers of the march, did not expect the march to become an iconic event; one that would be remembered as a harbinger of a new era of activism by …

Defeat Fascism, Transform Democracy: Mapping Academic Resources, Reframing The Fundamentals, And Organizing For Collective Actions, Francisco Valdes

Seattle University Law Review

The information we gathered during 2021–2023 shows that critical faculty and other academic resources are present throughout most of U.S. legal academia. Counting only full-time faculty, our limited research identified 778 contacts in 200 schools equating to nearly four contacts on average per school. But no organized critical “core” had coalesced within legal academia or, more broadly, throughout higher education expressly dedicated to defending and advancing critical knowledge and its production up to now. And yet, as the 2021–2022 formation of the Critical (Legal) Collective (“CLC”) outlined below demonstrates, many academics sense or acknowledge the need for greater cohesion among …

Sffa V. Harvard College: Closing The Doors Of Equality In Education, Ediberto Roman

Seattle University Law Review

The United States Supreme Court’s recent combined decision ending affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina was hailed in conservative circles as the beginning of “the long road” towards racial equality. Others declared that “the opinion may begin the restoration of our nation’s constitutional colorblind legal covenant.” Another writer pronounced, “Affirmative action perpetuated racial discrimination. Its end is a huge step forward.” A Washington-based opinion page even declared: “[T]he demise of race-based affirmative action should inspire renewed commitment to the ideal of equal opportunity in America.” Despite …

Religious Freedom And Diversity Missions: Insights From Jesuit Law Deans, Anthony E. Varona, Michèle Alexandre, Michael J. Kaufman, Madeleine M. Landrieu

Seattle University Law Review

This Article is a transcript of a panel moderated by Anthony E. Varona, Dean of Seattle University School of Law. During the panel, Jesuit and religious law school deans discussed what law schools with religious missions have to add to the conversation around SFFA and the continuing role of affirmative action in higher education.

The Class Of Injuries Test: A Unifying Proposal To Determining Duty, Proximate Cause, And Superseding Cause In Negligence Claims, Judge Leonard J. Feldman, Julia Doherty

Seattle University Law Review

While there seems to be universal agreement that liability in tort cannot be unlimited, there is widespread disagreement regarding the various tests that courts utilize to limit such liability. We assume here that breach can be proven: the defendant failed to conduct themself in accordance with the salient standard of conduct (for example, failure to exercise reasonable care under all the circumstances). In the ensuing litigation, the court and jury are asked to decide several issues that each limit liability for negligence. Here, we focus on three oft-debated issues: duty, proximate cause, and superseding cause. The tests for each are …

Ai, New Technologies, And Corporate Governance: Three Phenomena, Martin Petrin

Seattle University Law Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies are increasingly influencing the operations, business models, and structures of companies. This Article focuses on three emerging phenomena that impact significant aspects of corporate governance and regulation: (1) perforation and blurring of firm boundaries through the ubiquitous use of externally provided AI services; (2) businesses engaging in strategic access and leveraging of critical resources held by third parties without owning them; and (3) the unusual hybrid role of online platforms between market facilitators and markets themselves. The Article explores how these phenomena challenge traditional views of firms as separate units, with technology leading …

A Meaningful Life: The Future Of Juvenile Justice In Washington After Anderson, Samuel Coren

Seattle University Law Review

Until 2022, Washington’s line of juvenile sentencing jurisprudence gave every indication of continuing along the course set by Miller v. Alabama, as Washington courts recognized that “children are different” and should not be subjected to the harshest punishments available in the criminal legal system. State v. Anderson marked a stark diversion from this course. In upholding the constitutionality of a de facto life sentence for a juvenile, the Washington Supreme Court all but rejected the well-established scientific consensus surrounding juvenile brain development and implicit racial bias. Whether this decision reflects a minor aberration or a broader trend in the court’s …

Reconciling Disjunct Cryptocurrency Securities Enforcement With Purchaser Expectations, Jacob E. Simmons

Seattle University Law Review

The Southern District of New York’s July 2023 decision in SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc. has been touted as a monumental win for cryptocurrency purchasers and related businesses. The Ripple court held that, except institutional investor transactions, all sales of Ripple’s XRP token were not investment contracts, a class of security subject to federal securities law. The court’s ruling meant that Ripple could not be held liable for the unregistered trading of XRP beyond its sales to institutional investors. Ripple adds new insights to a pervasive policymaking dilemma addressed in this Note: is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) regulatory …

A Blueprint To Reclaim Legal Education From External Rankers, Scott Rempell

Seattle University Law Review

The U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News) law school rankings have impacted the perceptions and behaviors of everyone in the rankings ecosystem for decades. Commentators have almost universally condemned these ordinal rankings, yet they continue to influence the legal education market, often in highly detrimental ways.

The influence of these rankings stems from legitimate market demands, for reasons that the psychology of choice literature makes clear. People want (or need) to efficiently acquire and digest information that could help them make consequential decisions. At a time when consumers of law school information did not have such choice-making assistance, U.S. …

Real-World Consequences For Online Actions: The Case For Expanding Employee Harassment Protection Via Employers’ Rights Of Action, Alexander Barnes

Seattle University Law Review

This Note argues for expanding employers’ access to legal remedies that allow them to recoup the costs of protecting their employees from swatting, doxing, and other online harassment arising from their employees’ professional activity. Part I provides a brief description and history of the online harassment problem and its potentially deadly dangers. Part II describes employers’ legal responsibility to take action to protect their employees from harassment aimed at their employees within the scope of their employment. Part III explores common legal remedies that are currently available to employers, using the state of Washington as an example. Part III also …

Foreseeability And Duty In Washington Negligence Law: Leaving The Road Less Traveled By, Leo Linder

Seattle University Law Review

Washington negligence law is a confusing labyrinth of foreseeability that not even Ariadne’s string could guide plaintiffs out of. Foreseeability is implicated in four distinct analyses, several of which overlap considerably. Doctrines that were once questions of law are now questions of fact, and vice versa. Something needs to change.

Washington has taken the novel approach of bifurcating the duty element into two parts—duty’s mere existence, which is a question of law for the court to determine; and duty’s scope, which is a question of fact handed off to the jury to determine. Foreseeability impacts both of these assessments, but …

Reimagining The Music Industry: In Search Of A More Perfect Union, Loren E. Mulraine

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article critiques the entrenched business practices of the modern music industry and argues that its prevailing contractual and financial structures disproportionately disadvantage artists. Focusing on ownership of master recordings, unilateral option clauses, controlled composition provisions, recoupment practices, and copyright termination rights under the Copyright Act of 1976, the Article demonstrates how industry norms undermine the economic interests of creators despite rising industry revenues. It contends that artists should receive equity ownership in master recordings, benefit from shorter and more balanced contract terms, obtain full statutory mechanical royalties, and have recoupment calculated at net receipt rates rather than on their …

Heresies, Heretics, And Hermeneutics: The Battle Of Textualism Against Pragmatism--And Itself--On The Robert Court, Jeffrey A. Van Detta

Belmont Law Review

This Article examines the deepening jurisprudential conflict on the Roberts Court over statutory interpretation, framing the contest between textualism and pragmatism as analogous to theological disputes over orthodoxy and heresy. Drawing on the interpretive writings of Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, as well as the scholarly work of William Eskridge, the Article argues that contemporary textualism—particularly in its more rigid forms—risks distorting statutory meaning when divorced from broader contextual and purposive analysis. Through an eclectic examination of three statutory battlegrounds—the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Reconstruction-era civil rights legislation and its modern successors, and the Alien Tort Statute—the Article demonstrates …

"Consent By Registration" After Mallory--A Fifty State Summary, Will Lattimore

Belmont Law Review

In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., the United States Supreme Court held that a state’s application of “consent by registration” comports with due process, provided that the state’s statutory scheme treats business registration as consent to personal jurisdiction. In this Article, Will Lattimore offers a comprehensive fifty-state survey of corporate registration statutes and related appellate decisions to assess how Mallory reshapes the personal jurisdiction landscape. The Article situates “consent by registration” within the broader doctrinal framework of general, specific, and consent-based jurisdiction, tracing the impact of Daimler AG v. Bauman on lower courts’ analyses and explaining how Mallory …

Eliminating Tennessee's Parental Bill Of Wrongs In Favor Of A Children's Bill Of Rights, April Carroll Meldrum, Bruce L. Beverly

Belmont Law Review

In Eliminating Tennessee’s Parental Bill of Wrongs in Favor of a Children’s Bill of Rights, April Carroll Meldrum and Bruce L. Beverly critically examine Tennessee’s Parental Bill of Rights (PBOR), codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-6-101(a)(3), and argue that it has become outdated, counterproductive, and misaligned with modern family law policy. The authors trace the legislative history of the PBOR from its 1997 enactment through subsequent amendments, demonstrating how a statute originally intended to ensure access and informational parity for noncustodial parents has evolved into a rigid and litigation-fueling mechanism. They contend that the PBOR conflicts with Tennessee’s …

Integrating Sustainable Development Goals In The Law Curriculum: Legal Education For "People, Planet, And Prosperity", Md Saiful Karim, Abdullah-Al Arif, Andrew Garwood-Gowers, Fran Humphries, Md Mahtab Uddin, Afshin Akhtar-Khavari, Rowena Maguire, Bridget Lewis, Lucy Cradduck, Lachlan Robb, Tina Cockburn, Kelly Purser, Sam Boyle, Anne Matthew, Brydon Wang, Alex Deagon

Belmont Law Review

This article argues that meaningful integration of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the law curriculum is essential to preparing future lawyers to address contemporary global challenges. Drawing on the historical evolution of sustainable development and its embedding in international and domestic legal systems, the authors demonstrate the multifaceted relationship between the SDGs and diverse areas of law, extending well beyond environmental regulation to encompass economic, social, and human rights dimensions. Focusing on professional law degrees such as the LLB and JD, the article presents targeted case studies illustrating how SDG awareness can be incorporated into core and …

A Woman's Right To Change Her Mind: The Abortion Pill Reversal Debate, Kelsey Perault

Belmont Law Review

This Note examines the legal, medical, and ethical controversy surrounding abortion pill reversal (APR), a protocol involving the administration of progesterone after ingestion of mifepristone in an attempt to counteract a medication abortion. After outlining the scientific and regulatory history of mifepristone, misoprostol, and progesterone, the Note surveys emerging state legislation that either mandates disclosure of APR as part of informed consent or prohibits the practice altogether. It analyzes the debate within the frameworks of off-label prescribing, medical malpractice, informed consent doctrine, and right-to-try laws. The Note argues that if abortion is legally protected as an exercise of reproductive autonomy, …