Legal Profession Commons^™

Equality In Sentencing Mitigation, John B. Meixner Jr.

Fordham Law Review

As guilty-plea rates have skyrocketed, sentencing has become an increasingly important part of criminal procedure. With judges often wielding significant discretion at sentencing, a key question is how judges interpret mitigation: evidence about the defendant’s background or the case that supports a reduced sentence. Past empirical research—both experimental and in real-world cases—indicates that mitigation plays an important role in determining sentences. But does mitigation help everyone, or does it reinforce inequalities that frequently infect other areas of criminal procedure? Do low-income Black defendants with appointed counsel benefit from sentencing mitigation as much as wealthier White defendants with private attorneys? Do …

Lawyers' Client-Inclusive Negotiations: The "New Mediation"?, Nancy A. Welsh, Donna Shestowsky

Faculty Scholarship

When proponents initially urged the courts to institutionalize mediation for the resolution of general civil cases, they argued that the procedure would be superior to trial—and also to lawyers’ settlement negotiations—in terms of parties’ exercise of self-determination, satisfaction with outcomes, and opportunity for voice. These claims, however, rested on certain assumptions, particularly regarding the implementation of mediation and lawyers’ settlement negotiations. In mediation, the parties were to take center stage, with the mediator assisting them by facilitating their communication and negotiation so that they could reach a customized resolution. Lawyers’ settlement negotiations in general civil litigation, meanwhile, were assumed to …

Representing The Incommunicado Client: Regulating The Attorney-Client Relationship In A Civil Rights Emergency, Michael Kagan

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

When the government obstructs a detainee’s ability to communicate with attorneys, normal rules governing the formation of attorney-client relationships break down. While some work-arounds exist to allow lawyers to bring such cases to court, they have significant limitations and can create problems of their own. The legal profession and the courts should adopt new rules modeled on emergency medicine to facilitate the filing of urgent civil rights claims for clients who are not in a position to consent. In emergency medicine, physicians can presume client consent for certain narrow and urgent purposes. Certain lawyers, in extreme cases, should be able …

Clark Memorandum: Fall 2025, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• Our Constitutional Anchor
• Divine Law
• The Courage of Our Convictions
• Our Call to Action

The Mississippi Court Of Appeals 30th Anniversary Commemoration And Panel Discussion, Donna M. Barnes

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Red, White-, And Blue-Collar Crime: Federal Sentencing Practices Among White-Collar And Blue-Collar Offenders, Henna Judge

Fordham Law Review

Under the current federal sentencing regime, district courts exercise immense amounts of discretion when sentencing. Though strict adherence to the U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) was once mandatory, courts must now use these Guidelines as an advisory starting point and make a series of fact-specific determinations when sentencing a defendant. Though judicial discretion in this realm aids in preventing undue reliance on Guidelines-range recommendations that can lack nuance, it also invites bias.

In recent years, scholars and courts alike have called attention to a potential disparity in the way blue-collar and white-collar offenders are sentenced. This Note examines relevant …

Judicial Ethics, The Supreme Court, And The Rule Of Law, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Essay begins with a short history of judicial ethics regulation in the United States, ending with the adoption of codes of conduct by every state and federal judicial system except the Supreme Court of the United States. It then turns to a series of ethics controversies encircling the Supreme Court and its justices, which culminated in the Supreme Court adopting a Code of Conduct in 2023. Tapping into the social science literature, it argues that for codes to improve the ethical climate of an institution they must encourage psychological ownership of and “buy-in” to a code by those subject …

What's Appealing In Mississippi?, Virginia C. Carlton

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lowell Baier: 1940-2025, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Over a remarkable 51-year career, Lowell Baier moved with uncommon ease between professions—attorney, entrepreneur, advocate, historian, and author—yet every path he pursued seemed to guide him inevitably toward a life defined by service, scholarship, and conservation. Baier, who passed away on November 21, leaves behind a legacy as vast, varied, and vital as the landscapes he fought to protect.

Baier’s life was a testament to service: to the land, to the law, to institutions that shaped him, and to people who shared his passions. His legacy will endure in protected landscapes, inspired students, strengthened institutions, and the many lives he …

Vol. 69, No. 13 (November 24, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Dean's Desk: We’Re Providing Encouragement To Would-Be Lawyers, Christiana Ochoa

Christiana Ochoa (7/22-10/22 Acting; 11/2022-)

As dean of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand how transformative legal education can be—not only for individual students, but also for the communities and institutions they go on to serve.

But there’s a problem: many promising undergraduate students have been told, explicitly or implicitly, that law school isn’t for them. Some don’t have anyone to turn to for advice and guidance.

Some have been discouraged from considering legal education because their backgrounds don’t fit the traditional mold of what society envisions an attorney to be. Maybe they are first-generation students and …

Fred H. Cate Appointed To 23andme Research Institute Privacy Advisory Board, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Distinguished Professor Fred H. Cate, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on information privacy and security law, has been appointed as an inaugural member to the newly formed Privacy Advisory Board of the 23andMe Research Institute, a leading nonprofit medical research organization focused on advancing genetic and health discoveries.

The appointment cements the Law School’s position as a global leader at the intersection of law, data governance, and privacy.

President Trump And Control Of Administrative Agencies: The Firing Of Nlrb Commissioner Gwynne Wilcox, Gwynne Wilcox, Daniel Silverman, David Rudenstine, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy, Public Interest Law Student Association (Pilsa), American Constitution Society (Acs), Cardozo Chapter, National Lawyers Guild, Cardozo Chapter, Cardozo Federalist Society

2025 Event Invitations

On November 18, Gwynne Wilcox will join Dan Silverman at Cardozo to discuss her lawsuit against Trump and his administration for firing her as an NLRB commissioner. This conversation will be moderated by Professor David Rudenstine.

On January 27, 2025, President Trump removed Wilcox from the Board prior to her term’s expiration in 2028. Wilcox was the first Board Member to have been removed in 90 years of the Board's inception in 1935. Wilcox filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Washington, DC, against President Trump challenging her unprecedented and unlawful termination based upon current statutory law and well-established Supreme …

Learning By Doing: The Importance Of Thoughtful And Limited Generative A.I. Use In The Il Legal Writing Classroom, Luke Repici

Faculty Publications

Technological advances that impact lawyers day-to-day work are nothing new. From typewriters, dictaphones, and computers to electronic legal research, email, and e-discovery, new technologies have changed the nuts and bolts of how lawyers practice for decades. Previous technologies may have replaced the pen with the typewriter and supplanted the letter for the email, but the lawyer remained the one doing the work. For more junior lawyers, this meant assigned tasks – reading cases, drafting motions, dictating client updates, summarizing discovery, and creating deposition outlines – could not be outsourced to technology.

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (“Gen AI”) presents …

Vol. 69, No. 12 (November 17, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Preventive Transparency In Third-Party Litigation Funding, Seth Katsuya Endo

Northwestern University Law Review

For years, efforts to comprehensively regulate third-party litigation funding have been unsuccessful. But bills requiring mandatory disclosure are being introduced in Congress, and the Advisory Committee for Civil Rules has finally agreed to take up the issue. By grounding the discussion of third-party litigation funding in both the broader civil procedure and professional responsibility scholarship, this Article identifies an easy, uncontroversial reform to preventively address the categorical concerns raised by the practice. The primary contribution is a doctrinal intervention, identifying how legal ethics are an integral part of federal civil procedure and then drawing out the implications for third-party litigation …

The Law Fox Manifesto, Benjamin H. Barton

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Honoring Our 2025 Pro Bono Award Recipients, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Indiana University Maurer School of Law celebrated its 2025 Pro Bono Award winners this week, honoring students, faculty, and community members who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to serving others through legal advocacy and volunteer work.

The student awards recognized the individuals in each class who logged the highest number of pro bono hours during the past academic year. This year’s honorees were:

• Laura Stancato ’26, of Fishers, Indiana, who was honored for her leadership with the Protective Order Project and the Civil Protective Order Clinic. “This work uncovered a passion for helping others, particularly survivors of sexual and domestic …

Vol. 69, No. 11 (November 10, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Law Review Symposium: Prisoners' Rights: Protecting Civil Liberties Behind Bars & Beyond 11-7-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.