Legal Profession Commons^™

Law School News: Rwu Class Of 2025 Urged To Embrace Discomfort, Pursue Their Dreams And Careers With Purpose 05-16-2025, Jordan J. Phelan

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Pragmatics And Textualism, Lawrence B. Solum

Journal of Law and Policy

In theoretical linguistics the word “pragmatics” refers to the roles of context and communicative intentions in the production of meaning. Those roles include contextual disambiguation and the communication of implicit content via what is called “pragmatic enrichment.” Textualism is sometimes characterized as the view that the meaning of statutory texts should not take context into account, but that characterization is incorrect. Not only do self-identified textualists explicitly maintain that context should be considered when interpreting statutes—all good textualists must do so. Absent consideration of context, the meaning of statutory texts would be pervasively ambiguous, sparse, and incomplete. Good textualism requires …

Law School News: Charting A New Course: From Navy Officer To Legal Advocate 4-22-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Successful Psychopathy: Trait Expression, Construct Validity, And Career Differences Among Lawyers, Law Students, And Pre-Law Undergraduate Students, Jessica Rush

Student Theses

Psychopathy is a multidimensional personality construct traditionally studied in offender populations but increasingly recognized in high-functioning, nonclinical groups. This study examined the expression of psychopathic traits—Fearless Dominance, Self-Centered Impulsivity, and Coldheartedness—among legal professionals at various career stages, including pre-law students, law students, and practicing attorneys. Using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI-R) alongside validated measures of related constructs (e.g., narcissism, aggression, affect, behavioral activation/inhibition), the study assessed trait distribution, construct validity, and contextual influences in a sample of 82 participants. Results provided partial support for the PPI-R’s construct validity in this population. Total psychopathy and Self-Centered Impulsivity were positively associated with …

Law School News: Rwu Law Teams Earn Top Honors At National Admiralty Moot Court Competition 4-2-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: From The State House To The Court House 4-22-2025, Andrew Clark, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Rwu Law Ranked #11 Nationally For Most Graduates In Public Interest Law Careers 4-15-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Better Than He Found It 4-24-2025, Danna Lorch, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Destined For Law: From Legal Dream To Valedictorian 05-13-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ben Crump And Racialized Professionalism, Katherine A. Macfarlane

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Benjamin “Ben” Crump is the country’s most influential civil rights lawyer. His advocacy led to the arrest and prosecution of George Zimmerman. He has represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and many others, negotiating record-breaking settlements despite a body of civil rights precedent that is overwhelmingly pro-defendant. Crump is also a modern lawyer who uses press conferences and social media to advance his clients’ cause. To his clients, he is a lawyer, confidante, and friend. Yet, based on the way national media covers him, his significance isn’t always clear. When his work isn’t being erased, it’s …

Barred From The Profession, Mischaracterized As Unfit By Law, Julia Mizutani

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

There is growing recognition that the bar examination can have racial and social effects when determining who can be an admitted and barred attorney in the United States. This Essay explores the history and current racialized issues with the other portion of bar admission—the character and fitness process. The simultaneously rigid and fluid definition and subjective enforcement of “good moral character” is only one example of how the law continues to reproduce and maintain racial and class hierarchy by creating barriers to entry. This Essay does not come to any direct conclusions or specific solutions. This Essay is a …

The Gatekeepers: How State Bar Associations' Disciplinary Process Is Racialized And Classist, Brooke Girley, Jonathan Barry-Blocker

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Modern U.S. legal ethics and attorney regulations exist for three ostensible goals: to protect clients from unprofessional lawyers, to compel ethical performance from all licensed attorneys, and to safeguard the legal profession’s freedom to self-regulate. However, a recent study conducted by the California Bar Association revealed attorney regulation is more racialized and classist than these objectives suggest. The study explored attorney disciplinary action and found significant disparities in probation and disbarment along race and class. Put simply, the Bar functioned more to police the “other” than to protect the rights of consumers and the profession. These disparities are not …

The Form Doesn’T Know Anything: A Response To Chowdhury, Chudkowski & Gulati, Glenn D. West

University of Miami Law Review

Merger and acquisition agreements differ significantly from sovereign bonds. While I have criticized the stubborn persistence of harmful or ineffective boilerplate in the M&A deal world, this persistence does not stem from a desire for uniformity or blind adherence to a sacred form. The dynamics involved in negotiating merger and acquisition agreements often dictate that comments on a form agreement be kept to a minimum, making the improvement of the form a secondary goal. Moreover, what one party considers bad boilerplate may be seen as beneficial by another. Many of the myths supposedly debunked by Chowdhury, Chudkowski & Gulati may, …

The Form Knows Best, Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Mitu Gulati

University of Miami Law Review

Law students learn that contracts are carefully negotiated, precisely drafted, and shaped by doctrine. But lawyers tell a different story. This article compares six pillars of contract law with what we heard in over 170 interviews with senior transactional lawyers across M&A, sovereign bonds, and leveraged loans. The result is a gap between the Official Story taught in classrooms and the Unofficial Story told by practitioners—where boilerplate dominates, case law is rarely consulted, and market custom often prevails over efficient design. We suggest that many contract provisions are better understood as historical artifacts: products of inherited forms and production pressure. …

Cardozo Law News Brief: May 9, 2025, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Brief 2025

Highlights from the May 9, 2025 Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Professor Britta Redwood was selected for the 2025 Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum.

• Alumnus Jaime Leggett ’10 appeared on the SPARKS podcast to discuss his legal career.

• Professor Peter Markowitz was quoted in The New York Times on immigration enforcement.

• Professor Jessica Roth appeared on CNN to discuss jury selection in the Diddy trial.

• Other faculty news includes speaking events and editorial work by Professors Codrington, Zelinsky, and Drucker-Albert.

Law Library Blog (April 2025): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Kathleen Macandrew, Erin Orsini

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Antiracist Development Institute Workshop At Rwu School Of Law May 5, 2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Rising Leaders In Justice: Celebrating Rwu Law's Class Of 2025 Honorees 05-07-2025, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Chatgpt Didn’T Write This . . . Or Did It? The Emergence Of Generative Ai In The Legal Field And Lessons From Mata V. Avianca, James H. Curlin Iv

Arkansas Law Review

It’s no secret: Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), for better or worse, is revolutionizing the world. The legal field and legal education at large are not immune to this explosion of possible uses for AI technology. However, as with any technological advancement, AI and Generative Language Models bring with them many challenges, including the implications of their use. One such challenge was vividly presented in the case of Mata v. Avianca, often referred to as “The ChatGPT Case.” Mata is a cautionary tale of the potential missteps that can trip up the unwitting user who naively relies on the lofty promises of …