Legal Profession Commons^™

Ideology, Qualifications, And Covert Senate Obstruction Of Federal Court Nominations, Ryan J. Owens, Daniel E. Walters, Ryan C. Black, Anthony Madonna

Faculty Scholarship

Scholars, policymakers, and journalists have bemoaned the emphasis on ideology over qualifications and party over performance in the judicial appointment process. Though, for years, the acrimony between the two parties and between the Senate and President remained limited to appointments to the United States Supreme Court, the modern era of judicial appointments has seen the so-called “appointments rigor mortis” spread throughout all levels of judicial appointments. A host of studies have examined the causes and consequences of the growing acrimony and obstruction of lower federal court appointments, but few rely on archival data and empirical evidence to examine the underlying …

Lawyering To The Lowest Common Denominator: "Strickland's" Potential For Incorporating Underfunded Norms Into Legal Doctrine, Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This symposium article explores how ineffective assistance of counsel doctrine, by its design, may incorporate and exacerbate the failings of an underfunded indigent defense system. Specifically, it highlights two aspects of the Strickland v. Washington standard for ineffective assistance of counsel: first, its inability to effectively address issues of underfunding through its two-prong test of deficient performance and prejudice; and, second, the way in which its eschewal of specific substantive guidelines for attorney performance in favor of reliance on "prevailing professional norms" may allow legal doctrine to be influenced by anemic, localized practice norms resulting from a lack of resources. …

From "War On Poverty" To Pro Bono: Access To Justice Remains Elusive For Too Many, Including Our Veterans, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty. The Legal Services Program of 1965, along with the Legal Services Corporation formed in 1974, considerably increased civil legal aid to America’s poor. Yet today, there is only one legal aid attorney for every 6,415 people living in poverty. Veterans, comprising 4.6%of those living in poverty, often suffer additional obstacles and extensive legal needs, including assistance in obtaining benefits to which they are entitled. While encouraging additional pro bono service among attorneys incrementally increases the availability of legal services to the poor, law school clinics across the country …

The Emotionally Intelligent Law Professor: A Lesson From The Breakfast Club, Heidi K. Brown

Articles & Chapters

While some law review articles emphasize the importance of teaching Emotional Intelligence (EI) as part of the students' law school curriculum as a component of “professionalism,” fewer articles thus far have illuminated how professors can cultivate their own EI to become better educators. The present article aspires to provide law professors with a workable explanation of EI, and practical guidance to make EI accessible and useful in the classroom. Part I of this article explains the basic concept and components of Emotional Intelligence, and how understanding and cultivating one's own EI in a classroom dynamic can enhance teaching. This section …

Letting Go Of Old Ideas, William D. Henderson

Michigan Law Review

Two recently published books make the claim that the legal profession has changed (Steven Harper’s The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis) or is changing (Richard Susskind’s Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future). The books are interesting because they discuss the types of changes that are broad, sweeping, and dramatic. In suitable lawyer fashion, both books are unfailingly analytical. They both also argue that the old order is collapsing. The Lawyer Bubble is backward looking and laments the legacy we have squandered, while Tomorrow’s Lawyers is future oriented and offers fairly specific prescriptive advice, particularly to those lawyers entering …

Frost For Lawyers: 'The Best Thing That We're Put Here For's To See', Sherman J. Clark

Michigan Law Review

Why should lawyers read Frost? First of all, of course, it can bring great pleasure. As Robert Pinsky put it, poetry brings pleasures “both intellectual and bodily” and can provide “a satisfaction central to life.” And this is particularly true of Frost, whose poems are both accessible and enjoyable. This does not mean that there are no challenges in his poems. Frost does make us work. Indeed, as I hope to explore in this Essay, the work he asks us to do is essential to what we can learn from his poems. But this work is itself engaging and invigorating …

Learning Critical Legal Theory Across The Curriculum: An Innovative Course In Applied Feminism, Michele E. Gilman

All Faculty Scholarship

In law schools, we are so accustomed to a single professor teaching each substantive class that we rarely question this method of teaching. Imagine instead a class taught by fourteen professors, each of whom teaches for one week to share their substantive expertise through the lens of critical legal theory. At the University of Baltimore School of Law, we offer such a course, entitled Special Topics in Applied Feminism. Throughout the semester, students are exposed to feminist legal perspectives on a wide range of substantive topics, including tax law, international law, immigration law, employment law, and many others.

The course …

Let's Talk About Race, Ronald E. Wheeler

Faculty Scholarship

Despite other scholars’ suggestions that law librarianship and the American Association of Law Libraries lack diversity, Mr. Wheeler examines numerical and anecdotal data indicating that efforts to promote racial and ethnic diversity within AALL and the profession are beginning to show positive results.

Preface, Ken I. Kersch, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

In an essay in the Texas Law Review not too long ago, Sandy Levinson lamented the degree to which law reviews—most prominently the Michigan Law Review—were sharply cutting down on the space they were devoting to book reviews. This was especially unfortunate as law professors were publishing more and more books. The publication of a book, as opposed to a journal article, was for many a deliberate choice involving an effort to address subjects at greater length, in greater depth, and on a broader scale for a wider scholarly (and perhaps educated popular) audience. Thematic review essays on books, whether …

Vol. 46, No. 10 (March 31, 2014)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Law School Rankings Rumble, Marilyn Odendahl

Austen Parrish (2014-2022)

No abstract provided.

New Technology And The Practice Of Law: Gear For Your Office And The Road, Maureen Cahill, Jason Tubinis

Continuing Legal Education Presentations

Provides guidance to legal professionals about ways that technology can make their practices more efficient, secure, and mobile. Includes discussion of hardware gadgets, helpful websites, and tips for comparing legal databases., as well as ethics considerations of electronic files.

Vol. 46, No. 09 (March 24, 2014)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Engaging Outside Counsel In Transactional Law Clinics, Alicia E. Plerhoples, Amanda M. Spratley

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article examines the plurality of objectives and methods by which transactional law clinics collaborate with outside attorneys to competently represent their organizational clients on a wide range of legal issues. Some transactional law clinics rely on outside counsel as informal legal advisors or consultants; others collaborate with outside counsel for the development of community projects or referral of legal work; many transactional law clinics engage outside counsel as “local counsel” when assisting a client in other jurisdictions or internationally; still others engage outside counsel more formally to assist in student supervision of client work. For some, the idea of …

Vol. 46, No. 08 (March 10, 2014)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Vol. 46, No. 07 (March 3, 2014)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Justice Gap: Flaws In The Interstate Allocation Of Civil Legal Services Funding And A Proposed Remedy, Dion Chu, Matthew R. Greenfield, Peter Zuckerman

Pace Law Review

With the supply of legal services not particularly responsive to demand, we conclude that the justice gap could be narrowed simply by reforming the way in which policymakers distribute legal services funds while holding constant the total amount of funds distributed.

In reaching this conclusion, we proceed in two parts. First, drawing largely from Access Across America and LSC data, we analyze the supply of legal services funding across states. Since eligibility for Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funds is principally determined by income (only individuals in households with income at or below 125% of the federal poverty level are LSC …

Towards Engaged Scholarship, John R. Nolon, Michelle Bryan Mudd, Michael Burger, Kim Diana Connolly, Nestor Davidson, Matthew Festa, Jill I. Gross, Lisa Heinzerling, Keith Hirokawa, Tim Iglesias, Patrick C. Mcginley, Sean Nolon, Uma Outka, Jessica Owley, Kalyani Robbins, Jonathan Rosenbloom, Christopher Serkin

Pace Law Review

The presenting question for the 2012 Symposium was how can engaged scholarship enhance teaching to prepare students for the legal profession and help to solve the critical problems of the day.12 The event employed a format designed to discover new ways of thinking about engaged scholarship. Each participant was asked to draft and submit in advance brief reflections on this question. At the Symposium, each professor attended seven breakout sessions held throughout the day. At each of these sessions, one participant presented to a small group of professors for ten minutes on her reflections, pinpointing issues, challenges, and themes involved …

The Undersigned Attorney Hereby Certifies: Ensuring Reasonable Caseloads For Washington Defenders And Clients, Andrea Woods

Washington Law Review

The Standards governing Washington’s public defenders represent a significant reform aimed at protecting an important constitutional right for our state’s vulnerable citizens. This Comment provides the necessary introduction to the Standards and addresses skepticism on the part of current practitioners and elected officials. Cooperation among defense attorneys, local governments, and the courts could ensure the Standards’ success and—in turn—a better system of public defense for attorneys and defendants alike. Part I of this Comment introduces the reader to the new Standards. Part II offers an overview of common critiques of the Washington State Supreme Court Standards that were voiced by …

Can We Keep A Secret?: The Attorney-Client Privilege And Work-Product Doctrine In The Internal Law-Firm Setting-St. Simons Waterfront, Llc V. Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, Pc., Nicholas J. Garcia

Mercer Law Review

Recognized at common law, the attorney-client privilege is often invoked for the purpose of fostering honest and fruitful communication between attorneys and their clients. In St. Simons Waterfront, LLC v. Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, P C., the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on an issue regarding the reach of this privilege that had never before been addressed in Georgia courts. St. Simons Waterfront, LLC (SSW) asked the court to determine the applicability of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine to communication between attorneys at Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, P.C. (Hunter Maclean) and its in-house general counsel. The court …