Legal Profession Commons^™

To Free A Predator: The Flawed Rationale For Overturning Bill Cosby’S Conviction, Michael C. Kovac

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Should Clients Have A Right To Know What Their Lawyer Believes?, Melissa D. Mortazavi

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Online Inclusivity: Mission And Best Practice, Colin P. Marks, Zoe Niesel

Faculty Works

This essay examines the role of inclusivity as a foundational principle in online legal education, arguing that it is essential to fulfilling institutional missions, aligning with established pedagogical best practices, and enhancing the overall learning experience. Drawing on the development of a fully online J.D. program, the piece outlines how inclusivity can be embedded at both the institutional and classroom levels. It highlights strategies for fostering a sense of community among geographically dispersed students, including integrating online learners into broader academic and co-curricular activities, designing courses that balance synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and implementing consistent instructional standards. The essay further …

Generative Ai And Finding The Law, Paul D. Callister

Faculty Works

Legal information science requires, among other things, principles and theories. The article states six principles or considerations that any discussion of generative AI large language models and their role in finding the law must include. The article concludes that law librarianship will increasingly become legal information science and require new paradigms. In addition to the six principles, the article applies ecological holistic media theory to understand the relationship of the legal community’s cognitive authority, institutions, techné (technology, medium and method), geopolitical factors, and the past and future to understand the changes in this information milieu. The article also explains generative …

Defining The Field Of Wellness Law, Barbara Zabawa

Faculty Works

Some lawyers practice “wellness law” without knowing what it is and how it differs from more recognized fields of practice such as health law, public health law, and medical malpractice. This article defines the field of wellness law using in a prescriptive manner the organizational framework that identifies the common and distinctive patterns in wellness and the law that surrounds it. This examination entails reviewing statutes and cases that differentiate between conventional health care and products or services outside of it to identify the core problems that are common and unique to wellness law. Those core problems are twofold. First, …

Ai Lawyering Skills Trainers: Transforming Legal Education With Generative Ai, Alexandria Serra

Faculty Works

The integration of generative AI (GenAI) tools in legal education is not just an innovation—it's a transformative shift redefying how law students acquire and refine advocacy skills. This article examines AI’s critical role in modernizing legal education, emphasizing its potential to offer personalized, one-on-one coaching that enhances student learning and engagement. As AI reshapes the legal profession, law schools must evolve to prepare students for an AI-driven future. Serving as a practical guide, this article provides a step-by-step framework for educators and institutions to develop AI tools that simulate real-world courtroom scenarios and provide continuous, personalized feedback. It also highlights …

Lawyers And The Abuse Of Government Power, Margaret Tarkington

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The legal profession needs to amend the rules of professional conduct to protect our constitutional system of government from those most likely to effectively undermine it: lawyers. The historic federal indictment against President Donald Trump for conspiring to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election included five attorney co-conspirators: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark, and Kenneth Chesebro. Eight lawyers were indicted in Georgia on similar charges.

Lawyers weren’t just involved in Trump’s plot; they devised and enabled it. Rather than accurately advise Trump that he had lost and needed to concede, lawyers crafted a plan …

Even If You’Ve Adopted The Nextgen Ube, Your Work Isn’T Done Yet, Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus

Touro Law Review

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (“NCBE”) is set to administer the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination’s (“UBE”) first release in July 2026. The exam questions are well-structured, well written, and require examinees to understand how the law operates and think like an attorney when faced with a particular problem. This was a primary objective for the NextGen UBE, and it has been met. However, jurisdictions that have adopted the NextGen UBE or are contemplating its adoption still have work to do to ensure that their objectives for a fair test modality and assessment of a lawyer’s basic skill of writing …

The Systematic Devaluation Of Legal Scholarship In Criminology And Criminal Justice, Henry F. Fradella

Touro Law Review

Certain bibliometrics have become important indicators of scholarly impact despite their many weaknesses. This Article presents data demonstrating the shortcomings of using citation counts and journal impact factors for law-based scholarship. Moreover, the Article argues that reliance on these flawed metrics is just one example of how scholars in criminology and criminal justice (“CCJ”) systematically devalue legal scholarship.

The Article begins by offering quotations from social scientists that provide insights into the negative ways they view legal scholars and their work. It also quotes from interviews conducted with CCJ scholars who hold a law degree and either earned or are …

Trial Lawyers And An Ethos Of Leadership: Enhancing Legal Education To Meet Evolving Demands, Anthony J. Ghiotto

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Academia's White Gaze, Renee Nicole Allen

Faculty Publications

For Black law faculty, Blackness, the Black experience, and Black legal and social identity are not trends. Yet, there are inflection points where legal scholarship about race, particularly Blackness, is in vogue. The most recent rise in such legal scholarship came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. When antiracist sentiment is high, the regard for scholarship central to the personhood of Black legal scholars is high. Even then, there is an expectation that Black authors write in ways that conform to the White norms of legal scholarship. Though central to …

Prosecutorial Reform And The Myth Of Individualized Enforcement, Justin Murray

Articles & Chapters

The American prosecutor’s legitimacy faces unprecedented challenges. A new wave of reformist prosecutors has risen to power promising to transform the criminal justice system from within, sparking fierce backlash from defenders of the prosecutorial status quo. Central to this conflict is a debate over the nature of prosecutorial discretion, influenced by a set of claims and assumptions that this Article terms the myth of individualized enforcement. This myth posits that prosecutors base discretionary decisions on case-specific facts and equitable circumstances rather than generalizable criteria or categorical nonenforcement practices, such as the policies some reformist prosecutors have adopted that disfavor prosecuting …

Like Holding Up A Mirror: How I Learned To Teach Restorative Justice, Susan Abraham

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Law, Conflict, And Hybrid Warfare: A Teaching Imperative For A Changing World, Cynthia Alkon, Andrea K. Schneider

Articles

Lawyers increasingly find themselves at the frontlines of the battlefield, just not in the traditional sense. Hybrid warfare is a conflict form that combines traditional military offensive measures with nontraditional methods, including the harnessing of legal systems to achieve strategic goals. Lawyers have always been at the frontline of typical legal risk assessment, thinking about a client's risk of liability or regulation costs generally. Now, lawyers must stand at the ready for a lot more: lawyers must be prepared for cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns using artificial intelligence, the use of court systems to suppress reporting or shield bad actors, and so …

Advancing Deib In Our Communities: How To Gain Leadership Experience At Work In A Non-Supervisory Role: Advocacy, Conversations, And Creating Change, Jason Tubinis, Havilah Joy-Steinmen Bakken, Aamir Abdullah, Valerie Horton

Scholarly Works

The article emphasizes the critical role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in librarianship and legal professions, highlighting the challenges of information overload and the importance of advocacy. It provides strategies to manage information effectively and stay informed, advocating for the use of reliable sources and critical media literacy to navigate misinformation.

Shortcomings Of Law School And Big Law, Julian Velasco

Journal Articles

This paper, presented as part of a colloquium on  Lawyers and Their Institutions, considers two important institutions — law schools and "big law," especially transaction practice at elite law firms — and argues that they exert a problematic influence on developing attorneys by inculcating opposing types of disrespect for the law. First, the process of legal education often suggests that the law is fundamentally indeterminate. Second, big law tends to suggest to junior associates that law is largely irrelevant. Such misunderstandings can result in a misconception of the purpose of law and give a false impression of the lawyer's …

Ai And Tribal Court Practice, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Articles

American Indian tribal court practice resides at the intersection of two difficult legal problems. First, because tribal justice systems are usually very young and dynamic, awareness and analysis of tribal law is underdeveloped. Second, because tribal nations are not governed by state or federal law, tribal law is culturally unique. Tribal court practitioners often find that even routine legal matters will involve questions of first impression in the jurisdiction. All of this is to say tribal court jurisprudence is intensely jurisgenerative.

Because tribal law is often unsettled or indeterminate, the costs of discovering and applying this law are occasionally high. …

Adapting To Change: Navigating The Evolving Role Of Electronic Resources Librarians, Sam Cabo

Law Faculty Publications

The growing number and intricacy of online services, in addition to dwindling formats like CD-ROMs and print, are ushering in new expectations and opportunities for electronic resources librarians (ERLs). From developing data analysis and management strategies, to automating tasks, managing modern authentication workflows, and navigating the nascent landscape of generative artificial intelligence (AI), ERLs are wearing many hats as they adapt quickly to shifts in technology and the needs of their institutions. In November 2024, the authors conducted an informal survey (which generated 51 responses) of American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) members via several My Communities groups. The authors …

Guide To Virginia Legal Information Resources: Sources Of Law, Research Guides, And Self-Help Books For Self-Represented Litigants, Second Edition, Sam Cabo

Law Faculty Publications

Since our first iteration of the Guide to Virginia Legal Information Resources in March 2023, the Guide has been distributed far and wide. It has been made available on public library websites (for example it was featured as a bullet point on the website of the Bristol Public Library and uploaded to the website of the Waynesboro Public Library). It has been cataloged by academic libraries (for example, the University of Virginia Library has an entry in its online catalog) and has been included in LibGuides at academic law libraries (there is a link to the Guide in the Virginia …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead