Ladies in Red: Learning From America\u27s First Female Bankrupts

Several years ago, the Honorable Joyce Bihary, a bankruptcy judge in Atlanta, Georgia, asked me3 why our country\u27s first bankruptcy law specifically referred to debtors using “he” or “she” rather than a gender-neutral noun (such as “bankrupts”) or the male possessive pronoun “he.” Implicitly, she was also asking whether there were any women debtors under our early bankruptcy laws. Although I had read the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 more than once, I did not recollect its use of these gender-inclusive pronouns. Nor did I know why the Act employed them. Despite having given considerable thought to contemporary women in debt, I too had no inkling as to whether there were women debtors under the Bankruptcy Act of 1800. And so I set out, with the help of my co-authors, to find the answers to Judge Bihary\u27s two questions. Those answers led us to new questions and concerns, most particularly questions about how bankruptcy history has been told to date

Community Property After Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo

This Comment will briefly discuss California\u27s community property system, and the standards traditionally required by the Supreme Court for federal pre-emption of state property law. It will also examine the Supreme Court\u27s interpretation of the Railroad Retirement Act which led the Court to conclude that the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and demanded federal pre-emption in this case. It will discuss the Hisquierdo test for federal pre-emption, which the Supreme Court has since used to override state community property systems. Finally, it will evaluate whether the case was correctly decided

Albert Kritzer: Pioneer of Open Access to International Private Law

This essay explores the enormous contributions that Professor Albert H. Kritzer has made to the field of international commercial law through the creation of a unique and powerful database that explicates the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (ClSG)

Evaluation Criteria and Quality Control for Legal Knowledge Systems on the Internet: A Case Study

Professor Newman discusses evaluation criteria for law-oriented Internet sites and how to use these criteria when launching new sites or improving existing sites. She also discusses the use of quality control procedures to ensure accuracy and reliability in Internet sites, and concludes with a case study of the Pace University School of Law\u27s Web site on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)

Not the Evil TWEN: How Online Course Management Software Supports Non-Linear Learning in Law Schools

In this article, I will discuss both how today\u27s law students learn through technology, and also theories of personality types and learning styles. I will first review the few existing empirical studies on the subject. Next, I will discuss course Web sites and how they can support, not replace, what happens in the traditional law school classroom. Then, I will discuss how my law school implemented TWEN course Web pages, and discuss the results of a survey of TWEN usage by faculty members at Pace University School of Law. The survey indicates that although TWEN course Web sites have improved communication between students and professors and facilitated course administration, it is not yet certain that course Web sites influence how well professors teach and how well law students learn. I will conclude with a series of recommendations for implementing course management software at law schools

Memorial: Nicholas Triffin (1942-2000)

Professor Nicholas Triffin, Director of the Pace University School of Law Library from 1984 until 1998, died on April 8, 2000, after a long and valiant battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig\u27s disease). During the eight years Nick fought this cruel disease, his body became increasingly frail, but his will to survive, his dedication to his students, and his love of the study of the law were undiminished. Nick continued to fulfill his personal and professional obligations with grace and dignity, and taught his last class just a few days before his death. It never occurred to him to give up

Memorial: John J. McNeill (1949-2016)

John McNeill, better known as Jack, died on January 18, 2016, after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Jack began working at Pace Law School (now known as Elisabeth Haub School of Law) in September 2000, where he initially served as head of reference services. Two years later, he was promoted to associate director, the position from which he retired in December 2015. He is survived by his sister and brother, two nephews, a niece, and five great-nieces and -nephews

LibGuides, Blog Posts, and Articles, Oh My!

“Publish, publish, publish!” is a piece of advice commonly offered to students by career services departments in law schools across the country. Student publications typically take the form of law review or bar journal articles or perhaps competition submissions; however, with the advent of accessible Web 2.0 technologies, publishing has evolved to encompass all sorts of content, styles, lengths, and audiences. The Pace Law Library approach has been mostly electronic in nature and incorporates into Pace’s advanced legal research courses portfolio pieces such as student-authored research guides, blog posts, and bar journal articles. Moreover, student notes that satisfy the school’s Upper-Level Writing Requirement are being given greater exposure by posting them to the school’s Digital Commons. The idea was to give students the opportunity to grow their professional portfolios and to increase student publications by taking advantage of existing law school resources and infrastructure. While the benefits of this shift are still being fully realized, tangible results can already be seen

Lincoln at Pace Law School

The authors recount the process of bringing the traveling exhibition Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War, to Pace Law Library. They discuss the application process, assembling (and dismantling) the exhibit, marketing efforts, and events and auxiliary exhibits centered around the Lincoln exhibit