On Doing Justice and Walking Humbly with God: Catholic Social Thought on Law as a Tool for Building Justice

This speech is the text of the 1996 Mirror of Justice Lecture delivered at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law on November 18, 1996 at the invitation of the law school\u27s Guild of Catholic Lawyers

New York Attorney Malpractice Liability to Non-Clients: Toward a Rule of Reason & Predictability

This 1995 Article addresses the question of attorney liability in New York. It begins with a brief introduction to the history of the privity requirement nationally to place the New York question in context. It then traces the scope of attorney liability in New York and examines the state of that law - with its contradictions and inconsistences. This Article proposes a rule for New York courts to consider that centers on the “adversariness” of the client and the third party as the touchstone for determining if expanded liability is appropriate.This differs from the traditional analysis which bases the extent of non-client liability, if any, on the relationship between the attorney’s intentions and the third party. In proposing this rule, the paper reviews the approaches taken in other jurisdictions to determine what, if anything should be borrowed from those rules in creating New York’s standard. The proposed solution weighs the dangers of expanding liability against the dangers of refusing to expand liability and tries to balance those considerations in a way that fairly balances the interests of the legal profession, the clients, the public, and the injured third parties

Designing and Teaching Advanced Legal Research and Writing Courses

As more and more law schools have realized the importance of basic research and writing skills, they have devoted significant resources to improving first-year training in these areas - and rightfully so. However, developments in recent years have caused an explosion in the number of legal research resources with which attorneys must become familiar. At the same time, the bench and bar have expressed consistent dissatisfaction with the research and writing abilities of law school graduates. Taken together, these two trends indicate that providing advanced legal research and writing training is becoming increasingly important. This article explores the issue of whether advanced legal research and writing courses should be taught at American law schools. It begins by addressing the need for such courses, followed by a discussion as to why an advanced offering should be an integrated course, providing training in both research and writing at the same time. The article then addresses some of the practical considerations in establishing such a course. The article then provides a model for such an integrated advanced legal research and writing course offered at Catholic University\u27s Columbus School of Law in the summers of 1992 and 1993

Integrating Spiritual Perspectives with the Law School Experience: An Essay and an Invitation

This Essay will reflect on the ways in which the traditional life of law schools may be colored by a new emphasis on spirituality. 10 This Essay will not delve into an extensive theological thesis about the definition of spirituality or the practical and philosophical nuances of the spiritual life. Rather, the pages that follow are an invitation to begin a discussion of spirituality within the life of American law schools. This Essay begins with a discussion of spirituality in professional life generally. It will become apparent very quickly that there are difficulties in defining what spirituality is and in understanding its most appropriate role in professional life; yet, it should also be readily apparent that the desire for renewed spirituality is rapidly gaining attention across a wide and diverse range of professional fields. It is against this backdrop that the Essay will then move to a more particularized discussion of spirituality in the context of law practice and legal education. Specifically, it will draw attention to some of the complexities of the legal profession that may make it particularly difficult to incorporate spiritual perspectives in this arena. Law schools-like the legal profession generally-face particular problems when they attempt to integrate spirituality in law school life

On Doing Justice and Walking Humbly with God: Catholic Social Thought on Law as a Tool for Building Justice

This speech is the text of the 1996 Mirror of Justice Lecture delivered at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law on November 18, 1996 at the invitation of the law school\u27s Guild of Catholic Lawyers

Of Painters, Sculptors, Quill Pens, and Microchips: Teaching Legal Writers in the Electronic Age

This article examines how the arrival of the electronic age has changed the ways in which lawyers write and argues that these changes require rethinking the way legal writing is taught. Part II discusses the increased use of computers as the primary medium for legal writing. This development mandates studying the differences a word processor makes in the way lawyers write and learn to write. In Part III, this article posits that writing via word processor may detrimentally change legal writing and explains how this might happen. Part IV then acknowledges that there are some ways in which legal writing may be improved significantly through the use of computers. Reconciling these benefits and detriments is the challenge for today’s legal writing programs. Part V concludes with recommendations for ways in which those who teach legal writing can refine their pedagogical techniques to assist new lawyers in becoming effective writers and word sculptors in the electronic age

Pinning the Blame & Piercing the Veil in the Mists of Metaphor: The Supreme Court\u27s New Standards for the CERCLA Liability of Parent Companies and a Proposal for Legislative Reform

This article tackles the complex question of the liability of parent corporation for the CERCLA misadventures of their subsidiaries. In 1998, the United States Supreme Court tried to resolve this complex question. In many respects, this decision was a significant step in the right direction, and the article begins by analyzing the Court’s opinion. However, the article then identifies three significant questions left open after Best foods. In light of these open questions, the article proposes a legislative proposal to further refine the parent-subsidiary allocation of liability to better serve CERCLA’s broad remedial goals and to clarify the expectations of all relevant parties