Review of Jurisprudence: Men and Ideas of the Law, by E. W. Patterson

Jurisprudence: Men and Ideas of the Law was written as a textbook for students enrolled in Columbia\u27s jurisprudence course. It appeared first inmimeograph in 1940, and has gone through three revisions before emerging in its present printed form. Thirteen years is not a record incubation period, but it typifies the care and thoroughness with which Professor Patterson works and with which he has prepared the present volume. Each sentence, each paragraph, each section is, to me, a clear statement of his meaning and serves his purpose well

Review of Cases and Materials on Taxation, 2nd ed., by P. W. Bruton

This is a better book than Professor Bruton\u27s first edition. It is a different book, too; substantial and useful revision is apparent, not only in the selection of recent materials but also in the arrangement of those materials. As taxation casebooks go, one must agree that this is a well executed opus

The Best of Times

As an academic I have occasion to visit from time to time with a wide variety of lawyers, lawyers of many types and interests: with plaintiffs\u27 lawyers, defense counsel, insurance lawyers, house counsel; with lawyers who deal in family law, banking and corporate lawyers, anti-trust lawyers, legal aid lawyers; and on and on. And no matter whom I meet with, no matter what kind of practice or specialty, the one common theme I encounter in those discussions is concern about change, and the rate of change. Change in the applicable law itself. Change in the way that kind of law is practiced. Change in the society to which the law is applied. And, always, a pervasive sense of unease that the rules of the game are being changed in the middle of the game, usually to one\u27s disadvantage. It is the uneasiness that we all feel about change in the profession, and the pace of that change, that I want to comment on, under the title of The Best of Times.

In Praise of Thermostats

Fifty years ago, a famous book was published that chronicled the sea change then occurring in society. David Reisman\u27s The Lonely Crowdl made us aware of the decline of concern for the common good and the rise of the search for individual meaning. What was going on at that time was one of the most profound cultural changes that has ever taken place in such a short time. It was not just the beginning of the Me Generation but, it turned out, the beginning of the Me Culture, which continues to this day

Specialization, Certification, and Exclusion in the Law Profession

This essay is the published text of an informal address delivered on April 19, 1974 in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma College of Law\u27s Enrichment Program

Trends in the Law of Damages

The law of damages deals with the process of translating harm into dollars. It is not, however, a coherent body of knowledge. Rather, it consists of an amalgam of many concepts and rules having to do with fundamental policy questions about loss-shifting, risk-spreading, and allocation of functions between judge and jury. Because damages is a non-subject, little attention is paid to it in law school curricula and there is little writing about it. As one commentator put it, the law of damages plods its way, ignored by academicians and \u27accepted\u27 by the courts. . . . The \u27winds of change\u27 sweeping over other areas of law rarely stir the law of damages. There are a few ripples here and there, to be sure, but no one gets too excited

They\u27re Playing a Tango

This essay is based on a talk delivered by Professor Reed at the State Bar of Michigan\u27s Annual Meeting on September 22, 2005, which was published in Michigan B. J. 84, no. 11 (2005): 16-8

. . . And the Invention of the Future Tense

This is the last session of the last meeting of the International Society of Barristers in the 1900s. Though the Third Millennium technically does not begin until 2001, the turn of the odometer from 1999 to 2000 leads us all to think of this as the end of a century and of a millennium. The pivotal date is yet ten nonths away, but the pundits are already issuing their lists, both profound and trivial-the greatest inventions, the best books, the worst natural catastrophes, the trial or tile century (of which there are at least a half dozen), the most influential thinkers, and on and on. Often there is in these lists the implicit question whether, over time, the world is becoming a better place or is mired, perhaps permanently, in man\u27s inhumanity to man. There is, indeed, a great deal of millennial angst. For most of us in this room, the sources of that angst range from the general to the professional to the personal

Litigation Abuse and the Law Schools

At the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in July, 1983, one session was devoted to a discussion of Excessive Discovery: A Symptom of Litigation Abuse. (Without knowing, I would guess that a similar title appeared on just about every judicial conference program this year-and last year, and the one before that.) Frank Rothman, President of MGM/United Artists, addressed the subject from the point of view of a corporate client, and his remarks are printed in this issue, beginning at page 342. Judges and trial lawyers expressed their views. And I was asked to comment on the extent to which the law schools may have contributed to the problem and may help with the solution. I responded as follows

They\u27re Playing a Tango

An address at the State Bar of Michigan Annual Meeting Luncheon, September 22, 2005