Bazelon on Legal Education and Prosecutorial Behavior

Lara Bazelon has just published an article called "Hard Lessons: The Role of Law Schools in Addressing Prosecutorial Misconduct," 16 J. Berkeley Crim. Law 388 (2011). (Although it is dated 2011, it just hit the stands, as it were.) Here is the link: http://www.bjcl.org/current/16_2/bazelon_formatted.pdf

Here is the abstract:

This article approaches prosecutorial misconduct from a pedagogical perspective by exploring the ways in which law school clinicians can teach their students how to confront the problem proactively and in-the-moment, with an eye toward reducing its rate of occurrence and blunting its corrosive effect. Prosecutorial misconduct is a serious problem that strikes at the heart of a criminal defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial. More broadly, it has the potential to impact the integrity of the criminal justice system as a whole. Educating law school students in criminal clinics about this issue before they become prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys serves three important goals. First, such instruction can act as preventative medicine by
reducing the likelihood that future prosecutors will step over the line out of ignorance of the applicable case law and court rules or out of a misplaced desire to win at all costs. Second, it enables future defense counsel to develop litigation techniques designed to prevent the problem from occurring in the first instance. Third, it can prepare defense counsel to recognize prosecutorial misconduct that proves unpreventable so that she is able to respond effectively
in-the-moment rather than belatedly, after the harm has been done.
The blended learning approach that is the signature pedagogy of the clinical classroom is well-suited to addressing prosecutorial misconduct because it provides an opportunity for students to engage in a frank and thoughtful dissection of the legal and ethical issues that are inextricably bound up with it. The model I propose combines instruction in black letter law, ethics, and skills acquisition. It also seeks to have clinicians model the process of analyzing and responding to prosecutorial misconduct using examples from their real world experiences. The approach is geared toward enabling students to think critically about their roles and responsibilities as future prosecutors and defense attorneys as they develop a familiarity with the relevant legal and
ethical rules that will govern their conduct. This kind of training, with its emphasis on the real-world implications of doctrine and the importance of questioning, and reflecting upon, what it means to be a zealous advocate, is designed to foster the development of sound professional judgment before students enter the whirlwind of practice.

Lee and Mason on Standing's "Dirty Little Secret"

Evan Lee and Josephine Mason ('11) have accepted an offer to publish their article called "The Standing Doctrine's Dirty Little Secret" in Vol. 107 of the Northwestern Law Review. The article points out that, despite the Supreme Court's repeated insistence that all plaintiffs must show "imminent injury-in-fact, causation, and redressability" to have Article III standing to sue in federal court, the Court has not insisted on those requirements in the cases where plaintiffs seek judicial review of federal agency action, such as in Freedom of Information Act cases, where anyone can sue out of sheer curiosity. But, because of the importance of Congress utilizing "private attorneys general," Evan and Josephine argue that the Court should not repudiate its agency review cases but instead recognize that the words "cases" and "controversies" in Article III have a flexible quality to them that accommodates this kind of litigation in a world of administrative agencies that could not be foreseen in 1787.

Morse on Efficient and Effective Lawyering

Susie Morse has just published an article in The Recorder titled, "Underlawyering vs. Overlawyering," (2/17). Susie argues that young lawyers and law students should learn the right balance between inattentiveness that produces sloppy mistakes (clients very angry) and using their judgment not to intervene unless it is truly necessary (a very common, if less angry, complaint among clients).

Hand on the Value of the Constitution Outside the Courtroom

Keith Hand has published an article called, "Constitutionalizing Wukan: The Value of the Constitution Outside the Courtroom," in 12 China Brief (issue 3, p. 1, Feb. 3, 2012). The article explores ways in which legal scholars are leveraging the recent protest in Wukan village, China to strengthen public understanding of China's Constitution. The Wukan protest has captured worldwide headlines in recent months.

Here's the link: <http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=38966&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=25&cHash=f36abb49170102cf24efa14a1265cd41> http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=38966&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=25&cHash=f36abb49170102cf24efa14a1265cd41

Field on Experiential Learning in a Lecture Class

Heather Field has posted an article to SSRN called, "Experiential Learning in a Lecture Class: Exposing Students to the Skill of Giving Useful Tax Advice." It will be published soon in the Pittsburgh Tax Review (a peer-reviewed journal). Here the SSRN link: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/paper.cfm?abstract_id=1985269

Cohen and Sedghani on Pharmacy Law

Marsha Cohen (Sullivan Professor) and Sami Sedghani (Hastings '11) have published the 7th edition of Marsha's book, Pharmacy Law for California Pharmacists, which is used primarily in pharmacy schools for their required law and ethics class. I am particularly pleased to announce this one because Sami is a former Criminal Law student of mine who put himself through Hastings while working as a hospital pharmacist (he has a degree from UCSF).

Feldman on Human Cells and the Strange Effects of Property Law

Robin Feldman has published an article titled, "Whose Body Is It Anyway? Human Cells and the Strange Effects of Property and Intellectual Property Law," 63 Stanford L. Rev. 1377 (2011). It was part of a symposium on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 patent law decision in Bilski v. Kappos.

Feldman on Open Access at the Bedside

Robin Feldman and Dr. John C. Newman have published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled, "Copyright and Open Access at Bedside," 365(26) New England Journal of Medicine 2449 (Dec. 29, 2011). The article is here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1110652

The article has already been picked up by more than a dozen blogs, including those of the Washington Post, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and FindLaw.

Massey on M.B.Z. v. Clinton

Calvin Massey has just published an article titled, "M.B.Z. v. Clinton: Whither Jerusalem," 4 Charleston L. Rev. 87 (2011).

Carrillo on "The M Word"

Jo Carrillo has published an article titled, "The M Word: From Partial Coverture to Skills-Based Fiduciary Duties in Marriage," 22 Hastings Women's L. J. 101 (2011). Extra points to anyone who can guess how James Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice fits into Jo's analysis!

Carrillo on California Community Property

Jo Carrillo has just published CASES AND MATERIALS ON CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY PROPERTY (10TH ED.), with Hastings Professor Emeritus Gail Bird (Thomson Reuters/ West 2011).

Zitrin on the Problems with Bar Discipline

Richard Zitrin has published two op-ed pieces in The Recorder on the general subject of the problems with bar discipline. In the first, published September 19, titled, "Bar Discipline? How Bad? Really Bad," he tracks three cases in which the bar "abjectly" failed to discipline three bad lawyers. In the second, published October 3, titled, "Sometimes Bar discipline too aggressive," he argues that the State Bar as a whole, and the Office of Trial Counsel in particular, often operates out of "fear and self-protection," which leads to overprosecution of cases. There will be a third installment.

Lefstin on New Inventor Disclosure Requirements

Jeff Lefstin has published an essay on the disclosure provisions of the new patent reform act, "Preclusive Inventor Disclosure Under Leahy-Smith." The essay was just published on PatentlyO, which is the nation's most-read patent law blog.

Morse on Tax and the Love Molecule

You read that right: Susie Morse has published a blog post on the ASU Law Journal blog titled, "Tax Compliance and the Love Molecule." You'll just have to read it for yourself:

http://asulawjournal.lawnews-asu.org/?p=356

Marcus on Wal-Mart v. Dukes

Rick Marcus has published an article in the BNA Class Action Litigation Report titled, "Brave New World: Scrutinizing the Merits During Class Certification." Rick argues that Wal-Mart v. Dukes completes the Court's movement away from the 1974 ruling in Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, and that something approaching full discovery will now take place at the certification stage.