Should we stretch the limits of corporate product liability?

As we were discussing in yesterday's Law and Lawyers class, product liability cases  have grown since Melvin Belli and the American Trial Lawyers Association began demanding the "adequate award" in the 1950s, and absent another system of personal injury compensation, trial lawyers and juries have largely determined how much people will be paid for loss of life or limb because of another's negligence. Here is the story of two heart surgeons who want the limits of who is liable for medical device failures stretched from the corporation that manufactures them to the executives who run the companies. Read on for more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/business/21device.html?pagewanted=2&tntemail0=y&emc=tnt

It's Still a Majority-White Legal Profession Out There

While gender imbalances in the legal profession have been radically improved over the last half century, racial imbalance has not. This story details a study done by a Columbia Law School professor who wanted to see if the perception that African-Americans are not improving their representation in the profession is true. He found that both the numbers and the proportion of African-Americans admitted to law schools have declined since 1993. He can't explain it, but he does have a theory about why:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/education/07law.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/education/07law.html

Law School Clinics Facing Backlash

Here is an article of interest to anyone thinking about attending law school someday. One of the benefits of a good law school education is the opportunity to gain real-life courtroom experience by working in a  school-funded law clinic. Read this NY Times article to see how the activities of some law school clinics are being questioned by lawmakers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/us/04lawschool.html

Should state lawmakers remove funding from state law school clinics if they attack large corporations?

Nullification, interposition, whatever you call it, it's back---again

Here's a good overview of the history of the idea of nullification in the U.S. Not something relegated to the pages of your history text, this doctrine, discredited as it was by the Civil War, is alive and well today in some states of the nation. Read the full story by clicking below:
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-essence-anarchy?page=0,0http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-essence-anarchy?page=0,0

Then leave your thoughts and comments, please.

The Cravath system of law firm hiring and promotion may be on its way out!

Here's an interesting story from today's NYTimes about new ways law firms are structuring their hiring and promotion plans. The Cravath system instituted at the turn of the twentieth century seems to be headed for extinction.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01LEGAL.html?tntemail0=y&emc=tnt&pagewanted=all

It's of some serious concern that because of the economy, law firms are now beginning to hire two or three tiers of new lawyers--some obviously (as George Orwell would say) more equal than others. 

But, we should also consider this: how often does a business model, like the Cravath system, last nearly 100 years?

History research needs to be checked and double-checked!

Here's a link to a NY Times story about a new book on the Hiroshima bombing which has some of its facts quite messed up. Read the story. It's a great lesson to all of us who write history that facts need to be checked with at least two sources (or if that's not possible, at least reported to the reader as unverifiable). As you'll see when you read the story, the author took one person's word for what happened and apparently did not check any other sources for verification.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/books/21hiroshima.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Memoir of a death penalty lawyer

This review, from today's New York Times, talks about a new memoir written by a death penalty lawyer. For anyone interested in the death penalty today, this would be a good place to start.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/books/review/Lithwick-t.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/books/review/Lithwick-t.html

A Life at the Law, and Now 97

This is a marvelous story from today's NY times about  a man whose career embodies the whole of the legal profession in the second half of the 20th century.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/29cncwarren.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

How to read a history text

http://www.utdallas.edu/~pkj010100/US/index.htm


This site has useful tips on how to get the most out of a history text. Scroll down to find it.

For my legal history students

The New York Times has a story today that illustrates a trend in 20th century law: individuals using litigation when the political process fails them or is not available. Here is the story about a group of islanders worried about rising sea levels, who are suing oil companies for the cost for their removal to the mainland.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/business/energy-environment/27lawsuits.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Why this blog?

I am a University at Albany history professor. I often tell my students that I expect them to be "engaged" with their coursework. It only seems fair that if I expect them to be engaged in their learning, that I should be engaged with their learning as well.


That's why I've started this blog. I will post articles, stories, PowerPoints, study guides, and other tips that will help all my students get more out of their classes. When I come across a particularly interesting story with relevance to US history or to current events, I will post links.


I also ask that my students send me stories or links that they think others will benefit from. We're all in this together!


Learning should be fun. I mean that. We should all remember that absolute joy we felt as toddlers as we began to explore the world around us. We should all remember the excitement we felt as we learned to read. Let's capture that spirit of WOW in what we have to learn now as well.