Apr

30

Does Geography Affect Appointments to the Supreme Court?

Posted by: | April 30, 2010 | 3 Comments

It certainly used to. Perhaps the most obvious examples are those from the early 19th century.  Appointments of new justices were once tied to the creation of new circuit courts.  And that was for good reason:  Circuit courts were not the intermediate courts of appeals of today (with few exceptions, the most notable of which [...]

Apr

29

Memorial Service on Friday

Posted by: | April 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Memory plays an especially large role in our profession. Lawyers are constantly looking to the past, whether their particular focus is on the law (e.g., precedents of courts or enacted statutes) or on the facts (e.g., the primary conduct underlying legal disputes). The death earlier this week of Michael R. Wherry, L’62, “a very fine [...]

Apr

29

Marquette 2009-10 Moot Court Program Achievements

Posted by: | April 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment

The close of the school year is a good time to reflect on our students’ accomplishments in the 2009-10 Moot Court Program. First, a summary of the efforts of the mostly third-year students who competed in what we call the “national competitions,” i.e., competitions among students from different law schools.  This year, 40 Marquette Law [...]

Apr

28

The Economic Loss Doctrine and Other Property

Posted by: | April 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Ralph Anzivino continues his exploration of the economic loss doctrine in a new paper on SSRN.  The economic loss doctrine indicates that economic losses resulting from a defective product are recoverable, if at all, under contract law, instead of tort law.  In applying this doctrine, however, courts have run into difficulty with damage to other [...]

Apr

26

Sykes, Sotomayor, and Women Judges

Posted by: | April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity last week to attend Women Judges’ Night, an event that the Association for Women Lawyers presents annually (indeed, this year’s dinner was the thirtieth such). The Hon. Diane S. Sykes, L’84, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, delivered what was billed as a keynote but was [...]

Apr

26

Big Win for Plaintiffs in Dukes v. Wal-Mart

Posted by: | April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Looks like a big win for the plaintiffs in the gigantic employment discrimination class action in Dukes v. Wal-Mart (a group of some 2 million former and current female employees have sued over lack of promotion opportunitie).  The 9th Circuit en banc, 6-5 with four separate opinions and 137 pages, affirmed class certification under Rule [...]

Apr

26

Civil Rights Enforcement Chief: “We Are Open for Business”

Posted by: | April 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division of the US Justice Department, had a clear and firm message when he visited Marquette University Law School on Friday: He’s aiming to do the job he has held since October energetically and thoroughly.  That wouldn’t seem like a noteworthy statement, except for the [...]

Apr

25

Should College Sports Revenue Be Taxed?

Posted by: | April 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment

College basketball and football are big business — no one would deny that.  But should they be taxed like big business?  Although the NCAA and its member schools are tax-exempt not-for-proft organizations, such organization may nonetheless be taxed on “unrelated business income.”  So, the question is whether big-time college sports programs are related to the educational [...]

Apr

22

Establishment and the Limits of Neutrality

Posted by: | April 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

Rick Esenberg has a new article in print that explores tensions within the Supreme Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence.  In light of the recent, controversial decision overturning the National Day of Prayer, Rick’s topic could not be more timely.  As Rick observed earlier this week, the Day of Prayer opinion is consistent with a long line of cases that attempt to [...]

Apr

21

Gender Frustrations

Posted by: | April 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

I have taken a week to think about how to blog about a session that I saw last weekend at the ABA Conference.  The session was about using movies to demonstrate gender differences in negotiation, and I went to see what teaching tools might be provided.  I was on the negotiation program track for the ABA, [...]

Apr

21

Put This in Your PIPE . . .

Posted by: | April 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

3L Douglas Hoffer has a new paper on SSRN describing and defending “PIPE financing” — a form of corporate financing that has taken off in the past fifteen years.  PIPE financing permits corporations to raise money by selling equity through a two-step process that diminishes the regulatory burdens normally associated with public offerings.  PIPE deals [...]

Apr

21

Judge Crabb’s Ambitious Establishment Clause

Posted by: | April 21, 2010 | 2 Comments

I am not going to go ballistic over Judge Barbara Crabb’s decision that the National Day of Prayer – an event that has gone on for 58 years and mirrors, in many respects, actions of our federal government throughout the history of the Republic – violates the Establishment Clause. She is, I think, wrong and [...]

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