Showing archive for: “Legal Profession & Scholarship”
Selling judgments
The ABA Journal discusses a law student’s entrepreneurial solution to the legal job market: start his own market. It’s called Judgment Marketplace, and it enables trading court judgments. The aim is to make a dent in the nearly 80 percent of judgments in the U.S. that aren’t collected. The firm ultimately may “serve as a ... Selling judgments
Deregulating lawyers: not more incompetent lawyers but fewer lawyers
Jordan Weissman is scared about Winston & Crandall’s plan to deregulate all the lawyers. He admits that the idea has some appeal, but concludes that “a lot of it is also completely bunk.” He says the proposal is basically irrelevant for big law, where clients are looking for top talent (although he’s on board with ... Deregulating lawyers: not more incompetent lawyers but fewer lawyers
Removing barriers to entry in practicing law
Clifford Winston argues for this in the NYT. For much more, see our symposium with Winston and many others.
Law and economics and the future of law teaching
My blogging colleague Josh Wright has a useful summary of the “Chicago School’s” views of the future of law and economics. I have some further thoughts. I think the key challenge and imperative for law and econ scholars in law schools will be to relate what they do to the market for their output — ... Law and economics and the future of law teaching
Law Review Publishing Norms and Inefficient Performance
One of my colleagues recently accepted a publication offer on a law review article, only to receive a later publication offer from a much more prestigious journal. This sort of occurrence is not uncommon in the legal academy, where scholars submitting articles for publication do not offer to publish their work in a journal but rather solicit publication offers from journals (and generally solicit ... Law Review Publishing Norms and Inefficient Performance
The end of the $160,000 first year associate
The WSJ discusses the declining value of first-year associates as clients are refusing to pay for training. Clients question whether new associates have “a sophisticated knowledge of the business world, and many nuts and bolts, such as how to prepare a witness for a deposition or the precise terms that, say, need to be included ... The end of the $160,000 first year associate
The Return of Chicago Law and Economics?
A few years ago, spurred on by Justice Scalia’s observation that the school had lost “the niche it once had as a rigorous and conservative law school,” there was some blog discussion about the apparent decline of Law and Economics at the University of Chicago. Professor Bainbridge observed that it was certainly the case that ... The Return of Chicago Law and Economics?
Law as a Byproduct in Munich
I’m off to the International conference on “Regulatory Competition in Contract Law and Dispute Resolution” at Ludwig-Maximilians-University’s Center for Advanced Studies in Munich. I’m joining an otherwise illustrious group (here’s the program) to present my and Kobayashi’s Law as a Byproduct. Blogging may be light for the next week (but eating and drinking may be ... Law as a Byproduct in Munich
The UK deregulates business structures for law firms
The Law Blog notes that the UK’s Legal Services Act goes into effect today. When all the regulatory structures are set up, lawyers will be able to practice in “Alternative Business Structures” such as publicly traded law firms and supermarkets. According to The Lawyer, the law firm Everyman Legal says it will be “first in ... The UK deregulates business structures for law firms
Litigation funding grows
Looking for something in the market that’s growing instead of shrinking? Try litigation. The WSJ surveys the current landscape of litigation funding, discussing three new U.S. entrants: BlackRobe Capital Partners LLC, with John P.”Sean” Coffey, formerly of Bernstein Litowitz and 2010 Democratic nominee for NY AG; Fulbrook Management LLC, and Bentham Capital LLC. The article ... Litigation funding grows
In-house counsel symposium at Wisconsin
November 18-19, University of Wisconsin, an all-star cast of scholars and lawyers, plus me, “discuss the under-explored, but growing, role of in-house and corporate general counsel in the rapidly changing market for legal services.” It’s “Who’s in the House? The Changing Role and Nature of In-House and General Counsel”. Be there.
Lawyers and soybeans
Nice article in Slate on technology’s effect on law practice featuring computational law guru Dan Katz. Some wag contributed this quote: In Illinois, where I live, you see vast stretches of unoccupied land—because you no longer need people to farm the corn and soybeans that we grow around here. When I look at soybean fields ... Lawyers and soybeans
