By David T. Zaring and Jeffery Y. Zhang. Full Text. Solutions to systemic problems such as climate change and racial inequities have eluded policymakers for decades. In searching for creative solutions, some policymakers have recently thought about expanding the Federal Reserve’s core set of macro-economic mandates to tackle these issues. But there are real questions…

Sara C. Bronin and Leslie R. Irwin. Full Text. America’s local historic commissions collectively wield tremendous influence over millions of privately-owned parcels of land. By reviewing rehab proposals, blocking demolitions, and mandating property maintenance, these commissions have helped to protect many of America’s most beloved neighborhoods. They fill a vacuum left by federal and state…

By Karen C. Sokol. Full Text. Climate-driven geophysical and geopolitical shifts are putting increasing pressure on international law and global governance. One window into the challenges and opportunities presented by these ongoing disruptions is provided by a surge of “climate-accountability” cases, which argue that governments and corporations are responsible for addressing climate risks or repairing…

By Peter Lee. Full Text. International technology transfer plays a critical role in advancing economic and social welfare around the world. Conventional wisdom holds that strong intellectual property rights—primarily patents—promote the transfer of technologies between countries. An important counternarrative, however, contends that weakening patents promotes important forms of technology transfer. This Article challenges the centrality…

By Nancy Leong. Full Text. Appendix. Suppose that a municipality hires a police officer, teacher, corrections officer, or other official with an extensive record of past misconduct—someone the municipality should have known better than to hire. When such an employee causes a violation of constitutional rights, the injured party often brings a civil rights suit…

By Catherine Martin Christopher. Full Text. This Article proposes a modern diploma privilege—a licensure framework that allows state licensure authorities to identify what competencies are expected of first-year attorneys, then partner with law schools to assess those competencies. Freed from the format and timing of a bar exam, schools can assess a broader range of…

By Deborah Jones Merritt. Full Text. Clients are central to law practice, yet they play a limited role in both legal education and licensing. This article challenges legal educators and bar examiners to become more client-centered. The article draws upon empirical data demonstrating the importance of client-related, hands-on skills in law practice, and then outlines…

By Sherri Lee Keene. Full Text. Judges’ perspectives and attitudes—and even their biases and assumptions—naturally find their way into legal analysis and decision-making. Yet this reality is something that the language of opinions tends to deny. Court opinions are often written to sound authoritative and sure, making legal decisions seem purely logical and channeling a…

By Sandra L. Simpson. Full Text. Due to the unintended consequences of misdirected federal education policy, students come to law school with underdeveloped critical thinking and cognitive adaptability skills. As the products of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its progeny, students educated in the United States after 2002 excel at memorization and…

By Susan A. McMahon. Full Text. Traditional legal education, especially in the first year, leaves students with the impression that law is neutral and objective, and their job, as lawyers, is to read cases, pull out rules, and sift facts into legal categories. This training contributes to a student’s sense that law is natural and…