By Ryan P. Kelley. Full text here. The international response to acts of maritime piracy around Somalia requires a credible foundation in international law. Naval patrols from nearly every world power lack accurate and well-reasoned jurisdictional mandates necessary to carry out their duties effectively. They want for this essential legal complement because their states fail to…

By Cory G. Kalanick. Full text here. In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, nonprofit organizations originally designed to promote social welfare interests have become the latest loop­hole for political financiers to bypass campaign finance regulations. The federal regime of campaign finance laws—designed to prevent corruption and preserve the integrity of our…

By Elsa M. Bullard. Full text here. Domestic violence asylum applicants have spent years struggling to demonstrate they are a particular social group within the meaning of refugee statutes and thus worthy of asylum in the United States. Recent statements by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a favorable outcome for the applicant in In…

By Jamie L. Kastler. Full text here. This Note addresses the Delaware courts’ treatment of waste claims at the demand stage of derivative litigation. Recent Delaware opinions indicate that waste is part of the fiduciary duty of good faith. This means that directors are not protected from claims of waste by section 102(b)(7) exculpation clauses…

By Christopher A. Pinahs. Full text here. A necessary requirement for federal diversity jurisdiction is that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Injunctions, however, are not a sum certain, and courts often struggle to value this intangible form of relief for purposes of diversity jurisdiction. Further compounding this problem is the fact that injunctions often differentially…

By Maisa Jean Frank. Full text here. Jury selection proceeds differently in each state. Though not constitutionally mandated, each jurisdiction allows attorneys to exercise peremptory challenges as part of the process. During the past sixty years, members of the legal profession have consistently called into question the validity of this practice. Supreme Court jurisprudence gives selected…

By Emily Gleiss. Full text here. Currently, state statutes that govern guardian ad litem appointments for children in custody disputes fail to protect the due process rights of parents. Focused solely on the best interests of children, these laws provide few safeguards against the infringement of parents’ rights to the care, custody, and control of their…

By Timothy M. Sullivan. Full text here. The credit rating agencies remain under intense scrutiny amidst the current financial crisis. Congress is currently considering multiple proposals to alter the federal regime for regulating rating agencies. Meanwhile, large-scale investors such as the California Public Employees Retirement Services (CalPERS) have commenced major litigation to recover losses allegedly suffered…

By Monica Patel. Full text here. Trade preference programs lower trade barriers for developing countries and open opportunities in consumer-driven markets which, in turn, increases their trade and economic growth. One example of a trade preference program in the United States is the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program that provides duty-free treatment for about 4800…

By Karen E. Nelson. Full text here. The sentencing of Bernard Madoff in 2008 closed a chapter in the saga of one of the most extensive and destructive Ponzi schemes in American history. But the fallout from the fraud is just beginning. While every investor in a Ponzi scheme suffers financially once the fraud is exposed,…