April 2012

This contribution was written by guest author Mark Glover.  Mr. Glover is a Teaching Fellow and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center.  This post is based on his articles A Therapeutic Jurisprudential Framework of Estate Planning, 35 Seattle. U. L. Rev. 427 (2012) and The Therapeutic Function of Testamentary Formality, 61 U. Kan. L. Rev. (forthcoming). The estate planning processes can be unsettling.  Because the preparation of an estate plan and the implementation of that plan through the execution of a will and other estate planning documents necessarily requires the testator to acknowledge that at some point he will die, estate planning can be psychologically tumultuous.[i]  Indeed, few enjoy contemplating their own mortality,[ii] and this reluctance to acknowledge the inevitability of death…

This article was written by guest author Michael C. Macchiarola.  The author is a Distinguished Lecturer at the City University of New York. On March 15, a panel of three Second Circuit judges stayed a proceeding in the courtroom of Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York. The stay is pending resolution of Citigroup’s appeal of Judge Rakoff’s rejection of its proposed settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) in connection with a civil enforcement action accusing the bank of substantial securities fraud in connection with the sale of collateralized debt obligations. In granting the stay, the panel was persuaded that Citigroup presented a “strong showing of likelihood of success” in having Judge Rakoff‘s rejection of the original settlement set aside. The full appeal…

This article was written by guest author Rory Bahadur, Associate Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law. The recent news media coverage of the so called “Florida Stand Your Ground Law,” illustrates succinctly the sleight of hand that selective nomenclature sometimes facilitates.  The so called “Stand Your Ground Law” is actually a combination of three separate statutes and the stand your ground provision is perhaps the least radical and controversial.  These statutes are as follows: Fla. Stat 776.012 titled “Use of Force in Defense of Person.” Fla. Stat. 776.013 titled “Home Protection; Use of Deadly force; Presumption of Fear or Death or Great Bodily Harm” Fla. Stat. 776.032 titled “Immunity from Criminal Prosecution and Civil Action for Justifiable use of Force” The least controversial and least radical change…

This contribution was written by guest author Joe Dryden.  Mr. Dryden is an Assistant Professor of Education and Law at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.  Mr. Dryden's research interest include student First Amendment issues , the collateral impact of educational policy, dilemmas in educational leadership and effective classroom instruction. Despite the widespread calls for guidance, the Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in three cases dealing with the balance between off-campus student expression and the compelling interest of the state to protect the learning environment and those within it from cyber bullying and cyber harassment.1 There is a desperate need for a uniform standard that can be consistently applied to reduce variability in intervention efforts, and litigation outcomes. The vacuum of guidance leaves a legal landscape marked by the misapplication of…