SelectedWorks @ Widener University Commonwealth Law School
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Making Economic Development and Job Creation Drivers of Serious Action on Climate Change and Environmental Protection
No full textOne of the most longstanding narratives in environmental law and politics is the alleged necessity of choosing between development and environment. The narrative, based on conventional development, has a built-in zero-sum game — development or environment. A competing narrative, which has been slowly gaining supporters over several decades, is built on the idea of sustainable development — development and environment. The conflict between these narratives goes to the heart of the divide on environmental policy between the national Republican Party (which tends to embrace conventional development) and the national Democratic Party (which, without a lot of fanfare, has tended to embrace sustainable development). The recent election of Donald Trump to the presidency puts this conflict in stark perspective. This essay, which is part of the ongoing work of the Environmental Law Collaborative, argues that the real choice is not between development and the environment. The real choice is between conventional development and sustainable development. It also argues that protecting the environment and avoiding the worst effects of climate change require use of the sustainable development framework to give a higher priority to economic development and job creation
The Prosser Letters: Scholar as Dean
No full textExamining a previously unexplored trove of letters, this article sheds new light on the thinking and work of William L. Prosser, the past century’s leading torts scholar. In these letters to family written while dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Prosser candidly describes his approach to scholarship; the development of his casebook, the second edition of Prosser on Torts, and some of his most well-known and influential articles. Moreover, Prosser provides his often-cynical impressions of the legal process; his views of his peers at Berkeley and at other institutions; and his work as dean. The letters also demonstrate some of Prosser’s limitations, including his craving for attention, a sometimes petty personality, and racial and ethnic biases. In all, the letters capture a scholar at the zenith of professional accomplishment in his field, who nevertheless showed signs of the insecurity that would later trigger his resignation from the Berkeley deanship and retreat from the forefront of torts scholarship
A Zero-Carbon Future
No full textThis paper provides an overview of the challenge of achieving a zero carbon future, as well as the way in which sustainable development would frame the decision-making process for doing so. It then reviews major reports by the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project and the World Bank that describe overall approaches at the global and national levels for meeting the zero carbon objective. Finally, using the United States as an example, it describes ways to identify and create legal pathways to that objective for the U.S., building on the insights of these two reports. Creating possible legal pathways could help accelerate the transition the transition to a sustainable energy future for the U.S. and other countries. After the November 2016 U.S. presidential election, knowledge of the many regulatory and nonregulatory legal pathways may also reduce federal resistance to climate action
A Practical Guide to Using Repo Master Agreements: Existing Market Practice for Legal Documentation in Europe and the USA
No full textThis new third edition principally offers readers a detailed guide to the most widely used European and US repo master agreements through a clause-by-clause text and commentary on each master agreement. This commentary is written in clear English for a good, swift understanding of the implications of each provision. This third edition has been updated to include:-- The new, updated Bank of New York Mellon Tri-party Custodial Repo Agreement (2016).-- A summary of recent developments in the European and US repo markets since 2012.-- Fresh examples of clauses parties seek to negotiate in these agreements.-- A comprehensive and easy-to-navigate table of contents to find items of greatest interest quickly
Creating Legal Pathways to a Zero-Carbon Future
No full textThis paper provides an overview of the challenge of achieving a zero carbon future, as well as the way in which sustainable development would frame the decision-making process for doing so. It then reviews major reports by the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project and the World Bank that describe overall approaches at the global and national levels for meeting the zero carbon objective. Finally, using the United States as an example, it describes ways to identify and create legal pathways to that objective for the U.S., building on the insights of these two reports. Creating possible legal pathways could help accelerate the transition the transition to a sustainable energy future for the U.S. and other countries
Billy Joel and the Practice of Law: Melodies to Which a Lawyer Might Work
No full textPiano Man has ten tracks. The Stranger has nine. This work has seven melodies to which a lawyer might work
Best Practices in Legal Education: How Live Critiquing and Cooperative Work Lead to Happy Students and Happy Professors
No full textAt Widener Law Commonwealth, the legal writing program organizes itself around best practices for the students and, also, best practices for the professors. Rather than catalog the innovative approaches that set our program and pedagogy apart from others, this article focuses on two central ideas and guiding principles for producing happy students and happy professors: 1) using live critiquing to provide feedback on assignments and 2) encouraging cooperative work among legal writing faculty
Voting Rights and Election Law, Second Edition
No full textVoting Rights and Election Law is a law school text book covering the law surrounding the electoral system. Coverage begins with voting qualifications and barriers to exercise of the franchise. The book covers the authority of the courts to remedy violations of the right to vote. Other topics include the One/One Vote Doctrine under the Federal Constitution and the effects of the Voting Rights Act. The book also covers the role of political parties and term limits for federal and state office. Campaign finance and political speech each receive treatment. The book concludes with a chapter on methods for remedying errors in elections
Asking the Right Questions About the Future of Shale Gas
No full textThis Article argues that the questions that have guided U.S. energy policy for decades — about how to assure cheap, plentiful, and secure energy with basic environmental and public health protection — are no longer the only relevant questions. This is particularly true after the December 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change Shale, in which countries unanimously agreed to progressively reduce their greenhouse gas emissions until there are net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century. Shale gas is used as a case in point. Shale gas development is justified on the basis that it contributes to some reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, that it produces needed energy, and that it has economic, social, and security benefits. This Article criticizes these questions as inadequate to address the Paris agreement and foster sustainable development, and describes and explains better questions