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Critical race theory: the cutting edge

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic

Critical Race Theory has become a dynamic, eclectic, and growing movement in the study of law. With this third edition of Critical Race Theory, editors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic have created a reader for the twenty-first century—one that shakes up the legal academy, questions comfortable liberal premises, and leads the search for new ways of thinking about our nation's most intractable, and insoluble, problem—race. The contributions, from a stellar roster of established and emerging scholars, address new topics, such as intersectionality and black men on the "down low." Essays also confront much-discussed issues of discrimination, workplace dynamics, affirmative action, and sexual politics. Also new to this volume are updated section introductions, author notes, questions for discussion, and reading lists for each unit. The volume also covers the spread of the movement to other disciplines such as education. Offering a comprehensive and stimulating snapshot of current race jurisprudence and thought, this new edition of Critical Race Theory is essential for those interested in law, the multiculturalism movement, political science, education, and critical thought.
Patent law essentials: a concise guide

Alan L. Durham

The fourth edition of this indispensable guide provides a simple and accurate introduction to the dynamics and mechanics of patent law, updated with the latest court decisions and reform legislation. Business has always been driven by ingenuity and innovation. Now more than ever, with an economy built on intangible business intelligence and digital yield, developing―and protecting―intellectual property is vital for individuals and organizations alike. This book presents a brief but thorough survey of United States patent law. Drawing from both practical and academic experience, author Alan Durham explains the fundamental principles of the subject and reviews recent changes in legislation affecting its practice. Patent Law Essentials: A Concise Guide, Fourth Edition explains the latest revisions to the protections and limitations of patent law and includes recent Supreme Court decisions concerning the patentability of software, business methods, and advancements in biotech. An engaging writing style makes the technical content accessible to novice and expert practitioners alike.
First Amendment institutions

Paul Horwitz

Addressing a host of hot-button issues, from the barring of Christian student groups and military recruiters from law schools and universities to churches’ immunity from civil rights legislation in hiring and firing ministers, Paul Horwitz proposes a radical reformation of First Amendment law. Arguing that rigidly doctrinal approaches can’t account for messy, real-world situations, he suggests that the courts loosen their reins and let those institutions with a stake in First Amendment freedoms do more of the work of enforcing them. Universities, the press, libraries, churches, and various other institutions and associations are a fundamental part of the infrastructure of public discourse. Rather than subject them to ill-fitting, top-down rules and legal categories, courts should make them partners in shaping public discourse and First Amendment law, giving these institutions substantial autonomy to regulate their own affairs. Self-regulation and public criticism should be the key restraints on these institutions, not judicial fiat. Horwitz suggests that this approach would help the law enhance the contribution of our “First Amendment institutions” to social and political life. It would also move us toward a conception of the state as a participating member of our social framework, rather than a reigning and often overbearing sovereign. First Amendment Institutions offers a new vantage point from which to evaluate ongoing debates over topics ranging from campaign finance reform to campus hate speech and affirmative action in higher education. This book promises to promote―and provoke―important new discussions about the shape and future of the First Amendment.
The First Amendment: cases and theory

Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr., Christina Wells, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, and Steven G. Gey

Cases and doctrinal developments in The First Amendment: Cases and Theory are presented in historical context so that students may understand the Supreme Court's evolving tests, standards, and approaches to the Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition, and Religion Clauses in historical context through lightly edited cases. Engaging problems help students apply legal concepts in real situations. All the major contemporary free speech controversies are covered, including conflicts between free speech and national security, equality, civility, and other values, with particular attention to how these conflicts are playing out in the Internet context. Introductory chapters set the stage, and brief chapter overviews introduce the main themes and doctrines to improve student learning from the cases. The First Amendment: Cases and Theory is teachable in a standard three-hour survey course. It is also useful as a casebook for specialized offerings on the Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition Clauses, or the Religion Clauses. The Second Edition features major First Amendment cases that have come down since 2007: Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (taxpayer standing to challenge tax credits for religious schooling); Arizona Free Speech Club v. Bennett (equalization of ampaign expenditures); Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (violent video games and children); Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (college and university student organization antidiscrimination policies); Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (direct corporate electoral expenditures); Davis v. Federal Election Commission (equalization of candidate campaign expenditures); Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (material support of terrorism federal law and free speech); Pleasant Grove v. Summum (public forums and monuments); Salazar v. Buono (government speech in a government park); Snyder v. Phelps (offensive funeral protests); Sorrell v. IMS Health (data mining as speech); United States v. Stevens (depictions of animal cruelty); and United States v. Williams (solicitations of child pornography.) New issues of First Amendment law such as The Stolen Valor Act are included in a refined presentation, strategically edited for greater clarity. Features: cases and developments in doctrine presented in historical context comprehensive coverage of all major First Amendment cases and doctrines, including materials on both expressive freedoms and also on the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses lightly edited cases to enhance student comprehension in a complex area of constitutional law engaging problems help students apply legal concepts addresses major contemporary free speech controversies conflicts between free speech and national security free speech and equality free speech and the Internet introductory chapters on free speech, establishment of religion, and free exercise set the stage brief chapter overviews introduce main themes and doctrines to improve student learning from cases flexible use o teachable in a standard three-hour survey course use as casebook for specialized offerings on the Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition Clauses, or Religion Clauses Thoroughly updated, the revised Second Edition presents: major First Amendment cases that have come down since 2007 o Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (taxpayer standing to challenge tax credits for religious schooling)
Critical race theory: an introduction

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic

In 2001, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic published their definitive Critical Race Theory, a compact introduction to the field that explained, in straightforward language, the origins, principal themes, leading voices, and new directions of this important movement in legal thought. Since then, critical race theory has gone on to influence numerous other fields of scholarship, and the Delgado and Stefancic primer has remained an indispensible guide for students and teachers. Delgado and Stefancic have revised the book to include material on key issues such as colorblind jurisprudence, Latino-Critical scholarship, immigration, and the rollback of affirmative action. This second edition introduces readers to important new voices in fields outside of law, including education and psychology, and offers greatly expanded issues for discussion, updated reading lists, and an extensive glossary of terms.
Arms Control Law (The International Law of Peace and Security)

Daniel H. Joyner

This volume features a selection of the best scholarship on international law as it is relevant to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The essays consider the nonproliferation legal regime as a normative system and offer a more discrete consideration of international law in each weapons of mass destruction technology area: nuclear weapons proliferation; chemical and biological weapons proliferation; and delivery systems proliferation. In addition, the essays consider the closely related questions of the role, authority and track record of the UN Security Council in monitoring, implementing and enforcing compliance with these primary sources of nonproliferation law.
Non-Proliferation Law as a Special Regime: A Contribution to Fragmentation Theory in International Law

Daniel H. Joyner and Marco Roscini

The fragmentation of international law is an undeniable phenomenon and one that has met with increasing academic interest. This fragmentation is the result of the progressive expansion of both international legal activity and the subject-matter of international law. This expansion brings with it the risk of conflicting rules, principles and institutions. Non-Proliferation Law as a Special Regime focuses on weapons of mass destruction and aims to identify whether there are specific rules applying to this field that depart from the general rules of international law and the rules of other special regimes, in particular with regard to the law of treaties and the law of state responsibility. In providing a systematic analysis of a substantive area of international law and applying the theory of fragmentation and special regimes, the book contributes to the ongoing debate concerning one of the most topical issues in international law.
Reclaiming the petition clause: seditious libel, "offensive" protest, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances

Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

Since the 2004 presidential campaign, when the Bush presidential advance team prevented anyone who seemed unsympathetic to their candidate from attending his ostensibly public appearances, it has become commonplace for law enforcement officers and political event sponsors to classify ordinary expressions of dissent as security threats and to try to keep officeholders as far removed from possible protest as they can. Thus without formally limiting free speech the government places arbitrary restrictions on how, when, and where such speech may occur.
Administrative law

John M. Rogers, Michael P. Healy, and Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

The Third Edition includes as lead cases the recent Supreme Court decisions in Stern v. Marshall (2011), Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (2010), and Talk America, Inc. v. Michigan Bell Telephone Co. (2011). The book also includes National Cable & Telecommunications Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Services (2005) as a lead case, providing a capstone case for the standards of judicial review. Notes have been revised to address how the Obama Administration has employed presidential signing statements and revised Office of Management and Budget review of rulemaking. Throughout the text, questions and notes for students have been added to reflect the insights of decisions in recent cases, including American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut (2011); Milner v. Department of the Navy (2011); FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. (2009); Mayo Foundation for Medical Educ. and Research v. United States (2011); New Process Steel v. N.L.R.B. (2010); Arizona Christian School Tuition Org. v. Winn (2011), and Thompson v. North American Stainless, LP (2011).
The Latino/a condition: a critical reader

Richard Delgado

In the last forty-five years, immigration reform has brought tens of millions of new immigrants from Latin American countries to the United States. Since critical race theory pioneers Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic compiled the first edition of The Latino/a Condition in 1998, the population has continued to grow exponentially, while scholarship on Latinos/as has grown just as quickly. The second edition of The Latino/a Condition brings together a wide range of new and classic Latino and Latina voices from the fields of law, sociology, history, media studies, and politics to address questions such as: Who exactly is a Latino? Who is Hispanic? Who is Chicano? How did Spanish-speaking people come to live in the United States? Is the Latino family a source of strength or oppression? What about Catholicism? Should the United States try to control Latino immigration, and is this even possible? What are the most common media stereotypes of Latino people? Are Latinos white? What role does law play in the racial construction of the group? Collecting a wealth of perspectives on these and other issues central to the Latino/a experience, Delgado and Stefancic offer a broad portrait of Latino/a life in the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The agnostic age: law, religion, and the Constitution

Paul Horwitz

The Agnostic Age: Law, Religion, and the Constitution is a book for lawyers, law professors, law students, lawmakers, and any citizen who cares about church-state conflict and about the relationship between religion and liberal democracy. It provides a way to understand and balance the conflicts that inevitably arise when neighbors struggle with neighbors, and when liberal democracy tries to reach common ground with religious beliefs and practices. Paul Horwitz argues that the fundamental reason for the church-state conflict is our aversion to questions of religious truth. By trying to avoid the question of religious truth, law and religion has ultimately only reached a state of incoherence. He asserts that the answer to this dilemma is to take "the agnostic turn": to take an empathetic and imaginative approach to questions of religious truth, one that actually confronts rather than avoids these questions, but without reaching a final judgment about what that truth is. This book offers a sensitive and sensible approach to questions of church-state conflict, justifying what the courts have done in some cases and demanding new results in others. It explains how the church-state conflict extends beyond law and religion itself, and goes to some of the central questions at the heart of the troubled relationship between religion and liberal democracy in a post-9/11 era.
Interpreting the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

Daniel H. Joyner

"The 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty has proven the most complicated and controversial of all arms control treaties, both in principle and in practice. Statements of nuclear-weapon States from the Cold War to the present, led by the United States, show a disproportionate prioritization of the non-proliferation pillar of the Treaty, and an unwarranted under-prioritization of the civilian energy development and disarmament pillars of the treaty. This book argues that the way in which nuclear-weapon States have interpreted the Treaty has laid the legal foundation for a number of policies related to trade in civilian nuclear energy technologies and nuclear weapons disarmament. These policies circumscribe the rights of non-nuclear-weapon States under Article IV of the Treaty by imposing conditions on the supply of civilian nuclear technologies. They also provide for the renewal and maintenance, and in some cases further development of the nuclear weapons arsenals of nuclear-weapon States. The book provides a legal analysis of this trend in treaty interpretation by nuclear-weapon States and the policies for which it has provided legal justification. It argues, through a close and systematic examination of the Treaty by reference to the rules of treaty interpretation found in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, that this disproportionate prioritization of the non-proliferation pillar of the Treaty leads to erroneous legal interpretations in light of the original balance of principles underlying the Treaty, prejudicing the legitimate legal interests of non-nuclear-weapon States"--
Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Future of International Nonproliferation Policy

Nathan E. Busch and Daniel H. Joyner

The spread of weapons of mass destruction poses one of the greatest threats to international peace and security in modern times—the specter of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons looms over relations among many countries. The September 11 tragedy and other terrorist attacks have been painful warnings about gaps in nonproliferation policies and regimes, specifically with regard to nonstate actors.

In this volume, experts in nonproliferation studies examine challenges faced by the international community and propose directions for national and international policy making and lawmaking. The first group of essays outlines the primary threats posed by WMD proliferation and terrorism. Essays in the second section analyze existing treaties and other normative regimes, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons and Biological Weapons Conventions, and recommend ways to address the challenges to their effectiveness. Essays in part three examine the shift some states have made away from nonproliferation treaties and regimes toward more forceful and proactive policies of counterproliferation, such as the Proliferation Security Initiative, which coordinates efforts to search and seize suspect shipments of WMD-related materials.
Patent law essentials: a concise guide

Alan L. Durham

Business has always been driven by ingenuity and innovation. Now, more than ever, with an economy built on knowledge work and intangible value, developing―and protecting―intellectual property is vital for individuals and organizations alike. This book presents a brief but thorough survey of U.S. patent law, presented in the clearest possible terms for nonspecialists―including scientists, engineers, business managers, and entrepreneurs―as well as students and practitioners of patent and intellectual property law. Drawing from both practical and academic experience, Alan Durham explains the basis of patent law and covers such topics as the application process, claim interpretation, the requirements of novelty and non-obviousness, disclosure requirements (such as enablement and best mode), and infringement―including infringement under the controversial doctrine of equivalents. Complex legal issues are explained through in-depth examples, many borrowed from actual cases, and feature such timely topics as patent protection of computer software, business methods, and biological materials. This revised and updated edition discusses recent developments in the law and draws from the most current case authority. Used as an introduction to the topic or a handy desk reference, this book will be an indispensable guide to the dynamics and mechanics of patent law. Durham illustrates complex legal issues through dozens of in-depth examples, many borrowed from actual cases. Of particular interest are cases involving patent disputes over computer software, business practices, and biological materials. From building a better mousetrap to building a better mouse, Patent Law Essentials defines the coverage and limitations of patent law and its protections, and shows how they are applied in the courts and in practical application. This revised and updated edition discusses recent developments in the law and draws from the most current case authority. Used as an introduction to the topic or a handy desk reference, this book will be an indispensable guide to the dynamics and mechanics of patent law.
International law and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

Daniel H. Joyner

Proliferation of WMD technologies is by no means a new concern for the international community. Indeed, since the signing of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968, tremendous energies have been expended upon diplomatic efforts to create a web of treaties and international organizations regulating the production and stockpiling of WMD sensitive materials within states, as well as their spread through the increasingly globalized channels of international trade to other states and non-state actors. However, the intervention in 2003 by Western powers in Iraq has served as an illustration of the importance of greater understanding of and attention to this area of law, as disagreements over its content and application have once again lead to a potentially destabilizing armed intervention by members of the United Nations into the sovereign territory of another member state. Other ongoing disputes between states regarding the character of obligations work assumed under non-proliferation treaty instruments, and the effect of international organizations' decisions in this area, form some of the most contentious and potentially destabilizing issues of foreign policy concern for many states. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of international law and organizations in the area of WMD proliferation. It will serve both as a reference for understanding the law as it currently exists in its political and economic context, as well as an analysis of areas in which amendments to existing law and organizations are needed.
The Latinos and the law: cases and materials

Richard Delgado, Juan F. Perea, and Jean Stefancic

This casebook contains an array of issues relating to this important and rapidly growing group: legal, social construction, language, education, immigration, stereotyping, workplace discrimination, rebellious lawyering, and the special issues of Latinos. Beginning with histories of the main subgroups, early sections discuss theoretical approaches such as post-colonialism, critical race theory, and the black-white binary of race that have proved useful in understanding the Latino condition. With a rich selection of cases, statutes, documents, notes, questions, and bibliographic references, this volume represents a welcome resource for teachers, scholars, and students.
Administrative law

John M. Rogers, Michael P. Healy, and Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

This streamlined casebook focuses on core issues, illuminating the principles and underlying doctrine of administrative law through analysis of lightly edited cases that preserve the language of the judiciary.

If you prefer the case method approach, you will find everything you want in Administrative Law, Second Edition:
- A case-based approach featuring lightly edited cases that preserve the language of the decision and include facts, content, analysis, and citations
  - Keystone cases introduce important themes and topics
- An emphasis on the core issues of administrative law: adjudication, rulemaking, government agencies, and judicial review
- Discussion and questions, between the cases, that make connections to legal points raised in the preceding case and stimulate class discussion
- Authors’ notes that enrich students’ understanding of legal doctrine
- A flexible four-part organization that adapts to a variety of teaching approaches and can be easily covered in a three-unit course
- An updated and comprehensive Teacher’s Manual that answers all of the questions, summarizes the cases, and offers additional problem exercises with explanations and analyses
- New author website that provides additional coverage of selected topics
- Treatment of important recent administrative law decisions, including:
  - Gonzales v. Oregon
  - Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
  - Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
  - Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation
  - Woodford v. Ngo
  - Brand X Internet Service
  - Dismas Charities
  - Dominion Energy
  - Long Island Care at Home
  - Town of Castle Rock
- “Theory Applied Problems," that test student understanding of major concepts
- Discussion of the relationship between administrative law and the War on Terror
- Expanded coverage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
- Expanded treatment of the role of the President in implementing statutes that includes new material on presidential signing statements and updates the materials on OMB review of agency rulemaking
Rogers, Healy, and Krotoszynski use case analysis to illuminate the underlying principles of administrative law. Examine a desk copy yourself to determine whether their highly adaptable four-part casebook doesn’t perfectly conform to the wants and dictates of your own syllabus and teaching goals.
The law unbound! a Richard Delgado reader

Richard Delgado, Adrien Katherine Wing, and Jean Stefancic

This book offers the best and most influential writings of Richard Delgado, one of the founding figures of the critical race theory movement and one of the earliest scholars to address the harms of hate speech. With excerpts from his classic law review articles, conversations with his famous alter ego Rodrigo Crenshaw, and comments on the vicissitudes of academic life, this book spans topics such as hate speech, affirmative action, the war on terror, the endangered status of black men, and the place of Latino/as in the civil rights equation.
As certain as death: a fifty state survey of state and local tax laws: K-12 funding, poverty trends, and other characteristics

Susan Pace Hamill

As Certain as Death surveys the most important details of income, property, general and selective sales, corporate income, and other tax laws for each of the fifty states. The book also discusses how the tax burden is allocated among the poor, middle classes, and wealthy. It provides a picture of each state’s tax and revenue sources, public school funding, and other characteristics, including population, race, religious affiliation, family income and poverty statistics, and major industries. In addition to providing a reasonable level of detail that reveals the state's strengths and weaknesses, the five categories presenting these details foster meaningful comparisons between the states. This book is an important tool for evaluating state policies from a fairness perspective; it will also be helpful to educators and others in both private and government sectors who are interested in business, investment, multi-jurisdictional, and education issues, as well as geographical trends addressing population, race, religion, and poverty. “A valuable and unique resource… The picture of each state's revenue and tax sources, public education statistics, and tax burden analysis provides a useful compilation of readily comparable information that many government officials, educators, policy wonks, students, and industrial recruiters may find particularly useful in their areas of interest.” — State Tax Notes, January 2008 “Hamill has written a great book. No matter what your religious beliefs, you should read her work if you're the least bit interested in tax justice.” — State Tax Notes, February 2008
Race and races: cases and resources for a diverse America

Juan F. Perea, Richard Delgado, Angela P. Harris, and Jean Stefancic

This best-selling casebook presents critical perspectives on race and racism. Updates the first edition with new material on the treatment of Muslims and Arabs in post-9/11 America. Provides expanded treatment of Japanese-American internment, Jews, and native Hawaiians. Includes new cases such as Grutter and Virginia v. Black, current statistics, and enhanced coverage of voting. Features rich historical treatment of major racial groups in the United States: African Americans, Indians, Latinos/Latinas, Asian Americans, and Whites. Contains chapters on differing implications of enslavement, conquest, colonization, and immigration, as well as on equality, education, freedom of expression, family and sexuality, stereotyping, and crime.
The politics of fear: how Republicans use money, race, and the media to win

Manuel G. Gonzales and Richard Delgado

"Lucidly written, widely informed, and uncompromisingly honest -- a valuable expose." Michael Parenti "Documents the stunning success of a network of wealthy donors and corporations in creating and sustaining a set of think tanks, legal action groups, and media strategies." Gary Orfield, Harvard University What explains the electoral success of Republicans, particularly of the ascendant neoconservatives who now dominate the Party? Based on a thorough and up-to-date examination of the New Right over twenty-five years, The Politics of Fear proposes some provocative answers, including globalization, new technologies, and a far-reaching network of right-wing think tanks and foundations. As the authors show, all have opened the doors to a new politics of fear successfully waged by the neoconservatives. By manipulating insecurity, the New Right has created an extraordinarily successful populist conservative movement. Utilizing extensive documentation, the authors argue convincingly that the fear of immigrants and racial minorities has served as the most effective tactic in the GOP arsenal, while their approach also implicates gays, feminists, and terrorists. The book explains why Americans have willingly supported a party that promises them security, just as it delivers greater economic and political insecurity. The authors argue that, despite their striking political successes, neoconservatives have delivered to voters a set of policies harmful to working Americans in the way of regressive tax measures, military exploits, tort reform, deregulation, and environmental destruction.
Non-Proliferation Export Controls: Origins, Challenges, and Proposals for Strengthening

Daniel H. Joyner

This volume provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the Multilateral Non-Proliferation Export Control system and the national and international context within which it functions.
The First Amendment in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Comparative Legal Analysis of the Freedom of Speech

Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

The First Amendment—and its guarantee of free speech for all Americans—has been at the center of scholarly and public debate since the birth of the Constitution, and the fervor in which intellectuals, politicians, and ordinary citizens approach the topic shows no sign of abating as the legal boundaries and definitions of free speech are continually evolving and facing new challenges. Such discussions have generally remained within the boundaries of the U.S. Constitution and its American context, but consideration of free speech in other industrial democracies can offer valuable insights into the relationship between free speech and democracy on a larger and more global scale, thereby shedding new light on some unexamined (and untested) assumptions that underlie U.S. free speech doctrine.

Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr., compares the First Amendment with free speech law in Japan, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom—countries that are all considered modern democracies but have radically different understandings of what constitutes free speech. Challenging the popular—and largely American—assertion that free speech is inherently necessary for democracy to thrive, Krotoszynski contends that it is very difficult to speak of free speech in universalist terms when the concept is examined from a framework of comparative law that takes cultural difference into full account.
The Derrick Bell reader

Derrik Bell, Richard Delgado, and Jean Stefancic

Lawyer, activist, teacher, writer: for over 40 years, Derrick Bell has provoked his critics and challenged his readers with uncompromising candor and progressive views on race and class in America. A founder of Critical Race Theory and pioneer of the use of allegorical stories as tools of analysis, Bell's groundbreaking work shatters conventional legal orthodoxies and turns comfortable majoritarian myths inside out. Edited and with an extensive introduction by leading critical race theorists Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, The Derrick Bell Reader reflects the tremendous breadth of issues that Bell has grappled with over his phenomenal career, including affirmative action, black nationalism, legal education and ethics. Together, the selections offer the most complete collection of Derrick Bell's writing available today.
How lawyers lose their way: a profession fails its creative minds

Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado

In this penetrating book, Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado use historical investigation and critical analysis to diagnose the cause of the pervasive unhappiness among practicing lawyers. Most previous writers have blamed the high rate of burnout, depression, divorce, and drug and alcohol dependency among these highly paid professionals on the narrow specialization, long hours, and intense pressures of modern legal practice. Stefancic and Delgado argue that these professional demands are only symptoms of a deeper problem: the way lawyers are taught to think and reason. They show how legal education and practice have been rendered arid and dull by formalism, a way of thinking that values precedent and doctrine above all, exalting consistency over ambiguity, rationality over emotion, and rules over social context and narrative. Stefancic and Delgado dramatize the plight of modern lawyers by exploring the unlikely friendship between Archibald MacLeish, who gave up a successful but unsatisfying law career to pursue his literary yearnings, and Ezra Pound. Reading the forty-year correspondence between MacLeish and Pound, Stefancic and Delgado draw lessons about the difficulties of attorneys trapped in worlds that give them power, prestige, and affluence but not personal satisfaction, much less creative fulfillment. Long after Pound had embraced fascism, descended into lunacy, and been institutionalized, MacLeish took up his old mentor’s cause, turning his own lack of fulfillment with the law into a meaningful crusade and ultimately securing Pound’s release from St. Elizabeths Hospital. Drawing on MacLeish’s story, Stefancic and Delgado contend that literature, public interest work, and critical legal theory offer tools to contemporary attorneys for finding meaning and overcoming professional dissatisfaction.