Professor Fredrick Vars offers this poem as a novel explanation for why there is no tort recovery for very unlikely injuries.
ODE TO ADAMS v. BULLOCK
CARDOZO WAS A BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIST*
Fredrick E. Vars†
Tort law asks juries to ignore what they know
And give plaintiffs relief only if they show
That the defendant should have foreseen the harm
As likely enough to raise an alarm.1
At that we do poorly,2 especially so
When the chance of the harm is markedly low.
For here people err in a damaging way:
“Those small odds are bigger,” they typically say.3
These defects in reason, if left unchecked,
Could mean an award for every sore neck.
But tort law gives judges an unnoticed4 trump
To counter the bias as would a good ump.
No recovery lies for events too rare.5
It’s as if the injury just isn’t there.
With caution this doctrine should judges apply,
Though after this rhyme at least they’ll know why.6
Vars, Fredrick E., Ode to Adams v. Bullock: Cardozo Was a Behavioral Economist (2016). 19 Green Bag 2d 331 (2016); U of Alabama Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2796604. Available at SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2796604
Professor Stephen Rushin is quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer about collaborative police reform.
“Collaborative reform suggests at minimum that you have buy-in from the top executives within a department,” said Rushin, an assistant professor of law at the University of Alabama who has studied Justice Department investigations. “To change a big organization, you have to have buy-in … so they are already part of the way toward success.”
For more, read “U.S. Officials Hear from Chester Residents about Police.”
Dan Walters, a graduate student pursuing JD/MBA degrees at The University of Alabama, is one of 60 students nationwide selected as a 2016 Tillman Scholar.
Walters (’18) joined the U.S. Army when he was 18. While serving on active duty, his assignments included serving as an infantry platoon leader and a company commander to a unit of more than 200 soldiers. He also advised local Afghanistan figures of justice. Walters plans to stay in his hometown of Greensboro and use his degrees to practice law, advise new business owners and, perhaps, start his own business.
“I am honored to have been selected for such a prestigious scholarship,” Walters said. “It means a great deal to me to represent the legacy of Pat Tillman, a great American and a soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And as always, I am proud to represent the University in my endeavors.”
The class of 2016 scholars will receive more than $1.8 million in academic scholarships.
The Pat Tillman Foundation provides scholarships to service members, veterans and military spouses who, according to the foundation’s website, “show extraordinary academic and leadership potential, a true sense of vocation, and a deep commitment to create positive change through their work in the fields of medicine, law, business, education and the arts.”
More than 400 scholarships have been awarded since the Tillman Scholars Program was founded in 2008.
The Pat Tillman Foundation was established in 2004 after Tillman’s death while serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan.
The University of Alabama School of Law is pleased to announce the Business of Being a Lawyer program.
The online video series addresses four topics: (1) economic trends in the legal profession and steps to adapt to the changes, (2) personal financial planning issues relevant to the lives of lawyers, (3) the science of emotional intelligence including managing stress, maintaining balance and building resilience in the practice of law, and (4) how to be an effective “free agent” in the legal profession of the future in light of the fact that the average lawyer changes jobs seven times in a career.
“BBL helps today’s lawyers develop the skills they are not likely to be taught in law school or necessarily develop in practice,’’ said Professor Pamela Bucy Pierson, who developed the program during the past four years working with over 200 practicing attorneys and dozens of law students. “To enjoy the practice of law and succeed in an ever-changing industry, lawyers need these skills.”
Engaging and practical, this online video series provides 14 individual programs relevant to every attorney, law student or CLE provider. Visit CLEalabama.com/BBL for more information or to register.
When Prince died without a will, lawyers and laypeople were stunned, wrote Professor Fredrick Vars in an op-ed for Al.com.
“Did Prince really have no will? We cannot be sure, but concealing the existence of a will in Minnesota is harder than in most other states. These other states allow “holographic” wills. A holographic will is handwritten and, critically, need not be witnessed. Next-of-kin would generally have an easier time disposing of an inconvenient holographic will. There would be no witnesses to cry foul.”
For more, read “What Prince’s Death Can Teach us About Will and Estates.”
The University of Alabama School of Law is ranked 14th in the nation for sending the highest percentage of 2015 graduates into federal clerkships, according to The National Law Journal.
“Judicial clerkships are among the most coveted law jobs for many good reasons. To name just one, they give clerks a unique opportunity to learn about the legal process from the inside,” said Professor Fred Vars, Chair of Faculty Committee on Clerkships. “At Alabama Law, we offer individualized counseling for every clerkship applicant and connect applicants to our ever-growing network of alumni who have clerked.”
Each year, the work of the Faculty Committee on Clerkships and the Career Services Office helps produce a consistently large percentage of Alabama Law graduates who begin their legal careers with one of these coveted positions.
Using American Bar Association employment data, the magazine listed the 50 law schools with the highest percentage of new graduates in law jobs, as well as the schools with the highest unemployment and underemployment rates. It also analyzed data provided by law schools to the ABA to determine the law schools that sent the most graduates into federal and state clerkships, large firms, government positions and public interest law jobs.
For more, read: “Law Students Secure Federal, State Clerkships” and “Law Grad Employment Rates Up, But Class Size Is Smaller.”
The University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The three books chosen to compete for the prize are: “Allegiance” by Kermit Roosevelt, “Pleasantville” by Attica Locke and “Tom & Lucky and George & Cokey Flo” by C. Joseph Greaves.
The prize, authorized by the late Ms. Lee, is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.
Six years ago, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, and to honor former Alabama law student and author Harper Lee, The University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal partnered to create The Harper Lee P
rize for Legal Fiction.
There were 24 entries for the Prize, and a team of reviewers chose three books for the Selection Committee’s consideration. The public is invited to cast its votes on the ABA Journal website [www. http://www.abajournal.com] to help determine who the winning author will be.
The public will act as the sixth judge, contributing a vote equal in weight to the selection committee members. To vote, visit: http://www.abajournal.com/polls/2016_harper_lee_prize
Voting is open until July 11.
The 2016 prize will be awarded in Washington, D.C. Sept. 22 at the Library of Congress, in conjunction with the National Book Festival. The winner will be announced prior to the ceremony and will receive a copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” signed by Harper Lee.
A distinguished panel of writers will select the 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. They are: Philip Beidler, Author and Professor of English, University of Alabama; Helen Ellis, Author, American Housewife; Homer Hickam, Author, Rocket Boys; Rheta Grimsley Johnson, Author, Journalist and Syndicated Columnist; and Angela Johnson, Author, Wind Flyers and Heaven.
Jury selection in the ethics trial of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is scheduled to begin May 16, and Professor Jenny Carroll told AL.com she expects lawyers on both sides to place heavy emphasis on the jury selection process.
Carroll, a public defender for 12 years in Washington, D.C., and in Seattle, said prosecutors have to be concerned about trying Hubbard in his home county, which he has represented in the Legislature since 1998 and where he won reelection even after his indictment.
“It’s his home jurisdiction and these are the folks who elected him and supported him,” Carroll said. “So whenever you have a case like that there is always a risk that there is going to be a hometown bias that you have to contend with.”
For more, read: “Bentley, Riley, Marsh Could Take Stand in Hubbard Trial” and “Jury Selection Set for Monday in House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s Ethics Trial.”
Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended from duty and faces a trial before the Alabama Court of Judiciary after a complaint was filed last week. The complaint claims Moore “flagrantly disregarded and abused his authority” when he ordered the state’s probate judges to refuse applications for marriage licenses by same-sex couples. Moore opposes gay marriage based on his religious faith.
In 2003, Moore cited his religious beliefs in disregarding a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from Alabama’s main judicial building in Montgomery.
Professor Susan Pace Hamill told the Associated Press that Moore’s actions in the two cases are consistent, but still wrong.
“The first thing any first-year law student learns is the supremacy of federal law,” said Hamill, who has observed Moore’s career for more than two decades as a researcher and law professor. “What a federal court says goes.”
Judge Myron H. Thompson reminded University of Alabama School of Law graduates they are following in the footsteps of lawyers who have transformed law in the state, the nation and around the world.
“It cannot be overstated that you law graduates have completed not only one of the finest, top-tiered law schools in the country, but a law school that can unabashedly boast graduating some of the finest lawyers not just in the state of Alabama but in this country,” Thompson said. “Lawyers who have literally changed the nature of the law for this state, this country, and in some regards, even for the world.”
Judge Thompson, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, delivered the commencement address, and the Law School conferred 139 Juris Doctor degrees and six LL.M. degrees Saturday at Coleman Coliseum.
Judge Thompson said Sen. Howell Heflin, who earlier served as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, reshaped and redefined the line between law and equity in Alabama, and Justice Hugo Black revived a fundamental precept in the notion of freedom in the United States: the freedom to speak.
He observed Judge Sam Pointer is responsible for how lawyers litigate complex litigation, and Michael Figures, one of the Law School’s first African-American graduates, became a formidable figure in Alabama politics and may have been governor of Alabama, had his life not been cut short by illness.
Judge Thompson acknowledged Justice Janie Shores, the first woman justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, wrote a decision affording Alabama women equal rights as property owners in the state, and he recognized Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., who opened the door to full equality for African-Americans and perfected the Wyatt standards that are used to treat the mentally ill and the mentally challenged.
“Without question, every woman receiving a law degree in this state this year stands on the shoulders of Justice Shores,” Thompson said. “Every African-American receiving a law degree in the state this year stands on the shoulders of Michael Figures. And all who receive law degrees in the state today stand on the shoulders of Sen. Heflin, Justice Black, Judge Pointer and Judge Johnson.”
In his welcoming remarks, Dean Mark E. Brandon celebrated the achievement of the Class of 2016.
The median LSAT score for the class was 164, and its median collegiate grade-point average was 3.86. Some 47 percent were members of one of the Law School’s four legal journals, while 58 percent participated in at least one of six clinics, training and serving as student lawyers. Thirty-three graduates won individual awards for performance in regional or national moot court competitions or were members of a team that advanced to elimination rounds.
“This is a remarkable class—supremely talented, and well prepared to face the future,” Brandon said.
Angela M. Selvaggio, delivering the valedictory address, said graduates like to think they do everything on their own, and it’s just not true. She thanked family and friends at the ceremony as well as those who could not attend.
“And of course our support system includes the teachers willing to take the time to give us the tools for success in law school and beyond,” she said. “For many of us, one of those influential teachers has been Professor Susan Lyons. Today, we want to make sure that she in particular knows the gratitude we feel for her patience and her guidance.”
Degree candidates were hooded by Kimberly Boone, Director of Legal Writing Program; Cameron Fogle, Legal Writing Lecturer; Grace Lee, Associate Professor of Law in Residence; and Susan Lyons, the Ira Drayton Pruitt, Sr. Professor of Law.
The eight recipients of the Dean M. Leigh Harrison Academic Achievement Award were hooded first. Twenty-four students received the Public Interest Certificate for completing the program’s academic and externship requirements, while 39 students received the Order of the Samaritan honor for performing 50 hours of pro bono legal service and 40 hours of community service during Law School.
A reception honoring graduating students was held immediately following the ceremony on the Camille Wright Cook Plaza in front of the Law School.
