Kentucky Law Review

LAW SCHOOLS: UofL Law Launches Digital Collection

The University of Louisville Law School's Law Library, in conjunction with University of Louisville Libraries, is pleased to announce the launch of the first phase of its digital collection, which draws on the library’s varied collections.

The first titles of the Law Library Collection to be made available are William Littell's Statute Law of Kentucky, which compiles all the legal enactments relating to Kentucky from its beginning as a district of Virginia to 1819, and Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the Constitution of the State of Kentucky (1849), a rare transcript of the debates of the convention that drafted Kentucky's third constitution.

Other upcoming collections will reproduce the original plates of H. Levin's Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky (1897), and will digitize the early class composites of the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, starting with prints from the 1890s. In the future, the Law Library digital collection will dip into the institution's archival collections, reproducing scrapbooks kept by Malvina Harlan that document the life and times of Justice John Marshall Harlan.

See the press release for the full story.

LAW SCHOOLS: Chase College of Law hosts the 2008-2009 Arbitration Competition Kentucky Regional

This weekend Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law hosts the 2008-2009 Arbitration Competition Kentucky Regional (one of four regionals). Two teams from the school are also competing in the competition, as well as one student team from Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville . Winners of the ABA Law Student Division and National Arbitration Forum sponsored competition advance to the National Finals in January.

See the FORUM blog and website for more details:

http://arbitration-forum.blogspot.com/2008/11/arbitration-competition-continues-this.html

http://www.adrforum.com/newsroom.aspx?itemID=1458

UofL LAW: Brandeis Birthday Bash on Nov. 13 at Law School

From UofL Law:

Brandeis Birthday Bash

November 13, 2008, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

In honor of Justice Louis D. Brandeis's 152^nd birthday, Professor Laura Rothstein has planned a celebration that will include a slide show presentation, a quiz, prizes and some of Brandeis' favorite refreshments.

Brandeis at 150: The Louisville Perspective, which was published by Butler Books in connection with the November 13, 2006, Sesquicentennial conference, will be available in the Faculty Resource Center at a special one day only Brandeis birthday rate of just $15.

Kurt Metzmeier and Scott Campbell will be available in the library's Handmaker Room from 2-3 PM that day to answer questions about the Papers of Louis D. Brandeis.

Also, Justice Louis D. Brandeis: the People's Attorney, will be displayed throughout the day on the law school's video monitors.

CHASE LAW: "Chase Center for Excellence in Advocacy and Chase Student Advocacy Society Host Guest Speakers"

From Chase School of Law:

On 9/23/2008, the NKU Chase Center for Excellence in Advocacy and the NKU Chase Student Advocacy Society hosted a practical skills discussion with Rob Sanders, Commonwealth's Attorney, and John Delaney, Public Advocate, on prosecuting and defending cases in Kentucky.

Over 40 law students attended the session. The discussion was very informative, educational, and well-received.

Next semester, the Externship Program will have a specialized externship clinic for students prosecuting and defending criminal cases in Kentucky.

CHASE LAW: "NKU Chase Federalist Society Hosts Honorable Judge Amul Thapar"

From Chase School of Law:

The Federalist Society hosted a presentation and luncheon with the Honorable Judge Amul R. Thapar on Thursday, September 25, 2008. Judge Thapar addressed students and faculty on the topic, "Judicial Interpretation and the Role of a Judge."

Judge Thapar is the newest member of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, confirmed in December 2007. Mr. Thapar is the first Indian-American on the federal bench. Prior to his appointment, Judge Thapar served as a U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

 

CHASE LAW: "Northern Kentucky Law Review Co-Sponsors Symposium: "Lincoln, the Lawyer""

From  Chase Law School:

Oct 06, 2008 - The Northern Kentucky Law Review of the Chase College of Law and the Kentucky Historical Society co-sponsored a free public symposium titled "Lincoln, the Lawyer," on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Marriott RiverCenter in Covington, Kentucky.

Thee symposium looked at the life and career of Abraham Lincoln.

Featured speakers were Chase Professor Roger Billings, Jr.; Christopher Schnell, assistant editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln; Dr. Mark Steiner,professor of law at South Texas College of Law and author of "An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln"; and Frank Williams, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and one of the nation's most renowned experts on Lincoln.

Over 100 lawyers from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana attended the event, in addition to a number of NKU Chase students and faculty.

LOUISVILLE: Law Professor to speak Sunday night at UofL on her schizophrenia and book - free with booksigning and questions afterward

Professor Elyn Saks to speak at University of Louisville tonight (Sunday).  Admission is free.  Here is story from Courier Journal.  Professor Saks is a law professor from Southern California who recently published a book about her lifelong struggle with schizophrenia and the practice of law and teaching.   She was invited here by Professor Jone of University of Louisville Law School.  The time is 7:30 at Strickler Hall.  It's free.  Booksigning and questions afterward.

Author to speak tonight about her schizophrenia

By Deborah Yetter • dyetter@courier-journal.com • October 26, 2008

California law professor Elyn Saks said she had some reservations about publishing a personal account of her lifelong struggle with schizophrenia last year.

But Saks said she did it to show that people with severe mental illness can succeed with proper medication and psychiatric treatment.

Saks, 53, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, will speak at the University of Louisville's Strickler Hall at 7:30 tonight.

The reaction to her book, "The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness," has been overwhelmingly positive, she said in a recent interview.

"I've gotten a great response since the book has come out, enormous support and love and thanks," Saks said. "It's been enormously gratifying."

She is appearing at U of L at the invitation of law professor James T. R. Jones, who last year wrote publicly about his severe bipolar disorder for the first time. The two became friends after learning of each other's work.

"We sort of hit it off," said Saks, who believes they are the only two law professors in the country to "come out" about their mental illnesses.

Jones, 54, who will introduce her, said he is "enormously excited" about her appearance.

Saks will take questions at her talk and be available afterward to sign copies of her book, which will be on sale.

The event, sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Louisville, is free and open to the public.

UofL Law: "The Cardinal Lawyer: The law faculty's SSRN aggregator page"

I (shamelessly) have copied en toto the following post from University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law "aggregator" for several reasons.

1. Use of a faculty blog RSS accumulator and aggregator is an outstanding cutting edge move to get law school information out.
2. Faculty member tips and trips are not solely for the benefit of school students, and offer aid to those who study the law their entire lives!
3. Articles, articles, articles.
   Academia is peppered with the results of legal research, and you need to scope out the SSRN.

Here is the post, image and all with their own link for more information:

The University of Louisville is justifiably proud of its law faculty and of the high-impact academic work generated by this community of scholars. In earlier posts (like this and this and this), The Cardinal Lawyer has made much of the Social Science Research Network, or simply SSRN as the network is colloquially known among law professors, as legal academia's leading mechanism for distributing ongoing and completed scholarly works. Despite its small size, and despite having taken active part in SSRN for less than two years, the University of Louisville ranks 41st among American law schools in recent SSRN downloads and 57th in all-time downloads as of October 12, 2008.

Many law professors and some law schools make an effort to promote papers available for download from SSRN. The University of Louisville has taken aggressive measures to promote its entire faculty's SSRN portfolio. The Law School publishes an SSRN aggregator page that collects every faculty member's contributions to the SSRN database as they are made. A summary of each article, complete with a link to that article's own SSRN page, appears on the aggregator page. And best of all, in harmony with Law 2.0 and the thoroughly interconnected environment in which contemporary legal education operates, the University of Louisville's faculty SSRN aggregator page has its own RSS feed .

read more

LAW SCHOOLS: Paducah's law school closing

From Kentucky.com, Kentucky law school in Paducah closing.

Troubled Ky. law school to close

Barkley School of Law in Paducah will close at the end of the year after officials said they failed to separate it from the financial and legal problems of its predecessor, the American Justice School of Law.

Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti purchased 75 percent of the stock in the school in February to help settle a lawsuit brought by stockholders and students. But he told The Paducah Sun on Wednesday he has no choice now but to close the school and file bankruptcy.

Manchikanti said Barkley was potentially liable for the more than $5 million in debts of American Justice and it was difficult to separate the two from public perception and negative publicity.

Student enrollment dropped from nearly 200 last year to 10 this year. Dr. Larry Putt, the school dean, said he'd help the remaining students transfer their credits to other schools.

For more details, here is the Law.com post:

Kentucky Law School Will Shutter Its Doors by the End of the Year

Karen Sloan
The National Law Journal
October 23, 2008

A problem-plagued Kentucky law school has announced that it will close at the end of the year.

The Barkley School of Law -- formerly known as the American Justice School of Law -- is withdrawing its application with the state for a license to operate in 2009.

The decision comes at the end of a turbulent year for the Paducah, Ky., institution, during which it faced a lawsuit, disturbing allegations by students, dwindling enrollment, new leadership, a name change and finally, a bankruptcy filing.

The decision to close the for-profit Barkley School of Law is "unavoidable" because of the financial obligations, mismanagement and negative publicity attached to the American Justice School of Law, said Barkley owner Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti in a statement released on Wednesday. Manchikanti also said that the Barkley School of Law will file for bankruptcy, just as the American Justice School of Law did in late September. * * * click on heading for more.

CHASE LAW: Constitutional Law Attorney Stephen P. Halbrook Visits Chase

From Chase School of Law:

Oct 16, 2008 - The NKU Chase College of Law Federalist Society welcomed Washington D.C.-based attorney Stephen Halbrook. Dr. Halbrook discussed the prominent second amendment case District of Columbia v. Heller, and subsequent second Amendment litigation.  NKU Chase professor Kenneth Katkin offered alternative views and commentary following Dr. Halbrook's presentation.

Students were treated to a catered lunch as they enjoyed the presentation and participated in the question and answer session that followed.

Stephen Halbrook is a prolific writer on second amendment topics and he has litigated numerous state, federal, and Supreme Court second amendment cases.

For additional information about the Federalist Society and upcoming events, please contact Grant Swartzentruber grant.swartzentruber@gmail.com.