Volume 68 Category
Putting an End to False Claims Act Hush Money: An Agency-Approval Approach to Qui Tam Prefiling Releases
May. 15, 2015—Putting an End to False Claims Act Hush Money: An Agency-Approval Approach to Qui Tam Prefiling Releases AUTHOR J.D. Candidate, May 2015, Vanderbilt University Law School; B.A., 2011, The University of Georgia.
Federalizing Education by Waiver?
May. 2, 2015—Federalizing Education by Waiver? ABSTRACT In the fall of 2011, the U.S. Secretary of Education told states he would use his statutory power to waive violations of the No Child Left Behind Act (“NCLB”), but only on the condition that they adopt his new education policies— policies that had already failed to move forward in...
Human Equity? Regulating the New Income Share Agreements
May. 2, 2015—Human Equity? Regulating the New Income Share Agreements ABSTRACT A controversial new financing phenomenon has recently emerged. New “income share agreements” (“ISAs”) enable an individual to raise funds by pledging a percentage of her future earnings to investors for a certain number of years. These contracts, which have been offered by entities such as Fantex,...
The Realities of Electoral Reform
May. 2, 2015—The Realities of Electoral Reform ABSTRACT What good are theories if they cannot be tested? Election law has wrestled with this question over the last generation. Two new theories have emerged during this period that reject conventional rights-and-interests balancing. In its place, the responsiveness theory asserts that legislators’ positions should be sensitive to changes in...
The Litigation Budget
May. 2, 2015—The Litigation Budget ABSTRACT Because of fears that litigation is too costly, reduction of litigation expenses has been the touchstone of procedural reform for the past thirty years. In certain circumstances, however, the parties have incentives—both rational and irrational—to spend more on a lawsuit than the social benefits that the case provides. Present and proposed...
The Emergency Aid Doctrine and 911 Hang-ups: The Modern General Warrant
May. 2, 2015—The Emergency Aid Doctrine and 911 Hang-ups: The Modern General Warrant AUTHOR J.D. Candidate, 2015, Vanderbilt University Law School; B.S., 2010, University of South Dakota; former law enforcement officer.
Filling the Gap: Refining Sex Trafficking Legislation to Address the Problem of Pimping
May. 2, 2015—Filling the Gap: Refining Sex Trafficking Legislation to Address the Problem of Pimping AUTHOR J.D. Candidate, May 2015, Vanderbilt University Law School; B.S., 2011, Lipscomb University
Family Support and Supporting Families
Apr. 16, 2015—Family Support and Supporting Families Response to Laura A. Rosenbury, Federal Visions of Private Family Support, 67 Vand. L. Rev. 1835 (2014). AUTHOR Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law.
The Sins of Innocence in Standing Doctrine
Mar. 19, 2015—The Sins of Innocence in Standing Doctrine ABSTRACT Should reverse discrimination plaintiffs always be able to challenge race-conscious selection policies in court? Conventional standing doctrine requires plaintiffs to show that the contested policy or practice has caused a concrete, personal harm. Yet in affirmative action cases, courts seem to have quietly dispensed with this required...
The Geography of Bankruptcy
Mar. 19, 2015—The Geography of Bankruptcy ABSTRACT Companies routinely file bankruptcy cases in venues that have no meaningful connection to the company, its operations, or its stakeholders. This practice (1) divorces bankruptcy and venue from their ties to location; (2) disrupts the fundamental balance underlying the Bankruptcy Code by shifting the focus exclusively to the needs of...
Voting Squared: Quadratic Voting in Democratic Politics
Mar. 19, 2015—Voting Squared: Quadratic Voting in Democratic Politics ABSTRACT Conventional democratic institutions aggregate preferences poorly. The norm of one-person–one-vote with majority rule treats people fairly by giving everyone an equal chance to influence outcomes but fails to give proportional weight to people whose interests in a social outcome are stronger than those of other people. This...
A Tale of Two Jurisdictions
Mar. 19, 2015—A Tale of Two Jurisdictions ABSTRACT The Supreme Court has recently clarified one corner of personal jurisdiction—a court’s power to hale a defendant into court—and pointed the way toward a coherent theory of the rest of the doctrine. For nearly seventy years, the Court has embraced two theories of when jurisdiction over a defendant is...
Criminal Asset Forfeiture and the Sixth Amendment After Southern Union and Alleyne: State-Level Ramifications
Mar. 19, 2015—Criminal Asset Forfeiture and the Sixth Amendment After Southern Union and Alleyne: State-Level Ramifications AUTHOR J.D. Candidate, 2015, Vanderbilt University Law School; B.A., 2010, University of Pennsylvania.
Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: States Lead Misguided Offensive to Enforce Sales Tax Against Online Retailers
Mar. 19, 2015—Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: States Lead Misguided Offensive to Enforce Sales Tax Against Online Retailers AUTHOR J.D. Candidate, 2015, Vanderbilt University Law School; M.A., 2010, University of Memphis; B.S., 2006 Full Sail University.
An Empirical Analysis of Noncompetition Clauses and Other Restrictive Postemployment Covenants
Jan. 26, 2015—An Empirical Analysis of Noncompetition Clauses and Other Restrictive Postemployment Covenants ABSTRACT Employment contracts for most employees are not publicly available, leaving researchers to speculate about whether they contain postemployment restrictions on employee mobility, and if so, what those provisions look like. Using a large sample of publicly available CEO employment contracts, we are able...
Inferiority Complex: Should State Courts Follow Lower Federal Court Precedent on the Meaning of Federal Law?
Jan. 26, 2015—Inferiority Complex: Should State Courts Follow Lower Federal Court Precedent on the Meaning of Federal Law? ABSTRACT The conventional wisdom is that state courts need not follow lower federal court precedent when interpreting federal law. Upon closer inspection, however, the question of how state courts should treat lower federal court precedent is not so clear....