•  
  •  
 
Vanderbilt Law Review

Article Title

Recent Publications

Authors

Journal Staff

First Page

1049

Abstract

Bakke, DeFunis, and Minority Admissions: The Quest for Equal Opportunity

By Allan P. Sindler.

Sindler describes the admissions programs at the Universities of Washington and California-Davis, and the respective experiences of Marco DeFunis and Allan Bakke that preceded their litigation. Then, documenting the disparity in academic qualifications between accepted minorities and rejected nonminorities, Sindler addresses the broad issue before the courts. Is the reservation of academic "places" for minorities an inherently two-track system, which operates as an illegal quota to exclude "better-qualified" applicants; or may a school utilize race as a basis for selection in order to fulfill other commitments to society?

The Constitution and Chief Justice Marshall By William F. Swindler

This book, although not itself a product of the Bicentennial Committee, is intended to supplement the film series, but it serves equally well as a general introduction to the jurisprudence of the Marshall Court. ... The book, like the film series, focuses on the five constitutional cases generally regarded as the most important decided by the Marshall Court: Marbury v. Madison, United States v. Burr, Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden. In Part One Swindler introduces the historical background of each case, including the major personalities involved;analyzes the reasoning in the Court's opinion; and illustrates the impact of each decision on the course of American history. While Swindler's work is directed at the general public and attempts no new critical analysis of the Marshall Court's major decisions, it should prove helpful to lawyers unfamiliar with early constitutional law.

Crisis at the Bar: Lawyers' Unethical Ethics and What to Do About It By Jethro K. Lieberman

Jethro K. Lieberman begins his analysis in Crisis at the Bar with the contention that the legal profession's ethical system is in total disarray. He emphasizes that the breakdown in the system and the concomitant lack of public trust in the profession results not from a lack of adherence to the ethical code but from adherence to a code that is unethical... Lieberman believes that the spectacular failure of the present system requires immediate and extensive reform. He describes the current Code of Professional Responsibility as "a pastiche of loquacious moralisms and obscure footnotes." The history of self-regulation, according to Lieberman, indicates that the regulators'fundamental concern has become the self-perpetuation of a monopoly and that the interests of society are considered only to maintain the facade of altruism.

The Duty To Act: Tort Law, Power and Public Policy By Marshall S. Shapo

In The Duty to Act: Tort Law, Power and Public Policy, Professor Marshall Shapo examines tort law as an example of the law's concern with the use of power. Defining power to include physical force and the ability to control people's destinies in particular circumstances, Shapo focuses on how duties arise from the control and exercise of power in two contexts-the obligations of private persons and the duty of governments to act to save citizens from various kinds of injury.

Handling Federal Estate and Gin Taxes, 3d ed. By Joseph Rasch

The third edition of this treatise was written in response to the significant changes that have occurred in the estate and gift tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code since the date of the second edition, most notably those changes contained in the 1976 Tax Re-form Act. The treatise retains the emphasis on practical application present in the earlier editions. In a manner understandable to one with little or no knowledge of federal estate and gift tax law the treatise begins with a treatment of what knowledge is required to file a tax return, proceeds with a treatment of how to prepare and file a tax return (with examples of tax forms and sample computations and ends with a treatment of procedures to be followed in representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service and in the federal courts.

Patterns of American Legal Thought By G. Edward White

In Patterns of American Legal Thought, Professor G. Edward White gathers ten of his previously published articles on the history and development of American legal thought into a single volume.In publishing this collection he seeks to offer a perspective on what he considers significant forces in the development of American legal thought. He contends that many present studies too readily adopt traditional techniques of historical analysis that so frequently focus on the "legislative session" or the "economic marketplace." Professor White encourages legal historians to abandon this traditional legislative and economic analysis and adopt new methods of inquiry into legal history. He identifies three patterns in American legal thought that he argues have been overlooked by legal historians-the influences of scholarly thought, the contributions of individual judges, and the role of the Constitution.

Recovery of Damages for Lost Profits By Robert L. Dunn.

Noting the absence of a comprehensive analytical work on the recovery of lost profits damages, Robert L. Dunn seeks in this book to provide the practicing attorney with a resource tool that would significantly reduce research and other preparation in claiming or defending against lost profits damages. The result is an extensive compilation of case law in the area of lost profits recovery that attempts not only to treat the significant issues likely to be encountered by the commercial litigant but also to identify major trends and to provide guidelines for both defendant's and plaintiffs counsel.

Download
COinS