Category: Uncategorized
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Rethinking the Billable Hour – Is It Time for a Change?
Maizie Lawrence* If time is money, then lawyers are basically walking price tags. But I can’t help but ask: at what cost? Every six-minute increment of work is tracked. Every task is assigned a dollar value. Every second is more valuable than the last. But again: at what cost? Inefficiency? Exhaustion? Burnout? It’s no wonder…
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Out of Step: Why State High Courts Should Interpret State Constitutions to Provide Greater Protections Against Police Searches
Tom Burnett* State high courts should not seek uniformity with federal law and other states concerning the rules for police searches. Instead, state courts should interpret their own constitutions and, when appropriate, find greater protections under their constitutional provisions than those afforded by the Fourth Amendment. By not lockstepping with the US Constitution, state high…
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The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Job Recruiting and its Legal Risks
Elizabeth Edinger* The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is inevitable, especially for those in the legal profession. It has been stated that AI has the potential to automate routine tasks and boost productivity for lawyers, saving lawyers up to four hours per week and generating $100,000 in new billable time per lawyer each year. Recently,…
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From EIC to EIC, an Interview with Ryan Palmer, the First Editor-in-Chief of the St. Thomas Law Journal, About the Creation of the Law Journal
Julia Abreu Siufi* “Any structure must be built on a solid foundation and the cornerstones of the foundation are the most significant part of it.” The University of St. Thomas School of Law was founded in 1999. Since its founding, it has thrived, and it is now ranked as number 98 in the country. A…
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Famous Female Characters Who Shaped Legal History and Pop Culture
By Lily Fredericks* With March being Women’s History Month, there is no better time to remind ourselves of the female legal characters in television and movies that we all know and love. From Elle Woods’ pink-powered brilliance to Annalise Keating’s fierce courtroom strategies, female legal characters in pop culture have played a major role in…
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What’s the Tea?
Matthew Siegler* In 1662, King Charles II married Princess Catherine of Braganza. Within Princess Catherine’s dowry was the Portuguese territory of ‘Bom Bahia’ (today’s Bombay), but the most proliferating item may have been mere tea. Tea had been within the United Kingdom’s border prior to 1662, but Princess Catherine’s is charged within popularizing tea among…
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The Devastating Consequences of Confusing Poverty with Neglect in Child Welfare Cases
Kimberly Blaney* The child welfare system—tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of children—frequently faces complex cases that require discerning judgment. However, one persistent and devastating issue within this system is the conflation of poverty with neglect. Mistaking economic hardship for parental failure can lead to unnecessary family separations, long-term trauma for children, and systemic…
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Legal Challenges Surrounding the Summit Carbon Solutions Pipeline
Kate Sargent* Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed an $8.9 billion, 2,500-mile carbon pipeline transporting carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants across five states. Ethanol plants are responsible for turning corn into fuel; this fermentation process emits carbon dioxide. The company is partnering with fifty-seven ethanol plants across Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska…
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Words Aside: How the Supreme Court Elevated Common Law Above Constitutional Text in Hans v. Louisiana
Jennifer Stegeman* Be honest, did you know that sovereign immunity is not an enumerated constitutional protection for states? Rather, the sovereign immunity doctrine as we know it today comes from Hans v. Louisiana, and the Court pointing out an inherent illogic in allowing citizens to sue states. In Hans, the Court looked to the Eleventh…
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Women in Law and the Rise of Househusbands
Paige Dobberstein* In my senior year of college, I had a conversation with a former female attorney to discuss pursuing law school, and ultimately, a career in law. While the conversation was very informative, there was one aspect that struck me as rather unsettling—the transparency regarding the challenge women face balancing a family with a…
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