Legal practice is riddled with claims about when the law is or isn’t “clear.” If a statute is unclear or ambiguous, a court might defer to an agency, side in favor of lenity, or avoid interpretations that would render the statute unconstitutional.
Engineers training an artificially intelligent self-flying drone were perplexed.
In the 2011 case of Turner v Rogers, the United States Supreme Court held that a father jailed for a year by a family court judge for nonpayment of child support was not entitled to a public defender.
The judiciary are different than you and me, not just because they have life tenure, but because they spend years being petitioned by real people.
Administrative adjudication is poised for avulsive change. The Supreme Court recently pronounced some administrative law judges (ALJs) constitutional officers that must be appointed by the President, a department head, or a court of law.
At first glance, patent law might seem the least likely place to look for Judge Richard Posner’s impact on the law.
Richard Posner was certainly the most able judge in the history of tort law and in the development and deployment of law and economics.
The hallmark of Judge Posner’s class action decisions is rigorous review to ensure that aggregate litigation serves the best interests of class members and does not unduly pressure defendants to settle.
Many of Richard Posner’s opinions boldly confront great questions. But equally important are those that, in the aggregate, illuminate discrete areas of the law and make them easier to understand.
Richard Posner is the most prolific federal judge and academic in the history of American law.
