Book Review: Privacy in Peril by James B. Rule

Rule, James B. 2007. Privacy in peril: How we are sacrificing a fundamental right in exchange for security and convenience. New York: Oxford University Press. 232 pages. $15.95.

James B. Rule’s Privacy in Peril splashes a cold glass of reality on readers unaware of private industry’s and the government’s legal use of our personal and private data.  In his latest book, Rule, a Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at U.C. Berkeley, uses his 1973 book, Private Lives & Public Surveillance, as a springboard to discuss the history of surveillance and data collection, as well as the radical changes in technology and public opinion since the 1970s.  Rule argues the biggest threat to our privacy is not computer hackers and identity thieves, but rather the legalized surveillance, collection, and use of personal data by the government, credit, insurance, and advertising industries, and other interested third parties.  Rule writes that we too willingly hand over our personal information in the name of security and convenience.  However, we fail to realize that once we consent, we can no longer control how our information is used and to whom it is given.  Ultimately, Rule argues the solution lies not in technology-policy reform, but rather, in large-scale political and ethical changes.  These changes include widespread acceptance “that more privacy will often mean less efficiency- less profit, less convenience, more institutional waste, and sometimes less safety and justice.”

Privacy in Peril’s educational value, length, and price make it an appropriate addition to any academic law library.  However, if your library already owns the 2007 hardbound edition, there is no need to purchase the 2009 paperback edition because Rule has added no new content.  Overall, this exciting, yet ominous read packs a considerable amount of history and insight into a mere 200 pages.  The book is divided into four parts (“The Making of an Issue,” “Government Surveillance,” “Personal Data in the Marketplace: Credit, Insurance, and Advertising,” and “The Future of Privacy”) and numerous subparts.  The book also contains a bibliography and fairly detailed index considering the book’s brevity.

Privacy in Peril’s true worth lies in the rich historical and international context Rule provides for his arguments.   I found it fascinating not only to learn about the history of surveillance and data collection in our country, but also to see the similarities and differences with Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and France.  Such international and historical comparisons allow the reader to more fully understand the erosion of privacy rights worldwide and how the U.S. is both influencing and being influenced by other countries.

Unfortunately, while Rule does rely on credible sources, the number of endnotes is rather slim (about 25 per part).  Moreover, the 2009 paperback release of Rule’s 2007 Privacy in Peril has not been updated.  Thus, someone looking for current information will be frustrated to discover that most of the documents and examples on which Rule relies are from 2005 or earlier.  Five years can be a lifetime with technology-driven issues, such as privacy.

Despite its shortcomings, Privacy in Peril is not only an educational and entertaining read, but also a strong addition to an academic law library’s privacy law collection.  Unlike other books on privacy, such as Daniel J. Solove’s Understanding Privacy, Privacy in Peril does not focus on abstract or theoretical concepts of privacy.  Instead, Rule provides us with concrete examples and comparisons which many students and researchers will find refreshing.

Donna J. Bowman, Research and Faculty Services Librarian- Underwood Law Library-SMU Dedman School of Law

Book Review: International Development Law

International Development Law: Rule of Law, Human Rights, & Global Finance. Rumu Sarkar. Oxford University Press, 2009. ($95.00 | 496 pages | Hardcover: 9780195398281).

“While other areas of law may be more strictly aimed at producing legal outcomes that may be considered “just,” international development law also broadly captures an underlying element of equity that is directed toward poverty alleviation in order to elevate the human condition.” (International Development Law, Sarkar, pp. 124-125).

Modernism, IBRD, dependency theory, Zimbabwe, ICESCR, Weber, Janus Law Principle, ROL, Hobbes, Mexico, Czech Republic, UNIDROIT, Locke, India… it goes on and on—theories, acronyms, names, places. At first glance, 496 pages of international development and finance law appeared to be frighteningly confusing and more than a little boring, especially since I never took the time in my studies to more than touch on philosophy, business/economics, or political science. However, I have to commend Dr. Rumu Sarkar—she managed to make this bewildering topic both interesting and easy to learn.

There is a huge amount of historical and philosophical information packed into International Development Law, with smatterings of anthropological and sociological thoughts here and there, that provides a text covering the complex legal & financial issues involved in international development. And Sarkar does it in an easy to read, well-organized manner (the glossary, abbreviations list, and index are nothing to sneeze at either). The footnotes are often very helpful in providing not just her citations (to material in journals, newspapers, law reviews, books, the Internet—all over the place) but further explanations of information touched on in the main text. Though there are times when the text reads a bit repetitive, most of the time the repetition aids the reader as she re-phrases a concept to increase understanding. There are also enough typos to be noticeable; yet this is not necessarily a reflection on the author. I would recommend this book for any academic or firm library, definitely, as an academic treatise as well as a helpful guide for practicing attorneys in international development law.

Dr. Rumu Sarkar has written a treatise that combines academic insights into development law with her experiences as a practitioner. She often describes a theory or principle and then uses a real-world situation to detail the results of applying said theory. Sarkar uses a multi-disciplinary approach, beginning with the historical roots of development, and follows the legal principles formed throughout the past century. Additionally, she provides an in-depth analysis of the “human right to development”, again covering the history, theory and application of the concept then providing some thoughts for the future surrounding this question. Part II of the book links the history and theory in Part I with the global financial systems from the past several decades, including international borrowing, privatization, and how emerging capital economies today are changing development. An underlying theme throughout the book turns on the need to understand and make decisions using a contextual approach as opposed to following one or another specific theory. And though Sarkar writes much about the historical foundations of international development law, she uses this background to build a framework for the future of this complex area of law.

Though this is the first edition of International Development Law, I wouldn’t rule out future editions. Dr. Sarkar has also published Development Law and International Finance, which is in its second edition.

Katie Lynn is the Electronic Services Librarian at the Wyoming State Law Library in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Book Review: Movie Therapy For Law Students (and pre-law, paralegal, and related majors)

Buck, Sonia J., Movie Therapy for Law Students (And Pre-Law, Paralegal and Related Majors).  Bloomington, IN, AuthorHouse, 2009, soft bound, 194p. 

Book Review by Christine I. Hepler, Associate  Director, Garbrecht Law Library, University of Maine School of Law

 Movie Therapy for Law Students is an excellent resource that should be included in every academic law library.  I say this for two reasons.  First, the faculty could use this book to facilitate classroom discussion.  Learning the law is often done through the use of hypotheticals.  This book provides law professors with interesting hypotheticals that keep the students engaged in the class and the material being taught.  Second, this is a great resource for students who want to review the concepts they are learning in the classroom.  As suggested by the author, law students can now turn their movie watching into a guilt free review session.  Furthermore, I suggest that law professors get to work developing new hypotheticals for their classes.  Pop some popcorn and enjoy the movies!

I was drawn to Movie Therapy for Law Students, written by Sonia Buck, for a two reasons.  First, the author is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law where I am the Associate Director of the Garbrecht Law Library, as well as a proud alum (Class of 1996).  Sonia Buck was a 1L when I returned to work at the University of Maine School of Law after a seven year stint in Southern California.  I remember Sonia and the other members of the Class of 2005 fondly.  They were a fun class filled with very smart, but more importantly, genuinely nice people.  Second, I came across this title after I had just returned from the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting.  At the annual meeting I attended a session on teaching techniques used to keep students engaged during the class.  Part of that session included the use of scenes from the movie Fracture to teach some concepts in legal research.  Sitting at this session reminded me of when I was a law student.  Like most law students, I found it very difficult to watch any television programs or movies that involved some aspect of the legal system without putting my new found knowledge to use.  My constant refrain was “They can’t do that,” whether it was L.A. Law, Law & Order , The Firm, or Twelve Angry Men.  I was instantly curious about the lessons I could learn from the movies included in this book and wondered how I might be able to use them in the classes I teach.

In Movie Therapy for Law Students, Ms. Buck compiles an interesting mix of movies to discuss, including classics like 12 Angry Men and To Kill A Mockingbird, as well as current favorites like Erin Brockovich, My Cousin Vinny, and The Firm, covering legal concepts in several areas of law, such as business law, criminal law, criminal procedure, civil procedure, contracts, evidence, torts, family law, intellectual property, and ethics.  Each entry in the book provides the reader with a brief description of the movie’s plot, and a detailed analysis of the legal issues involved in the movie.  The author provides clear headings at the beginning of each new issue she discusses, making it easy to switch gears with each new issue.  Furthermore, the author provides ample citation to applicable rules and case law to support the assertions she makes.  After discussing the issues, she then provides the reader with applicable “Exam Tips,” for either law school exams or the bar exam.  I often found myself wishing I had these tips when I was in law school!

In addition, Ms. Buck made this librarian proud with the finding aids she included in her book.  In addition to a Table of Content, Ms. Buck included a list of the movies by subject matter, and an alphabetical listing of the movies discussed in her book.  Law professors and law students are busy people, without a great deal of time to waste.  These two features make it easy to jump through the book to find all of the movies on a particular legal topic.  This makes it easier for professors to find movies that discuss the issues in which they are interested and law students are provided with a movie guide from which they can choose only the movies that discuss the issues they need to review. 

We live in a society that loves to go to the movies.  Movie Therapy for Law Students has renewed my interest in legal movies and there are many movies discussed in Ms. Buck’s book that I cannot wait to watch.  As professors, the ultimate goal is to find methods to better convey the concepts we wish to teach.  Using movies to teach them legal concepts and strategies will keep the students interested in the discussion topics and they will learn more.  Maybe I will come across some issues about legal research that I can convey in a more interesting fashion, rather than by just standing in the front of the room lecturing the students.   I better get to work developing my new hypotheticals.  See you at the movies!

Christine Hepler is associate director at the University of Maine School of Law Donald L. Garbrecht Law Library in Portland.

Review: Why Don’t Students Like School: A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom, by Daniel T. Willingham

Why Don’t Students Like School: A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom, by Daniel T. Willingham (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass) 2009. 180 pages hardcover, index, table of contents, illustrations, endnotes. $24.95
Reviewed by Betsy McKenzie, Suffolk University Law Library

I highly recommend this book to libraries of all types, especially academic libraries.
This book is designed for teachers, though it would be interesting as well to parents and to students who would like to increase their learning retention and enjoyment. In it, Willingham makes a number of points useful to teachers at all levels, from kindergarten through college and post-graduate levels. The book is easy to read, and moderately entertaining. The points are easy to pull out of the text, laid out in special fonts and boxes. There are entertaining illustrations and puzzles to help make his points.

The book builds chapter by chapter, taking the reader through cognitive theory and applying the author’s expertise to the teaching arena. Dr. Willingham is a highly regarded cognitive scientist teaching at University of Virginia, but he seems to be very good at translating from his specialized field for others. I did not really catch fire reading this book, feeling that I saw a strong connection between this book and my own thinking about the problems of teaching legal research, until about two thirds of the way through.

Suddenly, at page 104, Willingham is talking about the difference between experts and novices:

… transfer [of previous learning to new situations] is so difficult because novices tend to focus on surface features [that is the surface difference between problems] and are not very good at seeing the abstract, functional relationships among problems that are key to solving them [that is, seeing the abstract similarities that make problems analogous, so one can transfer the solution of a previous problem to the new problem]. Well that is what experts are great at. They have representations of problems and situations in their long-term memories and those representations are abstract. That’s why experts are able to ignore unimportant details and home in on useful information; thinking functionally makes it obvious what’s important. That’s also why they show good transfer to new problems. New problems differ in surface structure, but experts recognize the deep, abstract structure. That’s also why their judgments usually are sensible, even if they are not quite right.

This is what lawyers and librarians mean when they say, “You get a feel for the shape of the law.” They mean that after you do enough legal research, you begin to see the underlying similarities that let you solve the research problem by recognizing the abstract, functional relationship to previous research problems you have solved, which may look on the surface like very different problems. And you can very quickly guess where the answer will lie, and look for it much more efficiently. But it has never been something I could articulate for students any more clearly than the little quip about knowing the shape of the law.

I now have a way to articulate for my students what I am trying to do with the classroom discussions. If they will discuss and argue about what they find, not to show me or get my approval, but to explain to themselves and help themselves see what they know and how they came to know it, they will be stepping much farther along the path toward making themselves into experts. They will be taking the time they spent on the worksheets and supercharging it, by making it into a much richer experience.
The index is a good one, and the table of contents is very helpful. The illustrations and boxes that pull the points out of the text will make this book easy to pull off the shelf and remind myself quickly what the various points in each chapter were about. But I think the reason I recommend this book and will keep it on hand is the inspiration I found in it, and the help in articulating my own, scarcely verbalized, but strongly felt thoughts about teaching legal research and learning all kinds of skills.

Besty McKenzie is director of the Suffolk University Law Library in Boston.

Book Review: Criminal Law Conversations

Criminal Law Conversations.  Paul H. Robinson, Stephen P. Garvey, and Kimberly Kessler Ferzan, Editors.  Oxford University Press, 2009.  ($150 | 768 pages | Hardcover: 978-0-19-539163-3).

 

Criminal Law Conversations is a collection of thirty-one dialogues between multiple legal scholars on particular issues of criminal law.  The authors featured include leaders in the field, and the topics investigated are all current, if not cutting edge.  There is enough material covered to justify the volume’s expense and place in academic law libraries or the library of anyone interested in criminal law.

The most notable aspect of the book is its format.  The editors began by setting up a website and soliciting criminal law scholars to nominate works they thought worthy of discussion.  Articles and book excerpts garnering substantial support were then condensed by their respective authors, and the pooled scholars were invited to draft their own substantial comments to the texts.  The original authors then provided their own responses to these comments.  The final result was a collection of thirty-one “conversations” on a range of topics within the subject of criminal law, each including the opinions of an original author and a handful of interested commentators.

One of these dialogues begins with Meir Dan-Cohen’s theory on the differences between what he calls decision rules and conduct rules.  His initial article divides aspects of criminal law and procedure into these different groups and explores the relationship between them.  In a series of replies six legal scholars (including ones hailing from Portugal and Canada) criticize different aspects of Dan-Cohen’s article, and these replies are immediately followed by a response on Dan-Cohen’s part conceding some points while disputing others.  The major benefit of Criminal Law Conversation’s approach is that this entire discussion takes place in thirty adjacent pages of a single volume.  Arguments are not scattered across journals and years.  Moreover, the original author addresses each of the other scholars’ comments in his response, something authors of controversial law review articles not included in this compendium might or might not get around to doing.

A conversation on the effects of remorse and mercy in the criminal justice system, originating with an article of Jeffrie G. Murphy’s, explores the effect a defendant’s apology may have on sentencing or the grant of clemency.  Several of the replies discuss problems in gauging the authenticity or voluntary nature of any remorse shown.  Joshua Dressler begins a conversation with an examination of the role of provocation in the defense of excuse.  There are responses arguing that provocation belongs in the context of a justification defense instead.  Whitley R.P. Kaufman explores the imminence requirement in self-defense, particularly in the cases of “battered woman situations.”  Responding scholars take issue with Kaufman’s attempt to distinguish imminence from necessity and ascribe a political motivation to its requirement, some by offering up their own examinations of the history of the imminence rule (including the role of eighteenth-century English philosophers) and its continued successes and failings in different situations.

Each of these discussions might have taken years to organically unfold via the usual publishing model for legal scholars.  Instead, thirty-one dialogues like these fill Criminal Law Conversations, providing a thorough examination of each issue by a number of scholars actually engaging each other’s arguments.  It is not a comprehensive source, dealing only with those criminal law topics that happened to be both the subject of recent study and of interest to a significant amount of the scholarly pool consulted.  Nevertheless, it is an extremely worthwhile source for those criminal law subjects it happens to cover.  The format, though an interesting and useful twist, might soon be completely supplanted by law journal websites and professors’ blogs, which will only feature more engagement between multiple scholars on a topic as they grow in popularity.  In this way, Criminal Law Conversations might even be a harbinger of future scholarly engagement.

Reviewed by Jacob Sayward, Serials Librarian at Fordham Law’s Leo T. Kissam Memorial Library

Book Review of Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter, 2007 edition

Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter. Edited by Michael A. Newton. Oxford University Press, 2009. Hardcover, Bound. Volume 1-2, 1578 pages. $120.00 per volume.

Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter, 2007 is the first edition of a projected annual series publication. This reporter compiles select terrorism cases from around the world including cases from both domestic jurisdictions and a variety of international tribunals and bodies. The only commentary contained in this reporter is the editor’s introduction. The editor, Michael A. Newton, is a Professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and has extensive expertise in terrorism and international law. According to Professor Newton’s introduction, Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter is designed to provide researchers and practitioners an overview of terrorism jurisprudence. I recommend this reporter for a law library that serves policymakers or researchers interested in terrorism jurisprudence. It will not be useful to many practitioners because its scope is too broad and because it is not clear if future editions will provide a mechanism to update the cases. Researchers interested in terrorism jurisprudence may be able to find the cases located in this reporter using other means, but this publication is convenient because it pulls the cases together in an organized fashion. In addition, the Oxford University Press website boasts that many cases contained in this reporter are translated into English for the first time. This edition of the reporter contains decisions from 2007, but some earlier decisions are included. In his introduction, Professor Newton indicates that a select number of opinions decided prior to 2007 were necessary to illustrate the development of counterterrorism law.

Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter is user friendly. The cases are organized by subject. Both volumes include a detailed list of subjects. The main subject headings the cases are categorized under include: Terrorism and National Security in General; Constitutional Challenges, Human Rights, and Civil Liberties; Financial Aspects of Terrorism; and Specific Regions. The main subject headings are further divided into subtopics. Each volume contains a table of contents that includes the subjects addressed in that particular volume. Additionally, the reporter contains an individual table of contents in the beginning of each sub topical section that lists the corresponding cases alphabetically. If a given case addresses multiple subtopics listed in the reporter, the full case appears under the subtopic that is the primary focus of the opinion, and then cross-referenced in appropriate individual table of contents. For additional research ease, the second volume contains a Subject Index of Cases and a Consolidated Table of Cases. Professor Newton indicates in the introduction that cases in later editions, beginning with the 2008 edition, will contain editorial enhancements including headnotes and key words.

The Oxford University Press website indicates that Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter contains the full opinions of cases referred to in the first and second series of Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control, which is a voluminous and expensive loose-leaf that examines the evolution of terrorism over a span of twenty-five years. A library would not have to purchase Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control to use Terrorism: International Case Law Reporter. I could not determine if this reporter will be available in an electronic format. If it is not available electronically, Oxford University Press should consider an electronic format for this publication in the future.

Alyssa Folse, Reference and Instructional Services Librarian, Stetson University College of Law

Book Review: Copyright Law Deskbook, by Robert W. Clarida

Clarida, Robert W. Copyright Law Deskbook. BNA Books, 2009 ($395.00 / 857 pgs / 978-1-57018-691-2 / hardcover with CD-ROM cumulative case digest (1993-2008)).

It is difficult to overstate the importance of a work like the Copyright Law Deskbook, a one-volume compendium that serves as a useful summary of current copyright law. This very practical, portable work draws together the important cases and organizes them in a topical arrangement with commentary, explaining how the cases do (or do not) fit together.

Instead of an impassioned plea for one or another view about some point of controversy, the reader gets a useful statement of what the law is that can help both the seasoned practitioner and the copyright newcomer answer everyday questions. As one who is sometimes asked whether this or that practice is protected by the fact that an educational purpose would be served, for instance, I find it a pleasure to have Clarida’s chapter on fair use, which includes a two-page summary of how courts have viewed educational use when weighing the various fair use factors.

It is extremely helpful to have this reference work in one volume, albeit a hefty one. The Deskbook includes several appendices, one of them a CD-ROM that holds a 15 year case digest covering notable copyright cases from 1993 through 2008. In an academic law library, one groans to see a CD-ROM accompany a book, because it usually requires special storage and handling apart from the book to ensure that the disk does not disappear. Fortunately, the BNA Books Agreement that accompanies the work gives permission to make one copy of the CD-ROM for archival purposes, which helps to reduce the groan to a grimace.

There is no indication of how often the CD-ROM will be reissued, but one hopes that consideration will be given to a Web-based platform rather than a CD-ROM to update the case summaries. For now, cases with citations to BNA’s United States Patents Quarterly (USPQ and USPQ 2d) have links that take the reader to BNA’s Intellectual Property Library on the Web for the full text. Subscribers to the BNA IP Library must enter their password and user ID to access the full text, while non-subscribers can use a link on the sign-in page to request a one-time-only temporary password that gives 15 days of access to full text with a temporary password and user ID. Our library uses IP validation for the BNA IP Library, which makes access simple, so I am not certain how hospitable the temporary password option will seem to non-subscribers.

The Deskbook was assembled with a practitioner in mind, as evidenced by an appendix of forms. The forms are reproductions, in tiny print, of various registration forms used by the Copyright Office and readily available from their Web site. For a practitioner unaccustomed to finding such things, it may be useful to read the forms first, although the tiny print is a hindrance and there is no introduction to point the reader to the Copyright Office Web site. A more useful appendix might have included contact information for the Copyright Office as well as URLs for the Web site, but this is a tiny quibble about a small appendix.

One may well ask why the CD-ROM holds only the last 15 years of cases. I think the idea was to cover ‘current’ copyright law, and for most purposes, the past 15 years should suffice. Author Robert Clarida, a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, has written the summaries since 1993, but the firm has for many years summarized copyright decisions for the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. that are published in the Society’s journal. The firm also has had a long relationship with the publisher, Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), since the days when a founding partner of the firm, Alan Latman, took up the revision of Herbert Howell’s 1952 treatise on copyright law. Latman was a very influential figure in the development of copyright law whose casebook is familiar to anyone who took a law school copyright class in the 1980s or 1990s.

The Deskbook is a wonderful addition to any law library, although some will find it too expensive at a time when library budgets are being slashed and some serial costs are going up even more than the usual 7-9%. In addition to law firms, however, I suspect that the many law schools with an intellectual property program will add it, as I will, even though the volume itself will be in the non-circulating stacks, while the CD-ROM case summary will reside in a more supervised area of the library some distance away.

Reviewed by Keith Ann Stiverson, Director of the Library, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, and former chair of the AALL Copyright Committee

Book Review: The View from the First Chair: What Every Trial Lawyer Really Needs to Know

Grayson, Martin L. The View from the First Chair: What Every Trial Lawyer Really Needs to Know. LawyerAvenue Press, 2009. ($45, 176 pages, Paperback: 978-0-940675-66-7).

With his 25 years of litigation experience on maritime, oil & gas, transportation, insurance, and corporate cases, Grayson is a seasoned litigator intent on mentoring associates interested or working in litigation through his work, View from the First Chair: What Every Trial Lawyer Really Needs to Know.

 

 

View from the First Chair is a good start for the new associate or law student looking for an easy read on trial work and exposes the realities of being the first or second chair for a trial. It is a succinct beginner’s guide with only 147 pages of actual content (excluding the appendix and introduction) and generous line spaces.  Key tips are highlighted to reinforce their relevance in actual practice and the text reads as though Grayson is speaking with the reader in his office offering advice.

The simple table of contents moves along with the timeline of a trial, giving the reader a sense of what to do, how to report to clients, and other key information that is not taught in law school, but by experience.  With its conversational tone, the book is a virtual mentor for associates new to the world of litigation and gives the associate a sense of the mental constitution required for trial preparation.  The chapters are not too long and don’t bore as though Grayson is factoring in the demands on an associate’s time.  There aren’t any footnotes, but occasionally a link is printed on the bottom of the page advertising the author’s or the publisher’s websites.

Since the text assumes the reader is an associate or law student, it doesn’t focus on caselaw, but rather on practice tips and real world examples.  Some of his examples detail dramatic interactions with opposing counsel, unexpected witness testimony, and highlight the importance of having organized case files to maximize efficiency.  Furthermore, Grayson expands on the psychology of being a trial lawyer and the need to be professional in all circumstances to promote one’s client’s case.

The book does not have an index, although it does have an appendix with a sample report to the client that readers can adapt for their own purposes.  There are examples of letters, memos, and reports scattered in the chapters to illustrate the author’s emphasis on concise, clear legal writing.

I recommend this book for law firm libraries that specialize in litigation as it details common sense for trial lawyers and it would be a good read for a new associate to begin to understand his or her profession.

Reviewed by Esther Cho, Reference/Government Documents Librarian, Loyola Law School.

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (second edition) by Manfred B. Steger

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (second edition) by Manfred B. Steger is part of a series published by Oxford University Press. Each book in the series gives a quick overview of a topic and addresses key issues that may relate to the topic. Globalization is a great jumping-off point for anyone who wants to dig deeper into the subject, but it is also a brilliant overview for anyone who is purely interested in learning more about the causes and effects of globalization. This book is a concise, uncomplicated and very readable explanation of a very important process in the world today. Steger does an excellent job of remaining objective when examining the positive and negative consequences of the globalization process and astutely evaluates its role in world development.

While most writers on the subject focus on economic globalization, Steger acknowledges that the process is broken down into other key components, including historical, political, cultural, ecological, and ideological aspects – while keeping in mind its operation as an interacting whole.

The book starts out with a deconstruction of Osama bin Laden in order to illustrate the intricate and sometimes contradictory social dynamics of globalization. Steger then moves on to a definition of the concept – “the term globalization applies to a set of social processes that appear to transform our present social condition of weakening nationality into one of globality.”  Globalization is not a single process but a set of processes that operate simultaneously and unevenly on several levels and in various dimensions. As background, Steger discusses five influential definitions of globalization, also considering some objections raised by “globalization skeptics.”

In chapter two, Steger examines the history of globalization. While many commentators maintain that globalization is a relatively new phenomenon, Steger contends that the answer to the question of whether globalization constitutes a new phenomenon depends on how far we are willing to extend the chain of causation that resulted in those recent technologies and social arrangements that most people have come to associate with the fashionable buzzword. In fact, he gives examples of how cultural exchanges can be traced back to the prehistoric period.

Chapter three dissects the economic dimensions of globalization.  The book gives details about the emergence of the global economic order, including the internationalization of trade and finance, and the power of transnational corporations (TNCs). Steger also examines the history and role of the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO. He points out that these three institutions enjoy the privileged position of making and enforcing the rules of a global economy that is sustained by significant power differentials between the global North and South.  He goes on to concede that the growing power of TNCs has profoundly altered the structure and functioning of the international economy. As a consequence, TNCs are extremely important players that influence the economic, political, and social welfare of many nations.

The chapter on the political dimension of globalization (chapter 4) did an excellent of analyzing the intensification and expansion of political interrelations across the globe. Steger begins with a discussion of the origins of the modern nation-state system, which can be traced backed to the seventeenth-century in Europe. He moves on from there to discuss hyper globalization and the rise of a “borderless world.”  The chapter concludes with a look at the visible rise of supraterritorial institutions and associations, using the European Union as an example.

When exploring cultural globalization, rather than offering a laundry list of relevant topics, Steger focuses chapter 5 on the tension between sameness and difference in the emerging global culture; the crucial role of TNCs in disseminating popular culture; and the globalization of languages. This chapter also considers such concepts as “Americanization” and “McDonaldization.” And, surprisingly, Steger notes that given the current rate of decline in languages, some linguists predict that 50-90 percent of the world’s languages will have disappeared before the end of the twenty-first century.

In chapter 6, the book turns its attention to the ecological dimension of globalization. Steger begins by acknowledging that the ecological impacts of globalization are increasingly recognized as the most significant. He goes on to note that the scale, speed, and depth of the Earth’s environmental decline have been unprecedented, and unless we are willing to change the underlying cultural and religious value structure that has combined with the social and economic dynamics of unrestrained capital accumulation, the health of Mother Earth is likely to deteriorate further. This chapter also does a wonderful job of identifying major manifestations and consequences of global environmental degradation and recognizes that they are all global issues.

Steger distinguishes between globalization and three types of globalism – market globalism, jihadist globalism, and justice globalism in chapter 7. Globalization is a social process, while globalism is an ideology that endows a concept of globalization with a particular concept or value. He considers market globalism the dominant ideology of our time, and believes that there are five major ideological claims of market globalism. When discussing justice globalism, the book uses, by way of example, the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 to highlight this emerging social justice movement. Steger does an excellent job of using the 9/11 attack to illustrate the devastating effect that jihadist globalism can have, highlighting the fact that Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda terrorists fed on the perceived “Americanization” of the world to justify their actions. 

Chapter 8, capping off the introduction, contains a brief assessment of the future of globalization. Steger ends his discussion by asking the question, “Will the global fight against terrorism lead to more extensive forms of international cooperation and interdependence, or might it stop the powerful momentum of globalizations?” Without giving an answer, the book concludes that only time will tell what path globalization takes. Steger does emphasize that nothing can be accomplished without a moral compass and an ethical polestar guiding our collective efforts.

Maureen Anderson is associate professor at the University of Dayton Zimmerman Law Library in Ohio.

Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges

JUSTICE SCALIA TO ATTORNEYS: PERSUADE ME…

By Claudia Cook
Claudia Cook is a Reference Librarian at the
Bernard E. Witkin Alameda County Law Library
She can be reached at Claudia.Cook@acgov.org.

      
Making your case: The art of persuading judges, Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan E. Garner, ThomsonWest, May 2008

“Don’t underestimate the importance of facts.”

This volume discusses both the substance and style of legal writing designed to persuade judges. The judicial perspective is from Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia is known for his keen wit and trenchant legal reasoning and writing. The co-author is Bryan E. Garner, Editor of Black’s Law Dictionary, among other works, who certainly knows his legal vocabulary.

The book covers general principles of argumentation, legal reasoning, briefing and oral argument. The authors maintain a conversational tone, using idioms and anecdotes and quotes from Cicero to present day jurists. It is an entertaining read like Woe Is I and other good for you books. It succeeds by all its own criteria. The authors argue that this style would benefit legal writing and advocacy in general, especially in briefs and oral arguments.

It is well organized and even the index uses the same breezy yet informative tone, including such terms as “emotion”, “stopping when judge interrupts”, “words and phrases to avoid” and “voir dire, pronunciation of”.  It is also very thorough; the subheadings under “briefs” are almost a full page long.  It also speaks to authority, including headings of “court rules”, “case law” and “citations”.

Stylistically, some suggestions are to avoid jargon, clichés and unnecessary Latin terms. (See Index heading “words and phrases to avoid”.) Doesn’t “in the instant case” simply mean “in this case”? Use “this or that action” instead of “such action,” replace “hearinbefore” with “earlier” and “pursuant to” with “under.”

 You can make persuasive arguments without using archaic phrases.

“Make it interesting” by considering more colorful words, mixing up sentence length and structure. Short sentences can pack a punch. All of this is to make your stellar legal arguments stand out and be memorable, but not at the expense of the substance of your case.

Pronunciation counts. The comedian Lenny Bruce said that if Einstein had pronounced it “nucular” fission, no one would have taken him seriously. (Although Jimmy Carter did call himself a “Nucular” engineer.)

They explore what motivates judges and equally what irritates, annoys and is “most likely not to succeed with judges.”  Common wisdom is that a “jury argument” will almost certainly not be a good “judge argument”.  Juries may be persuaded by blatant appeals to emotion and sentimentality whereas these authors characterize this kind of tactic in front of judges as “misconduct”.  Many judges also find such appeals insulting to their intelligence, assuming as it does that judges are on the same level intellectually as a juror or other layperson.

What does motivate judges is that, for basics, attorneys understand and convey forcefully and convincingly what they want the court to do, they understand and articulate whether this is within the court’s power to do, and attorneys convince them that what they are asking for is the best solution for now and for the future.

While appeal courts are not “fact courts”, “facts should not be overestimated.”  But appellate judges unlike trial judges are concerned not only with justice for the individual but also with public policy and how this decision may play out in the broad picture down the road.

They point out the fallacy that oral argument is not nearly as important as briefs and other pleadings. During oral argument, attorneys should maintain a presentation style that projects a respectful equality with the judge. They should listen closely, and restrain emotions such as anger or contempt toward other parties. Employ the masterful use of a pause.

And finally, never, ever ask for extra pages!