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‘Renegade for Justice’ by Stephen Saltonstall

'Renegade for Justice' by Stephen Saltonstall

Stephen Lee Saltonstall has authored Renegade for Justice, Defending the Defenseless in an Outlaw Worlda memoir detailing Saltonstall’s career as a public interest lawyer.

From the book’s description:

“This is a book of courtroom war stories, drawn from my forty years of experience as an obscure lawyer for the underdog and the downtrodden.” So beginsRenegade for Justice, a memoir of a public interest lawyer driven by the cause of justice. While the stories Stephen Saltonstall tells are entertaining, they are also instructive, providing, as he says, “an insider look at the American justice system, which is rigged against the poor and people of color and tolerates police perjury.”

Renegade for Justicebegins by telling the story of how and why a privileged kid from Cambridge, Massachusetts, broke from family tradition and devoted his professional life to defending the defenseless in

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An estimated 6 million American adults carried a loaded handgun with them daily in 2019, double the number who said they carried a gun every day in 2015, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The new estimates highlight a decades-long shift in American gun ownership, with increasing percentages of gun owners saying they own firearms for self-defense, not hunting or recreation, and choosing to carry a gun with them when they go out in public, said ​Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington, and the study’s lead author.

A landmark supreme court case this summer overturned a New York law that placed strict limits on public gun-carrying, ruling, for the first time, that Americans had a constitutional right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.

While recent surveys show that nearly a third of American adults say

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Every year, state courts process millions of low-dollar but highly consequential cases that shape the lives of Americans. Debt collection, eviction, foreclosure, and child support actions have long dominated civil court dockets and case volume is on the rise. Debt collection claims have more than doubled over the past twenty years as unsecured consumer credit became more widely available. What’s troubling is that these claims are frequently uncontested, resulting in a high rate of default judgments, seizures of property, wage garnishments, and other modes of enforcement.

The American Law Institute (ALI) recently launched an ambitious project to find a cure for this crippling crisis and they seem to have the perfect “doctor” (the JD/Ph.D. kind) for the job: Stanford Law School Professor David Freeman Engstrom whose impressive CV overflows with all the right credentials and an undeniable devotion to equal access to justice. These are his goals:

The project will

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  • The school does not want “inaccurate information” circulating, its dean said
  • Nine other law schools ranked in the top 14 by US News have said they won’t participate in the rankings

(Reuters) – The University of Chicago Law School on Wednesday became the first elite law school to confirm that it will continue to submit information to US News & World Report for its rankings, amid an exodus that began one week ago.

Law dean Thomas Miles wrote in a message to students that most of its data used in the rankings is already public, and the remainder is “information we have no reason to withhold.” Chicago is ranked No. 3.

“The rankings of academic institutions clearly have a readership, and we wish to prevent the use of inaccurate information,” wrote Miles.

Since last week, nine of the 14 top-ranked US News law schools — known as the T-14 —

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Yesterday I was on a panel at a conference in Warsaw, listening to a retired German professor sitting next to me, saying that Europe is going to lose badly to China, in terms of economic gains, because its workforce is not able to compete in terms of educational rigor. The professor said this is one deleterious effect of open migration, bringing in large numbers of people into Europe who must be educated and accommodated, but who do not have the cultural capital to fully participate in an advanced industrial democracy. The professor’s point was that Europe’s bleeding heart for Third World migrants is rendering it unfit for competition. He mentioned German factories that had relocated to China looking for qualified workers.

I thought about that when I saw this news just now, from the WSJ:

An American Bar Association panel voted Friday to drop a requirement that law school applicants

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News

The American Law Institute Launches Principles Project on High-Volume, High-Stakes, Low-Dollar-Value Civil Claims

The American Law Institute Launches Principles Project on High-Volume, High-Stakes, Low-Dollar-Value Civil Claims

PHILADELPHIA — The American Law Institute’s Council voted today to approve the launch of a Principles of the Law project that will address a serious challenge facing state courts: the adjudication of high-volume, high-stakes, low-dollar-value civil claims. The project will be led by Reporter David Freeman Engstrom of Stanford Law School.

These types of claims, which arise in such areas as debt collection, evictions, home foreclosures, and child support, comprise a significant proportion of state court cases. These types of cases raise unique issues as they are frequently uncontested, resulting in high numbers of default judgments, and typically feature at least one party without a lawyer.

“State court dockets have become dominated by cases that, although smaller-scale and arguably less complex than other types of civil litigation, are decidedly high-stakes for many of the litigants. These

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The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School has launched the Future of the Profession Laba state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary, problem-solving center that will work to address the most significant challenges facing the American legal profession. Jim Sandman, senior consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative (FPI), and a Law School alumnus, will serve as the director of the Lab.

People seated at tables in front of the Penn Law building in the courtyard on a sunny day.

The Lab’s focus will be on pervasive problems and scalable solutions, including enhancing client service by developing new delivery models generated through human-centered design, and promoting the widespread adoption of technologies that democratize law, making it more accessible for people who need to use the legal system at all levels. It will work to simplify court processes to improve efficiency and reduce friction for litigants, lawyers, and judges, and create new approaches to work and workplace environments to enhance talent retention. Additionally, the Lab will work to improve access to justice

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Dillon Yang, a third-year student at Notre Dame Law School, has been awarded one of the highest scholarships from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation. The foundation promotes the development, advancement, leadership, and public service of Asian Pacific Americans in the legal profession and supports law students through its scholarship programs. The $7,500 Presidential Scholarship is awarded to two law students each year. Recipients are selected based on their demonstrated outstanding leadership to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

“Uplifting and serving the AAPI community is a cause that I will work to make a change in the entirety of my legal career. I am happy that I’ve been able to positively impact my communities, and I am deeply honored that the NAPABA Law Foundation and NAPABA president AB Cruz III found me worthy of this high recognition,” said Yang.

Yang currently serves as

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The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a transformative, historic investment in lives and livelihoods across America. It represents a new opportunity for farmers, ranchers, small businesses and rural communities. It is helping the US Department of Agriculture deliver 21st century, high-speed internet for better access to markets, jobs, telemedicine and distance learning. It is increasing community resilience to climate change, drought and wildfire risks. It’s also providing innovative solutions to economic, environmental and social challenges across the nation.

“Investing in infrastructure is essential to American competitiveness and ensuring hard working Americans have the tools and opportunities to build a good life—especially for rural and underserved communities,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Since being signed into law, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is demonstrating how building up American infrastructure enhances competitiveness and improves climate resilience while building a stronger, more equitable and inclusive economy.”

The USDA continues to be a critical part

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News

ALI Elects 32 New Members

ALI Elects 32 New Members

The American Law Institute has elected new members who will bring their expertise to ALI’s work of clarifying the law through Statements, Principles, and Model Codes.

“The American Law Institute’s mission to clarify and modernize the law continues to occupy an important space in today’s legal landscape,” said ALI President David F. Levi. “The work that the Institute produces—to assist the judiciary, to aid legislative reform, and to assist the legal profession and the public—depends on the diverse knowledge and viewpoints of our members as well as their dedication, expertise, and wisdom. It is the collective membership that allows us to produce work that is seldom matched. I have no doubt that this impressive group of newly elected members will help ensure that the Institute’s work remains a reliable resource to the legal community.”

Visit the Newly Elected Members Page to view biographical sketches

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