Law // The Observer

The Observer is a student-run, daily print & online newspaper serving Notre Dame, Saint Mary's & Holy Cross. Learn about us.

News

Justice Brett Kavanaugh teaches seminar at Notre Dame London Gateway; Justice Amy Coney Barrett to teach seminar in coming weeks

Ryan Peters | Wednesday, March 29, 2023

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh recently taught a seminar at Notre Dame’s London Gateway, according to Notre Dame law professor William Kelley. The seminar, co-taught by Kelley and Kavanaugh, focused on advanced constitutional law and ran from March 6 through 10 and concluded March 21. Students discussed with Kavanaugh and Kelley how the Supreme

Viewpoint

A business judgment rule of life

Devin Humphreys | Wednesday, February 15, 2023

In the grand scheme of things, there are not all that many required classes at Notre Dame Law School. Sure, we, like practically any others, have a set of first-year doctrinal courses that we must complete: the standard civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, property and torts. But after 1L, almost every course we

Viewpoint

Footnote nine Chevron: when SCOTUS comes to South Bend

Devin Humphreys | Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Well, I was the Doof. Last October, I wrote a piece in which I laid out my thoughts on how recent cases that had come before the Supreme Court had changed how we should understand the impact of the Chevron doctrine. To remind everyone: the Chevron doctrine sees justices follow a two-step program for figuring

Viewpoint

The machine gun method

Devin Humphreys | Monday, November 21, 2022

When I was in Algebra II my freshman year of high school, we were taught a couple of different ways to solve a quadratic equation. A couple have fallen by the wayside (as we law students do not regularly employ math more complicated than the Hand Formula), but I remember two distinct methods that had

Viewpoint

Antisemitism and the abortion debate

Blake Ziegler | Thursday, November 10, 2022

A common feature of the abortion debate is employing religious rhetoric to justify one’s position. This is especially true among the Religious Right, who frequently reference Christian values and religious teachings to support their position against abortion. However, the Religious Right doesn’t hold a monopoly on religious rhetoric. Although some religions hold a firm stance against abortion, there’s a

Viewpoint

Way beyond too late

Gracie Eppler | Friday, November 4, 2022

‘Shooter in custody. I am okay.’ 10/24/22. 11:22 a.m. Tita Marites’ Facebook features snippets of her colorful life: verdant green vegetables, a red rooster, the bright smiling faces of her sons. And then, last Monday, a shooter broke into her school. I have fallen prey to the vicious and deceptive mind trap of believing that

News

Staff, law student comment on law school admissions change

Emma Duffy | Friday, September 16, 2022

On Aug. 31, Notre Dame Law School announced that they will be terminating their early decision program. This means that all prospective students will now have the ability to apply to the non-binding regular decision application. One’s interest in attending the law school will now no longer be shown through the time they apply, but

Viewpoint

The flags in our case files that are not on point

Devin Humphreys | Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Whether I’m preparing a bench memo for an upcoming case at the Wisconsin Supreme Court for Justice Brian Hagedorn, backing up a hot take I’m putting in my scholarly writing or giving myself extra context on the readings I’m doing for my law school classes, two things are always a given. First, I’m going to

Viewpoint

Doing the right thing: Lessons from Phil White

Krista Lourdes Akiki | Friday, February 21, 2020

I have come to notice that our society increasingly values charisma over personality. We are constantly trying to prove to the world we are bold, assertive, capable. Yet, as Susan Cane so gracefully says, “The best talker is often times not the best leader.” This distortion that drives our group dynamics and collaboration has sidetracked

Viewpoint

We can do better

Letter to the Editor | Thursday, January 25, 2018

Every January, hundreds of thousands of people march through the streets of our nation’s capital as part of the March for Life. The march ends at the Supreme Court and takes place on the anniversary of that body’s decision in Roe v. Wade. Unsurprisingly, virtually everyone’s opinion on that legal decision coincides with their opinion

Next Page ↓