University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tag: North America

Bliss and Boutcher (2025), “Rationalizing Pro Bono: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Reinvention of Legal Professionalism in Elite American Law Firms”

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John Bliss and Steven A. Boutcher. “Rationalizing Pro Bono: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Reinvention of Legal Professionalism in Elite American Law Firms.” In Global Pro Bono: Causes, Context, and Contestation. Edited by Scott L. Cummings, Fabio de Sa e Silva, Louise G. Trubek, pp. 77-111, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2025.  This chapter traces …

López (2025), “Critical Curriculum Design: Teaching Law in an Age of Rising Authoritarianism”

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Rachel López. “Critical Curriculum Design: Teaching Law in an Age of Rising Authoritarianism.” Minnesota Law Review, vol. 109, no. 2 (2025): 81-111. This article examines how legal education in the United States contributes to democratic backsliding by producing lawyers who are technically proficient but often disengaged from democratic values. It argues that the traditional model …

Ryo (2016), “Fostering Legal Cynicism Through Immigration Detention”

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This article examines how immigration detention in the United States under a hardline enforcement regime, especially during the Trump administration, serves not merely as an administrative tool but as a socio-legal mechanism that fosters legal cynicism among detained noncitizens.

Ipsen (2020), “Repeat Players, The Law, And Social Change: Redefining The Boundaries Of Environmental And Labor Governance Through Preemptive And Authoritarian Legality”

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This article highlights how attorneys are central to these strategies, revealing the political role of legal professionals in reinforcing corporate power under weakened democratic institutions.

Southworth (2018), “Lawyers and the Conservative Counterrevolution”

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Ann Southworth. “Lawyers and the Conservative Counterrevolution.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 43, no. 4 (2018): 1698–1728. This article analyzes how the conservative legal movement in the United States has successfully mobilized lawyers, organizations, and financial backers to reshape the legal and political landscape, contributing to a broader democratic backsliding. It highlights how conservative and …

Southworth (2019), Lawyers of the Right Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition.

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This article examines how conservative lawyers have strategically shaped the legal profession and political landscape in the United States, contributing to democratic backsliding by promoting ideologies that concentrate legal power within partisan movements.