Accountability and the Regulation of the Large Law Firm Lawyer

The regulation of solicitors in England and Wales has undergone great change in the wake of the Legal Services Act 2007. This article considers these regulatory developments through the lens of accountability, focussing on the regulation of transactional lawyers and the large commercial firms. It examines to what extent the Solicitors Regulation Authority's regulatory framework promotes accountability, examining entity regulation, outcomes‐focussed and principles‐based regulation, reporting and disclosure obligations, the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and the sanctions system. It argues that although transactional lawyers cannot claim the benefit of the ethical principle of non‐accountability, as far as they and their firms are concerned, the regulatory framework is both unnecessary and insufficient. It duplicates the function of accountability to the client and fails to hold transactional lawyers to account for significant regulatory risks that they present, such as the practice of creative compliance.     

We're All in This Together: Moving Toward an Interdisciplinary Model of Practice Between Child Protection and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals

Many studies have documented the deleterious effect of substance abuse on the child protection system. The lack of collaboration between child protection and substance abuse treatment professionals has been identified as a contributing factor related to poor outcomes among parents with histories of addiction. The purpose of this study was to identify key components and conflicts of interdisciplinary practice between 21 child protection and substance abuse treatment professionals. The interdisciplinary components and conflicts were: having a shared vision, presenting as a unified team, having different goals, taking sides, and limited information sharing and involvement. Moving toward an interdisciplinary model of practice is vital to providing families with histories of addiction with the optimal chance for success.     

Do jurisdictions compete on taxes? A meta-regression analysis

A sizable empirical literature examines government fiscal interactions. However, the empirical evidence is very mixed. We apply meta-regression analysis to quantify the size of inter-jurisdictional fiscal interactions and to explain the heterogeneity in empirical estimates. Several robust results emerge. While there are significant country differences, tax interactions exist in all countries studied and they are strongest in terms of total tax and weakest in terms of income tax. Interactions differ according to level of government: compared to the municipal level, horizontal tax competition is stronger when the jurisdiction is a county or a nation. We show that tax competition has actually not grown over time and that econometric specifications and estimation strategies influence reported fiscal interactions.     

Across the Sloping Meadow Floor: An Empirical Analysis of Preremoval Detention of Noncitizens

In many countries, the law permits state authorities to detain noncitizens before deportation. Typically judicial decisions about preremoval detention must be made within a short period of time during which deportable noncitizens are held in police premises, and depending on the country detention may last just one month (e.g., France) or up to 18 months (the Netherlands). While previous research has explored various dimensions of noncitizen detention including the legal procedure, health consequences, the condition of detention centers, and the lives of deportable noncitizens, the empirical assessment of the determinants of decisions on preremoval detention are largely unexplored. Using data from court proceedings of police petitions of detention in Spain and a quantitative strategy, in this article we undertake an empirical analysis of noncitizen detention combining personal background of deportable noncitizens, legal factors of the case, and the behavior of different actors involved in the procedure. To do it, we fit models that take into account variation occurred at judicial district levels. Results indicate, on the one hand, that relevant actors involved in the procedure use different informational cues to decide on cases. On the other hand, the role of prosecutors and attorneys during hearings proves also relevant to predict detention.     

Management of legal information in an international context: A conundrum of challenges and opportunities

Evolving technologies have created many exciting opportunities to increase the availability of legal information, and to facilitate the organization and publication of this information. With the globalization of almost all legal issues, increased access to primary and secondary resources in electronic format across jurisdictional lines has been a welcomed development by academics, lawyers, international business entities, and others. However, the myriad of legal systems and approaches to maintaining legislative and judicial records has led to a host of challenges in regard to coherent and efficient management of legal information. Focusing on development of legal information systems in China and the United States, this paper will open with a summary of the exciting current and emerging technological advances in legal research methodologies and in the electronic publication of cases, statutes, regulations and other critical resources. The paper will then analyze corresponding challenges, including authenticity, accuracy, currency and consistency. The analysis will include discussion of the varying quality of legal information resources proliferating in the Internet, as well as the host of issues surrounding electronic publishing of legal information by government entities and commercial enterprises. The paper will conclude with a prospective analysis of the manner in which emerging technologies can enhance knowledge management of legal information and strengthen legal systems in both common law and civil law jurisdictions.     

Does fiscal decentralization constrain Leviathan? New evidence from local property tax competition

This paper reexamines whether fiscal decentralization constrains Leviathan government. Using panel data for Pennsylvania, we compare actual property tax rates to the Leviathan revenue-maximizing rates for municipalities, school districts, and counties. Using spatial econometric methods we also estimate the degree of spatial dependence at the three levels of local government. We find that fiscal decentralization results in stronger intergovernmental competition and lower tax rates. We also find evidence of collusion among school districts that exhibit high interdependence but also high tax rates. This calls into question the current literature??s blind use of spatial dependence as a measure of intergovernmental competition.     

A Geometric Morphometric Approach to Sex Determination of the Human Adult Os Coxa

Abstract: Sex determination of the human skeleton is best assessed from the os coxa. The present study explored the possibility of using three‐dimensional landmark coordinate data collected from various landmarks located over the entire bone to determine whether there were significant sex differences local to the landmarks. Thirty‐six landmarks were digitized on 200 African American and European American male and female adult human os coxae. MANCOVA results show that sex and size have a significant effect on shape for both European Americans (Sex, F = 17.50, d.f. = 36, 63, p > F = 0.0001; Size, F = 2.56, d.f. = 36, 63, p > F = 0.0022) and African Americans (Sex, F = 21.18, d.f. = 36, 63, p > F = 0.0001; Size, F = 2.59, d.f. = 36, 63, p > F = 0.0005). The discriminant analysis shows that sexing accuracy for European Americans is 98% for both males and females, 98% for African American females, and 100% for African American males.     

Increased Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Migratory Homeless Youth: Exploring the Role of Social Network Composition

Travelers are a migratory subgroup of homeless youth who may be especially prone to engaging in risky behavior. This study compared the substance use and sexual behavior of young homeless travelers and non-travelers to evaluate the extent and possible sources of travelers’ increased risk. Data came from face-to-face interviews with 419 homeless youth (36.6% female, 34.0% white, 23.9% African American, and 20.0% Hispanic) between the ages of 13 and 24 years (M = 20.1 years, SD = 2.5) who were randomly sampled from 41 shelters, drop-in centers, and street sites in Los Angeles. Travelers were almost twice as likely as non-travelers to exhibit recent heavy drinking, 37% more likely to exhibit recent marijuana use, and five times as likely to have injected drugs. Travelers also had more recent sex partners and were more likely to report having casual or need-based sexual partners and combining sex with substance use. Mediation analyses suggest that travelers’ deviant peer associations and disconnection to conventional individuals and institutions may drive their elevated substance use. Differences in sexual risk behaviors are likely attributable to demographic differences between the two groups. Overall, these differences between travelers and non-travelers suggest different service needs and the need for different service approaches.