Monday, July 11, 2005

My Interest in Books and Law Review Articles

Greg and I were tagged by Skip over at The Sports Economist with several questions about our interest in books. I've modified some of the questions/answers to include law review articles.

1. How many books do you own?

At least 50 sports books, and several hundred other types of books (and, for some, their CliffsNotes too!). To be honest, most of my reading is now comprised of reading law review articles, typically pertaining to sports law, food and drug law, or behavioral law and economics. Some of my favorite legal scholars include (and in no particular order): Paul Weiler, Kim Forde-Mazrui, Kip Viscusi, Barry Cushman, John Norton Moore, Jon Hanson, Richard Merrill, Peter Barton Hutt, Daniel Halperin, and Morton Horwitz. I also find myself increasingly interested in government and economic studies, as well as recent judicial opinions. Pretty exciting life indeed.
2. Most recent purchase or download?
I. Armen Keteyian, Money Players Inside the New NBA (1998). I just picked this up. It is supposed to be an outstanding and objective account of what really goes on in the NBA, including discussion of what actually gave rise to Michael Jordan's sojourn into baseball, circa 1994. I'm looking forward to reading this book.

II. Todd Zywicki, The Economics of Credit Cards, 3 Chapman Law Review 79 (2000). I'll be teaching consumer law in the spring, so I'm interested in well-regarded related literature. This is one such piece.
3a. Five (or six) books or law review articles that "meant the most":

I. Paul Weiler, Leveling the Playing Field: How the Law Can Make Sports Better for Fans (2000). Professor Weiler, my former sports law professor and arguably the most distinguished professor of sports law, has written a fascinating book on how the law can improve sports, and it discusses--in readily understandable terms--a variety of sports law topics, including free agency, tax-subsidies for sports teams, salary caps, and performance-enhancing drugs. This is a great book for those who want a readable overview of sports law, as well as insight on how the law and sports mix together. It's often said, "there is no such thing as sports law," but after reading Leveling the Playing Field, you might think otherwise.

II. Paul Weiler and Gary Roberts, Sports and the Law: Text, Cases and Problems (4th ed. 2005). A must read for anyone interested in sports law.

III. Peter Barton Hutt and Richard Merrill, Food and Drug Law (2nd ed. 1991). A must read for anyone interested in food and drug law.

IV. Jon Hanson & Doug Kysar, Taking Behavioralism Seriously: Some Evidence of Market Manipulation, 112 Harvard Law Review 1420 (1999). A great read for anyone interested in how consumer perceptions can be manipulated. This article will also teach you a great deal about cognitive biases, an increasingly popular topic in legal scholarship.

V. Kip Viscusi, Jurors, Judges, and the Mistreatment of Risk by the Courts, 30 Journal of Legal Studies 107 (2001). Fascinating analysis of how cognitive biases affect decisions by jurors and courts, and implications on how attorneys should try cases (and, correspondingly, manipulate these biases). A must-read for current and prospective law students, as it will likely change the way they view their first-year torts and civil procedure courses.

VI. Kim Forde Mazrui, Jural Districting: Selecting Impartial Juries Through Community Representation, 52 Vanderbilt Law Review 353 (2000). Fascinating piece on how juries are selected, and how the jury selection system can be improved.

4. Who gets next?

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch, Professor Christine Corcos at the Media Law Prof Blog, Darren Rovell at his ESPN blog, William Li at To Fuss is Human, to Rant is Divine, and Ralph Hickock at Hickock Sports.

0 comments:

Post a Comment