Publications | vjtl

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Aug 16, 2012

Elite Law Firm Mergers and Reputational Competition: Is Bigger Really Better? An International Co

Although rapid law firm growth has persisted since the 1980s, the acceleration of this trend over the last decade by means of mergers is puzzling. Why would normally conservative law firms embark on a merger strategy that appears to encompass significant risk and uncertain benefits? Is this trend a peculiarly U.S. phenomenon? Most of the popular explanations for law firm mergers focus on a single factor: Law firms everywhere cite strikingly similar reasons based on a presum

Jul 20, 2012

Testing Japan’s Convictions: The Lay Judge System and the Rights of Criminal Defendants

Japan has endured considerable international and domestic criticism over the way its criminal justice system treats criminal defendants. The system shows little regard for defendants’ constitutional rights, and media reports about forced confessions and wrongful convictions are creating grassroots pressures to uphold the right to counsel, the right to silence, and the presumption of innocence. Japan has begun to reform its legal system in order to increase public participati

Jul 6, 2012

Civil Society and Democracy in Japan, Iran, Iraq and Beyond

This Article addresses the mystery of why some countries appear to become democracies seamlessly while others face insurmountable obstacles. While acknowledging the importance of civil society to democratization at the time of transition, this Article argues that broad historical civil society movements, even if devoid of immediate political impact, also facilitate the passage to democracy at a later date. This Article takes a comparative look at the constitutional, labor, a