LSU Law Professor Saúl Litvinoff passed away yesterday. As noted in the LSU Law Center press release about this, Litvinoff was a true giant in the field of civil law scholarship.

Professor Emeritus and Boyd Professor of Law Saúl Litvinoff, whose impact on the legal traditions of Louisiana spanned more than 43 years, died earlier today.

“Professor Litvinoff made his mark not only on the civil law, but also on the literally hundreds of LSU Law students whom he taught over the course of his long career here. Saúl Litvinoff will go down in history as one of the greatest scholars and teachers of Louisiana law. We have lost one of the true giants in the history of our institution,” said Chancellor Jack M. Weiss.

Litvinoff, the Oliver P. Stockwell Endowed Professor, began his career at LSU as a visiting professor in 1965. He retired from the Law Center in 2009.

Ava Leavell Haymon and Cordell Haymon, a 1968 graduate of the Law Center and member of the Law Center Alumni Board of Trustees, honored Professor Litvinoff with a Distinguished Endowed Professorship in 2009 during the Law Center’s Year of Litvinoff celebration. The Haymons have been life-long friends of Professor Litvinoff and his family.

“I was privileged to enter LSU Law School the same year Professor Litvinoff joined the faculty (1965),” said Cordell Haymon. “At first he was a curiosity to us with his encyclopedic knowledge of the laws of many countries, his command of eight or nine languages, and his amazing ability to remember the names of all his students. Over the years we and several generations of law students came to appreciate the depth of his knowledge, the elegance of his teaching, and his commitment to his students and to the improvement of the law. Saúl was an extraordinary mentor and friend to my wife Ava and me, and we will miss him deeply.”

He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1925 and began his legal career there in 1949 as an associate with Ibero Berenguer and Associates. In 1962, he worked as a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Puerto Rico, earning his LL.M. at Yale University at the same time.

During his time at LSU, Litvinoff’s chief endeavor would be his work with the Louisiana Civil Code. His revisions of the Civil Code’s section on Obligations—one of the many examples of his work on the Civil Code—resulted in it being enacted into law in 1984. Litvinoff also served as dean of the Central American Banking School, which operated under the auspices of LSU, for 20 years. He served as a consultant to the U.S. State Department, the Louisiana Department of State, and the Central Bank of Honduras.

LSU Law Professor Emeritus Katherine Spaht, a former student and colleague, recalled Professor Litvinoff’s “superb memory and sarcastic wit.” “He taught me here in the 1960s in a freshman course on Civil Law Systems. Later, as a student, he asked me to edit his treatise on Obligations . . . It was rich and valuable experience. Students adored him. He was willing to take average or struggling students and assist them in achieving to the best of their ability.”

“Professor Litvinoff will be remembered as one of the great civilians of his time,” commented Professor Olivier Moréteau, Director of the Center of Civil Law Studies, and the Russell B. Long Eminent Scholars Academic Chair. “He will be remembered as a leader of the revision of the Civil Code of Louisiana, making it compatible with the laws of other states, modernizing without sacrificing tradition. Known and admired by comparative law scholars all over the world, Don Saúl always combined the local and the global with his unique Argentine elegance and deep understanding of human affairs.”

I did not know Saúl well before I graduated, and never took a course from him. But I somehow became close friends with him after graduation. I visited him often in his office and at his house several times to discuss philosophy, legal theory, etc. and we corresponded for many years. He often told me he wished I had been his student–primarily based on my writings on civil law and passion for legal theory–and I do wish I had. (My younger brother, oddly enough, who also knew and was friends with my wife before I even knew her, also knew Litvinoff well before I did–I believe he was his pool boy for a while.) I believe it was in 1993 or 1994 or so when I was practicing in Houston, I was visiting Baton Rouge and paid a visit to Saúl. My wife was at the time entertaining a job promotion up in Philadelphia, so we were contemplating the move, and I was looking into legal jobs in Philadelphia. I’ll never forget that when this came up in discussion, Saúl said, “I am afraid you have non-plussed me”–the idea that a man would plan his career around his wife’s was inconceivable to him.

I was extremely fond of Saúl, and always marveled at his vast, unbelievable intellect. What a fine mind, and a fine person. I’ll miss him.

My article “Radical Patent Reform Is Not on the Way” was published today (Oct. 1, 2009) in Mises Daily.

***

Hardly a day passes when we do not hear of one patent abuse or another.[1] Ridiculous patents are issued or filed and companies are enjoined from selling their products. Judgments are issued, and settlements reached, for billions of dollars. (See the Appendix for examples of ridiculous patents and outrageous judgments.) Not surprisingly, there is a growing demand for reform of our patent system.[2]

Whether their demands are modest or radical, the reformers share the belief that the patent system is broken; has gotten out of hand; and is not in sync with our fast-paced, high-tech, open-sourced, digitized world — in short, that it needs to be fixed.

FULL ARTICLE

[Mises crosspost]

In the Fall 2009 issue of LSU Alumni Magazine, “Tigers in Print” section.

After launching in 2002 as one of the first blawgs (see my July 23, 2003 post, Blawgs; also Blawgs: More Than Just Fluff, Corporate Counsel, March 2003;  Legal and Appellate Weblogs: What They Are, Why You Should Read Them, And Why You Should Consider Starting Your Own, Spring 2003), my blog went into substantial hibernation as I concentrated on my practice. Part of the reason was my increasingly-outdated web design.  I’ve now re-launched the blawg, with PJ Doland’s help, moving it from its 7-year old, now-outmoded PHP-based design to a modern, new WordPress design (using the Thesis theme–simple, plain, and elegant).

Stay tuned…

From my post Book Recommendations: Private, International, and Common Law; Legal Theory on the Mises Blog:

A friend interested in law, legal theory, and possibly law school asked me for some recommendations for some good books (or articles, I suppose) that discuss private law systems, international law, the common law, etc.–with particular emphasis on explaining the common law’s or private law’s philosophical underpinnings.

I am drawing a blank on “the” book to read, since in my experience various interesting strands tend to be scattered across a wide array of books and articles; and moreover, most of the best stuff tends to be by mainstreamers or those with otherwise-flawed philosphical, political, or economic viewpoints. So you have to take what you can find here and there.

Here are some of my suggestions, most of which have a lot of implicit caveats:

• Trakman, Leon E., The Law Merchant: The Evolution of Commercial Law
• Bruno Leoni, Freedom and the Law
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Common Law
• Jhering, Dr. Rudolph von, The Struggle for Law
• The Bramble Bush: On Our Law and Its Study, by Karl N. Llewellyn
• Arthur Hogue, The Origins of the Common Law (nice Liberty Fund edition)
• John Maxcy Zane , The Story of the Law (online)
• Harold J. Berman, Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition. “The latter is one of the greatest books (not just of law, but of any subject) I’ve ever read; and the former is full of interesting argument and facts. Berman also has a sequel, published a few years ago, that carries the story through the Protestant Reformation, but I haven’t read it yet. I venture to recommend it, sight unseen, on the strength of my admiration of its predecessor.” (Thanks to Robert Higgs.)
• Rosalyn Higgins: Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It
• Buckland, W.W. & Arnold D. McNair, Roman Law and Common Law: A Comparison in Outline
• Merryman, John Henry, The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America, 2d. ed. 1985 (book reviews by: Mary Ann Glendon, Robert O. Homes, Jr., Homer, A. M. Honore, and A.T. von Mehren; also Robert A. Pascal (diff book))
• Alan Watson, The Making of the Civil Law; also: Roman Law and Comparative Law
• A History of American Law, 2d. ed., 1985, Lawrence M. Friedman
• A.W.B. Simpson, ‘The common law & legal theory’ & ‘The survival of the common law system’ both in his Legal Theory & Legal History (Hambledon Press 1987.) The first is a defence of the common law against legal positivism; the second discusses some of the corrosive impact of legislation on the common law. Simpson himself doesn’t much like spontaneous orders — he doesn’t use the term — & therefore the common law; but he does a good job nevertheless (thanks to Sudha Shenoy for these comments)
• S.F.C. Milsom is possibly the most brilliant legal historian writing today. He summarises his insights into “the reconstruction of lawyers’ thinking” in A Natural History of the Common Law (Columbia U.P. 2003.) The past is alive to him; people are real — they have everyday legal problems which lawyers are trying to solve. He shows that this is how the common law evolved; & he integrates the (changing) economy & society of the time into his account. _Not_ an easy read, but well worth the effort. Also see his: ‘The past & the future of judge-made law’, ‘Reason in the development of the common law’, & ‘Law & fact in legal development’ in his Studies in the History of the Common Law (Hambledon 1985.) (thanks to Sudha Shenoy for these comments)
• The best most recent introductory history for law students is J. H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (Butterworths 4th ed 2002.) Prof. Baker (he holds Maitland’s chair at Cambridge) also has a magisterial editorial preface to a volume of essays, Judicial Records, Law Reports, & the Growth of Case-Law (Berlin 1989.) In this preface he incisively compares Continental & English legal developments — the parallels & divergences — in terms of the layman’s role, the use of custom, etc. (thanks to Sudha Shenoy for these comments)
• Bruce Benson‘s The Enterprise of Law, and other publications
• William Holdsworth, A History of English Law. (Multi-volume)
• Frederick Pollock and Frederic W. Maitland, A History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I
• Gordon Tullock opposes common law in A Case Against the Common Law, available in the Liberty Fund Volume 9 of Tullock’s Selected Works, Law and Economics (David Gordon’s suggestion)
• Richard Posner has an essay that discusses Savigny and Roman law in his Frontiers of Legal Theory
• Various works by Lysander Spooner… http://www.lysanderspooner.org/bib_new.htm
• there is also Hayek’s legal theory, but I found it hard to slog through; but for those interested, there is this symposium: Southwestern University Law Review: Economic Symposium: F.A. Hayek and Contemporary Legal Thought (1994) (full symposium)
• See also the sources listed in Tom W. Bell’s discussion of “polycentric law”

(I am omitting here some of the less “readable” ones like Blackstone and Justinian.)

Also, I have a growing online version of my private collection of classic, eclectic, and other law review and related articles on my site at www.StephanKinsella.com/texts, in particular: the sections on Law: Miscellaneous; Law; Civil, Roman, Common, Louisiana Law; and Law: International Law. some very interesting ones are:

• Great American Law Reviews, Berring, Robert C., and Salley Gunderson, Editors (Birmingham: The Legal Classics Library, 1984-1990. Three volumes) selected pieces
• Nowak, John, Woe Unto You, Law Reviews
• some of Epstein’s work may be of interest, e.g. The Social Consequences of Common Law Rules and The Static Conception of the common Law
• Watson, Alan, The Importance of “Nutshells”, AJCL, 1994 [Excellent article]
• Watson, Alan, Roman Law and English Law: Two Patterns of Legal Development, Loy.L.Rev., 1990
• Roman Law in American Legal Culture, by M.H. Hoeflich
• Stein, Peter G., Relationships among Roman Law, Common Law, and Modern Civil Law, Tul.L.Rev. 1992
• Pascal, Robert A. and Rodolfo Batiza, Tournament of Scholars: articles debating the actual sources of the Louisiana Civil Code of 1808–Spanish or French Law
• Pascal, Robert A., Review of F.H. Lawson, Introduction to the Law of Property
• Pascal, Robert A., The Sources of Civil Order According to the Louisiana Civil Code
• Rabel, Ernst, Private Laws of Western Civilization, La.L.Rev. 1949
• Re, Edward D., The Roman Contribution To The Common Law, Loy.L.Rev. 1993
• Vetter, Bernard Keith, The Roman Contribution to the Common Law, Loy.L.Rev. 1993
• Brownlie, Ian, The Reality and Efficacy of International Law, 1982
• Elshtain, Jean Bethke, Sovereign God, Sovereign State, Sovereign Self

Anyone have any different perspective on this or recommended readings? Any good or obvious introductory, background, etc. works on law I am omitting?

My friend Misty Khan has a good interview on Startup Houston about her company, Advena Artemis, and the launch of her software, HuntressPro. It’s an Outlook Add-in for sales contact management. It “provides contact management functionality such as call lists, referral source tracking and sales activity reporting”. Up to now she’s being doing customized versions of Huntress for customers, and is now releasing a downloadable software package with various optional plug-ins specific to various industries (e.g., for realtors). I know several customers of her earlier customized version in Houston and they all seem happy with it. (Competing products include ACT, etc., but Huntress has some advantages over it.) I’ve begun to experiment with it myself even though I’m not in sales, because it will be useful for some of the legal treatise editing work I do where I need to routinely contact or “touch” dozens of authors around the world for different phases of the publishing (initial contact; followup for due dates, etc.).

Still, though I’m finding a way to use it for my own non-sales need, HuntressPro is ideal for salespeople and sales teams who want to manage their follow-ups, contact information and sales activities directly from Outlook. It basically turns Outlook into a proper contact management software (what some people call “Customer Relationship Management,” or CRM). I highly recommend any sales professionals give this a gander.

If any of you know any salespeople or companies with sales forces that might benefit from this, feel free to pass this on. Check out the interview for more info.

Latest review of my 2005 book International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, by Anne Hoffman, an international commercial and investment arbitration attorney with Python & Peter:

Book review

[by: Anne K. Hoffmann, Python & Peter; forthcoming in Arbitration International N° 3, 2007]

International Investment, Political Risk and Dispute Resolution – A Practitioner’s Guide by Noah Rubins and N. Stephan Kinsella. Published by Oceana Publications, a Division of Oxford University Press (2005), 769 pp. Price £90 [$155], ISBN 0-379-21522-5

The proliferation of arbitration proceedings conducted on the basis of BITs, and in particular the auspices of ICSID, naturally led to an increase of publications addressing this issue and the changing landscape of arbitration over the last years. Books dealing with this issue are often commentaries, basic introductions to the procedure of investment arbitration or reviews of investment awards.

The present book is different. It integrates the important issue of dispute resolution into the broader scope of international investment, explains the risks, in particular the political risk, associated with international investment and the legal framework of investment protection at large. It thus broadens the perspective of the reader and allows him to see beyond the everyday issues of the interpretation of the effect of an umbrella clause or the meaning of fair and equitable treatment in a BIT by placing these specific issues into a broader context and showing their interaction with others.
The book commences by analysing the role and effect of foreign direct investment on the global economy of the modern world. Thereafter, it is composed of three parts. Part I deals with the assessment and pre-investment management of political risk. Part II addresses the international law framework of investment protection and political risk and part III covers the issue of dispute resolution and political risk. Each of these three parts is subdivided into chapters and sub-chapters. When reading the first part, the reader, inter alia, is introduced to the various types of political risk and their measurement, is shown features which will help minimising the political risk, such as stabilisation and arbitration clauses as well as clauses guiding tribunals with regard to damages and interest rates. Lastly, he is familiarised with the various types of investment insurances existing. In part II, the authors explain the international law framework of investment protection and political risk, i.e. issues of international law in general, of state sovereignty, state responsibility and state immunity. The authors address the remedies for both states and investors under international law and their prerequisites before shedding some light on history and development of the customary international law of expropriation and investment protection, and thus those today often-used terms like indirect and creeping expropriation or national treatment. Finally, they deal with the substantive law of contemporary international investment protection. The lawyer who deals with investment arbitration will be familiar with this chapter as here – after introducing the network of modern bilateral and multilateral treaties – investment standards such as prohibition of expropriation without compensation, fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security, the umbrella clause, compensation methods etc. and their application are discussed. Lastly, in part III, the reader will be introduced to the jurisdictional particularities of investment arbitration, such as nationality requirements, exhaustion of local remedies or “forks in the road”, to the various arbitration rules relevant in this context as well as some of their prominent features. In the final chapters, the authors address the rather seldomly discussed topic of conciliation of investment disputes as well as the intervention of states in investment disputes. At the back, the book contains a variety of useful appendices, e.g. bilateral investment treaties of selected countries, an OPIC insurance contract, the Washington Convention as well as a compilation of online resources.

Thus, the first part of the book focuses mainly upon “practical” issues, namely on identifying political risk and reducing the chance that these risks will materialise. The second part addresses first general legal issues relevant to investments before focusing upon dispute resolution. It therefore is both a useful practical guide and competent source for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike in relation to international law and investment treaty arbitration where it explains general principles as well as concrete case law which has developed over the past years. Naturally, the book addresses the main cases which had an impact upon a certain issue, but will not discuss all cases decided in the context of investment arbitration – it is not a case commentary. Nevertheless, it contains vast footnotes which permit the interested reader to follow up on certain problems easily. At the same time, it explains to the practitioner less familiar with the running of an international arbitration proceeding the necessary steps from the notification of a dispute up to oral argument, including the difficult situation of the defaulting party – all of this with a view to the specificities of an ICSID arbitration and easier to access as other writings on this topic.

This book is not a lightweight and does not make for good bedtime-reading. Not being a classic law book, it is a guide which should find its place on the shelf of the person dealing with foreign investment who is interested to explore the various aspects of foreign investment and political risk in their broader context and with a particular emphasis on the legal aspects of this field. This will include, but not be limited to, the issue of dispute resolution. It is thereby well-suited for beginners in the area of investment arbitration attempting to find their way around a relatively new area of law as it covers the relevant issues comprehensively without getting lost in a degree of detail which will be the next step on the ladder of investment protection.

The authors described their goal as to write a guide which would “enable the investor to appreciate the risks associated with government interference in property rights, to minimize those risks and deal effectively with their consequences. But we also hope to promote understanding within host governments about investors’ expectations and concerns, to allow them to avoid conflict and maximize the benefits of foreign direct investment for their countries and constituencies.” The authors succeeded and thereby made a valuable contribution to exploring this topic.

Yet another recent review/comment of my 2005 book International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, by Holly A. Lakatos, Director of Public Services, Chicago-Kent College of Law Library, from the March 1, 2006 Legal Information Alert. The blurb used by the publisher is:

An important resource for anyone who is trying to understand the uncertain balance between the needs of sovereign governments, the interests of investors, and international law constraints… This book is an excellent reference work and should be included in any library that claims to have a ‘good’ international business collection.

The full review is appended below (PDF version):

International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide. (Book review)

Publication: Legal Information Alert

Publication Date: 03/01/2006

Author: Lakatos, Holly A.

International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide. Noah Rubins & N. Stephan Kinsella. 2005. Oceana Publications, Inc. Hardcover. 769p. ISBN: 0-379-21522-5. $150.

[Note: This is an updated and expanded version of Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk, Paul Comeaux & N. Stephan Kinsella (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1997), ISBN: 0-379-21371-0448.]

Today’s business lawyers need to have an awareness of political risk along with a firm foundation in international law in order to advise clients engaged in direct investments within developing nations. There is an uncertain balance among the needs of sovereign governments, the interests of investors, and international law constraints and anyone participating in such ventures must take this into consideration. International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution is an important resource for anyone who is trying to understand that uncertain balance.

Divided into three parts, the authors of this guide provide methods by which attorneys may proactively minimize the exposure and effects of political risk at every step of the investment life cycle. They cover the issues from pre-investment management to the conciliation of investment disputes.

In part 1, the authors broadly divide political risk into seven different categories (expropriation, nationalization, and confiscation; regulatory interference; currency risk; civil disturbance; breach of state contracts; corruption; and trade restrictions) and discusses strategies for the “Assessment and Pre-investment Management of Political Risk.” Part 2 is intended to establish. “The International Framework of Investment Protection and Political Risk,” and here the authors trace the history and development of the customary international law of expropriation and investment protection. In part 3, they concentrate on “Dispute Resolution and Political Risk” and outline the arbitration procedure including how to establish arbitral jurisdiction.

The appendixes are substantial and include sample agreements, treaties, country risk reports, and a list of online resources. A Table of Authorities contains a valuable supplemental reading list of books and articles on the topic. Both the table of contents and the index are well thought-out and provide helpful access points to the information to be found in this book.

In the introduction, the authors claim that the book was written for a wide audience and that it will appeal to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. I cannot imagine any non-lawyer finding this book useful, especially since it does not contain a glossary. In addition, it is formatted as if it were a really, really long law review article with substantial footnotes on every page. Practicing attorneys, however, should find this guide accessible and easy to use. Law students will also find this guide useful as a supplement to any international business course.

The differences between the previous version and this one are substantial enough to warrant purchasing this new work. Though most of the same topics are covered, the new version covers them in much more depth. As an introduction to the topic, this book is an excellent reference work and should be included in any library that claims to have a “good” international business collection.

Holly A. Lakatos, Director of Public Services,
Illinois Institute of Technololgy,
Chicago-Kent College of Law Library

COPYRIGHT 2006 Alert Publications, Inc.

• Rethinking Relativity, by Tom Bethell, and related links (on Petr Beckmann’s anti-Einsteinian theories)
• Einstein Plus Two–brochures of Petr Beckmann’s work, interviews, related dissident physics material
• //Galilean Electrodynamics// (founded by Petr Beckmann)
• Physics Forum: Discussion of Lewis Little’s “Theory of Elementary Waves”
• TEWLIP: Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW) Listserv
  • David Harriman’s comments on TEW
• George Marklin: Objectivist Physics
• David Harriman’s Objectivist Approach to Physics
• General Lorentz Ether Theory
• Journal of Objective Science

NSK Interview on Patents, by Taylor Conant