Clune, William H., Interdisciplinary Expertise in Law and Public Policy (LPP): Goals, Design and Evaluation, Enactment and Implementation, Legal Education, Interconnectedness of Policy and Institutions (October 21, 2024). Univ. of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1816. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4994639

Abstract: In this article I discuss interdisciplinary expertise relevant to law and public policy (LPP) with special attention to the roles of lawyers. The central point is that such expertise is involved in different ways at different stages of policy: goals, design and evaluation, enactment and implementation. I conclude with a note on legal education and an overarching issue — the interconnectedness of policy and institutions responsible for the public good and general welfare — and the costs of undermining the capacity of these institutions to respond when needed.

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Clune, William H., Judicial Biography of Australian Justice, Sir Gerard Brennan Book Review
University of Wisconsin Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1805

Abstract: This is a book review in interview format with me interviewing the book’s author, Jeffrey Fitzgerald. The book is a judicial biography of the famous and influential Australian jurist, Sir Gerard Brennan. Largely in chronological sequence, the book also identifies cross-cutting themes such as the evolution of his jurisprudence over time.

My questions are designed to highlight issues that have parallels in American law, thus introducing the book to American readers. A second focus is the interaction of law and society. Law and society issues pervade the book because it is a longitudinal account of the judge’s encounters with important legal issues that arose in a changing Australian society, his influence on that society, and the corresponding evolution of his jurisprudence. It is law as both a dependent and independent variable, a classic law and society formulation. The judge’s decisions and jurisprudence operate as “constitutive law,” reflecting both the influence of society on law and its influence on society while remaining relatively autonomous from both. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer’s recent exposition of judicial “pragmatism” is congruent with the jurisprudence of Justice Brennan.

The paper has eight parts with questions and answers as sub-parts: (1) the book and Brennan’s career; (2) constitutional law, federalism, separation of powers, judicial review; (3) civil rights, aboriginal people’s rights, racial discrimination, and other rights; (4) impact on other areas of law (e.g., torts, contracts, criminal law); (5) Brennan’s principles of jurisprudence (6) the High Court, its divisions, and politics (7) personal, family, and professional life; (8) conclusion: mutual influence of law and society.