作者聊天
纪念历史性废料案50周年, 尼尔·普罗托反思其对法律界的影响
2023年7月21日
In 1971 尼尔·托马斯·普罗托 和 four other George Washington University law students formed Students
Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (废) to dispute the failure of the Interstate Commerce Commission to prepare an environmental impact report when it granted a nationwide rate increase for freight railroads. 这个案子一路打到了美国法院.S. 最高法院.
原型的书, 到高等法院: Five Bold Law Students Challenge Corporate Greed 和 Change the Law — originally published in 2006 和 reprinted this past April — documents the events of 1971 to 1973, providing insights into the legal 和 social l和scape surrounding the l和mark suit. 在这里，Proto讲述了他的经历和与 美国诉. 废, holding that st和ing to sue is not confined to those who show economic harm.
The 废 litigation made for a unique formative experience in the legal profession. 它是如何影响你、你的事业和你对法律的看法的?
它从几个方面影响了我在法律领域的经历. 其中之一当然是非常实用的. 这是, 一种不屈不挠的好奇心的价值, 走出去，亲身学习, where there is no distance between you 和 your adversary in all its forms, including the seemingly external forces or the historical problems you are trying to deal with.
When I interviewed with the Department of Justice for my job in the appellate section in what [is] now the 环境 和 Natural Resources [Division], no one for a moment questioned my ability or my readiness to take on the role of appellate lawyer. 到那里几周后，我接到了第一个病例. I passed the District of Columbia 酒吧 a few months 晚些时候 和, shortly after that, I was in the U.S. 第四巡回上诉法院.
我认为废的经历对这一点帮助很大. 这是一份证书，人们可以看了就说, “嗯, he must know what he was doing … He battled big law firms 和 corporate power, 在与他人的共同努力下，接管了一个庞大的监管机构, 起诉美国.这话不无道理. 我进入的不是一个陌生的世界. 然后, 晚些时候, 当我开始在耶鲁教书的时候, 然后在乔治城大学公共政策学院学习, 我教的课程非常实用，而且, 因为如此, 是非常聪明和迷人的吗.
我让学生们做一些实际的事情. 除了阅读和组织与“陪审团”的课堂辩论,” they were all required to get out there 和 examine a project that was real in their community, 在他们的状态下, 对他们中的一些人来说, 在他们自己的国家 .那是废品的产物. It was a product of broad intellectual learning with h和s-on experience.
Your book comments frequently on the profession’s perception 和 attitudes about law students. 如何
你对年轻澳门赌场官网的看法如何?在你看来，他们应该如何看待?
This book is a threat to academics as much as anyone else … maybe more so. 这是 because there was no one in between us 和 our adversaries 和 how we formed 和 gave practical, 从法律生活到战略. 这里不是诊所. 没有教师监督. John Banzhaf (废组织的教授)没有这么做. 他让我们不仅做出战略决策, 还有所有文件的起草和定稿, 包括诉讼, 还要去见澳门赌场官网, 与行业协会合作, 与记者交谈, 去国会, 会见委员会的澳门赌场官网，这一切都取决于我们 .我们所做的事情(在法学院)不再发生了。.
What impact has the 废 litigation had on the law 和 legal profession?
我写过这个案子对代理问题的影响 澳门赌场官网事务所 杂志. 法律地位是在某种程度上发展起来的, 随着时间的推移, 我觉得这是故意的. 废料是其中的核心.
至于职业变化, 在哥伦比亚特区, law firms have become much more conscientious about their pro bono responsibilities, 我认为这是件好事. The notion of public responsibility came out of 废 和 the movements related to environmental protection 和 civil rights. I think law firms were encouraged or pushed into recognizing the value of that, but I’ll tell you what law firms still don’t fund 和 still don’t do — going after corporate wrongdoing.
这是为什么?? 好吧, 他们有客户和希望的客户, 他们可能认为, 会对它皱眉, 不尊重它 .… Law firms or nonprofits [have] their own imperatives 和 the need for free student help. 那么，诊所是怎么做的? 很多东西都很有价值，我想说清楚. 而是他们不做的事，那就是追究公司的不法行为. 给学生行动的自由，运用他们自己的价值观.
我们经历过这样的战斗. The alumni didn’t like it when Banzhaf started going after corporations or encouraging his students to, 并为他们提供这样做的工具, 如果他们选择.
公益工作也变得更有渠道和导向. 我参与了弗纳, Liipfert, 伯纳德, 麦克弗森, 和手, 后来解散了, 但在它的全盛时期, 迪克·莫找到了公司的一位合伙人, who at that time was the head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 他希望有人帮助他对抗迪士尼在弗吉尼亚的项目, 在马纳萨斯国家战场公园附近. 他们打算建一个大的主题公园. 有很多历史学家反对这个项目. 他们以保护历史悠久的美国的形式成为我们的客户. 我们是无偿的.
That was a private law firm going after a major corporate interest that had a lot of political support, 包括来自总统的. That was an example of what law firms — 和 law schools — don’t do anymore.
到高等法院 最初出版于2006年. 新版本中包含了哪些更改?
当我们接近50周年纪念日(废铁案), 大约一年半前, 我开始着手“翻新”版. 不是因为需要对文本进行修改. I thought I could create a more physically attractive book that was more engaging, 副标题更能反映我们实际做了什么. 封面, 副标题, 地图, 20多张照片是新的, 和 within the text there are about three or four hundred words that are new to this edition, restored from earlier drafts of the text that I’d left out deliberately.
The other motivation was … how the world had developed since the initial publication 和 going out of print in 2013. 我意识到发生了变化. 最高法院内部的争议越来越大, 和世界在一起, 以及世界对它的看法. 因此，法院的地位更高.
对起诉资格的攻击实际上是从废开始的. 废 has been attacked 和 modified because what could be more frightening than law students having the st和ing to sue adults? You see this adult/student apprehension during the oral argument in 废. 然后是他的决定, Justice Potter Stewart — hardly a liberal — chastises the railroads’ law firm for complaining about st和ing to sue, 但从不质疑投诉的准确性. 然后 there’s a time period between 1974 和 1975 in which Justice [Lewis] Powell changes not the law, 但与确定起诉资格有关的是. He said that prudential considerations mean as much as the constitutional provision in Article III .他正确地称之为“违宪”.”
几代人, st和ing becomes a vehicle not for judicial restraint but for increasing the Court’s power to decide which cases they want 和 which ones they don’t .… [There] has been an attack over generations against 废 as a model for law students, 不仅是为了诉讼，也是为了挑战公司的不法行为. 我以为那是改变, 以废料为中心, mattered in terms of my imperative to have the book refurbished 和 republished in its new form.
法律专业的学生总有一种不满足的感觉. 尽管诊所可能很有价值，但它们与废不同. 他们的缺席损害了社会. 一个强大的, 知情的力量是听不到的, 不参与对民主构成威胁的事情吗, 当然是对社区和家庭.
读者在哪里可以找到更多关于你和你的书?
9月29日，星期五，下午5:30到6:30.m., 我要在乔治华盛顿大学校园里做一个报告, 要么去法学院要么去莫顿礼堂. 当然，还有那本书 现成的，还有两篇文章:”不舒服” in 澳门赌场官网事务所 杂志 和 Kirkus的评论 我的书.
