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Marc Poirier - Law Review

Seton Hall Law Review Dedicates Current Issue to the Late Professor Marc Poirier


Volume 47, Issue 3 of the The Scholarship of Resonance in an Era of Discord by Professor Frank Pasquale:

It is an honor to write a forward to this edition of the Seton Hall Law Review, dedicated to the scholarly legacy of Professor Marc Poirier. Marc was an exceptional scholar, teacher, and colleague. He was a deeply learned man, conversant in areas ranging from the jurisprudence of interpretation to the science of global warming.

He wrote on property, environmental law, and civil rights, and combined these fields in innovative ways. His “Virtues of Vagueness in Takings Law” was both widely cited and elegantly argued. Essays like “Science, Rhetoric, and Distribution in a Risky World” were philosophically informed readings of fundamental controversies in environmental policy. Throughout his scholarship, there was a concern for the marginal: the victims of environmental racism, sexual orientation discrimination, climate change, and many other contemporary scourges. But there was also a wise awareness of the limits of law and the complexities of advocacy.

Marc had many virtues, large and small. I particularly appreciated his ability to simply spend time with people: to listen with care and attention, to regale us with stories, and to celebrate occasions large and small. Every Mardi Gras he festooned himself, furniture, and fellow colleagues with glittering beads from New Orleans. He, a committed Buddhist, reminded us that the Catholic identity of the law school was not just an occasion for “thou shalt not’s” pronounced from on high. Rather, Seton Hall’s Catholic mission was properly imbued with joy and hope, celebration and repentance, generosity and self-restraint, all kept in balance by a spiritual perspective. Marc helped faculty and students of every faith—or none at all—maintain a sense of order and well-being.

Read the rest of The Scholarship of Resonance in an Era of Discord

> Read The Power of Empathy in the Classroom by Professor Paula A. Franzese

> Read Trademark Law in the Time of Kulturkampf: The Poirean Perspective by Kali Murray

> Read A Research Agenda for the History of Property Law in Europe, Inspired by and Dedicated to Marc Poirier by Anna di Robilant

> Read Property without Personhood by Shelly Kreiczer-Levy