Academic Writing
Department of Commerce Memorandum of Law
- Written for my 2025 spring internship at the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, this memorandum asks and answers whether process servers, animal control officers, or court security are, or have ever been under the jurisdiction of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or it’s applicable statutes or rules?
- Submitted Spring, 2025. (14 pages)
Aquinas v. the Austro-libertarians: Is taxation theft, robbery, or something else?
- Written to satisfy Belmont Law’s rigorous writing assignment this paper evaluates Aquinas’ theology of taxation through the lens of Austro-libertarian philosophy, critiquing the justifications Aquinas presents in Summa Theologica and comparing Aquinas’ theology of taxation with the Austro-libertarian perspective.
- While the Austro-libertarians have a robust critique of Aquinas’ justifications for coercive taxation, this paper argues that Aquinas’ systematic protections of individual rights within his theology of taxation make their views are more convergent than divergent.
- Submitted Fall, 2024. (33 pages)
Tornado Cash: Privacy Rights v. State Security
- Written for a Legal Technology Practicum, this report offers a basic discussion of the technical background of blockchain technology and mixing protocols on the Ethereum network, an overview of the ongoing legal troubles faced by Tornado Cash, and discussion of the impact of the second Trump administration’s purportedly crypto-friendly policies, to analyze the continuing legal relevance of this fascinating technology
- Submitted Spring, 2025. (15 pages)
Citizen Soldier: The Continuing Relevance of Ad Hoc Militias (Working Paper)
- Written for a 2024 Summer Research Fellowship at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, this paper uses the economics of prohibition to show that state prohibition of militias is not only responsible for their demise, but has created a new, previously unrecognized category militia outside of the preexisting federal, state, and private militias.
- Called Ad Hoc militias, these groups have no affiliation with the government and little, if any formal structure. Rather, they arise spontaneously in response to an existential threat to their community and tend to disappear once the threat has dissipated.
- Applying the economics of prohibition to contemporary historical examples, this paper argues for the continuing relevance of Ad Hoc militias, and a revival of the virtuous citizen soldier in American political thought.
- Drafted Summer, 2024. (25 pages)
On the Necessary Preconditions for a Just Social Order: The Succession Theory of Property Rights as a Response to Consequentialist and Deontological Anarcho-capitalism
- Written as a graduation requirement for MTSU’s Honors College in collaboration with the Political Economy Research Institute, this thesis that proposes an alternative justification for private property rights from a Rothbardian Anarcho-capitalist perspective.
- The thesis discusses the history and theory of Anarcho-Capitalism, comparative philosophies of property rights, and advances a new theory called “The Succession Theory of Property Rights.”
- Submitted Fall, 2019. (61 pages)
Legal Writing
Judicial Opinion
- Written for an advanced legal writing course, this judicial opinion reviews and answers the legal questions raised in the Tennessee Supreme Court Case State of Tennessee v. Andre JuJuan Lee Green.
- Submitted Spring, 2024. (7 pages)
Pre-Litigation Demand Letter
- This demand letter is addressed to fictional defendant Wesford & Co. department store and requests settlement in lieu of filing suit for injuries sustained by a client during a false imprisonment for shoplifting.
- Submitted Spring, 2024. (2 pages)
Client Advice Letter
- This letter provides advice to a fictional client faced with an easement dispute in New York State. It explains the law that pertains to the client’s problem and outlines their legal options for resolving the dispute.
- Submitted Spring, 2024. (3 pages)
Revised Guaranty Agreement
- Written for a contract drafting practicum, this revised guaranty agreement governs a loan of $28,000,000 between two large corporations to finance the construction of a new granite finishing plant.
- The client requested more than 17 revisions to the contract template, ranging from name and location changes to complex arbitration and compensation terms.
- Submitted Fall, 2023. (14 pages)
Lectures
Citizen Soldier: The Continuing Relevance of Ad Hoc Militias. Ludwig von Mises Institute, July 11th, 2024.
- This presentation summarizes the main arguments in my Citizen Soldier working paper.
- This lecture surveys Anarchist philosophy and compares and contrasts it with Biblical law.
Comforting Scriptures for Lawyers. Belmont Law Christian Legal Society, November 10th, 2023.
- A brief devotional given at Belmont College of Law highlighting the relevance of biblical teachings for legal practitioners.
christophercowherd.com 