User:Shawn Sullivan Depaul/Choose an Article

Article Selection

Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

Article title Non-compete clause

Article Evaluation

- The articles lead section is very complete. The lead sentence provided a concise summary of what a non-competition clause is. The lead section does not provide information not contained in the body of the article.

- The article's content is very detailed. It has sections on different jurisdictions, including in Europe, America, and even Illinois.

- The tone is very balanced as it is a pretty factual summary of how non-competition clauses work in different jurisdictions.

- For the most part the sources are up to date. The only one I noticed that may need to be updated is In the Illinois section, the Illinois legislature just approved a law that will change the law on this issue next year.

- The organization is very clear. There is a table of contents with links to the different sections of the articles and they are mostly organized by jurisdiction. I also think the factual writing style is very clear.

- The talk page showed that multiple sections had "misleading information." This would be a useful starting place if I wanted to make my research topic non-competes.

- Overall, I think this article is very developed. While I initially thought I might choose this generally as a topic, I may have to narrow my search.

Sources

- https://www.natlawreview.com/article/illinois-legislature-passes-sweeping-non-compete-and-non-solicitation-bill

- The article above is helpful in assessing the new Illinois law passed on this topic.

Option 2

Article title Liquidated damages

Article Evaluation

- This article has a clear lead section. It is a concise summary of the article, and I understand what the article is generally going to be about after reading it.

- I think the content of the article is incomplete, as it does not cover a lot of the jurisdictions, just generally, the "common law."

- The tone of the article is balanced as it does not take an opinion on the topic and just restates the law.

- - The sources are not that up to date or the best sources the author could have used. This article the author uses has a definition from a source that is not the usual source you would use to define a word and it is out of date. I think the author should update this term using Merriam Websters or black's law. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Liquidated+damages

- I think organization-wise, the article is fine, but it is just lacking a lot of sections.

Sources

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/liquidated_damages

- I think this article may provide a better defition for the term "liquidated damages" than the one the author uses. Law Cornell is more of a reliable source than the one the author used,

Option 3

Article title Uniform Trade Secrets Act

Article Evaluation

- This article's lead section does not clearly state what the Act does. I think that is what the first paragraph should lead with. Other than that, it provides the history of the Act, which is important.

- I think the content is fairly clear. The article is divided in sections like a statute. This may be easy for a lawyer to read, but more difficult for a lay person, and may need to be amended to be more clear.

- I think the article's tone reads too much like a statute. That may be good, because it summarizes the statute.

- The sources are fairly good. For example, the author cites the cases that it discusses.

- The sources here are up to date, including amendments to the act.

- overall, I think this article is clear, but although it indicates that the states have adopted the statute, it doesn't explain the differences in how states apply the statute in different jurisdictions.

Sources

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/solo-small-firm/practice/2017/it-concerns-you-quick-comparison-itsa-dtsa-2016/

- This ABA source gives a good comparison between the Illinois Trade Secrets Act, and another law. It would be useful in citing factual information about the Act

Option 4

Article title

Force majeure

Article Evaluation

- This article has a solid lead section. It is very complete and explains the topic

- this article's content is clear, but incomplete. There is not many sections, and it really doesn't discuss the differences between jurisdictions.

- The article is organized well, and It goes over the purpose first, and then leads into the case law concerning the topic.

- The article's tone is fair and balanced and does not choose a side on the topic.

- The sources are solid and most cite to reliable legal sources.

- Overall, I think this article could use some work. I think that it could at least talk about the differences between the sales of goods and the enforceability of other contracts concerning this topic.

Sources

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/commercial-business/boilerplate-contracts/force-majeure-clauses-contracts-covid-19/

- I think this source would be helpful to include a section about force majeure and the sales of goods in the Covid-19 era. There was nothing on this topic in the article, and it is an important topic in 2021 to cover.

Option 5

Article title Arbitration clause

Article Evaluation

- This article has a concise but accurate explanation of the clause. I think that although the introduction is short, it accurately summarizes the contract clause.

- Here, the content is lacking big time. There are important decisions concerning the clause that the article brushes over.

- Here, the sources are almost entirely lacking. I think they need more citations for the facts asserted.

- The article's tone is balanced, but again, is lacking in facts in most sections.

- The talk discussion page indicated that a large portion of the article was removed. The person who removed it indicated there were factual issues with what was removed.

- Overall, I think there is a lot of content to be added to this article, but it is a good starting place.

Sources

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/one-epic-year-later-have-you-91777/

- This article provides a large overview of an important Supreme Court case concerning the enforceability of arbitration provisions. I think it would be useful in actually developing the topic and discussing one of the most important cases impacting this topic.