Digital Commons Network^™

"No Money Down" Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Katherine Porter, Deborah Thorne

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article reports on a breakdown in access to justice in bankruptcy, a system from which one million Americans will seek help this year. A crucial decision for these consumers will be whether to file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. Nearly every aspect of their bankruptcies — both the benefits and the burdens of debt relief — will be different in chapter 7 versus chapter 13. Almost all consumers will hire a bankruptcy attorney. Because they must pay their attorneys, many consumers will file chapter 13 to finance their access to the law, rather than because they prefer …

'No Money Down' Bankruptcy, Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Katherine Porter, Deborah Thorne

Scholarly Works

This Article reports on a breakdown in access to justice in bankruptcy, a system from which one million Americans will seek help this year. A crucial decision for these consumers will be whether to file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy. Nearly every aspect of their bankruptcies — both the benefits and the burdens of debt relief — will be different in chapter 7 versus chapter 13. Almost all consumers will hire a bankruptcy attorney. Because they must pay their attorneys, many consumers will file chapter 13 to finance their access to the law, rather than because they prefer …

Frazier V. Drake, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 64 (Sep. 3, 2015), Adrian Viesca

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court of Appeals determined that (1) when three of the good-faith Beattie factors weigh in favor of the party that rejected the offer of judgment, the reasonableness of the fees requested by the offeror becomes irrelevant, and cannot, by itself, support a decision to award attorney fees to the offeror and (2) expert witness fees in excess of $1,500 now have factors to take into consideration in awarding such fees.

Summary Of Logan V. Abe, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 31 (Jun. 4, 2015), Michael S. Valiente

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A party incurs an expense even if a third party pays the expense on the party’s behalf, as long as the party would otherwise be legally obligated to pay the expense. Thus, costs and reasonable attorney fees that a third party paid on behalf of a litigant can be recovered under NRS 17.115(4) and NRCP 68(f)(2). In addition, a party can recover expert witness fees even if the expert did not testify at trial and was not deposed.

Evening The Odds: The Case For Attorneys' Fee Awards For Administrative Resolution Of Title Vi And Title Vii Disputes, Marjorie A. Silver

Marjorie A. Silver

In this Article Professor Silver addresses the shifting of attorneys' fees in administratively resolved claims under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Professor Silver begins by establishing Congress' commitment to provide informal methods for resolving disputes under these statutes and its intent to use fee-shifting provisions as a means of inducing effective access to counsel. She then discusses the United States Supreme Court's decision in North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Crest Street Community Council, Inc. and contrasts its reasoning with two earlier Court decisions dealing with administrative proceedings and attorneys' fees. Professor Silver argues …

When Can Attorneys' Fees Be Recovered In An Award Enforcement Action, M. Anderson Berry, Katherine S. Ritchey, Nandini Iyer

M. Anderson Berry

Because parties do not always comply with arbitration awards, it may be necessary for the prevailing party to seek enforcement of the award in a court of law—typically in a jurisdiction where the losing party has sufficient assets. This article focuses on whether the prevailing party can recover attorneys’ fees accrued during the enforcement procedure in U.S. district court under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

Consumer Harm Acts? An Economic Analysis Of Private Actions Under State Consumer Protection Acts, Henry N. Butler, Jason S. Johnston

Faculty Working Papers

State Consumer Protection Acts (CPAs) were adopted in the 1960s and 1970s to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices that would not be redressed but for the existence of the acts. In this sense, CPAs were designed to fill existing gaps in market, legal and regulatory protections of consumers. CPAs were designed to solve two simple economic problems: 1) individual consumers often do not have the incentive or means to pursue individual claims against mass marketers who engage in unfair and deceptive practices; and, 2) because of the difficulty of establishing elements of either common law fraud or breach …

Protecting Fair Use With Fogerty: Toward A New Dual Standard, John A. Fonstad

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Copyright law exists to promote the progress of art and science. It achieves this by balancing limited grants of rights to authors against public access to works. However, copyright holders have upset this balance and tilted the law in their favor One cause of this phenomenon is that the benefit of public access to works is diffused throughout the entire public while the benefit of rights in works is concentrated in the copyright holder. This problem is especially prevalent in the context of litigation where copyright holders (plaintiffs) often stand to gain more through victory than copyright users (defendants). As …

Abuse Prevention 2005, James J. White

Articles

Today I do not debate the empirical question (what is the cause of the increase in bankruptcy filings?) nor do I address the buried moral question (who deserves the protection of bankruptcy law?). Rather, I speculate about the consequences of 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code and about the reasons it will achieve or fail to achieve the goals of its sponsors. Along the way I hope to learn something about how law changes, or fails to change behavior.

An End To Empty Distinctions: Fee Shifting, The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, And Doe V. Boston Public Schools, Michael Giuseppe Congiu

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The long-standing "American Rule" precludes courts from awarding attorneys' fees absent statutory authorization. Courts are also restrained by the Supreme Court's determination that in order to "prevail" under a statute permitting a fee award, a party must obtain some measure of judicially sanctioned relief. This Comment examines the various distinctions that courts have made between judicial and non-judicial relief, and argues that in the context of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), the distinction between privately settling plaintiffs and those obtaining court-ordered relief lacks legitimacy. The IDEA was drafted with the purpose of ensuring appropriate educational placement for special-needs …

Mandatory Fee Arbitration Under New York's Matrimonial Rules, Lester Brickman

Articles

Attorney-client fee arbitration is a subject of burgeoning interest to the bar and to scholars as well. Several years ago, I agreed to write an article on the substantive issues raised by fee arbitration as part of an analysis of New York's then newly adopted mandatory fee arbitration rule. Contacting other mandatory arbitration programs to request copies of the manuals they provided to fee arbitrators, I learned that no such manuals existed. Writing on a tabula rosa, I wrote an analysis of the substantive tasks in fee arbitration that could be adopted for use as part of a training manual …

The Tobacco Litigation And Attorney's Fees, Daniel J. Capra, Lester Brickman, Michael Ciresi, Barbara S. Gillers, Robert Montgomery

Articles

No abstract provided.

Shareholder Derivative Litigation And Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

In approving settlements of derivative actions that include fees for plaintiff's attorney, courts typically announce that attorney's fees are approved if a substantial benefit is obtained. In fact, courts, particularly Delaware courts, approve settlements in shareholder derivative actions that included substantial fees for plaintiff's attorney, despite the absence of a corresponding benefit to the corporation. Frequently, the "benefit" obtained is a reform in corporate governance, which is of dubious value to the corporation. To deter frivolous litigation, courts should resist the temptation to approve these settlements just to dispose of the litigation. The paper concludes that fees should not be …

A New Options Theory For Risk Multipliers Of Attorney's Fees In Federal Civil Rights Litigation, Peter H. Huang

Publications

Given the importance of private enforcement of federal civil rights laws, Congress and the courts have attempted to encourage plaintiffs' attorneys to accept meritorious civil rights cases through fee shifting and risk multipliers. Recently, however, the Supreme Court has essentially prohibited the use of risk multipliers, thus undercompensating attorneys for the risk of losing civil rights actions and discouraging the filing of such cases. In this Article, Professor Huang develops a new options-based theory of calculating attorney's fees. Professor Huang argues that a lawsuit consists of a sequence of options to continue with the case rather than a once-and-for-all irreversible …

Legislative Development, The Attorney Accountability Act: A Case Study Of The Complexities Of Incentive-Based Legal Reform, Jamie S. Henikoff, Scott R. Peppet

Publications

No abstract provided.

Aba Regulation Of Contingency Fees: Money Taks, Ethics Walks, Lester Brickman

Articles

No abstract provided.

Living With The Ban On Nonrefundable Retainers: Cooperman's Scope, Meaning And Consequences, Lester Brickman, Lawrence A. Cunningham

Articles

No abstract provided.

Three Attorney Fee-Shifting Rules And Contingency Fees: Their Impact On Settlement Incentives, Bradley L. Smith

Michigan Law Review

This Note seeks to predict the direction and magnitude of the change in settlement frequency under the three fee-shifting rules: American, British, and the British rule as modified by the PCC. Part I analyzes the proposed rule using the theoretical model of litigation and settlement developed by Hause. Part II examines the impact of fee-shifting when the plaintiff's lawyer receives reimbursement via a contingency fee. Analysis of indemnification in a contingency fee context raises several policy issues which section II.A addresses. Section II.B discusses the terms and assumptions made in adjusting Hause's model to reflect the standard contingency fee arrangement, …

Setting The Fee When The Client Discharges A Contingent Fee Attorney, Lester Brickman

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Massachusetts Debacle: Gagnon V. Shoblom, Lester Brickman

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Fall And Rise Of The Criminal Contingent Fee, Peter Lushing

Articles

No abstract provided.

Oversecured Creditors Under Bankruptcy Code Section 506(B): The Limits Of Postpetition Interest, Attorneys' Fees, And Collection Expenses, David G. Carlson

Articles

No abstract provided.

Evening The Odds: The Case For Attorneys' Fee Awards For Administrative Resolution Of Title Vi And Title Vii Disputes, Marjorie A. Silver

Scholarly Works

In this Article Professor Silver addresses the shifting of attorneys' fees in administratively resolved claims under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Professor Silver begins by establishing Congress' commitment to provide informal methods for resolving disputes under these statutes and its intent to use fee-shifting provisions as a means of inducing effective access to counsel. She then discusses the United States Supreme Court's decision in North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Crest Street Community Council, Inc. and contrasts its reasoning with two earlier Court decisions dealing with administrative proceedings and attorneys' fees. Professor Silver argues …

The Advance Fee Payment Dilemma: Should Payments Be Deposited To The Client Trust Account Or To The General Office Account?, Lester Brickman

Articles

No abstract provided.

Nonrefundable Retainers: Impermissible Under Fiduciary, Statutory And Contract Law, Lester Brickman, Lawrence A. Cunningham

Articles

Since the New York Court of Appeals banned nonrefundable retainers, numerous other courts have joined in prohibiting this widespread practice of lawyers charging a fee for services in advance and keeping the fee even if the services are not performed. This may reflect increased judicial recognition of the effect of egregious fee practices on the image of the bar and the role such practices play in the declining esteem in which the legal profession is held. Among the more provocative contributors to this ongoing debate, Professor Steven Lubet recently reviewed our work advocating the ban against nonrefundable retainers and posed …

An Analysis And Explanation Of The Equal Access To Justice Act, Louise L. Hill

Louise L Hill

No abstract provided.

Preemption Of State Law Notice Provisions Governing The Recovery Of Attorneys' Fees By Section 506(B) Of The Bankruptcy Code, R. Wilson Freyermuth

Faculty Publications

This note provides a framework for courts and attorneys faced with the issue whether section 506(b) preempts state law notice provisions. The note studies the language and legislative history of section 506(b), pointing out the inconsistencies and ambiguities that make it difficult to determine congressional intent. The note then surveys the various rationales advanced by the lower courts in resolving this issue. Using the recent Fourth Circuit case of Unsecured Creditors' Committee v. Walter E. Heller & Co. to illustrate several of these rationales, the note suggests that a more consistent approach to this issue is needed. After examining the …

Equal Access To Justice Act─Paving The Way For Legislative Change, Louise L. Hill

Louise L Hill

No abstract provided.

Awarding Attorneys' Fees To Prevailing Pro Se Litigants, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note examines- the propriety of awarding attorneys' fees to prevailing pro se litigants in the federal courts. It focuses on the four major statutes under which almost all pro se cases have been filed: the Freedom of Information Act of 1974 (FOIA), the Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act), the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 (CRAFAA), and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). In so doing, it will attempt to devise common principles that can be applied to most requests for pro se attorneys' fees. Part I looks first to the statutes' language and legislative histories …

Recent Developments In Attorneys' Fees, W. Perry Brandt, Pendleton C. Waugh, Richard C. Stark Special Project Editor

Vanderbilt Law Review

Special Project--

Recent Developments in Attorneys' Fees

In recent years, the subject of attorneys' fees has become the focal point of pressures to improve the accessibility of legal services for those unable to pay large fees. Courts, scholars, and special interest groups have examined in detail the relationship between fees and the ability to assert legal rights. This increased scrutiny has led to the elimination of minimum fee schedules, the criticism of and possible relaxation of restrictions on fee advertising, and the establishment of maximum contingent fee schedules by court rule. Private enforcement of newly enacted federal statutes against private …