Law Commons^™

Checks, Balances And Judicial Wizardry: Constitutional Delegation And Congressional Legislation, Robert I. Reis

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Optimal Class Size, Opt-Out Rights, And "Indivisible" Remedies, Jay Tidmarsh, David Betson

Journal Articles

Prepared for a Symposium on the ALI’s Aggregate Litigation Project, this paper examines the ALI’s proposal to permit opt-out rights when remedies and “divisible,” but not to permit them when remedies are “indivisible.” Starting from the ground up, the paper employs economic analysis to determine what the optimal size of a class action should be. We demonstrate that, in some circumstances, the optimal size of a class is a class composed of all victims, while in other cases, the optimal size is smaller. We further argue that courts should consider optimal class size in determining whether to certify a class, …

Strategic Spillovers, Daniel B. Kelly

Journal Articles

The conventional problem with externalities is well known: Parties often generate harm as an unintended byproduct of using their property. This Article examines situations in which parties may generate harm purposely, in order to extract payments in exchange for desisting. Such “strategic spillovers” have received relatively little attention, but the problem is a perennial one. From the “livery stable scam” in Chicago to “pollution entrepreneurs” in China, parties may engage in externality-generating activities they otherwise would not have undertaken, or increase the level of harm given that they are engaging in such activities, to profit through bargaining or subsidies. This …

Personal Jurisdiction Over Non-Resident Class Members: Have We Gone Down The Wrong Road?, Tanya J. Monestier

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Exiting Litigation, Jay Tidmarsh

Journal Articles

The American judicial system will face significant challenges in the twenty-first century. One of its immediate challenges is adapting the rules of civil procedure to the stresses under which the civil-justice system operates. Some of the most notable pressures arise from transnational litigation, mass litigation, proliferation of claims against governmental and corporate institutions, and competition from methods of alternative dispute resolution that promise to dispense cheaper, faster, and more satisfying justice.

Rights And Remedies Post Ebay V. Mercexchange - Deep Waters Stirred, Robert I. Reis

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Foreign Judgments At Common Law: Rethinking The Enforcement Rules, Tanya J. Monestier

Journal Articles

England and Canada have adopted divergent approaches to the enforcement of foreign civil and commercial judgments. An English court will only enforce a foreign judgment where the defendant submitted to the junsdiction of the foreign court, or was present in the foreign jurisdiction when served with process. This position. while protecting domestic defendants, is outdated and does little to further the objectives underpinning judgment enforcement- Canadian courts, by contrast, have been far more liberal than their English counterparts, enforcing foreign judgments in cases where there is a "real and substantial connection" between the dispute and the judgment forum. While this …

A Post-Vieth Strategy For Litigating Partisan Gerrymandering Claims, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Solving The Nuisance-Value Settlement Problem: Manadatory Summary Judgment, David Rosenberg, Randy J. Kozel

Journal Articles

The nuisance-value settlement problem arises whenever a litigant can profitably initiate a meritless claim or defense and offer to settle it for less than it would cost the opposing litigant to have a court dismiss the claim or defense on a standard motion for merits review like summary judgment. The opposing litigant confronted with such a nuisance-value claim or defense rationally would agree to settle for any amount up to the cost of litigating to have it dismissed. These settlement payoffs skew litigation outcomes away from socially appropriate levels, undermining the deterrence and compensation objectives of civil liability. Yet current …

Overcoming Impediments To Information Sharing, Avishalom Tor, Amitai Aviram

Journal Articles

When deciding whether to share information, firms consider their private welfare. Discrepancies between social and private welfare may lead firms excessively to share information to anti-competitive ends - in facilitating of cartels and other harmful horizontal practices - a problem both antitrust scholarship and case law have paid much attention to. On the other hand, legal scholars have paid far less attention to the opposite type of inefficiency in information sharing among competitors - namely, the problem of sub-optimal information sharing. This phenomenon can generate significant social costs and is of special importance in network industries because the maintenance of …

What Is The Time Limit For Filing A Lawsuit? It Depends On What Your Definition Of "Arising Under" Is! An Analysis Of Jones V. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Jones et. al. v. R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co., 541 U.S. 369 (2004). The author predicted that the case would require the court to determine the appropriate statute of limitations to apply in a class action race-discrimination lawsuit filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.

Musical Courts: Plaintiff Picks A Court But Can Defendant Trump The Choice? An Analysis Of Breuer V. Jim's Concrete Of Brevard, Inc., Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Brewer v. Jim's Concrete of Brevard, 538 U.S. 691 (2003). The author expected the Court to address the issue of whether the language of the Fair Labor Standards Act providing that "an action . . . may be maintained in any federal or state court" constitutes an express provision prohibiting removal to federal court when the plaintiff has chosen to maintain its lawsuit in state court.

New Opportunities For Obtaining And Using Litigation Reserves And Disclosures, Matthew J. Barrett

Journal Articles

Following the publication of Opportunities for Obtaining and Using Litigation Reserves and Disclosures, which highlighted the helpful information about litigation reserves that a litigator can often detect or discover from an opponent's financial statements, accounting books and records, tax returns, public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and auditor, two important regulatory developments occurred in early 2003 that create additional opportunities to obtain information about an opponent's assessments of (i) expected liability in the underlying case or (ii) obligations or settlements in similar cases. First, pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC issued final regulations …

Mixed Up About Mixed Motive: What Will Trigger A "Mixed Motive" Analysis In Title Vii Cases? An Analysis Of Desert Palace, Inc. V. Costa, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, 539 U.S. 90, 2003. The author expected the Court to clarify and define the circumstances in which it is appropriate to use the "mixed-motive model" to prove a violation of Title VII under the disparate treatment theory.

Opportunities For Obtaining And Using Litigation Reserves And Disclosures, Matthew J. Barrett

Journal Articles

In late 1975, the accounting and legal professions reached an accord that led to three new professional standards: (1) a new financial accounting rule for contingencies, (2) an auditing standard addressing the requirement that an auditor obtain evidence about an audit client's contingent liabilities to determine whether the client has properly treated those items in its financial statements, and (3) the American Bar Association's Statement of Policy Regarding Lawyers' Responses to Auditors' Requests for Information under that auditing standard. The Commentary that accompanied the Statement of Policy explicitly stated that the organized bar's expectation that communications between lawyers and auditors …

Can Contested Disciplinary Actions Be Considered In Subsequent Termination Proceedings? An Analysis Of United States Postal Service V. Gregory, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case U.S. Postal Service v. Gregory, 534 U.S. 1, 2001. The author expected the case to examine whether, under the Civil Service Reform Act, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) abuse its discretion when it considers prior discipline that is currently being challenged by the employee in ongoing grievance proceedings?

The Constitutional Dilemma Of Litigation Under The Independent Counsel System, William K. Kelley

Journal Articles

The independent counsel system as established by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 has put different components of the executive branch, such as the President and Department of Justice in the position of litigating against a special counsel. Litigation is not only a bad idea, it also gives rise to a serious constitutional dilemma. It either violates Article III because there is insufficient adversity to support litigation between the parties. Or it violates Article II, by preventing the President and his subordinates from controlling central functions of the executive branch, and places the independent counsel, an inferior officer, in …

Section 98 And The Specialized Practice Of Civil Rights Law, James A. Gardner

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Are Litigating Attorneys Debt Collectors Under The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?, Tang Thi Thanh Trai Le

Journal Articles

In 1986 Congress amended the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to include attorneys under the definition of debt collector. Now the Supreme Court is asked to determine if the law applies to attorneys suing debtors on behalf of clients, not just when they conduct debt-collection activities.

If the Supreme Court affirms the decision of the Seventh Circuit, thus finding for Jenkins, attorneys who litigate cases involving collection of debts may find themselves subject to liability for communications with the consumer or the consumer's attorney regarding the litigation. Furthermore, these attorneys would face personal liability for any violations of the Act …

New York Times Co V Sullivan: The 'Actual Malice' – Standard And Editorial Decision-Making, Geoffrey Bennett, Russel L. Weaver

Journal Articles

In an effort to explore conflicting views of the New York Times decision, this article compares how the British media functions under Britain's more restrictive defamation laws with how the US media functions under the actual malice standard. It does so based on interviews with reporters, editors, defamation lawyers, and others involved in the media in an effort to understand how they decide which stories to publish, and to gain some understanding of how libel laws affect editorial decision-making.

Unattainable Justice: The Form Of Complex Litigation And The Limits Of Judicial Power, Jay Tidmarsh

Journal Articles

Part I begins the inquiry by describing the practical and theoretical factors that have led various courts and commentators to label particular types of litigation "complex." Although all the definitions provide important data about the nature of complex litigation, none capture its full breadth. Thus, the task of the Article's next two Parts is to develop a formal and inclusive definition. Part II builds the theoretical framework for the definition by describing the form of adjudication and the positive assumptions of modern civil litigation.

Next, Part III demonstrates that complex litigation arises from the friction between the real-world problems outlined …

Dispute Processing And A Longitudinal Approach To Trial Courts, Lynn Mather

Journal Articles

This article suggests ways to integrate the insights and findings of two rather distinct fields: docket-based, longitudinal studies of trial courts and studies of dispute processing. In particular, I argue that longitudinal research on courts would benefit enormously from the incorporation of concepts and data on dispute processing. For example, instead of taking court cases as the starting point for study, longitudinal research should explore the multistage and transformative nature of disputing. Historical data should also be collected on the nature of the relationships between opposing litigants, on the roles played by participants other than the litigants (lawyers, supporters, audiences, …

The Legal Community And The Transformation Of Disputes: The Settlement Of Injunction Actions, James B. Atleson

Journal Articles

Lawyers in cases involving injunctions against picketing represent clients in situations of great immediacy. A significant number of injunction actions are settled with reductions in picketing despite a seemingly restrictive statute and a highly organized workforce. This study of legal culture examines the role of lawyers in striving to create predictability, especially in regard to judges and the police, and in transforming conflicts of value into disputes over interests that can be resolved without resort to formal adjudication.

Who Pays The Piper If You Cut Into The Dance? An Analysis Of Independent Federation Of Flight Attendants V. Zipes, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Indpendent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes, 491 U.S. 754 (1989). The author expected the Court to address what standard the courts should apply in deciding whether to assess attorney's fees against an unsuccessful intervenor in federal employment discrimination cases.

Labor Law Preemption: Procedure And Substance: An Analysis Of International Longshoremen's Association V. Davis, Barbara J. Fick

Journal Articles

This article previews the Supreme Court case Int'l Longshoremen's Ass'n v. Davis, 476 U.S. 380 (1986). The author expected the Court to address 2 issues: (1) at what point in a case must the issue of federal preemption be raised?; and (2) to what extent is state law preempted by federal labor law?

Conclusion: The Mobilizing Potential Of Class Actions, Lynn Mather

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Corporate Antitrust Audit - Establishing A Document Retention Program, Sheldon S. Toll, Joseph P. Bauer

Journal Articles

Preventive maintenance is a doctrine with which lawyers are becoming—or should become—increasingly familiar. Since the field of antitrust law is potentially fraught with dire consequences for corporate clients, it is an area in which the doctrine of preventive maintenance should be liberally applied.

Citizen Suits In The Environmental Field: Peril Or Promise?, Barry B. Boyer, Roger C. Cramton

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Legislative Investigations: Safeguards For Witnesses, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

A free and independent legislature is the hallmark of democracy. The power of investigation is essential to proper discharge of responsibilities, but that the investigative power has been abused' and that it is the obligation of the bar to find an answer to the resulting problem. The surrender of principle is the death of Justice and, without Justice, there is chaos, and total disregard of the dignity and destiny of man. One aspect of the challenge the legal profession confronts today is how to assure due process of law for witnesses in legislative investigations without unduly hampering legislative functions. The …