Law Commons^™

Análise Crítica Do Julgamento Por Atacado No Superior Tribunal De Justiça (Lei Nº 11.672/08 Sobre Recursos Especiais Repetitivos), Nelson Rodrigues Netto

Nelson Rodrigues Netto

This study aims at analyzing the law enforcement system for dispute resolution involving multiple and repeated special appeals before the Superior Court of Justice.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar o sistema legal de solução de conflitos envolvendo múltiplos recursos especiais repetidos perante o Superior Tribunal de Justiça.

Direct Application Of International Commercial Law In Chinese Courts: Intellectual Property, Trade, And International Transportation, Jie Huang

Jie Huang

Different from scholarship that focuses on the relationship between China and International Law regarding territory, armed conflicts, human rights violations, this article explores the relationship between China and International Law in a commercial setting. It explores how Chinese courts apply international commercial law in adjudicating cases involving foreign factors. Moreover, this article goes beyond contemporary scholarship that concerns international commercial law and China but only focuses on the text of Chinese statutes and judicial interpretations: it elaborates how courts apply statutes and judicial interpretations in actual adjudications through cases studies. By covering cases decided by the Supreme People’s Court and …

An 'Unconventional Truth': Conflict Of Laws Issues Arising Under The Cisg, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

This article discusses the applicability of the CISG from a Canadian conflict of laws perspective - both in terms of jurisdiction and choice of law. The analysis is framed by providing an outline of the key jurisdictional and choice of law principles developed within Canadian jurisprudence. Following a brief contextual overview of the CISG, Articles 1(1) (a) and 1(1) (b) and Article 6 of the CISG are highlighted, with specific reference to recent Canadian and foreign judicial decisions and foreign arbitral awards involving Canadian parties. The article concludes with a clarion call to justice stakeholders, particularly, Canadian commercial lawyers and …

A Unified Theory Of 28 U.S.C. § 1331 Jurisdiction, Lumen N. Mulligan

Lumen N. Mulligan

Title 28, section 1331 of the United States Code provides the jurisdictional grounding for the majority of cases heard in the federal courts, yet it is not well understood. The predominant view holds that section 1331 doctrine both lacks a focus upon congressional intent and is internally inconsistent. I seek to counter both these assumptions by re-contextualizing the Court’s section 1331 jurisprudence in terms of the contemporary judicial usage of “right” (i.e., clear, mandatory obligations capable of judicial enforcement) and cause of action (i.e., permission to vindicate a right in court). In conducting this reinterpretation, I argue that section 1331 …

The Tower Of Bazzle: Why Due Process Requires A Hybrid Model Of Classwide Arbitration, Zachary Allen

Zachary Allen

During the late 1970s the United States witnessed the beginning of an uncomfortable courtship between two powerful dispute resolution mechanisms: arbitration and the class action. In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its approval of their marriage, referred to as classwide arbitration, in Green Tree Financial Corporation v. Bazzle. In Bazzle, the Court held that where an arbitration agreement is silent regarding classwide arbitration, the arbitrator—not the court—should interpret the agreement to determine whether it permits classwide arbitration.

Unfortunately, the Court’s blessing was mixed. Bazzle is on infirm ground for two reasons. First, the Court could only muster a 4-1-4 …

Are You Still My Mother? Interstate Recognition Of Adoptions By Gays And Lesbians, Rhonda Wasserman

Rhonda Wasserman

Parents and their biological children routinely cross state borders safe in the assumption that the parent-child relationship will be recognized wherever they go. The central issue raised in this Article is whether the law guarantees parents and their adopted children the same security if the parents are gay. This question is part of a broader debate about the obligation of states to recognize changes in family status effected under the laws of other states, such as same-sex marriages and migratory divorces. The debate is divisive because it pits the family against the state; one state against another; and the needs …

Will Video Kill The Trial Courts' Star? How "Hot" Records Will Change The Appellate Process, Leah A. Walker

Leah A Walker

No abstract provided.

Pro Bono Publico As A Conscience Good, Deborah A. Schmedemann

Deborah Schmedemann

Pro bono work performed by American lawyers serves a critical role in the American civil justice system. This paper seeks to explain pro bono through the lens of social science research into volunteering, in particular the economic concept of a conscience good. The paper presents the results of an empirical study involving over 1,100 law students and lawyers. The results include data on lawyers’ motivations to perform pro bono, the impact of various pro bono rules and invitations to perform pro bono, the satisfactions of pro bono work, emotions triggered by pro bono work and pro bono clients, and the …

The Meaning, Measure, And Misuse Of Standards Of Review, Amanda J. Peters

Amanda J Peters

Standards of review are critical to appellate review because they set limitations upon the appellate court's review process. In doing so, standards of review balance judicial authority, make judicial review more efficient, standardize the review process, and give notice to parties who wish to appeal their cases. However, these policies and their effects are diminished when appellate judges misuse or ignore standards of review.

This article examines the theories that led to the creation of standards of review and identifies four ways that appellate courts misuse standards of review. It analyzes over 8,000 cases from Texas and California, along with …

Staking Claims Against Foreign Defendants In Canada: Choice Of Law And Jurisdiction Issues Arising From The In Personam Exception To The Mocambique Rule For Foreign Immovables, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

Canadian courts have struggled in distinguishing between in personam jurisdiction and subject-matter jurisdiction (and specifically the Mocambique rule). In particular, they appear to overlook the two-fold jurisdictional requirement that in order to proceed in a given case they must have both types of jurisdiction - in personam and subject-matter - and that when jurisdictional challenges arise due to the fact that the dispute deals with foreign immovables Canadian courts, influenced by the post-Morguard focus on in personam jurisdiction, are dealing with the foreign land question under the rubric of in personam jurisdiction, not under the traditional heading of subject-matter jurisdiction. …

The Irresistible Force, Bruce A. Antkowiak

Bruce A Antkowiak

This article calls for the reformation of the doctrine that permits a legislature to assign to a defendant the burden of proving an issue in a criminal case to avoid conviction. It argues that such a doctrine violates the basic norms of the Constitution and the “jury right” that is at its core. That right includes the institution of the jury trial, the presumption of innocence and the burden on the government to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. It is violated by such a burden assignment just as the Apprendi line of cases holds that the shifting of …

Judging In Chambers: The Powers Of A Single Justice Of The Supreme Court, Daniel M. Gonen

Daniel Gonen

A relatively obscure power of individual federal judges is the power to grant interim relief to a litigant pending appellate review of a lower court’s judgment or order. Individual judges routinely use this power, exercising virtually unfettered discretion to control the interim outcome of cases during the months and years it can take for the appellate process to conclude. In some cases, an individual judge has the power to decide if a case will be kept in a reviewable posture at all. This article explores this power, largely focusing on the Supreme Court level, and offers a critical assessment of …

The Scent Of Subject Matter Jurisdiction: Remand And Appellate Review Under The Supplemental Jurisdiction Statute, Deborah J. Challener

Deborah J Challener

Abstract

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) and (d), as well as Supreme Court precedent, remand orders in removed cases are immune from appellate review when they are based on a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Until recently, all appellate courts that had addressed the issue had concluded that the remand of supplemental claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c), the supplemental jurisdiction statute, does not constitute a remand for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and therefore is reviewable on appeal.

In 2007, however, the Supreme Court held in Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. that as long as a remand …

Improving The Federal Circuit's Approach To Choice Of Law For Procedural Matters In Patent Cases, Ted L. Field

Ted L. Field

Because of its virtually exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases from the entire country, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit faces a unique situation with respect to choice of law for procedural matters in patent cases. Normally, in a non-patent-related case, a district court applies the procedural-law precedent of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the district court sits. However, because the Federal Circuit’s jurisdiction is based on subject matter rather than geography, the court has had to choose whether (1) to develop and apply its own precedent to procedural matters or (2) …

“Once Upon A Time, In A Land Far, Far Away . . .” Lawyers And Clients Telling Stories About Ethics (And Everything Else), Carolyn Grose

carolyn grose

ABSTRACT

Framed by an analysis of two particular ethical rules and their application to specific situations, this piece uses the metaphor of storytelling to explore the lawyer’s role as an effective and ethical client representative. Drawing from the experiences of two sets of clients and their lawyers, the piece proposes an approach to ethical regulation (as one component of the lawyer-client relationship) that requires the lawyer to engage in a deeply contextual analysis of the specific and particular ethical conflicts presented to him in any particular case; and work with his client to determine how to resolve those conflicts.

The …

Rigorous Analysis Of The Class Certification Expert: The Roles Of Daubert And The Defendant's Proof, Heather P. Scribner

Heather P. Scribner

This Article discusses a three way split among the federal circuit courts on class certification standards. It is common for both plaintiffs and defendants to present expert testimony at the class certification hearing. This testimony often overlaps with the parties’ claims and defenses, but it is offered at the certification hearing for a different purpose, namely, as a basis for the district court to determine whether to certify a class. The circuit courts have adopted three divergent approaches for evaluating these class certification experts. The first two approaches, which this Article calls the “No Merits” and “Daubert Only” approaches, do …

Reconceptualizing Competence: An Appeal, Mae C. Quinn

Mae C. Quinn

This article builds on contemporary critiques of the justice system’s treatment of the mentally impaired, examining an important issue that until now has gone wholly unaddressed -- the effect of defendant impairment on the criminal appeals process. It argues that conventional wisdom stressing the importance of defendant competence during criminal trials but ignoring the incompetence of defendants during direct appeals makes little sense. Such an approach to defendant capacity not only fails to account for the realities of criminal practice, but works to undermine the fairness and efficacy of the American appellate process. Thus this paper calls for reconceptualization of …

The 'Trial Warrior': Applying Sun Tzu's The Art Of War To Trial Advocacy, Antonin I. Pribetic

Antonin I. Pribetic

This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to an analysis of the Western (common law) adversarial system based upon the following theory of strategic functionalism: the form (tactics based upon procedural and evidentiary rules) is a function of the content (strategy based upon legal principles and policies and client-based remedies).Applying Jungian analysis, the following three (3) conceptual models and corresponding lawyer archetypes emerge:

1.the client-centric model (e.g. the “the “Warrior” / the “zealous advocate”);

2.the justice-centric model (e.g. the “Lover/Medial”/ the “ethical professional”); and

3.the science-centric model (e.g. the “Sovereign” or the “Magician/Trickster”/ the “knowledge technocrat”).

The paper then considers whether …

The Demise Of The Law-Finding Jury In America And The Birth Of American Legal Science: History And Its Challenge For Contemporary Society, Jonathan R. Lahn

Jonathan R Lahn

Today we take for granted the division of labor in the courtroom whereby judges have the exclusive authority to determine the law applicable to a given case, while juries decide questions of fact. Yet this strict separation of powers did not become a fact of American legal life until the mid-19th Century, and was not recognized by the United States Supreme Court as a constitutional principle until the 1890s. Legal historians, while certainly aware of the tradition of the law-finding jury in early American legal practice, have thus far failed to fully explore its significance as a reflection of early …

Computers, Search Warrants, And The Private Papers Exemption, David E. Clark

David E Clark

Police increasingly seek search warrants for information stored on personal computers. Georgia law, OCGA 17-5-21(a)(5) prohibits the issuance of a search warrant for "private papers," which include any documents subject to a recognized privilege (attorney-client, doctor-patient). This statute, and other technological factors, raise the risk of a computer search warrant being ruled overbroad unless it is carefully drafted. A constitutionally sound format for a computer search warrant application is given, along with guidelines for drafting and executing a warrant for digital property believed to be evidence of a crime.

Federal Courts As Constitutional Laboratories: The Rat's Point Of View, Maureen N. Armour

Maureen N Armour

This article examines the operation of the lower federal courts as constitutional laboratories where problems related to implementing the Supreme Court's problematic constitutional decisions are routinely addressed. By using the methodology of a detailed case study of Eighth Amendment litigation the author provides critical insights into the workings of the federal trial courts and three judge appellate panels and insights into the applied phenomenology of ajudicative discretion, the moving force of this judicial laboratory. The article also examines the problematic nature of the Supreme Court's constitutional decisions, their textual openness, doctrinal malleability,and prudential "errors," and how this effects the institutional …

Clearly, Using Intensifiers Is Very Bad--Or Is It?, Lance N. Long, William F. Chistensen

Lance N. Long

Although scholars have generally found that overusing intensifiers (words such as “clearly,” “obviously,” and “very”) negatively affects the persuasiveness or credibility of a legal argument, no one has studied actual appellate briefs to determine whether there is a relationship between intensifier use and the outcome of an appeal. This article describes two empirical studies of appellate briefs, which show that the frequent use of intensifiers in appellate briefs (particularly by an appellant) is usually associated with a statistically significant increase in adverse outcomes for an “offending” party. But--and this was an unexpected result--if an appellate opinion uses a high rate …

"And I Would Have Gotten Away With It Too, If It Hadn't Been For You Meddling Kids And Your Dog," Uh, I Mean Legal Ethics Rules: A Proposal For Rules Requiring Disclosure Of Attorney "Ghostwriting" Of Pro Se Litigants' Court Documents And Allowing Limited Appearances For Such Attorneys, Michael W. Loudenslager

Michael W. Loudenslager

More and more pro se litigants are making their way to the courthouse. Pro se litigants have become common especially in state housing and family law courts and in federal bankruptcy court. In response, a growing number of attorneys have started providing unbundled or limited scope legal services to these litigants. This involves a client hiring an attorney to perform a discrete task in a lawsuit and nothing else. One particular form of discrete task legal services involves attorney “ghostwriting.” In such arrangements, an attorney drafts pleadings or other court documents for pro se litigants. However, the legal assistance that …

Legal Aspects Of Prior Informed Consent On Access To Genetic Resources: An Analysis Of Global And Local Implications Towards An Optimal Normative Construction, Kuei-Jung Ni

Kuei-Jung Ni

Since the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was in force, national implementation of the access to and benefit-sharing (ABS) requirement on genetic resources has been flourishing. Prior informed consent (PIC) of the ABS constitutes a major means to deter illegal bio-piracy and to ensure fair access to genetic resources. Given the differential social structure in individual nations, there seems to be no consistent pattern of PIC domestically. Some legislatures recognize the decisive role of indigenous or local communities in the context of enforcing PIC, making access to genetic resources impossible without their consent. On the other hand, several central governments …

Stepping Up To The Podium With Confidence: A Primer For Law Students On Preparing And Delivering An Appellate Oral Argument, James D. Dimitri

James D. Dimitri

Virtually all law students are required to learn oral advocacy skills at some point during their legal education. Typically, these skills are cultivated through at least one oral argument assignment, which often consists of an appellate oral argument that is given as part of the students' first-year legal research and writing course or as part of a moot court competition.

While appellate courts do not grant oral argument as often as they used to, oral advocacy remains a critical skill for law students to learn and cultivate, no matter which facet of law practice they enter upon graduation. Unfortunately, the …

Stepping Up To The Podium With Confidence: A Primer For Law Students On Preparing And Delivering An Appellate Oral Argument, James D. Dimitri

James D. Dimitri

Virtually all law students are required to learn oral advocacy skills at some point during their legal education. Typically, these skills are cultivated through at least one oral argument assignment, which often consists of an appellate oral argument that is given as part of the students' first-year legal research and writing course or as part of a moot court competition.

While appellate courts do not grant oral argument as often as they used to, oral advocacy remains a critical skill for law students to learn and cultivate, no matter which facet of law practice they enter upon graduation. Unfortunately, the …

A Proposed Revision Of California's Procedural Statutes And Rules For Seeking Prevailing-Party Attorney Fees, Charles S. Treat

Charles S Treat

California’s procedural statutes and rules governing claims for attorney fees are a mess. They create confusing and contradictory procedural requirements; they are incomplete in carrying out California’s policy of mandatory bilaterality in contractual fee provisions; and they irrationally stymie carrying out the parties’ contractual intent in some regards. This article surveys the evolution and present state of these statutes and rules, analyzes what needs fixing, and proposes amendments to fix the problems.

Stepping Up To The Podium With Confidence: A Primer For Law Students On Preparing And Delivering An Appellate Oral Argument, James D. Dimitri

James D. Dimitri

Virtually all law students are required to learn oral advocacy skills at some point during their legal education. Typically, these skills are cultivated through at least one oral argument assignment, which often consists of an appellate oral argument that is given as part of the students' first-year legal research and writing course or as part of a moot court competition.

While appellate courts do not grant oral argument as often as they used to, oral advocacy remains a critical skill for law students to learn and cultivate, no matter which facet of law practice they enter upon graduation. Unfortunately, the …

Litigation Discovery Cannot Be Optimal But Could Be Better: The Economics Of Improving Discovery Timing In A Digital Age, Scott A. Moss

Scott A Moss

Cases are won and lost in discovery, yet discovery draws surprisingly little academic attention. Most scholarship focuses on how much discovery to allow, not how courts decide discovery disputes – which, unlike trials, occur in most cases. Today, much evidence is “e-discovery” – imprudent emails or still-lingering “deleted” files – making costly discovery battles increasingly salient. But the e-discovery rules are not truly new, just a strengthening of old cost/benefit “proportionality” limits on discovery enacted when the spread of photocopiers similarly increased the amount of discovery. Proportionality limits are topic of broad consensus among civil procedure scholars as well as …

Hedonic Adaptation And The Settlement Of Civil Lawsuits, Jonathan S. Masur, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco

Jonathan S. Masur

This paper examines the burgeoning psychological literature on happiness and hedonic adaptation (a person’s capacity to preserve or recapture her level of happiness by adjusting to changed circumstances), bringing this literature to bear on a previously overlooked aspect of the civil litigation process: the probability of pre-trial settlement. The glacial pace of civil litigation is commonly thought of as a regrettable source of costs to the relevant parties. Even relatively straightforward personal injury lawsuits can last for as long as two years, delaying the arrival of necessary redress to the tort victim and forcing the litigants to expend ever greater …