Law Commons^™

Evidentiary Inequality, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Publications

Federal employment discrimination law is rife with evidentiary inequality. Courts allow employers to draw from a broad palette of evidence to defend against discrimination claims, while highly restricting the facts from which plaintiffs can prove their claims. This Article draws from hundreds of cases to show how judges favor the employer's evidence and disfavor the plaintiff's evidence across multiple dimensions, such as time, witnesses, documents, relevance, and reliability. Judges have created a host of named doctrines that severely restrict the evidence plaintiffs are allowed to use to prove their discrimination claims. At the same time, a host of unnamed, and …

Simulations Based On Actual Cases – Why Reinvent The Wheel?, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post describes Debra Berman’s use of materials from actual cases for simulations in her negotiation and mediation courses. She provides litigation documents, including the complaint, motions, and other documents such as discovery requests, disclosures, and scheduling orders as well as a short settlement memo that she drafts. She observed dramatic improvements in her students’ performance. They were excited to work with real cases and were more prepared.

"Yogi-Isms" In The Courts, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

The versatility of Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra, a native of St. Louis,5 appears unparalleled in the annals of professional sports. His stellar on-the-field performance earned him election to the Hall of Fame in 1972, and his vast collection of off-the-field sayings earned him a secure place in American folklore. Some Yogi-isms are cited and quoted in federal and state judicial opinions. Topping the judicial ledger is “It’s déjà vu all over again,” which appears in Shurtleff and a few dozen other decisions.

Constructing Good Odr Systems, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post presents an article by Amy Schmitz and John Zeleznikow, Intelligent Legal Tech to Empower Self-Represented Litigants. It helps explain why ODR systems sometimes don’t fulfill parties’ needs. The article develops a typology of six functions that various ODR systems perform: case management, triaging, advisory, communication, decision support, and drafting. It includes a great appendix listing ODR systems and which of these functions they perform, noting that some systems perform multiple functions. It argues that artificial intelligence and data analytics have the potential to help self-represented litigants and others pursue remedies and justice.

It's None Of Your Business: State Regulation Of Tribal Business Undermines Sovereignty And Justice, Robin M. Rotman, Sam J. Carter

Faculty Publications

The U.S. Constitution grants the federal government plenary power over American Indian affairs, yet states are increasingly attempting to assert regulatory and tax jurisdiction over tribal businesses. This overreach threatens tribal sovereignty and contravenes the terms of treaties entered between the United States and American Indian tribes. This Article begins by examining the legal foundations of federal, state, and tribal relations. It then examines recent cases across four business sectors - gaming, tobacco sales, petroleum sales, and online lending - in order to illustrate the pervasive jurisdictional challenges faced by courts in cases involving tribal businesses. This Article offers three …

Eleven Observations About Legal Writing, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This Article collects 11 observations about legal writing that I have shared with law students since I began teaching in the late 1970s.

Realigning The Clean Water Act: Comprehensive Treatment Of Nonpoint Source Pollution, Robin M. Rotman, Ashley A. Hollis, Kathleen M. Trauth

Faculty Publications

Nonpoint source pollution is the biggest threat to water quality in the United States today. This Article argues for stronger federal controls over nonpoint source pollution. It begins by examining the history of water quality regulation in the United States, including the passage and amendment of the Clean Water Act and the evolving definition of “navigable waters” over time. The Article then discusses recent rulemaking and litigation developments, including the Clean Water Rule, the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, and the County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund case. It offers three recommendations. First, the Article calls for a congressional …

An Extended Essay On Church Autonomy, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The doctrine of church autonomy has its own exclusive line of precedent running from Watson v. Jones (1872) through Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral (1952) - where the doctrine was first recognized as having First Amendment stature - and culminating with renewed vigor for religious institutional autonomy in the unanimous decision of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (2012). Attention to church autonomy has expanded rapidly since the Supreme Court’s decision in Hosanna-Tabor, and its scope is much disputed as it pushes aside other claims and interests. In its most familiar form—the “ministerial exception” - it is …

Teaching Students To Think Like Practitioners, John Lande

Faculty Blogs

This post summarizes ideas from a presentation focused on how to teach students to think like a mediator. This post applies the same logic to thinking like an advocate in mediation or a negotiator. The techniques can be applied in courses teaching practice skills through simulations, externships, and clinical experiences. The post includes possible teaching assignments.

Keeping The Elderly Quiet: The Trump Administration And The Reincarnation Of Mandatory Arbitration In Nursing Home Contracts, Katey Peters

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Mandatory arbitration provisions are the current standard in nursing home admission contracts, but the legal arguments surrounding their enforcement raise questions concerning the validity of these standard provisions. Arbitration provisions allow nursing homes to limit the transparency into their operations and keep victims, and their families, quiet and out of the public eye. This, in turn, limits the understanding of the shortcoming of current regulations and where new regulations may help. The current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic has brought to light some of these otherwise hidden regulatory issues surrounding nursing homes. As a result, several states have tried to …

Acceptable Lies In Contract Negotiations, Stefanie Jung

Journal of Dispute Resolution

It is well established that lying is a widespread phenomenon in business-to-business (“B2B”) contract negotiations. Some of the most prominent lies may be those about the subject matter of the contract. However, negotiators also frequently lie about other aspects like offers from other potential buyers or sellers, the availability of their product, the legal situation regarding contractual aspects, as well as their emotions and preferences.

Clandestine Awards, Information Asymmetries, And Equality Of Arms In Investment Arbitration, Fernando Dias Simões

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Among the numerous criticisms leveled at investor-state arbitration over the years, it has almost become de rigueur to point out a lack of transparency. In this arena “transparency” refers to the extent to which the public may be aware of the existence of a dispute, have access to key arbitral documents, or attend oral hearings.

Faculty List

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

Disentangling Conflicts Of Laws In Eu And Member States’ Investment Agreements, Ottavio Quirico

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The European Union (“EU”) is integrated into global markets via an open investment regime, which has fostered the development of wide economic relations. In 2019, the net investment outflow from EU Member States toward third countries totaled $42,6761 million, while inflow totaled $47,3196 million. To regulate investment disparities since the establishment of the common market in the 1950s, EU Member States have concluded about 1400 multilateral investment treaties (“MITs”) and bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”) with third countries. EU Member States have also negotiated around 190 MITs and BITs inter se, or intra-EU investment agreements. Since the adoption of the Lisbon …

Digital Assets & License Protections In An Age That Denies Class Actions And Mandates Arbitration, Kevin Carr

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The battle of star system B-R5RB is probably a conflict and place that you have never heard of, even though an estimated £300,000 worth of property damage and loss occurred due to an interstellar battle on July 27, 2014. Hundreds of competing rival ships were destroyed, with over 7,600 individuals taking part in one of the single largest property disputes of the 21st century. The conflict lasted approximately 21 hours and had ripple effects across an entire galaxy. If this sounds like fiction, I assure you, it is not. You have likely never heard of star system B-R5RB or the …

Supplemental Environmental Projects’ Wild Ride Is A Call For Legislative Action To Protect A Valuable Negotiation Tool, Joel Smith

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In March 2020, the head of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Natural Resources Division (“DOJ ENRD”) issued a decision that fundamentally altered the federal government’s ability to address environmental harm. The decision removed a valuable tool from the negotiation toolbox that Department of Justice (“DOJ”) attorneys used for decades when negotiating settlements in civil enforcement of federal environmental protection laws. This policy change had the potential to significantly impact resolution of complex environmental disputes. In February 2021, the new Chief of the DOJ ENRD rescinded the 2020 memo in response to an executive order from newly elected President Joe Biden. …

Description

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

Can Artificial Intelligence (“Ai”) Replace Human Arbitrators? Technological Concerns And Legal Implications, Gizem Halis Kasap

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is no longer a precursor to the future—it is already here in the mainstream. Some countries, for example, have started to implement AI-based technologies into their adjudication processes. It has been reported that Estonia is currently developing an AI judge that can adjudicate small claims disputes of less than º7,000 and that China already has digital courts presided over by an AI judge. Together with the triggering effect of such futuristic news, AI studies that predict the outcome of litigation have stirred heated debate about the possible arrival of AI judges.

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines: Some Valedictory Reflections Twenty Years After Apprendi, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This Article reflects on the author's professional experience and intellectual evolution in relation to federal sentencing policy and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines before and after the Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey.

The account begins with the author's first encounters with the Guidelines when he was a zealous Assistant U.S. Attorney, continues through his transition to teacher, scholar, policy advocate, and occasional sentencing consultant, and concludes with the author pessimistic about the prospects of meaningful federal sentencing reform.

The utility, if any, of these musings will lie partly in the fact that the author has been deeply involved …

Governing By Executive Order During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Observations Concerning The Proper Balance Between Executive Orders And More Formal Rule Making, Kelly J. Deere

Missouri Law Review

As the United States entered 2021, almost all fifty states were still operating under a state of emergency due to COVID-19 more than nine months later. Governors using emergency powers provided to them under their respective emergency disaster statutes and state constitutions continued to govern their state by executive order. These executive orders have had significant impacts on citizens’ everyday lives including stay-at-home orders, limits on non-essential gatherings, non-essential business closures and moratoriums on evictions. And these emergency orders have been opposed at almost every turn from citizens gathering in public protest shouting “Liberate Michigan,” to constitutional legal challenges to …

Balancing Purpose, Power, And Discretion Between Article Iii Courts And The Patent Office, Emily N. Weber

Missouri Law Review

The function of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is to promote the industrial and technological innovation of the nation and strengthen the economy through the preservation, classification, and dissemination of patent information. The America Invents Act (“AIA”) prescribed a multitude of supporting goals to best promote innovation, such as preserving “quality patents,” “timely consideration” of issues, maintaining “cost-effective” methods, preventing “frivolous litigation,” and preventing “uncertainty.” The AIA ensures the “efficiency, objectivity, predictability, and transparency” of the patent system. Part of this act included revamping the adjudicatory forum located within the USPTO, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board …

Faculty List

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Masthead

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Common-Law Remedy For The Eviction Epidemic, Brian M. Miller

Missouri Law Review

Eviction burdens tenants and their households with incredible hardship. But it long has been the standard legal remedy when a tenant fails to keep up with rent payments. The combination of these two facts has birthed a crisis. Many commentators have responded to the crisis by suggesting legislative or executive solutions, but courts and the common law have been mostly ignored. This article focuses on courts and the role they can play under the common law to minimize unnecessarily harmful evictions. By considering reasonable expectations and interests of not only landlords, but of tenants and the public as well, this …

The Walking Dead: How The Criminal Regulation Of Sodomy Survived Lawrence V. Texas, Jordan Carr Peterson

Missouri Law Review

Eighteen years after the Supreme Court held in Lawrence v. Texas that a law criminalizing sodomy violated the constitutional guarantee to substantive due process, individuals are still arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and incarcerated pursuant to statutes that are the material equivalent of the one at issue in Lawrence. Though this seems both strange and unfair, it is neither unusual nor accidental. Because the constitutional order renders the judiciary a passive institution and radically fragments authority across a polycentric collection of governments, noncompliance with judicial decisions is endemic to American institutional design.

Pomegranates And Railroads: Why Pom Wonderful Suggests That The Federal Railroad Safety Act Should Never Preclude Federal Employers Liability Act Claims, Dominic G. Biffignani

Missouri Law Review

On September 30, 2010, Scott Schendel was the engineer on a locomotive heading southbound near Two Harbors, Minnesota. His shift started early that morning – he clocked in at 4:30 a.m. – and the railroad wanted to make sure Schendel’s locomotive returned to Two Harbors before his mandatory twelve-hour on-duty time limit expired. At 4:05 p.m., however, disaster struck: Schendel’s locomotive collided with a northbound train, causing catastrophic damage. Three locomotives and fourteen rail cars derailed, resulting in $8.1 million in damages to railroad property.