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Full-Text Articles in Law
Judges, Judging And Otherwise: Do We Ask Too Much Of State Court Judges - Or Not Enough?, Michael C. Pollack
Judges, Judging And Otherwise: Do We Ask Too Much Of State Court Judges - Or Not Enough?, Michael C. Pollack
Faculty Articles
Ask the average person to imagine what a judge does, and the answer will most likely be something right out of a courtroom from Law & Order — or Legally Blonde, Just Mercy, My Cousin Vinny, Kramer vs. Kramer, or any of the myriad law-themed movies and television shows. A judge is faced with a dispute brought by some parties and their lawyers and is charged with resolving it, whether it be a breach of contract, a tort action, a competing claim over property, a disagreement about the meaning of a statute, some accusation that someone …
The Citation Of Unpublished Cases In The Wake Of Covid-19, Michael L. Smith
The Citation Of Unpublished Cases In The Wake Of Covid-19, Michael L. Smith
Faculty Articles
California's Rules of Court prohibit the citation of unpublished state court opinions. Courts and litigants, however, may still cite unpublished federal opinions and rulings and unpublished opinions from other states' courts. This may result in problems, such as limiting courts' and parties' authorities to a skewed sample set, and the covert importation of inapplicable, stricter federal court pleading standards in state court cases. COVID-19 was a stress-test that brought the problems with California's citation rules into focus. The pandemic led to a flood of claims for pandemic-related business interruptions by insured business owners against their insurance companies. While state courts …
Lech's Mess With The Tenth Circuit: Why Governmental Entities Are Not Exempt From Paying Just Compensation When They Destroy Property Pursuant To Their Police Powers, Emilio R. Longoria
Lech's Mess With The Tenth Circuit: Why Governmental Entities Are Not Exempt From Paying Just Compensation When They Destroy Property Pursuant To Their Police Powers, Emilio R. Longoria
Faculty Articles
On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Lech v. Jackson, a Tenth Circuit inverse condemnation case, which held that governmental entities are categorically exempt from paying just compensation when they destroy private property pursuant to their police powers. This denial of certiorari cements a highly controversial circuit court holding into our takings jurisprudence the effects of which will be serious and far reaching. This article dissects the Tenth Circuit's opinion in Lech and explains how and why this holding should be revisited. If it is not, we risk losing the protection that the Fifth Amendment's Just Compensation …
“Rule Of Inclusion" Confusion, Dora Klein
“Rule Of Inclusion" Confusion, Dora Klein
Faculty Articles
Some rules of evidence are complex. The federal rules governing the admissibility of hearsay statements,' for example, include at least forty different provisions. Numerous judges and scholars have commented on the complexity of the hearsay rules. Not all rules of evidence are complex, however. For example, the federal rules governing the admissibility of character evidence are relatively straightforward: evidence that is offered for the purpose of proving character is inadmissible, subject to a few well-defined exceptions. Despite this relative straightforwardness, many of the federal circuit courts of appeals have overlaid the rules regarding character evidence particularly Rule 404(b)--with unnecessary interpretive …
#Sowhitemale: Federal Procedural Rulemaking Committees, Brooke D. Coleman
#Sowhitemale: Federal Procedural Rulemaking Committees, Brooke D. Coleman
Faculty Articles
Of the 630 members of a specialized set of committees responsible for drafting the federal rules for civil and criminal litigation, 591 of them have been white. That is 94 percent of the committee membership. Of that same group, 513—or 81 percent—have been white men. Decisionmaking bodies do better work when their members are diverse; these rulemaking committees are no exception. The Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure are not mere technical instructions, nor are they created by a neutral set of experts. To the contrary, the Rules embody normative judgments about what values trump others, and the rulemakers—while experts—are …
#Sowhitemale - Federal Civil Rulemaking, Brooke D. Coleman
#Sowhitemale - Federal Civil Rulemaking, Brooke D. Coleman
Faculty Articles
116 out of 136. That is the number of white men who have served on the 82-year old committee responsible for creating and maintaining the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The tiny number of non-white, non-male committee members is disproportionate even in the context of the white-male-dominated legal profession. Were the rules simply a technical set of instructions made by a neutral set of experts, perhaps these numbers might not be as disturbing. But that is not the case. The Civil Rules embody normative judgments about the values that have primacy in our civil justice system, and the rulemakers—while expert—are …
Discovering Innovation: Discovery Reform & Federal Civil Rulemaking, Brooke D. Coleman
Discovering Innovation: Discovery Reform & Federal Civil Rulemaking, Brooke D. Coleman
Faculty Articles
Federal civil rulemaking—the process by which the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are created and maintained—has simultaneously been described as a crisis and a crowning achievement. This Article departs from this binary and pragmatically turns to a consideration of how the committee operates. Using the lens of discovery reform, this Article examines how the rulemaking process has evolved over the past 35 years. The ups and downs of discovery reform have inspired the committee to adopt many modern rulemaking innovations. Those innovations, this Article argues, are critical to the success of the rulemaking process because they provide rulemakers with better …
The Freedom To Pursue A Common Calling: Applying Intermediate Scrutiny To Occupational Licensing Statutes (Note), Alexandra L. Klein
The Freedom To Pursue A Common Calling: Applying Intermediate Scrutiny To Occupational Licensing Statutes (Note), Alexandra L. Klein
Faculty Articles
After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the monks at St. Joseph Abbey in Louisiana sought a new source of income. They began producing simple wooden coffins priced at much lower rates than caskets sold in funeral homes. After the Abbey had made a large investment in its business, St. Joseph Woodworks, the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors ordered it to close. Although the monks did not provide funeral or embalming services, a Louisiana statute regulating the funeral industry prohibited the monks from selling coffins.
Under the statute, "funeral directing" included "any service whatsoever connected with... the purchase …
False Security: How Courts Have Improperly Rendered The Protections Of The Protective Order Illusory, Ramona L. Lampley
False Security: How Courts Have Improperly Rendered The Protections Of The Protective Order Illusory, Ramona L. Lampley
Faculty Articles
The protective order is perhaps one of the most useful and “taken for granted” discovery devices contemplated by the Colorado and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The purpose of a joint protective order in civil litigation is to permit the parties to produce business information without fear that the information will be disseminated publicly, and with a court order that the information be used only for purposes of the present litigation. Blanket protective orders serve the interests of a just, speedy, and less expensive determination of complex disputes by alleviating the need for and delay occasioned by extensive and repeated …
Is Arbitration Under Attack?: Exploring The Recent Judicial Skepticism Of The Class Arbitration Waiver And Innovative Solutions To The Unsettled Legal Landscape, Ramona L. Lampley
Is Arbitration Under Attack?: Exploring The Recent Judicial Skepticism Of The Class Arbitration Waiver And Innovative Solutions To The Unsettled Legal Landscape, Ramona L. Lampley
Faculty Articles
Courts have become increasingly likely in recent years to find class arbitration waivers in consumer product sales unenforceable due to the lack of incentives for consumers and their attorneys to recover for "low value" claims. This article explores the history of the unconscionability and vindication-of-statutory rights doctrines invoked by those courts. It then analyzes the progression of the class arbitration waiver in the consumer products industry, with emphasis on the third-generation "incentivizing" agreement. This "incentivizing" agreement, if viewed at the time of the purchase agreement, can be mutually beneficial to seller and consumer. Some consumers may wish to forego the …
The Law As Bard: Extolling A Culture's Virtues, Exposing Its Vices, And Telling Its Story, Adam J. Macleod
The Law As Bard: Extolling A Culture's Virtues, Exposing Its Vices, And Telling Its Story, Adam J. Macleod
Faculty Articles
Before literacy rates in the English speaking world reached their apex (and long before they dropped into the trough they are now thought to occupy), before we commoners read newspapers (and long before we wrote blogs), before autobiographies crowded book shelves (and long before reality television created celebrities out of rather mean raw material), our cultural forebears appointed a rather singular individual to preserve for their children a record of their values, rituals, institutions, and assumptions: the bard.
The bard told stories. But the bard didn't tell just any stories. The bard told stories drawn from the fabric of which …
Addressing The Scourge Of Human Trafficking: The Challenge Ahead, Roza Pati
Addressing The Scourge Of Human Trafficking: The Challenge Ahead, Roza Pati
Faculty Articles
No abstract provided.
The Movement Toward Federalism In Italy: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, Siegfried Wiessner
The Movement Toward Federalism In Italy: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, Siegfried Wiessner
Faculty Articles
No abstract provided.
Insurance Contracts And Judicial Decisions Over Whether Insurers Must Defend Insureds That Violate Constitutional And Civil Rights: An Historical And Empirical Review Of Federal And State Court Declaratory Judgments 1900-2000, Willy E. Rice
Faculty Articles
Empirical findings suggest that extralegal factors, such as geographic location, ethnicity, gender, disability, perceived sexual orientation, and age of third-party victims, influence judicial decisions as to whether liability carriers must defend or reimburse the costs of defending various lawsuits. After the introduction, Part II of this article presents a brief discussion of state and federal declaratory judgment statutes and of the public policy behind liability and indemnification insurance contracts. Part III examines the origin and scope of insurers’ duty to defend, duty to pay legal expenses, and duty to reimburse litigation costs when third-party victims sue policyholders. Part IV argues …
Race, Gender, “Redlining,” And The Discriminatory Access To Loans, Credit, And Insurance: An Historical And Empirical Analysis Of Consumers Who Sued Lenders And Insurers In Federal And State Courts, 1950-1995, Willy E. Rice
Faculty Articles
Courts have failed to consistently remedy insurers’ and lenders’ discrimination against low-income individuals, women, and minorities. State and federal courts have tried to resolve disputes involving redlining, unequal access to capital, and insurance discrimination. Because of courts’ failures, Congress passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 (“ECOA”) and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA”) to protect minorities and low income individuals. But the ECOA and CRA have not achieved their stated goals of eradicating either insurance or mortgage redlining.
In most states, the responsibility of enforcing federal fair-lending laws and eradicating all sorts of financial redlining is given …