Law Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Measures To Increase Appellate Court Efficiency And Decision Output, Thomas B. Marvell, Carlisle E. Moody

Carlisle Moody

This Article will examine the effectiveness of measures commonly employed to increase appellate court productivity. Part I of the Article sets forth some common design problems and explains how the research technique employed in the present study avoids these problems by using a multiple time-series research design. Part II applies this design to state court data. Part II also describes the dependent variable, the number of appeals decided per judge, used in the regression analysis. Part III discusses the results of that analysis-the impact of each change listed above on judicial productivity. The Article, although not advocating the adoption of …

Facing The Facts: An Empirical Study Of The Fairness And Efficiency Of Foreclosures And A Proposal For Reform, Debra Pogrund Stark

Debra Pogrund Stark

Lenders view real estate foreclosures as too expensive and time consuming a process which needlessly increases the costs of making loans. Others complain that the foreclosure process fails to adequately protect the borrower's equity (the value of the property in excess of the debt secured by the property) in the mortgaged property.

This article tests these views by gathering new data on the fairness and efficiency of the foreclosure process. Based on the data collected (which confirms some assumptions but disproves others), the author proposes a reform of the foreclosure process to promote the interest of both lenders and borrowers. …

Religion And Child Custody, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This piece draws upon divorce pleadings and other records to show how indications of religion (or disaffiliation) that appear in custody agreements and orders (called “parenting plans” in both states studied) affect the course of the proceedings and legal activities over the five years following divorce filing. Some of the apparent findings are normative, but most are merely descriptive and some may be correlative rather than caused by the indicated concern about religion. While parenting plans are accepted by courts only when they are in the best interests of the child (at least in theory), the child’s independent religious needs …

Result Inequality In Family Law, Margaret Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

To the extent that family law is governed by statute, all families are treated as though they are the same. This is of course consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the US Constitution as well as those of the states. However, in our pluralistic society, all families are not alike. At birth, some children are born to wealthy, married parents who will always put the children’s interests first and will never engage in domestic violence. Many laws benefit these children, while, according to some academics, they either further disadvantage other children or at best ignore their needs.

This presentation …

Does Parental Autonomy Require Equal Custody At Divorce?, Margaret F. Brinig

Margaret F Brinig

This paper considers the affect of amendments to state divorce laws that strengthen their joint custody preference. It does so in the context of suits by noncustodial parents challenging substantive custody standards not requiring equal custody at divorce. The complaint is that most custody laws, by using a best interests standard rather than equally dividing custodial time, violate substantive due process. Further, two states, Iowa and Maine, have recently amended their custody legislation to strongly presume joint physical custody.

After setting out the constitutional problem and describing the legislation in some detail, this paper tests the effects of the change …

Legal Entities As Transferable Bundles Of Contracts, Kenneth Ayotte, Henry Hansmann

Kenneth Ayotte

The large, modern business corporation is frequently organized as a complex cluster of hundreds of corporate subsidiaries under the common control of a single corporate parent. Our Article provides new theory and supportive evidence to help explain this structure. We focus, in particular on the advantages of subsidiary entities in providing the option to transfer some or all of the firm's contractual rights and obligations in the future. The theory not only sheds light on corporate subsidiaries but also illuminates a basic function of all types of legal entities, from partnerships to nonprofit corporations. We show that when, as is …

Patent Misuse And Antitrust: Rebirth Or False Dawn?, Daryl Lim

Daryl Lim

This Article examines how two recent cases, F.T.C. v. Actavis and Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises Inc. could affect both the equitable defense of patent misuse and the patent-antitrust interface more generally. It begins by tracing the history of patent misuse and its reformulation into an “antitrust-lite” doctrine by the Federal Circuit. This Article presents new empirical data confirming this reformulation, and unveils the surprising influence of the Seventh Circuit and the Chicago School on that reformulation. The Article then explores Actavis and Kimble. It explains why Actavis will catalyze more antitrust challenges when patent rights are exercised, and why it …

Gender And Partner Compensation At America's Largest Firms, Marina Angel

Marina Angel

Abstract

This study compiled the largest research sample on the gender gap in compensation at the 200 largest law firms by combining two large databases to examine the compensation disparities between men and women partners. The analysis elucidates the question of whether the difference is because women are less productive than men partners or because they are women. The Am Law 100 and 200 studies include gross revenue, profits, number of equity and non-equity partners, and the total number of lawyers at each firm. The Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Programs study (Vault/MCCA) includes the gender ratios at each Am Law …

The Impact Of Active Learning On Law School Performance, Patricia W. Hatamyar, Todd P. Sullivan

Patricia W Hatamyar

“Active learning” – where law students actively participate in the learning process, rather than passively receive information from the “sage on the stage” – has become a cornerstone of the calls for reform in legal education. But academic support programs have been using active learning techniques for a long time. The legal academy generally, not just academic support professionals, should appreciate the effectiveness of active learning in improving students’ law school performance. This article is a both a quantitative and qualitative empirical study of a comprehensive Active Learning (“AL”) program at St. Thomas University School of Law. St. Thomas runs …

Statistical Evidence On The Gender Gap In Law Firm Partner Compensation, Marina Angel, Eun Young Whang, Rajiv Banker, Joseph F. Lopez

Marina Angel

Our study compiled the largest research sample on the gender gap in compensation at the 200 largest law firms by combining two large databases to examine why women partners are compensated less: because they are less productive than men partners or because they are women. The AmLaw 100 and 200 studies include gross revenue, profits, number of equity and non-equity partners, and the total number of lawyers at each firm. The Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Programs study (Vault/MCCA) includes the gender ratios at each AmLaw 200 firm. Our study covers the years 2002 to 2007.

The ratio of women equity …

Reality Meets Perception For Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 11: An Empirical Study Of Practice Under The 1983 And 1993 Versions., David B. Owens

David B. Owens

The claim that frivolous litigation is an “epidemic” plaguing our civil justice system strikes a chord with many Americans. Legal ethicists and other academics have responded by emphasizing that incidents like the McDonald’s coffee case are distorted by sensationalist media coverage and, more fundamentally, that they are not representative of civil litigation. Against the backdrop of this persistent social controversy, Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has been twice significantly amended in the last 30 years—in 1983 and 1993. The most recent amendments in 1993 did not quell political concern about frivolous litigation. Indeed, as recently as …

Relational Governance And Contract Damages: Evidence From Franchising, Adam B. Badawi

Adam B. Badawi

Home Mortgage Problems Through The Lens Of Bankruptcy, Melissa B. Jacoby

Melissa B. Jacoby

Based on a lecture at a predatory lending conference at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law, this brief paper discusses the 2007 Consumer Bankruptcy Project and how the empirical study of bankruptcy law informs our understanding of the intersection of mortgages and homeownership with financial distress, and whether bankruptcy can provide meaningful redress.