Law Commons^™

The Fortunes & Foibles Of Exchange-Traded Funds, William A. Birdthistle

William Birdthistle

One of the most dynamic and complex new investment vehicles on the market today is the exchange-traded fund, a security that provides the diversification of a mutual fund but trades on an exchange like a stock. In just over a decade, the number of ETFs has proliferated to well over 500, attracting almost half a trillion dollars in investment. Most of that growth has occurred in just the past two years, and ETFs are projected to continue growing at a pace far faster than hedge funds and mutual funds in the coming years. Yet for all this extraordinary growth, legal …

Domestic Surveillance For International Terrorists: Presidential Power And Fourth Amendment Limits, Richard H. Seamon

Richard H Seamon

After 9/11, the President authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance of American residents. Critics of this so called “Terrorist Surveillance Program” (TSP) say it violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) and the Fourth Amendment. Defenders of the TSP counter that, regardless whether it violates FISA, it falls within the President's congressionally irreducible power to protect national security and within the relaxed Fourth Amendment governing national security searches. This article focuses on the overlooked connection between the issues of whether the TSP (1) falls within the President’s powers; or (2) violates the Fourth Amendment. …

The Road Not Considered, Robert Blecker

robert blecker

“The Road Not Considered” suggests a morally refined death penalty statute as an alternative to abolition or keeping New Jersey’s presently flawed legislation.

Class Actions And The Poor, Henry Rose

Henry Rose

“Class Actions and the Poor” (Abstract)

Attorneys funded by the national Legal Services Corporation (LSC) provide free legal representation to the poor in civil matters. In 1996, a federal law was enacted that prohibited LSC-funded attorneys from representing their clients in class actions.

This article examines the policy justifications for barring LSC-funded attorneys from being involved in class actions. These justifications included: directing the resources of LSC to the legal problems of individuals rather than the poor as a group; and preventing the use of federal dollars from supporting political or social change. The article demonstrates that these are not …

Roles Of Government In Compensating Disaster Victims, Stephen D. Sugarman

Stephen D Sugarman

Government has many roles to play with respect to the compensation of victims of catastrophes: on the insurance side (helping make insurance available ex ante, assuring insurer solvency and fair payment of claimants ex post) and on the compensation side (where government is at fault, where tort rights are reduced, where commuities face destruction, and where special altruistic concerns are present).

Initiatives And Referenda In Wyoming, Debora Person, Tawnya Plumb

Debora A. Person

No abstract provided.

Aei Brookings Joint Center Working Paper, Vernon L. Smith, William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan, Martin E. Cave, Peter Cramton, Robert W. Hahn, Thomas W. Hazlett, Paul L. Joskow, Alfred E. Kahn, John W. Mayo, Patrick A. Messerlin, Bruce M. Owen, Robert S. Pindyck, Scott Wallsten, Leonard Waverman, Lawrence J. White, Scott Savage

Richard E. Redding

Network neutrality is a policy proposal that would regulate how network providers manage and price the use of their networks. Congress has introduced several bills on network neutrality. Proposed legislation generally would mandate that Internet service providers exercise no control over the content that flows over their lines and would bar providers from charging more for preferentially faster access to the Internet. These proposals must be considered carefully in light of the underlying economics. Our basic concern is that most proposals aimed at implementing net neutrality are likely to do more harm than good.

Legislation And Legitimation: Congress And Insider Trading In The 1980s, Thomas W. Joo

Thomas W Joo

Orthodox corporate law and economics holds that American corporate and securities regulation has evolved inexorably toward economic efficiency. That position is difficult to square with the fact that regulation is the product of government actors and institutions. Indeed, the rational behavior assumptions of law-and-economics suggest that those actors and institutions would tend to place their own self-interest ahead of economic efficiency. This Article provides anecdotal evidence of such self-interest at work. Based on an analysis of legislative history--primarily congressional hearings--this Article argues that Congress had little interest in the economic policy effect of insider trading legislation in the 1980s. Rather, …

If You (Re)Build It They Will Come: Contracts To Remake The Rules Of Litigation In Arbitration's Image, Henry S. Noyes

Henry S. Noyes

The Supreme Court describes the right to trial by jury in a civil action as a "basic and fundamental" right that is "sacred to the citizen" and therefore "should be jealously guarded by the court." But parties to a contract may agree that, in the event a dispute arises, they waive their right to a jury. If this dispute resolution right - which is fundamental, constitutional, and set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - may be used as a bargaining chip, are there any limits on parties' ability to modify the rules of litigation in their ex …

Aei-Brookings Joint Center Working Paper, Vernon L. Smith, William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan, Martin E. Cave, Peter Cramton, Robert W. Hahn, Thomas W. Hazlett, Paul L. Joskow, Alfred E. Kahn, John W. Mayo, Patrick A. Messerlin, Bruce M. Owen, Robert S. Pindyck, Scott Wallsten, Leonard Waverman, Lawrence J. White, Scott Savage

Vernon L. Smith

Network neutrality is a policy proposal that would regulate how network providers manage and price the use of their networks. Congress has introduced several bills on network neutrality. Proposed legislation generally would mandate that Internet service providers exercise no control over the content that flows over their lines and would bar providers from charging more for preferentially faster access to the Internet. These proposals must be considered carefully in light of the underlying economics. Our basic concern is that most proposals aimed at implementing net neutrality are likely to do more harm than good.

Authorship In The Age Of The Conducer, Erez Reuveni

Erez Reuveni

The age of centralized information production is over. Today, countless creative enterprises involve decentralized collaboration by hundreds of end-users. Yet, the Copyright Act's last major revision occurred over thirty years ago, when a centralized, corporate model of production was the primary means of delivering information products on a mass-market scale. This Article contends that several features of the Copyright Act, remnants of this earlier corporate-driven era, are outmoded and fail to offer optimal incentives for the decentralized, non-profit-driven model of creative production utilized by many in the software and information-production fields. Specifically, the Copyright Act assumes creativity stems from the …

Good Cause Is Bad Medicine For The New E-Discovery Rules, Henry S. Noyes

Henry S. Noyes

This Article takes a critical look at the e-discovery amendments to Rule 26(b)(2) that provide that electronically stored information that is “not reasonably accessible” shall be discoverable only if the requesting party can establish good cause. The intent of these amendments was to limit the cost and burden of discovery and to ensure that similarly situated litigants are treated similarly with respect to discovery of electronically stored information. I conclude that the e-discovery amendments to Rule 26(b)(2) will be ineffective because they increase judicial discretion—likely leading to disparate treatment of similarly situated litigants—while providing no new protection against the cost …