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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Supreme Court's Assault On Litigation: Why (And How) It Might Be A Good Thing For Health Law, Abigail R. Moncrieff Nov 2009

The Supreme Court's Assault On Litigation: Why (And How) It Might Be A Good Thing For Health Law, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Abigail R. Moncrieff

In recent years, the Supreme Court has narrowed or eliminated private rights of action in many legal regimes, much to the chagrin of the legal academy. That trend has had a significant impact on health law; the Court’s decisions have eliminated the private enforcement mechanism for at least three important healthcare regimes: Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, and medical devices. In a similar trend outside the courts, state legislatures have capped noneconomic and punitive damages for medical malpractice litigation, weakening the tort system’s deterrent capacity in those states. This Article points out that the trend of eliminating private rights of action in …


Where's The Party: Do Class Action Plaintiffs Really Prefer State Courts?, Neil J. Marchand Mar 2009

Where's The Party: Do Class Action Plaintiffs Really Prefer State Courts?, Neil J. Marchand

Neil J. Marchand

Scholars and interest groups have discussed litigants’ behavior in the class action context. This paper uses empirical data to determine whether class action plaintiffs actually prefer to litigate their suits in state courts. Despite well-reasoned conjectures on the subject, to date there is a paucity of empirical data on class action litigation, especially at the state court level. This scarcity has thwarted analysis of the likelihood of class certification in the state courts, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005’s (CAFA) total impact on the judiciary, and the predictability of class action litigation. This study aims to start filling the …


Flipping Daubert: Putting Climate Change Defendants In The Hot Seat, Ryan A. Hackney Feb 2009

Flipping Daubert: Putting Climate Change Defendants In The Hot Seat, Ryan A. Hackney

Ryan A Hackney

Can climate change plaintiffs use Daubert challenges to exclude defense expert testimony? Although Daubert challenges have traditionally favored defendants, the strong evidence for climate change may allow plaintiffs to exclude or restrict defense testimony. My paper considers actual claims put forth by climate change skeptics to see how climate change plaintiffs can use Daubert challenges in four ways: challenge the witness, challenge reliability, challenge relevance, and challenge conclusions. The paper suggests that Daubert challenges can be an effective tool for plaintiffs in climate change litigation, and that challenges in this context may provide a blueprint for plaintiffs to follow in …


Teaching The “Portraits, Mosaics And Themes” Of The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Lee D. Schinasi Feb 2009

Teaching The “Portraits, Mosaics And Themes” Of The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Lee D. Schinasi

Lee D. Schinasi

Teaching the “Portraits, Mosaics and Themes” of The Federal Rules of Evidence: This article discusses an approach to teaching, learning, and applying the Federal Rules of Evidence – the “portraits and mosaics regime.” It is designed to accomplish four things: First, for professors new to teaching evidence, the “portraits and mosaics regime” is a macro level introductory overview of the statute and is aimed at providing perspective and insight. It introduces the statutes’s most significant concepts, how they interrelate, and how they can be applied. Second, it can be used as a teaching outline for new evidence professors approaching their …


Poised On The Precipice: A Critical Examination Of Privacy Litigation, Andrew B. Serwin Feb 2009

Poised On The Precipice: A Critical Examination Of Privacy Litigation, Andrew B. Serwin

Andrew B. Serwin

A collection of factors has caused the United States to be poised on the precipice of a new wave of litigation—litigation arising from the improper use or collection of information. Public concern over privacy is ever increasing while, and some would say because, information has become critical to our everyday existence. In what is now a self-reinforcing cycle, increased public concern has caused an exponential increase in regulations, and the new regulations have caused increased attention and public concern because many of the new laws require public disclosure of security breaches, which increases societal concerns over privacy. Security breach laws, …


Theorizing And Litigating The Rights Of Sexual Minorities, Nancy Levit Jan 2009

Theorizing And Litigating The Rights Of Sexual Minorities, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

One of the best measures of a society is how it treats its vulnerable groups. A central idea in Professor Martha Nussbaum's writings is that all humans "are of equal dignity and worth, no matter where they are situated in society." The strategic challenge in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) rights litigation is how to get courts to see sexual minorities as people worthy of equal dignity and respect. This article focuses on the roles of a positive emotion - love - and a procedural method of proof - science - in the shaping of laws defining the rights …


Green Building Claims: What Theories Will A Plaintiff Pursue, Who Has Exposure, And A Proposal For Risk Mitigation, Darren Prum, Stephen Del Percio Jan 2009

Green Building Claims: What Theories Will A Plaintiff Pursue, Who Has Exposure, And A Proposal For Risk Mitigation, Darren Prum, Stephen Del Percio

Darren A. Prum

No abstract provided.


Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner Jan 2009

Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner

Samuel P. Baumgartner

Switzerland has the traditional Austro-German representative association procedures. Debate on adoption of other models, given the opportunity of the introduction of a first federal Code of Civil Procedure, reveals considerable cautious conservatism toward reform.