Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 60

Full-Text Articles in Law

Apologies In The Healthcare System: From Clinical Medicine To Public Health, Michal Alberstein, Nadav Davidovitch Jul 2011

Apologies In The Healthcare System: From Clinical Medicine To Public Health, Michal Alberstein, Nadav Davidovitch

Law and Contemporary Problems

Alberstein and Davidovitch explore the role of apologies in healthcare systems from a broader perspective. The significance of apology in terms of social solidarity is addressed and the ways in which each apology situation entails a clash between cultural identities are demonstrated. The debate on apology is explored by presenting a public health perspective of apologies following collective traumatic events such as the application of sterilization laws or flawed human experimentations in various settings.


Medical Malpractice Mediation: Benefits Gained, Opportunities Lost , Carol B. Liebman Jul 2011

Medical Malpractice Mediation: Benefits Gained, Opportunities Lost , Carol B. Liebman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Liebman reviews two recent studies evaluating the use of interest-based mediation to resolve medical malpractice claims. The first studied cases brought against the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, and the second, Mediating Suits against Hospitals, studied cases brought against private New York City hospitals. How non-participation of physicians in mediations diminishes opportunities to achieve noneconomic goals that plaintiffs desire is analyzed.


A “Principled Resolution”: The Fulcrum For Bioethics Mediation, Nancy Neveloff Dubler Jul 2011

A “Principled Resolution”: The Fulcrum For Bioethics Mediation, Nancy Neveloff Dubler

Law and Contemporary Problems

The concept of a "principled resolution" is the foundation for bioethics mediation. Dubler presents the core bioethical principles that support the creation of principled resolutions as fulcrums for resolving disagreements in the healthcare setting. These disputes may arise among medical providers, between medical providers and patients, or among members of a patient's family and can be managed or resolved by bioethics mediation using the conceptual tool of a principled resolution.


Experimenting With Alternative Dispute Resolution As A Means For Peaceful Resolution Of Interest Labor Disputes In Public Healthcare—A Case Study , Mordehai (Moti) Mironi Jul 2011

Experimenting With Alternative Dispute Resolution As A Means For Peaceful Resolution Of Interest Labor Disputes In Public Healthcare—A Case Study , Mordehai (Moti) Mironi

Law and Contemporary Problems

Mironi examines the dispute between the Israel Medical Association and the Israeli government. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with the arbitrators and the parties' representatives and counsels, as well as upon the extensive litigation and transcripts of the arbitration proceedings and award, the process-oriented aspects of the arbitration are emphasized. The disputes between the IMA and the government have never been only about money, but also have been about voice, the future status of public healthcare, and the doctors' professional quality of life.


Scaling Up Deliberative Democracy As Dispute Resolution In Healthcare Reform: A Work In Progress , Carrie Menkel-Meadow Jul 2011

Scaling Up Deliberative Democracy As Dispute Resolution In Healthcare Reform: A Work In Progress , Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.


Is There An App For That? Electronic Health Records (Ehrs) And A New Environment Of Conflict Prevention And Resolution, Ethan Katsh, Norman Sondheimer, Prashila Dullabh, Samuel Stromberg Jul 2011

Is There An App For That? Electronic Health Records (Ehrs) And A New Environment Of Conflict Prevention And Resolution, Ethan Katsh, Norman Sondheimer, Prashila Dullabh, Samuel Stromberg

Law and Contemporary Problems

Katsh discusses the new problems that are a consequence of a new technological environment in healthcare, one that has an array of elements that makes the emergence of disputes likely. Novel uses of technology have already addressed both the problem and its source in other contexts, such as e-commerce, where large numbers of transactions have generated large numbers of disputes. If technology-supported healthcare is to improve the field of medicine, a similar effort at dispute prevention and resolution will be necessary.


Most Claims Settle: Implications For Alternative Dispute Resolution From A Profile Of Medical-Malpractice Claims In Florida , Mirya Holman, Neil Vidmar, Paul Lee Jul 2011

Most Claims Settle: Implications For Alternative Dispute Resolution From A Profile Of Medical-Malpractice Claims In Florida , Mirya Holman, Neil Vidmar, Paul Lee

Law and Contemporary Problems

Holman et al draw attention to the frequent and complicated evidentiary problems in medical malpractice claims and the procedural mechanisms provided by statutes, court rules, and case law that are already in place to facilitate claim resolution. While proposed alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures might well provide better resolutions to medical malpractice claims, they must take into consideration both the unique characteristics of medical malpractice disputes and existing mechanisms for resolving these disputes. The profile of the settlements of Florida medical-malpractice claims provides a structure with which any proposals for ADR must contend.


Escaping The Shadow Of Malpractice Law, Orna Rabinovich-Einy Jul 2011

Escaping The Shadow Of Malpractice Law, Orna Rabinovich-Einy

Law and Contemporary Problems

Abinovich-Einy addresses several constituencies operating at the meeting point of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), communication theory, healthcare policy, and medical-malpractice doctrine. From an ADR perspective, the need for, and barriers to, addressing non-litigable disputes, for which the "alternative" route is the only one, is explored. It is shown that ADR mechanisms may not take root when introduced into an environment that is resistant to collaborative and open discourse without additional incentives and measures being adopted.


Reconceiving The Fourth Amendment And The Exclusionary Rule, Craig M. Bradley Jul 2010

Reconceiving The Fourth Amendment And The Exclusionary Rule, Craig M. Bradley

Law and Contemporary Problems

Bradley discusses the Hudson and Herring decisions, the practices of other countries, and various previous suggestions for exclusionary-rule reform. Then, he sets forth a reconception of the exclusionary rule, as well as the constitutional principles that gave rise to it. These reconceptions suggest a roadmap to exclusionary reform that might reconcile the factions on the Court who strongly support and strongly oppose the current mandatory rule.


Shaping Public Opinion And The Law: How A “Common Man” Campaign Ended A Rich Man’S Law, Marjorie E. Kornhauser Jan 2010

Shaping Public Opinion And The Law: How A “Common Man” Campaign Ended A Rich Man’S Law, Marjorie E. Kornhauser

Law and Contemporary Problems

Kornhauser recounts the legislation which enacted in 1934 required all income taxpayers to submit "pink slips" with their tax returns. The information required by the pink slip would then be made available for public inspection. The disclosure regime was repealed less than one year later, largely through the remarkably effective efforts of one person--Raymond Pitcairn, a wealthy lawyer. She describes a multifaceted public-relations campaign, orchestrated by Pitcairn, that would be sophisticated even by today's standards. Two aspects of Pitcairn's campaign were especially impressive. The first was his ability to enlist the zeitgeist in his efforts; the trial of Bruno Hauptmann …


A Reflection And Response To Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Kenneth R. Downes Apr 2009

A Reflection And Response To Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Kenneth R. Downes

Law and Contemporary Problems

Downes comments on Erin Ann O'Hara and Maria Mayo Robbins' article that accurately describes the nuanced and complex nature of apology and forgiveness. These are not actions that can be programmed--they happen at their own pace and in paths that are winding and unchartable. One of the reasons that victim-offender mediation is unpopular with some is that it can be emotionally messy and slow. Thus, one of the most helpful insights in his work has been that forgiveness is developmental, meaning that it often happens in normal and predictable stages. Forgiveness can be divided into manageable pieces. Indeed, their article …


Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Erin Ann O'Hara, Maria Mayo Robbins Apr 2009

Using Criminal Punishment To Serve Both Victim And Social Needs, Erin Ann O'Hara, Maria Mayo Robbins

Law and Contemporary Problems

In recent decades, the criminal-justice pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme. Criminal law is often described as covering disputes between the offender and the state. Victims are not direct parties to criminal proceedings, they have no formal right to either initiate or terminate a criminal action, and they have no control over the punishment meted out to offenders. In this state-centric system, victim needs have been left unsatisfied, giving rise to a politically powerful victims' rights movement that has had success in giving victims rights of access to prosecutors and rights to be heard in the courtroom. Here, O'Hara …


Encountering And Countering Tribal Conflict With Film And Dialogue, Steve D. Martin Apr 2009

Encountering And Countering Tribal Conflict With Film And Dialogue, Steve D. Martin

Law and Contemporary Problems

Martin explores the ability of group leaders to overcome resistance to reconciliation in group conflicts, whether innate or otherwise. He uses an example of a group conflict that occurred across religious lines with the pending release of a movie titled Theologians Under Hitler. Even if out-group biases make group conflicts harder to resolve, offsetting that complication might be a predisposition to attend to the views of a respected leader of the in-group.


Victims, “Closure,” And The Sociology Of Emotion, Susan A. Bandes Apr 2009

Victims, “Closure,” And The Sociology Of Emotion, Susan A. Bandes

Law and Contemporary Problems

Bandes discusses the polarizing function of victim impact statements used in the context of the death penalty. The use of victim impact statements is justified in order to promote closure for the victim, but it's unclear what psychological closure can be accomplished from the formal litigation process. Even if victim impact statements do help their authors, in the context of the death penalty the authors are family members of the victim, not the direct victim, and Bandes questions whether it's important to further their interests at the expense of the interests of the defendant. The only recourse for the jury …


Polarization: The Role Of Emotions In Reconciliation Efforts, Meghan Clarke Apr 2009

Polarization: The Role Of Emotions In Reconciliation Efforts, Meghan Clarke

Law and Contemporary Problems

Clarke points out some strategies that have been used in the Collaborative Change Approach to group-conflict resolution that are designed to help depolarize the competing sides' stances toward one another. In order to try to break down the hostility between the groups, Clarke brings together each identity or stakeholder group in order to share with one another why each group cares passionately about the issue. Clarke provides the example of a groundfishery conflict that involved recreational fishermen, commercial fishermen, environmentalists, researchers, and government officials. The interests of each of these groups conflicted, but no group had morally problematic motivations or …


Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White Apr 2009

Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White

Law and Contemporary Problems

White discusses the socio-psychological research that suggests humans invest significant emotional stake in "face"--or their "claimed identity as a competent, intelligent, or moral persons"--and apologize only when they can do so without significant "face threat." Criminal offenders, many of whom are likely to be low on self-determination, may resist apology to victims out of psychological fragility and the psychological need to preserve face rather than lack of remorse. Thus, the criminal-justice system should be cautious about punishing offenders more harshly because they fail to show external remorse--or even when they are openly defiant. This caution should be exercised whether the …


Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack Jan 2009

Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack

Law and Contemporary Problems

There haven't always been scientific witnesses: in fact, there haven't always been witnesses. In early medieval times, courts relied on tests by oath, ordeal, and sometimes by combat. Here, Haack provides a brief historical background to the use of scientific experts in law and then proceeds to discuss in greater detail the values underlying scientific inquiry, the uncertainty in the quest of knowledge and understanding, and the methods by which consensus is reached, even if that consensus is always tentative. She then contrasts scientific inquiry with the law's quest for "truth" in the courtroom and, particularly, the normative and temporal …


The Arts Of Persuasion In Science And Law: Conflicting Norms In The Courtroom, Herbert M. Kritzer Jan 2009

The Arts Of Persuasion In Science And Law: Conflicting Norms In The Courtroom, Herbert M. Kritzer

Law and Contemporary Problems

Epistemology is important in the debate about science and technology in the courtroom. The epistemological issues and the arguments about them in the context of scientific and technical evidence are now well developed. Of equal importance, though, is an understanding of norms of persuasion and how those norms may differ across disciplines and groups. Norms of persuasion in the courtroom and in legal briefs differ from norms at a scientific conference and in scientific journals. Here, Kritzer examines the disconnect between science and the courtroom in terms of the differing norms of persuasion found within the scientific community and within …


Tales, Techs And Territories: Private International Law, Globalization, And The Legal Construction Of Borderlessness On The Internet, Andrea Slane Jul 2008

Tales, Techs And Territories: Private International Law, Globalization, And The Legal Construction Of Borderlessness On The Internet, Andrea Slane

Law and Contemporary Problems

The Internet has often been described as "borderless," owing to the technical features of Internet communications that make content accessible to anyone with a network connection, regardless of his or her location. This borderlessness has been widely thought both to confound legal regimes relying on territoriality and to fundamentally create a crisis for jurisdictional determination of both public- and private-law matters. Here, Slane dissects the images of globalization at work in conflicts cases involving harms caused by postings on the Internet and demonstrates how these images work to produce a coherence for the field of conflicts as well as the …


The People’S Agent: Executive Branch Secrecy And Accountability In An Age Of Terrorism, Sidney A. Shapiro, Rena I. Steinzor Jul 2006

The People’S Agent: Executive Branch Secrecy And Accountability In An Age Of Terrorism, Sidney A. Shapiro, Rena I. Steinzor

Law and Contemporary Problems

Shapiro and Steinzor apply the agency theory to the question of how much secrecy is too much. They use the theory to evaluate the impact of burgeoning secrecy in the likelihood that the executive branch officials will engage in faithful and forceful implementation of statutory materials, particularly in the arenas of protecting public health, safety, and natural resources.


Genetic Predictions Of Future Dangerousness: Is There A Blueprint For Violence?, Erica Beecher-Monas, Edgar Garcia-Rill Apr 2006

Genetic Predictions Of Future Dangerousness: Is There A Blueprint For Violence?, Erica Beecher-Monas, Edgar Garcia-Rill

Law and Contemporary Problems

Beecher-Monas and Garcia-Rill consider the unfortunate probability that behavioral genetics evidence will be misused to substantiate predictions of future dangerousness.


Using Arbitration To Eliminate Consumer Class Actions: Efficient Business Practice Or Unconscionable Abuse?, Jean R. Sternlight, Elizabeth J. Jensen Apr 2004

Using Arbitration To Eliminate Consumer Class Actions: Efficient Business Practice Or Unconscionable Abuse?, Jean R. Sternlight, Elizabeth J. Jensen

Law and Contemporary Problems

Companies are increasingly using arbitral class action prohibitions to insulate themselves from class action liability. These prohibitions are detrimental not only to potential class members but to the public at large in that they are preventing the law from being adequately enforced. In essence, by precluding class actions, companies are engaging in "do-it-yourself tort reform," freeing themselves from liability without having to convince legislatures to change the substantive law.


A Behavioral Analysis Of Private Judging, Christopher R. Drahozal Apr 2004

A Behavioral Analysis Of Private Judging, Christopher R. Drahozal

Law and Contemporary Problems

Businesses cite arbitration as a way to avoid aberrant jury verdicts, implicitly if not explicitly assuming that arbitrators make "better" decisions than juries. By contrast, consumer advocates criticize arbitration as a way for businesses to avoid paying damages to deserving claimants, effectively assuming that juries make better decisions than arbitrators. These conflicting perspectives pose an important question in the debate over predispute arbitration clauses in consumer contracts: How do decisions by arbitrators compare to decisions by juries?


The “Bad Science” Fiction: Reclaiming The Debate Over The Role Of Science In Public Health And Environmental Regulation, Wendy E. Wagner Oct 2003

The “Bad Science” Fiction: Reclaiming The Debate Over The Role Of Science In Public Health And Environmental Regulation, Wendy E. Wagner

Law and Contemporary Problems

Wagner argues that the good-science reforms miss the mark and have the potential to cause significant damage to already crippled administrative processes. Background information is presented relating to the sources of dissatisfaction with regulatory science and how the three most popular reforms purport to address these concerns.


The Theory And Practice Of Disclosing Hmo Physician Incentives, Mark A. Hall Oct 2002

The Theory And Practice Of Disclosing Hmo Physician Incentives, Mark A. Hall

Law and Contemporary Problems

Despite the widespread consensus that physician incentives under managed care should be disclosed, there is little agreement on the who, what, when, and how of disclosure, nor is there agreement on the primary purpose of disclosure. Three forms of market failure point to three distinct, but overlapping purposes of disclosure, each of which points toward different forms, sources and contents of disclosures.


Applying Suggestibility Research To The Real World: The Case Of Repeated Questions, Thomas D. Lyon Jan 2002

Applying Suggestibility Research To The Real World: The Case Of Repeated Questions, Thomas D. Lyon

Law and Contemporary Problems

One can discern two parallel trends in the law and the psychology of child witnesses. In the law, appellate courts are beginning to stem the once powerful movement to increase the acceptance of children's testimony and the admissibility of children's out-of-court statements. Lyon analyzes particular strands of each trend.


Good Enough For Government Work: The Constitutional Duty To Preserve Forensic Interviews Of Child Victims, Lucy S. Mcgough Jan 2002

Good Enough For Government Work: The Constitutional Duty To Preserve Forensic Interviews Of Child Victims, Lucy S. Mcgough

Law and Contemporary Problems

McGough proceeds with the confidence on the premise that a forensic interview of a child by a member of the prosecutorial team offers many opportunities for compromising the reliability of the child's remembered account. A vast volume of research data now exists that documents the conclusion that the forensic interviewing of children is a very delicate, sophisticated, and high-risk enterprise.


Contingent Fees And Tort Reform: A Reassessment And Reality Check, Elihu Inselbuch Jul 2001

Contingent Fees And Tort Reform: A Reassessment And Reality Check, Elihu Inselbuch

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.


Loser-Pays—Or Whose “Fault” Is It Anyway: A Response To Hensler-Rowe’S “Beyond ‘It Just Ain’T Worth It’”, Marc I. Gross Jul 2001

Loser-Pays—Or Whose “Fault” Is It Anyway: A Response To Hensler-Rowe’S “Beyond ‘It Just Ain’T Worth It’”, Marc I. Gross

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.


Upsetting The Balance Between Adverse Interests: The Impact Of The Supreme Court’S Trilogy On Expert Testimony In Toxic Tort Litigation, Margaret A. Berger Jul 2001

Upsetting The Balance Between Adverse Interests: The Impact Of The Supreme Court’S Trilogy On Expert Testimony In Toxic Tort Litigation, Margaret A. Berger

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.