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Full-Text Articles in Law

Politics And The Judiciary: The Influence Of Judicial Background On Case Outcomes, Orley Ashenfelter, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

Politics And The Judiciary: The Influence Of Judicial Background On Case Outcomes, Orley Ashenfelter, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

It is widely believed that the background and worldview of judges influence their decisions. This article uses the fact that judges are assigned their cases randomly to assess the effect of judicial background on the outcome of cases from the day-to-day docket in three federal trial courts. Unlike the political science findings of ideological influence in published opinions, we find little evidence that judges differ in their decisions with respect to the mass of case outcomes. Characteristics of the judges or the political party of the judge's appointing president are not significant predictors of judicial decisions.


Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs In Federal Court: From Bad To Worse?, Kevin M. Clermont, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

Employment Discrimination Plaintiffs In Federal Court: From Bad To Worse?, Kevin M. Clermont, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

This Article utilizes the Administrative Office's data to convey the realities of federal employment discrimination litigation. Litigants in these "jobs" cases appeal more often than other litigants, with the defendants doing far better on those appeals than the plaintiffs. These troublesome facts help explain why today fewer plaintiffs are undertaking the frustrating route into federal district court, where plaintiffs must pursue their claims relatively often all the way through trial and where at both pretrial and trial these plaintiffs lose unusually often.


Limited-Domain Positivism As An Empirical Proposition, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

Limited-Domain Positivism As An Empirical Proposition, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

In his typically clear statement of a provocative thesis, Fred Schauer, along with his co-author, Virginia Wise, ask us to think about positivism in a new way. Their claim has two parts. First, Schauer and Wise redefine legal positivism as an empirical claim about the limited domain of information that legal decisionmakers use to make decisions. Second, they begin testing the extent to which our legal system in fact reflects this limited domain. Ironically, Schauer and Wise believe that positivism, so conceived, is "increasingly false." Thus, their two-part approach is, first, to declare that legal positivism should be conceived of …


The Employment Contract, Ian Ayres, Stewart Schwab Feb 2015

The Employment Contract, Ian Ayres, Stewart Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

Editor s Note: This article consists of Professors Ian Ayres and Stewart Schwab's presentation given at the Economic Analysis of State Employment Law Issues Symposium. Following the presentation, audience members and the presenters participated in a discussion concerning employment contracts. The Journal staff and Professors Ayres and Schwab compiled and edited some of these questions and responses.


Union Raids, Union Democracy, And The Market For Union Control, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

Union Raids, Union Democracy, And The Market For Union Control, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

In this article, Professor Schwab compares the union member-leader relationship to the corporate shareholder-manager relationship and examines what can be learned from the voluminous literature regarding corporate control about problems of internal union democracy. Specifically, he questions whether a viable market for union control does or could exist that might induce leaders to act in the interests of their members. He analyzes the structural weaknesses in the market for union control and the legal factors inhibiting a union takeover market. Schwab concludes that a weak market does exist, despite the nonprofit nature of unions that limits the ability of leaders …


Employment Law Cases And Materials, Gillian Lester, Steven Willborn, Stewart Schwab, John Burton Feb 2015

Employment Law Cases And Materials, Gillian Lester, Steven Willborn, Stewart Schwab, John Burton

Stewart J Schwab

No abstract provided.


Studying Labor Law And Human Resources In Rhode Island, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

Studying Labor Law And Human Resources In Rhode Island, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

Our task today is to celebrate, inaugurate, and educate. Lawyers demanded the education part of the talk because they love double counting whenever possible. The lawyers in our audience get Continuing Legal Education credits for attending. That's just one illustration of how to think like a lawyer--kill as many birds with as few stones as possible. Lawyers are often accused of talking in an arcane language that no one else can understand. Labor-relations people are sometimes thought to be either pie-in-the-sky optimists or Marxist-inspired anarchists. Human-relations professionals are sometimes said to be hypocrites giving a fake smile to employees while …


The Importance Of Section 1981, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

The Importance Of Section 1981, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

No abstract provided.


The Reality Of Constitutional Tort Litigation, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

The Reality Of Constitutional Tort Litigation, Theodore Eisenberg, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

No abstract provided.


Affirmative Action In Higher Education Over The Next Twenty-Five Years: A Need For Study And Action, Sandra Day O'Connor, Stewart Schwab Feb 2015

Affirmative Action In Higher Education Over The Next Twenty-Five Years: A Need For Study And Action, Sandra Day O'Connor, Stewart Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

No abstract provided.


A Coasean Experiment On Contract Presumptions, Stewart J. Schwab Feb 2015

A Coasean Experiment On Contract Presumptions, Stewart J. Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

Despite the theoretical importance of the Coase Theorem, scholars have given surprisingly little attention to verifying its predictions empirically. Supporters often accept the theorem as dogma, while armchair critics assail its assumptions. In an exciting series of recent articles, however, Elizabeth Hoffman and Matthew Spitzer have presented experimental evidence, as have others, that largely supports the Coasean prediction that bargainers will negotiate around inefficient property rights to reach a Pareto-optimal solution. The methodology has even gained sufficient attention to have its detractors. The existing experiments analyze the results of bargains when one side has the power to impose unilaterally one …


The Costs Of Wrongful-Discharge Laws, John Donohue, David Autor, Stewart Schwab Apr 2006

The Costs Of Wrongful-Discharge Laws, John Donohue, David Autor, Stewart Schwab

Stewart J Schwab

Full data and programs behind the published paper are available from: http://econ-www.mit.edu/faculty/dautor/data/autdonschw06