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Guidelines And Best Practices For Large And Mass Tort Mdls (First Edition), Duke Law School Center For Judicial Studies

Bolch Judicial Institute Publications

Mass-tort MDLs dominate the federal civil docket, yet they present enormous challenges to transferee judges assigned to manage them. There is little official guidance and no rules specific to the management of mass-tort MDLs, often requiring the transferee judge to develop procedures out of whole cloth.

Beginning in 2013, the Bolch Judicial Institute (then the Center for Judicial Studies) sought to address this issue through a series of annual bench-bar conferences. From these conferences came the Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass-Tort MDLs document, which is designed to help judges and legal practitioners understand and efficiently navigate complex …

Kansas V. Nebraska & Colorado: Keeping Equity Afloat In The Republican River Dispute, Charles Punia

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Kansas v. Nebraska & Colorado. The Supreme Court will have the opportunity to resolve a decades-old conflict over water rights in the Republican River which flows through Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. In this case of original jurisdiction, the Court will determine both whether Nebraska violated a 60-year old compact concerning water rights, and what the appropriate remedy should be for that violation.

Charting A New Course: Metal-Tech V. Uzbekistan And The Treatment Of Corruption In Investment Arbitration, Michael A. Losco

Duke Law Journal Online

This Essay examines Metal-Tech’s treatment of corruption, building upon the analytical structure set forth in this author’s 2014 Note, Streamlining the Corruption Defense. That Note’s framework for analyzing ICSID awards involving allegations of corruption proves useful for examining the Metal-Tech award. Implementing that framework, this Essay concludes that the standard of proof applied by the tribunal represents a departure from prior ICSID jurisprudence. It also questions whether an application of comparative fault principles could have achieved a more just result. Finally, this Essay argues that the tribunal could have resolved some lingering questions by staying the proceedings pending …

Pragmatic Administrative Law And Tax Exceptionalism, Richard Murphy

Duke Law Journal Online

This Essay responds to the 2014 Duke Law Journal Administrative Law Symposium. Its principal contention is that courts and other commentators should give due weight to the history and virtues of the evolution of administrative law in the United States—and consider embracing the pragmatism and flexibility that it enables—in applying general principles of administrative law in the tax context.

Which Institution Should Determine Whether An Agency’S Explanation Of A Tax Decision Is Adequate?: A Response To Steve Johnson, Richard J. Pierce Jr

Duke Law Journal Online

This Essay responds to Professor Steve Johnson’s Article for the 2014 Duke Law Journal Administrative Law Symposium, Reasoned Explanation and IRS Adjudication. I first describe the ways in which courts have added burdensome procedures that are not required by the APA for the notice and comment process. Next, I explain why the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is better than courts at reviewing the adequacy of agency reasons for issuing a rule. Finally, I explain how courts can eliminate judicial review for the adequacy of the reasons IRS gives for issuing a rule by applying the traditional …

Reworking The Unworkable: Halliburton Ii And The Court's Reexamination Of Fraud On The Market, Mariana Estévez

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews the upcoming Supreme Court case Erica P. John Fund, Inc. v. Halliburton Co. in which the Court is called upon to reexamine the controversial fraud-on-the-market rule. This rule, a cornerstone of securities litigation for the past two decades, allows the court to presume that securities fraud plaintiffs relied on a misstatement or omission if the security affected is traded on an efficient market. The subject of intense debate for years, this commentary reviews and analyzes precedent and predicts the case's likely outcome--that the Court will not expressly overrule the fraud-on-the-market rule, but will nevertheless modify it to …

Bond V. United States. Deciphering Missouri V. Holland And The Scope Of Congress's Powers When Implementing A Non-Self-Executing Treaty, Stephanie Peral

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Bond v. United States. What started as an act of revenge by a jealous wife will require the Supreme Court to examine a ninety-year old precedent concerning the extent of Congress's powers when acting pursuant to a treaty and whether a valid treaty allows Congress to act without being limited by the Article I enumerated powers.

What's Money Got To Do With It: Robers V. United States And Collateral Under The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act Of 1996, Tori M. Bennette

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Robers v. United States. The Supreme Court will have the opportunity to resolve a major circuit split concerning how to value restitution owed to victims of mortgage lending fraud. Specifically, the court will determine whether the value of collateral mortgage property at the time of foreclosure is used to offset how much restitution fraudulent borrowers owe their victims, or whether the value of only the actual cash proceeds received from foreclosure of the property is used to offset restitution.

What Patent Attorney Fee Awards Really Look Like, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Duke Law Journal Online

This Essay provides an empirical account of attorney fee awards over the last decade of patent litigation. Given the current attention in legislative proposals and on the Supreme Court’s docket to more liberal fee shifting as a check on abusive patent litigation, a fuller descriptive understanding of the current regime is of utmost importance to forming sound patent-litigation policy. Following a brief overview of judicial experience in patent cases and trends in patent-case filing, this study presents analysis of over 200 attorney fee award orders from 2003–2013.

A Tradition Of Sovereignty: Examining Tribal Sovereign Immunity In Bay Mills Indian Community V. Michigan, Meredith L. Jewitt

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Bay Mills Indian Community v. Michigan, in which the Court may decide whether the doctrine of Tribal Sovereign Immunity prohibits Michigan's attempt to enjoin Indian gaming in the state or whether Congress expressly allowed the suit when passing the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Up In The Air: Lawson V. Fmr Llc & The Scope Of Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Protection, Ryan Mccarthy

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Lawson v. FMR LCC, in which the Court will consider whether Sarbanes-Oxley extends whistleblower protection to employees of the private contractors and subcontractors of public companies.

A Bridge Too Far: The Limits Of The Political Process Doctrine In Schuette V. Coalition To Defend Affirmative Action, Christopher E. D'Alessio

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, in which the Court will consider whether Michigan violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by amending its constitution to prohibit race-based preferential treatment in public-university admissions decisions.

In Connection With What?: Chadbourne & Parke Llp V. Troice And The Applicability Of The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, John W. Messick

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Chadbourne & Parke LLP v. Troice, in which the Court will clarify whether the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act precludes a state law class action alleging a scheme of fraud involving misrepresentations about transactions in covered-securities.

Proskauer Rose Llp V. Troice: Deciphering The Proper Scope Of Slusa, Sriram Giridharan

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

No abstract provided.

Kaley V. United States: The Right To Counsel Of Choice Caught In The Wide Net Of Asset Forfeiture, Adam J. Fine

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Kaley v. United States, in which the Court may decide whether a defendant who needs potentially forfeitable assets to retain counsel of choice is entitled, under the Due Process Clause, to a hearing to challenge the grand jury's finding of probable cause.

The Year In Review 2013: Selected Cases From The Alaska Supreme Court, The Alaska Court Of Appeals, The United States Supreme Court, The United States District Court For The District Of Alaska, And The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit

Alaska Law Review Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Extended Preferences And Interpersonal Comparisons: A New Account, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Courts As Agents Of Legal Change: Evidence From Lgbt Rights In Europe, Laurence R. Helfer, Erik Voeten

Faculty Scholarship

Do international court judgments influence the behavior of actors other than the parties to a dispute? Are international courts agents of policy change or do their judgments merely reflect evolving social and political trends? The authors develop a theory that specifies the conditions under which international courts can use their interpretive discretion to have system-wide effects. The authors examine the theory in the context of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues by creating a new dataset that matches these rulings with laws in all Council of Europe (CoE) member states. The …

A People’S History Of Collective Action Clauses, Mark C. Weidemaier, Mitu Gulati

Faculty Scholarship

For two decades, collective action clauses (CACs) have been part of the official-sector response to sovereign debt crisis, justified by claims that these clauses can help prevent bailouts and shift the burden of restructuring onto the private sector. Reform efforts in the 1990s and 2000s focused on CACs. So do efforts in the Eurozone today. CACs have even been suggested as the cure for the US municipal bond market. But bonds without CACs are still issued in major markets, so reformers feel obliged to explain why they know better. Over time, a narrative has emerged to justify pro-CAC reforms. It …

The “Constitution In Exile” As A Problem For Legal Theory, Stephen E. Sachs

Faculty Scholarship

How does one defend a constitutional theory that’s out of the mainstream? Critics of originalism, for example, have described it as a nefarious “Constitution in Exile,” a plot to impose abandoned rules on the unsuspecting public. This framing is largely mythical, but it raises a serious objection. If a theory asks us to change our legal practices, leaving important questions to academics or historians, how can it be a theory of our law? If law is a matter of social convention, how can there be conventions that hardly anybody knows about? How is a constitution in exile even possible?

This …

Hazardous Hedging: The (Unacknowledged) Risks Of Hedging With Credit Derivatives, Gina-Gail S. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

Is hedging with credit derivatives always beneficial? The benefit of hedging with credit derivatives, such as credit default swaps, is presumed by the Dodd-Frank Act, which excludes hedge transactions from much of the new financial regulation. Yet, significant new risks can arise when credit derivatives are used to manage risks. Hedging, therefore, should be defined not only in relation to whether a transaction offsets risks, but also whether, on balance, the risks that are mitigated—as well as any new risks that arise—are outweighed by the potential benefits.

Regulators of the derivatives markets must consider the risks of hedging with credit …

From Pigs To Hogs, Stephen J. Choi, Mitu Gulati

Faculty Scholarship

The question of whether, and to what extent, markets price contract terms in government bond issues has been one of considerable debate in the literature. We use a natural experiment thrown up by the Euro area sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2013 to test whether a particular set of contract terms – ones that gave an advantage to sovereign guaranteed bonds over garden variety sovereign bonds – was priced. These contract terms turned out to be important for the holders of guaranteed bonds during the Greek debt restructuring of 2012, where they helped the holders of guaranteed bonds escape the haircut …

Gerald Bard Tjoflat: A Profile, Daniel S. Bowling Iii

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Common Sense And Key Questions, Stuart M. Benjamin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews: War & Technology, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Putting The Securities Laws To The Test: The Long-Standing Approach To Federal Securities Regulation Is Not Working, Elisabeth De Fontenay

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of The Andean Intellectual Property Regime On Access To Medicines In Latin America, Laurence R. Helfer, Karen J. Alter

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is a contribution to "Balancing Wealth and Health: Global Administrative Law and the Battle over Intellectual Property and Access to Medicines in Latin America," Rochelle Dreyfuss & César Rodríguez-Garavito, eds. Part I of the chapter explains how the repeated interactions between the Andean Tribunal of Justice (ATJ) and domestic IP agencies in the Andean Community helped to build an effective IP rule of law and to solidify pro-consumer interpretations of regional patent and trademark rules. Part II documents how ATJ judges and agency officials enabled Andean governments to resist pressure from the United States and its pharmaceutical industry …

Selling State Borders, Joseph Blocher

Faculty Scholarship

Sovereign territory was bought and sold throughout much of American history, and there are good reasons to think that an interstate market for borders could help solve many contemporary economic and political problems. But no such market currently exists. Why not? And could an interstate market for sovereign territory help simplify border disputes, resolve state budget crises, respond to exogenous shocks like river accretion, and improve democratic responsiveness? Focusing on the sale of borders among American states, this Article offers constitutional, political, and ethical answers to the first question, and a qualified yes to the second.

Last Sale? Libraries’ Rights In The Digital Age, Jennifer Jenkins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Governance Structure Of Shadow Banking, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.