Law Commons^™

Criminal Procedure: Examples And Explanations, Robert Bloom, Mark Brodin

Robert Bloom

No abstract provided.

Teaching First-Year Civil Procedure And Other Introductory Courses By The Problem Method, Stephen J. Shapiro

All Faculty Scholarship

I have been teaching the first-year course in Civil Procedure for twenty years, first for five years at Ohio Northern University, and for the last fifteen years at the University of Baltimore, where I also teach a required second-year course in Evidence. When I first started teaching Civil Procedure, I used a fairly typical case method. I was never very happy with this approach for teaching a course in which one of my major goals was getting the students to learn to read, interpret and apply the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Federal Rules”). Gradually, I began to develop sets …

Judgement As A Matter Of Law On Punitive Damages, Colleen P. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Anti-Plaintiff Bias In The Federal Appellate Courts, Kevin M. Clermont, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

A recent study of appellate outcomes reveals that defendants succeed significantly more often than plaintiffs on appeal from civil trials-especially from jury trials.

The Transformation Of The American Civil Trial: The Silent Judge, Renée Lettow Lerner

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Small Claims Reform: A Means Of Expanding Access To The American Civil Justice System, James C. Turner, Joyce A. Mcgee

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Every American should enjoy full access to the protections offered by the U.S. civil justice system. Unfortunately, this basic right is often denied to millions by civil court procedures and practices that are costly, Byzantine and hostile to ordinary citizens who need legal help. In fact, according to the American Bar Association, tens of millions of American households that need legal help are denied access to the civil justice system every year.' One key method of improving citizen access to the civil justice system is through small claims courts. These courts - which use simplified procedures, require plain English, provide …

The Supreme Court's Backwards Proportionaility Jurisprudence: Comparing Judicial Review Of Excessive Criminal Punishments And Excessive Punitive Damages Award, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

What's Half A Lung Worth? Civil Jurors' Accounts Of Their Award Decision Making, Nicole L. Mott, Valerie P. Hans, Lindsay Simpson

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Jury awards are often criticized as being arbitrary and excessive. This paper speaks to that controversy, reporting data from interviews with civil jurors' accounts of the strategies that juries use and the factors that they consider in arriving at a collective award. Jurors reported difficulty in deciding on awards, describing it as "the hardest part" of jury service and were surprised the court did not provide more guidance to them. Relatively few jurors entered the jury deliberation room with a specified award figure in mind. Once in the deliberation room, however, they reported discussing a variety of relevant factors such …

Electronic Filing In North Carolina: Using The Internet Instead Of The Interstate, Deborah Leonard Parker

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

Traditionally, an attorney working down to the wire on an appellate brief has to be done by the courier service’s deadline. If the deadline is missed, the attorney must then race, for possibly hours, down the interstate to reach the courthouse in time. North Carolina has adopted a system that eliminates this pressure.

Justice Delayed?: An Empirical Analysis Of Civil Case Disposition Time, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article addresses the need to understand better our civil justice system by exploring possible determinants of disposition time for civil cases that reach a jury trial. This study uses one year of civil jury case outcomes from 45 of the nation's 75 most populous counties and identifies locale as one important variable, along with certain case types, results, and characteristics. An empirically moored understanding of the causes of case disposition time will assist public policy and reform efforts that seek to make civil justice speedier and, as a consequence, more inexpensive and just. Findings from this study call into …

Bifurcation Unbound, Steven S. Gensler

Washington Law Review

The bifurcation of issues in a federal trial under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(b) offers many benefits for both litigants and the judiciary. One of the greatest potential benefits of issue bifurcation is increased judicial efficiency. Frequently the jury's disposition of the first issue will obviate the need to try the remaining issues. Despite this efficiency potential, bifurcation is controversial. Historically, the opponents of bifurcation have leveled three primary criticisms against bifurcation: (1) that it skews verdict outcomes in favor of defendants, (2) that it infringes on the role of the civil jury, and (3) that it creates a …

A Legal And Psychological Critique Of The Present Approach To The Assessment Of The Competence Of Child Witnesses, Nicholas Bala, Kang Lee, Rod Lindsay, Victoria Talwar

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Canada Evidence Act requires an inquiry to determine whether a child has the requisite moral and intellectual capacity to testify. Caselaw suggests that a child must demonstrate an understanding of abstract concepts like "truth" and "promise" to be competent to testify. This article reports on a survey of Ontario justice system professionals, revealing significant variation in how judges conduct competency inquiries. Children are often asked about religious beliefs and practices, and are frequently asked developmentally inappropriate questions. The authors also report on their experimental research which indicates that children's ability to explain such abstract concepts as "truth," "lie," and …

Challenges For Cause, Stand-Asides, And Peremptory Challenges In The Nineteenth Century, R. Blake Brown

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines the substantial differences that emerged during the nineteenth century between the law of England, the United States, and Canada regarding challenges for cause, stand-asides, and peremptory challenges in the jury selection process. The author argues that these differences stemmed from the unique social conditions of each country. The emergence of legal formalism-with its emphasis on certainty and predictability in the law-affected the development of jury challenges, though the result of formalist thinking had very different effects in all three jurisdictions. In addition, Canadian law regarding jury challenges reveals the influence of both American and English legal trends.

Appellate Practice And Procedure, William M. Droze, Jeri N. Sute

Mercer Law Review

Rules of practice and procedure in appellate courts, such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, significantly impact cases brought before those courts comprising the circuit. From enforcement of procedural rules requiring the timely filing of a notice of appeal to application of justiciability doctrines to determine a party's standing to bring a claim, issues of practice and procedure commonly arise at the court of appeals.

This Article explores the application of practice and procedure by the Eleventh Circuit during 1999. The topics discussed include appellate culling of appealable issues; appellate treatment of interlocutory matters; timeliness …

Bifurcation Unbound, Steven S. Gensler

Steven S. Gensler

No abstract provided.

Christians And The Military, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Permitting Jury Discussions During Trial: Impact Of The Arizona Reform, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, G. Thomas Munsterman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

A field experiment tested the effect of an Arizona civil jury reform that allows jurors to discuss evidence among themselves during the trial. Judges, jurors, attorneys, and litigants completed questionnaires in trials randomly assigned to either a Trial Discussions condition, in which jurors were permitted to discuss the evidence during trial, or a No Discussions condition, in which jurors were prohibited from discussing evidence during trial according to traditional admonitions. Judicial agreement with jury verdicts did not differ between conditions. Permitting jurors to discuss the evidence did affect the degree of certainty that jurors reported about their preferences at the …

Christians And The Military, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Jeffrey C. Tuomala

No abstract provided.

Pleading Under Section 11 Of The Securities Act Of 1933, Krista L. Turnquist

Michigan Law Review

The Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") requires full and fair disclosure of the nature of securities sold in interstate and foreign commerce. Section 11 of the Securities Act prohibits false or misleading registration statements. It also provides buyers a private remedy for false or misleading statements against any signer of the registration statement, any partner or director of the issuer, any professional involved in preparing or certifying the statement, and any underwriter. The rule appears simple: if there is a material misstatement or omission in the registration statement, the buyer may sue the seller. Courts disagree, however, over how …

Deciding To Decide: Class Action Certification And Interlocutory Review By The United States Courts Of Appeals Under Rule 23(F), Michael E. Solimine, Christine Oliver Hines

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personal Jurisdiction And The Internet: Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop On First Amendment Concerns, Brian E. Daughdrill

Mercer Law Review

Believing that First Amendment concerns already receive sufficient protection from any "chilling effect," the Supreme Court has held that personal jurisdiction analysis should not contain additional levels of scrutiny in speech-oriented cases. Reasoning that the "actual malice" requirement for public figures enunciated in New York Times, Inc. v. Sullivan was sufficient protection, the Court has been content to analyze personal jurisdiction over nonresident defendants within the established but "imprecise inquiry," even when the defendant's speech or expression may be penalized by a claim for damages.

Enter Internet-based contacts. Courts attempting to impose traditional personal jurisdiction analysis on Internet-related contacts have …

The Timing Of Opinion Formation By Jurors In Civil Cases: An Empirical Examination, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Valerie P. Hans, Nicole L. Mott, G. Thomas Munsterman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The question of when and how jurors form opinions about evidence presented at trial has been the focus of seemingly endless speculation. For lawyers, the question is how to capture the attention and approval of the jury at the earliest possible point in the trial. Their goal is to maximize the persuasiveness of their arguments--or at least to minimize the persuasiveness of those of the opposing side. Judges, in contrast, are more concerned about prejudgment. They regularly admonish jurors to suspend judgment until after all the evidence has been presented and after the jurors have been instructed on the law. …

Disobedience And Contempt, Margit Livingston

Washington Law Review

A court's power to impose contempt sanctions on recalcitrant individuals is essential to ensure orderly judicial proceedings and obedience of judicial decrees. Despite repeated efforts to distinguish between civil and criminal contempt and the procedures required for each, the U.S. Supreme Court arguably has failed to delineate a precise demarcation between the two that considers both the due process interests of alleged contemnors and the remedial needs of party plaintiffs. This Article suggests that the Court's latest major decision on the differences between civil and criminal contempt, International Union, United Mine Workers v. Bagwell, represents the high water mark …

Intervention In Public Law Litigation: The Environmental Paradigm, Peter A. Appel

Scholarly Works

Litigation which Chayes labeled “public law litigation” grew especially quickly in the decade immediately before Chayes wrote his article. This growth was due, in no small part, to the 1966 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. These amendments introduced a more transactional approach to litigation and made the rules concerning party structure more flexible. In particular, the amendments modified Rule 19, which governs joinder of nonparties by the parties to the suit; Rule 23, which governs class action lawsuits; and Rule 24, which governs intervention by nonparties into ongoing litigation. Using the jurisprudence that has developed concerning intervention …

Part Ii: Special Considerations Applicable To Anti-Suit Injunctions In Class Actions, Joan E. Steinman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Newest Frontier Of Judicial Activism: Removal Under The All Writs Act, Joan E. Steinman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Achieving Legal And Business Order In Cyberspace: A Report On Global Jurisdictional Issues Created By The Internet, Margaret G. Stewart

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Resolving The Conflict Between Receipt And Proper Service: Murphy Bros. V. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., Jennifer N. Moore

Mercer Law Review

In Murphy Bros. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., the United States Supreme Court resolved the conflict over what event triggers the removal period under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), proper service or receipt of a copy of the complaint. The Court held proper service begins the removal period.

Equity And Settlement Class Actions: Can There Be Justice For All In Ortiz V. Fibreboard , Nikita Malhotra Pastor

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Case Of Statutory Misinterpretation: An 1839 Statute Of Limitation On A Form Of Debt Action Is Being Misapplied To Limit Modern Regulatory Proceedings , Susan S. Mcdonald

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.