Law Commons^™

Inadvertent Waiver Of The Attorney-Client Privilege By Disclosure Of Documents: An Economic Analysis, Alan J. Meese

Alan J. Meese

No abstract provided.

Symposium On The Challenges Of Electronic Evidence, Daniel J. Capra, Sidney A. Fitzwater, Peter Pitegoff, Jeffrey S. Sutton, Paul Grimm, John Haried, Richard W. Vorder Bruegge, Jeffrey Bellin, Paul Scechtman, Deirdre M. Smith, Shira A. Scheindlin, David Shonka, Daniel Gelb, Andrew Goldsmith, George Paul, Paul Lippe

Jeffrey Bellin

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Convicting Ethical Prosecutors That Their Profession Has A Brady Problem, Adam M. Gershowitz

Adam M. Gershowitz

In recent decades, both the media and legal scholars have documented the widespread problem of prosecutors failing to disclose favorable evidence to the defense – so called Brady violations. Despite all of this documentation however, many ethical prosecutors reject the notion that the criminal justice system has a Brady problem. These prosecutors – ethical lawyers who themselves have not been accused of misconduct – believe that the scope of the Brady problem is exaggerated. Why do ethical prosecutors downplay the evidence that some of their colleagues have committed serious errors?

This essay, in honor of Professor Bennett Gershman, points to …

I Could Have Been A Contender: Summary Jury Trial As A Means To Overcome Iqbal's Negative Effects Upon Pre-Litigation Communication, Negotiation And Early, Consensual Dispute Resolution, Nancy A. Welsh

Nancy Welsh

With its recent decisions in Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, the Supreme Court may be intentionally or unintentionally “throwing the fight,” at least in the legal contests between many civil rights claimants and institutional defendants. The most obvious feared effect is reduction of civil rights claimants’ access to the expressive and coercive power of the courts. Less obviously, the Supreme Court may be effectively undermining institutions’ motivation to negotiate, mediate - or even communicate with and listen to - such claimants before they initiate legal action. Thus, the Supreme Court’s recent decisions have the potential to deprive …

Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Thomas E. Baker

Thomas E. Baker

No abstract provided.

Nsa And Dea Intelligence Sharing: Why It's Legal And Why Reuters Got It Wrong, Melanie M. Reid

Melanie M. Reid

No abstract provided.

Commercial Arbitration And Settlement: Empirical Insights Into The Roles Arbitrators Play, Thomas Stipanowich, Zachary Ulrich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

A wide-ranging new Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution Survey of experienced arbitrators, conducted with the cooperation of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, reflects the growing professionalization of commercial arbitration, increasing competition for cases, and many other trends in arbitration practice. It also shows that a grower percentage of arbitrated cases are being settled prior to award or to the start of hearings, and offers a strong rationale for greater emphasis on the role of arbitrators in setting the stage for or facilitating settlement. Early settlement of a dispute can be a uniquely effective way of minimizing cost and cycle time …

Managing Construction Conflict: Unfinished Revolution, Continuing Evolution, Thomas Stipanowich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

Two decades ago many believed we were experiencing a “Quiet Revolution” in the way conflict was managed, and nowhere was this more true than in the construction sector. Frustration with the costs, delays, risks and limitations of lawyer-driven adjudication prompted growing attention to informal methods aimed at early resolution of disputes, with those who “owned” the dispute back in the driver’s seat. A smorgasbord of options for preventing, managing and resolving conflict was suddenly on the table. There were strategies aimed at the very roots of conflict, including contractual terms aimed at promoting collaboration and reducing the chance of serious …

The Right To Defense Discovery In Plea Bargaining Fifty Years After Brady V. Maryland, Cynthia Alkon

Cynthia Alkon

No abstract provided.

New Opportunities For Obtaining And Using Litigation Reserves And Disclosures, Matthew J. Barrett

Matthew J. Barrett

Following the publication of Opportunities for Obtaining and Using Litigation Reserves and Disclosures, which highlighted the helpful information about litigation reserves that a litigator can often detect or discover from an opponent's financial statements, accounting books and records, tax returns, public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and auditor, two important regulatory developments occurred in early 2003 that create additional opportunities to obtain information about an opponent's assessments of (i) expected liability in the underlying case or (ii) obligations or settlements in similar cases. First, pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC issued final regulations …

Opportunities For Obtaining And Using Litigation Reserves And Disclosures, Matthew J. Barrett

Matthew J. Barrett

In late 1975, the accounting and legal professions reached an accord that led to three new professional standards: (1) a new financial accounting rule for contingencies, (2) an auditing standard addressing the requirement that an auditor obtain evidence about an audit client's contingent liabilities to determine whether the client has properly treated those items in its financial statements, and (3) the American Bar Association's Statement of Policy Regarding Lawyers' Responses to Auditors' Requests for Information under that auditing standard. The Commentary that accompanied the Statement of Policy explicitly stated that the organized bar's expectation that communications between lawyers and auditors …

Twombly Is The Logical Extension Of The Mathews V. Eldridge Test To Discovery, Andrew Blair-Stanek

Andrew Blair-Stanek

The Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly has baffled and mystified both practitioners and scholars, casting aside the well-settled rule for evaluating motions to dismiss in favor of an amorphous “plausibility” standard. This Article argues that Twombly was not revolutionary but simply part of the Court’s ever-expanding application of the familiar three-factor Mathews v. Eldridge test. Misused discovery can deprive litigants of property and liberty interests, and in some cases Mathews requires the safeguard of dismissing the complaint. This Article’s insight explains Twombly’s origins and structure, while also suggesting a source for lower courts to draw …

Fishing Expeditions Allowed: The Historical Background Of The 1938 Federal Discovery Rules, Stephen Subrin

Stephen N. Subrin

Prior to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("Federal Rules"), discovery in civil cases in federal court was severly limited. The Federal Rules discovery provisions dramatically increased the potential for discovery. Authorized by the Rules Enabling Act of 1934 ("Enabling Act"), the Federal Rules became law in 1938. The Enabling Act was preceded by a twenty-three year battle, spearheaded primarily by a committee of the American Bar Association. During the Enabling Act debate, discovery was largely ignored. Attitudes about discovery changed significantly between 1932 and 1946. This paper addresses the questions of how and why the change occurred, what reservations …

Legally Blind: Hyperadversarialism, Brady Violations, And The Prosecutorial Organizational Culture, Hadar Aviram

Hadar Aviram

Recently, in Connick v. Thompson (2011), the Supreme Court held that the failure of several prosecutors to disclose to the defense the blood type of the perpetrator, which did not match the defendant’s blood type, was not a systematic defect that required training of staff. According to the Court the prosecutors’ misconduct, and lack of training in Brady discovery duties, did not constitute “deliberate indifference” by the municipality, which would have entitled the exonerated defendant to relief under §1983. This Article criticizes the decision--and Brady policies in general—for their narrowness and excessive reliance on indications of intent or bad faith. …

Tailoring Discovery: Using Nontranssubstantive Rules To Reduce Waste And Abuse, Joshua Koppel

Joshua M. Koppel

This article proposes reforming discovery in the federal courts through a switch to a system of nontranssubstantive discovery rules. Because the current discovery rules, like nearly all of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are transsubstantive—meaning that the same rules apply in every type of case—they cannot be narrowly tailored to the requirements of any particular case. The creation of substance-specific (“nontranssubstantive”) rules holds promise for reducing costs by replacing broad rules with rules better fitted to particular types of litigation. Nontranssubstantive rules can be particularly effective in the area of discovery, where overbroad rules can be exploited by litigants …

Legally Blind: Hyperadversarialism, Brady Violations, And The Prosecutorial Organizational Culture, Hadar Aviram

Hadar Aviram

Recently, in Connick v. Thompson (2011), the Supreme Court held that the failure of several prosecutors to disclose to the defense the blood type of the perpetrator, which did not match the defendant’s blood type, was not a systematic defect that required training of staff. According to the Court the prosecutors’ misconduct, and lack of training in Brady discovery duties, did not constitute “deliberate indifference” by the municipality, which would have entitled the exonerated defendant to relief under §1983. This Article criticizes the decision--and Brady policies in general—for their narrowness and excessive reliance on indications of intent or bad faith. …

Presuit Discovery In A Comparative Context, Scott Dodson

Scott Dodson

In civil litigation around the globe, the usual process is that investigative discovery is allowed (if at all) only after the plaintiff files an initial pleading. Recently, however, a growing number of jurisdictions have adopted general mechanisms for presuit investigative discovery. This paper explores these mechanisms and probes their nature and importance. It first finds that presuit investigative discovery is surprisingly prevalent among common-law systems, despite the usual order of pleading and discovery. The paper then argues that presuit investigative discovery can provide a useful tool for enabling plaintiffs to file a sufficient complaint in fact-pleading jurisdictions. Finally, the paper …

Tailoring Discovery: Using Nontranssubstantive Rules To Reduce Waste And Abuse, Joshua Michael Koppel

Joshua M. Koppel

This article proposes reforming discovery in the federal courts through a switch to a system of nontranssubstantive discovery rules. Because the current discovery rules, like nearly all of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are transsubstantive—meaning that the same rules apply in every type of case—they cannot be narrowly tailored to the requirements of any particular case. The creation of substance-specific (“nontranssubstantive”) rules holds promise for reducing costs by replacing broad rules with rules better fitted to particular types of litigation. Nontranssubstantive rules can be particularly effective in the area of discovery, where overbroad rules can be exploited by litigants …

Contracting Out Of Process, Contracting Out Of Corporate Accountability: An Argument Against Enforcement Of Pre-Dispute Limits On Process, Meredith R. Miller

Meredith R. Miller

There have been many well-articulated and convincing critiques aimed at mandatory arbitration. Indeed, presently before Congress is proposed legislation titled the Arbitration Fairness Act, that would ban pre-dispute arbitration in the consumer, franchise and employment contexts. However, maligned as the plaintiff bar's pro-lawsuit legislation, the Arbitration Fairness Act is predicted to have very little chance of enactment. Consequently, across varying industries, the pre-dispute arbitration regime endures unheedingly. Thus, this Article sets aside the arguments aimed generally at pre-dispute arbitration clauses and, instead, sets its sights on some of the terms that seem to arise in such clauses. The focus here …

The Impact Of The American Doctrine Of Discovery On Native Land Rights In Australia, Canada, And New Zealand, Blake Watson

Blake A Watson

In Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall proclaimed that European discovery of America Agave exclusive title to those who made it;@ and diminished the power of Indians Ato dispose of the soil at their own will ….@ 21 U.S. 543, 574 (1823). Marshall presented a revised version of the discovery doctrine in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832), yet it is Johnson that remains the leading decision on native property rights in the United States. The Johnson discovery rule has not only diminished native rights in the United States, but has also influenced the definition of indigenous land …

Resolving Client Conflicts By Hiring "Conflicts Counsel", Ronald D. Rotunda

Ronald D. Rotunda

A general principle of legal ethics is that a law firm may not represent a client suing someone who is also a client of the law firm (1) even though the two matters are unrelated, (2) a different law firm represents the client in that law suit, and (3) there is no risk that the lawyer would violate the confidences of any client. Other ethics rules magnify the significance of this rule by imputing the disqualification of every lawyer in the law firm to every other lawyer in the same firm. Courts enforce these rules by disqualifying the offending law …

Simplifying Discovery And Production- Using Easy Frameworks To Evaluate The 2009 Term Of Cases.Pdf, Eric Carpenter

Eric R. Carpenter

Secrets Behind Secrets: Disclosure Of Classified Information Before And During Trial And Why Cipa Should Be Revamped, Melanie M. Reid

Melanie M. Reid

During the thirty years since its passage, CIPA has been utilized in hundreds (if not thousands) of criminal cases and used more frequently now than ever imagined in 1980. Yet, few prosecutors and defense counsel are familiar with CIPA and how to handle classified information when it is presented during the prosecution of a criminal case. CIPA has been misunderstood and misapplied by some judges because these rules only provide a framework for procedures on how to handle classified information when it is introduced during a criminal case. CIPA was not designed to establish a clear guideline on how judges …

Growing Pains; Building Arbitration's Legitimacy Through Everyday Arbitral Decisions, John B. Mcarthur

John B McArthur

Arbitration’s rapid growth has come under pressure in recent years. A Supreme Court decision holding that awards under the Federal Arbitration Act cannot be vacated for substantive error even if they clearly are wrong has helped discredit arbitration. Misuse of arbitration clauses in consumer, employment, and franchise settings has led to proposals for radical constriction under the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009. Facing these challenges, arbitrators need to ensure the quality of their awards by adhering to the rule of law and resisting the temptation to administer a personal brand of justice. They need to discourage silent awards and …

Managing The Unmanageable: A Brief Accounting Of A Special Master’S Thirty Years Of Experience In Complex Litigation, Paul Rice

Paul Rice

Managing an efficient, but fair, pretrial process in a large and complex case has always been a challenge. With the advent of electronic communications and the corresponding explosion of privilege claims, this challenge has become significantly more difficult. Indeed, it is not uncommon for corporate parties to assert tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of privilege claims. Furthermore, the resolution of these privilege questions is often compounded by difficult choice of law questions that can have the result of different substantive principles being applied to identical discovery demands originating in different jurisdictions. Additionally, before addressing the increasingly voluminous …

Managing The Unmanageable: A Brief Accounting Of A Special Master’S Thirty Years Of Experience In Complex Litigation, Paul Rice

Paul Rice

Managing an efficient, but fair, pretrial process in a large and complex case has always been a challenge. With the advent of electronic communications and the corresponding explosion of privilege claims, this challenge has become significantly more difficult. Indeed, it is not uncommon for corporate parties to assert tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of privilege claims. Furthermore, the resolution of these privilege questions is often compounded by difficult choice of law questions that can have the result of different substantive principles being applied to identical discovery demands originating in different jurisdictions. Additionally, before addressing the increasingly voluminous …

Managing The Unmanageable: A Brief Accounting Of A Special Master’S Thirty Years Of Experience In Complex Litigation, Paul Rice

Paul Rice

Managing an efficient, but fair, pretrial process in a large and complex case has always been a challenge. With the advent of electronic communications and the corresponding explosion of privilege claims, this challenge has become significantly more difficult. Indeed, it is not uncommon for corporate parties to assert tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of privilege claims. Furthermore, the resolution of these privilege questions is often compounded by difficult choice of law questions that can have the result of different substantive principles being applied to identical discovery demands originating in different jurisdictions. Additionally, before addressing the increasingly voluminous …

Anatomy Of The First Public International Sports Arbitration And The Future Of Public Arbitration After Usada V. Floyd Landis, Maureen A. Weston Prof.

Maureen A Weston

Mere weeks after American professional cyclist Floyd Landis seemingly won the 2006 Tour de France, the United States Anti-Doping Association (USADA), under the authority granted to it by the U.S. Congress, and through its enforcement of the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), accused him of having committed doping violations during the race. Landis vehemently denied these allegations, and accused the French laboratory that had performed the testing of his post-race samples, the Laboratoire National du Depistage du Dopage (LNDD), of bias and misconduct in his case.

Under USADA rules, an American athlete accused of doping may request an arbitration hearing before …

Arbitration And Choice: Taking Charge Of The 'New Litigation', Thomas J. Stipanowich

Thomas J. Stipanowich

Despite meaningful efforts to promote better practices and ensure quality among arbitrators and advocates, criticism of American arbitration is at a crescendo. Much of this criticism stems from the fact that arbitration under standard procedures has taken on the trappings of litigation - extensive discovery and motion practice, highly contentious advocacy, long cycle time and high cost. Paradoxically, concerns about the absence of appeal on the merits in arbitration have caused some to craft provisions calling for judicial review for errors of law or fact in awards. It is time to return to fundamentals in American arbitration. Those who seek …

Help Wanted: Seeking One Good Appellate Brief That Forces The Arkansas Supreme Court To Clarify Its Criminal Discovery Jurisprudence, Brian Gallini

Brian Gallini