Civil Law Commons^™

Mdl For The People, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Scholarly Works

By the terms of its own statute and the limits of its constitutional authority, multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) is designed to transfer and coordinate individual lawsuits then return plaintiffs back to their chosen fora for case-specific discovery and trial. Because each plaintiff is present and has her own lawyer, there is no need for the judge to police conflicts of interest or attorney loyalty as in the MDL’s kin, the class action.

But these assumptions do not match the empirical reality. Remand is rare. MDL judges resolve ninety-nine percent of the cases before them. And to some attorneys, the people of …

Data Versus More Data In Multidistrict Litigation, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Scholarly Works

A reply to Lynn A. Baker & Andrew Bradt, Anecdotes in the Search for Truth About Multidistrict Litigation, 107 Cornell Law Review Online 249 (2023).

Perceptions of Justice in Multi-district Litigation: Voices from the Crowd presents the results of a study that no one wanted us to do—or help us to do. Professors Lynn Baker and Andrew Bradt would prefer to dismiss as “anecdote” our two-year effort to find and gain the trust of multi-district litigation (MDL) plaintiffs whose attorneys told them not to discuss their case with anyone, including us.

There are decades worth of procedural justice studies …

Perceptions Of Justice In Multidistrict Litigation: Voices From The Crowd, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Margaret S. Williams

Scholarly Works

With all eyes on criminal justice reform, multidistrict litigation (MDL) has quietly reshaped civil justice, undermining fundamental tenets of due process, procedural justice, attorney ethics, and tort law along the way. In 2020, the MDL caseload tripled that of the federal criminal caseload, one out of every two cases filed in federal civil court was an MDL case, and 97% of those were products liability like opioids, talc, and Roundup.

Ordinarily, civil procedure puts tort plaintiffs in the driver’s seat, allowing them to choose who and where to sue, and what claims to bring. Procedural justice tells courts to ensure …

Uzuegbunam V. Preczewski, Nominal Damages, And The Roberts Stratagem, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

In Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski the Supreme Court held for the first time that federal-court jurisdiction exists over a § 1983 case that presents only a claim for nominal damages. As a result, such claims remain subject to adjudication even when the plaintiff’s request for prospective relief, targeting an allegedly unlawful practice, has been mooted by the government’s discontinuance of the thus-challenged behavior. In dissent, Chief Justice Roberts maintained that the majority’s ruling clashed with Article III’s “personal stake” requirement and also unwisely permitted plaintiffs to sidestep controlling jurisdictional rules by adding a meaningless claim for nominal damages to a complaint …

Lessons From A Pandemic: Recommendations From The Georgia Tpo Forum For Strengthening Protections Against Domestic Violence, Christine M. Scartz, Sarah White, Jaime Boorman

Scholarly Works

A civil protective order in Georgia is commonly called a temporary protective order, or TPO. The Georgia TPO Forum (the Forum) is a collaborative effort among practitioners who are deeply passionate about ending domestic violence and minimizing its effects on victims.1 The Forum is made up of advocates and attorneys who work every day with people who need protection from violence. Members provide each other not only with suggestions and solutions to problems, but also a listening ear in a profession where another tragic case is always on its way. The Forum is also uniquely positioned to offer recommendations about …

Collected Wisdom On Selecting Leaders And Managing Mdls, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, Stephen Bough

Scholarly Works

Today, nearly one out of every two new suits filed in federal civil court is part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL). Initially designed to organize antitrust cases against electrical equipment manufacturers, MDL’s adaptability and minimal requirements made it the preferred approach for coordinating pretrial process for all manner of cases, from securities, employment, intellectual property, and antitrust to sales practices, common disasters, and products liability. Yet, the simplicity of MDL’s technical requirements—that cases are pending in different districts and share a common factual question—belie the complexity of the proceedings themselves. Governed principally by insiders’ unwritten but longstanding norms, both newly-appointed …

An Avenue For Fairness: Disclosure-Based Compensation Schemes For Good Faith Purchasers Of Stolen Art, Caroline Harvey

Georgia Law Review

Art theft occurs regularly around the world, and each
year stolen works of art are funneled into the
international art market. While the United States boasts
the world’s largest art market, it is also home to the
biggest market of illegal art. Longstanding principles of
property law are unfavorable to unwitting good faith
purchasers of stolen art, who are often forced to return
works to true owners at great financial loss. This Note
explores the legal implications of purchasing a stolen
work of art in the United States and the equities
associated with defenses available to good faith
purchasers. In …

The Other Hobbs Act: An Old Leviathan In The Modern Administrative State, Jason N. Sigalos

Georgia Law Review

The Hobbs Administrative Orders Review Act is a
little-known statute, one that is often mistaken for a
federal criminal statute with a similar name.
The lesser-known Hobbs Act requires aggrieved parties
to challenge certain agency orders in a federal court of
appeals within sixty days of the order’s promulgation.
However, if no party does so, are later parties bound by
a potentially unlawful agency order in subsequent
enforcement actions? The U.S. Supreme Court recently
dodged this question in PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton
& Harris Chiropractic, Inc. That case concerned a suit
between two private parties under the Telephone
Consumer …

Changing Soviet Attitudes Toward International Law: An Incorporative Approach, R. Judson Mitchell, Alan T. Leonhard

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Spoliating The Adverse Inference Instruction: The Impact Of The 2015 Amendment To Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 37(E), Alexandra M. Reynolds

Georgia Law Review

The discovery process relies heavily on the information
that we store on our electronic devices. The ease with
which we tap into the many capabilities of technology,
however, exposes litigants to a significant risk-spoliation
of evidence. Evidence may be spoliated accidentally or
intentionally, but when spoliation does occur, the party
seeking that evidence often seeks a remedy from the court.
The adverse inference instruction has functioned as one of
those remedies. Courts split on what level of culpability is
required to issue an adverse inference instruction. The
Rule 37(e) amendments attempt to address rising costs of
electronic discovery and resolve …

Law And Modernization In China: The Juridical Behavior Of The Chinese Communists, Daniel J. Hoffheimer

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Changing The Game: The Effects Of The 2012 Revision Of The Icc Arbitration Rules On The Icc Model Arbitration Clause For Trust Disputes, Colin Connor

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Mixed Courts Of Egypt: A Study On The Use Of Natural Law And Equity, Gabriel M. Wilner

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Admiralty - Shipowners’ Limited Liability Act - A Shipowner Cannot Invoke The Act To Limit His Liability For Wreck Removal Expenses Since A Statutory Duty To Remove A Sunken Vessel Prevents Him From Being “Without Privity Or Knowledge,” A Condition Precedent To The Invocation Of The Act, Thomas C. Holcomb

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Admiralty - Torts - In Noncollision Cases Contribution Will Lie Where No Countervailing Considerations Detract From The Maritime Rule Allowing Contribution Between Joint Tortfeasors, Richard H. Siegel, Stephen O. Spinks

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Aviation Law - Insurance - Neither “War Risk” Nor Other Standard Terms Denoting Civil Disturbance Within The Exclusionary Clauses Of All Risks Policies Encompass The Destruction Of An Aircraft By Hijackers, Kathy D. Izell

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Foreign Nation Judgments - If State Law Provides For The Enforceability Of Foreign Judgments, The Judgment Is Enforceable Without Determination Of Whether The Arbitration Award On Which It Is Based Is Independently Enforceable Under The Convention On The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitral Awards, John W. Kindt

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Aviation Law - Personal Injury - The Warsaw Convention, As Modified By The Montreal Agreement, Acts To Establish The Air Carrier’S Strict Liability For A Passenger’S Personal Injury Incurred During An Aircraft Hijacking, Robert T. Bockman

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Convention Providing A Uniform Law On The Form Of An International Will: Problems With State Probate Law, Jack N. Sibley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Environmental Protection By Coastal States: The Paradigm From Marine Transport Of Petroleum, Joseph C. Sweeny

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Admiralty - Torts - A Permanently Moored Vessel Located In Navigable Waters, Though No Longer Involved In Commerce, Supplies The Necessary Maritime Nexus For Invocation Of Admiralty Tort Jurisdiction Using The “Locality Plus” Test, E. B. Mather

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Admiralty - Jurisdiction - For Aviation Tort Claims To Be Brought In Admiralty, A Significant Relationship To Traditional Maritime Activity Must Be Shown, Grier Newlin

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Hague Convention On The Law Applicable To Products Liability, Bryant Durham

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

“Criminal Records” - A Comparative Approach, Sigmund A. Cohn

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Regulating Foreign-Based Institutions For Collective Investment: The German Statute, The American Experience, And The Oecd Standard Rules, Charles B. Robson Jr.

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

English Matrimonial Cruelty Law In Nigeria: Dead Or Alive?, D. A. Ijalaye

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Outer Space, Robert E. Clute

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Books Recieved, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Exporting Process: Some Considerations For Practitioners, Albert Caproni Iii

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Council Of Europe Convention On Products Liability, Bernard Hanotiau

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.