Courts Commons^™

Jurors' Views Of Civil Lawyers: Implications For Courtroom Communication, Valerie P. Hans, Krista Sweigart

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In courtroom communication, lawyers play a key role. During presentations of opening statements and closing arguments, and through examination and cross-examination of witnesses, lawyers communicate the merits of the case that the jury is to decide. Yet there is surprisingly little systematic information about how jurors perceive lawyers' communication activities. This Article presents new information based upon an interview study with civil jurors about how jurors view and evaluate attorneys and their courtroom behavior. The results of this study are used to make recommendations about enhancing the effectiveness of lawyers' communications.

A New Antidote For An Opponent's Pretrial Discovery Misconduct: Treating The Misconduct At Trial As An Admission By Conduct Of The Weakness Of The Opponent's Case, Edward J. Imwinkelried

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Private Justice And The Federal Bench, Lauren K. Robel

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tightening Judicial Standards For Granting Foreign Discovery Requests, Ryan J. Earl

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Justice Reform In The Western District Of Missouri, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990 out of growing concern about litigation abuse in federal civil lawsuits, increasing cost and delay in those cases, and declining federal court access. The legislation commands every federal district court to promulgate a civil justice expense and delay reduction plan by December 1993. The statute also creates a demonstration program and designates the Northern District of California, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Western District of Missouri as courts that are to "experiment with various methods of reducing cost and delay in civil litigation, including alternative dispute resolution. …

Opt-Outs At The Outlaw Inn: A Report From Montana, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Report of Prof. Tobias' CLE presentation at the Montana State Bar Association's annual meeting, highlighting the 1993 revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Civil Justice Reform Act.

Recalibrating The Civil Justice Reform Act, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In 1990, Congress enacted the Civil Justice Reform Act ("CJRA"), a measure which could substantially change the nature of federal civil litigation. One aspect of the CJRA that provides evidence respecting the progress of civil justice reform is the civil justice expense and delay reduction plans issued in late 1991 by the thirty-four federal district courts which the Judicial Conference of the United States designated as Early Implementation District Courts ("EIDCs").

Congress is currently attempting to assess the reforms included in these plans, which constitute the initial significant step in implementing the CJRA. By some oversight, Congress has not invited …

Civil Justice Reform In The Fourth Circuit, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) because it was increasingly concerned about litigation and discovery abuse in federal civil cases, growing cost and delay in such suits, and decreasing access to federal courts. The statute requires that all ninety-four federal district courts develop civil justice expense and delay reduction plans by December 1993. Thirty-four districts issued plans by December 1991, and the Judicial Conference of the United States recently designated these districts as Early Implementation District Courts (EIDC).

Three of those EIDCs, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Southern …

Executive Branch Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The authors of several papers in this Symposium have justifiably criticized the essay that former Vice President Dan Quayle published in Volume 41 of The American University Law Review. Many knowledgeable observers of the civil justice system have leveled equally legitimate criticism at civil justice reform initiatives that the Bush administration instituted. Questionable data, arguable policy, or overheated political rhetoric supported certain aspects of the Vice President's paper, as well as most of the proposals developed by the Competitiveness Council that the Vice President chaired and numerous efforts of the Republican administration in the area of civil justice reform.

One …

Grass Roots Procedure: Local Advisory Groups And The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 1990, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Jaws Xvi: The Exceptions That Ate Rule 220, 26 J. Marshall L. Rev. 189 (1993), Charles W. Chapman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Forging Of A Political Weapon: The Impact Of The Cold War On The Law Of Contempt, 27 J. Marshall L. Rev. 3 (1993), Melvin B. Lewis

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trial By Jury

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Jurisdiction

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Silver Linings In Federal Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Many observers, including most of the participants in the civil litigation symposium, have levelled considerable criticism at the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 ("CJRA" or "Act") and its implementation. This criticism--which encompasses numerous phenomena, as abstract as constitutional theory and as pragmatic as numerical limitations on interrogatories--emanates from several quarters and ranges across the political spectrum.

Notwithstanding the numerous criticisms that observers have lodged at the statute and its effectuation, a number of which have considerable validity, the federal reform initiative has afforded many advantages. Unfortunately, these benefits have received comparatively little recognition. Because the reform's salutary aspects could …

A Survey Of Article Iii Procedural Issues Considered At The Federal Circuit During Its First Decade, 27 J. Marshall L. Rev. 25 (1993), Jerry R. Selinger

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Time Warps And Identity Crises: Muddling Through The Misnomer/Misidentification Mess, 26 J. Marshall L. Rev. 257 (1993), Diane S. Kaplan, Kimberly L. Craft

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Juries And Complex Cases: Taking Stock After Twelve Years, Richard O. Lempert

Book Chapters

Twelve years ago, as the first Reagan administration was coming into office, it appeared that the civil jury, at least in complex cases, might be on the way out. The hostility of Chief Justice Warren Burger toward the civil jury was no secret and the circuit courts were split on the question of whether the Seventh Amendment guarantee of trial allowed an exception for complex cases. The issue was ripe for Supreme Court resolution. Moreover, a body of then-recent scholarship provided the Court with some historical justification for reading a complexity exception into the Seventh Amendment as well as with …

Self Incrimination

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Removal And The Eleventh Amendment: The Case For District Court Remand Discretion To Avoid A Bifurcated Suit, Mitchell N. Berman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ignorance And Procedural Law Reform: A Call For A Moratorium, Stephen B. Burbank

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Rule 50 May End Directed Verdicts For Plaintiffs, Michael J. Waggoner

Publications

No abstract provided.

Foreword: The Law Of Federal Judicial Discipline And The Lessons Of Social Science, Stephen B. Burbank, Sheldon Jay Plager

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Specifying Grounds For Judicial Disqualification In Federal Courts., Leslie W. Abramson

Faculty Scholarship

One essential component of equal justice under the law is a neutral and detached judge to preside over the court proceedings. Public confidence in the legal system is maintained when a judge has no interest in the parties, attorneys or subject matter of the litigation. Sua sponte or by motion of a party, a federal judge is subject to disqualification for conflicts of interest on both constitutional and statutory grounds

Pro Se Litigants: Application Of A Single Objective Standard Under Frcp 11 To Reduce Frivolous Litigation, Brian L. Holtzclaw

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment addresses the application of Rule 11 sanctions to pro se litigants and argues that based on the language of Rule 11, the concerns expressed in the Advisory Committee Note to Rule 11, and the primary goal of Rule 11 to deter abusive pleadings, a single objective standard should be applied to all parties-attorneys, represented parties, and pro se litigants-to determine whether Rule 11 has been violated. Under this single objective standard, a pro se litigant's lack of legal representation should be considered only in determining the severity of the sanction, not in determining whether Rule 11 has been …