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Articles 1 - 24 of 24
Full-Text Articles in Law
Offensive Non-Mutual Issue Preclusion Revisited, Edward D. Cavanagh
Offensive Non-Mutual Issue Preclusion Revisited, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
Some forty years ago, in Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, the United States Supreme Court held that the rule of mutuality of estoppel was no longer an absolute bar to the invocation of issue preclusion for the benefit of a plaintiff who had been a stranger to the prior (F-1) litigation against a defendant who had been party to both the F-I and present (F-2) cases. In so ruling, the Supreme Court gave its imprimatur to Judge Traynor's dramatic takedown of the mutuality rule in Bernhard v. Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association nearly four decades …
Mandating Rule 11 Sanctions? Here We Go Again!, Edward D. Cavanagh
Mandating Rule 11 Sanctions? Here We Go Again!, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 720, a bill that would amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by re‑instituting mandatory sanctions for Rule 11 violations and essentially restoring Rule 11 to its contents under the 1983 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The legislation would mandate imposition of monetary sanctions and eliminate any restrictions on when a Rule 11 motion could be filed. The bill would thus scuttle the 1993 Amendments, which (1) entrusted the sanctions decision to the sound discretion of the trial court; (2) provided a 21‑day safe harbor period that …
General Jurisdiction 2.0: The Updating And Uprooting Of The Corporate Presence Doctrine, Edward D. Cavanagh
General Jurisdiction 2.0: The Updating And Uprooting Of The Corporate Presence Doctrine, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
For well over a century, state courts have exercised personal jurisdiction over foreign corporations if they engage in commerce within the state “not occasionally or casually, but with a fair measure of permanence and continuity.” This assertion of judicial power, referred to as general jurisdiction and also as the corporate presence doctrine, permitted courts to entertain claims that had no nexus with the forum state against foreign companies “doing business” within that state. The United States Supreme Court, however, sent this line of cases “careening into the abyss” in Daimler AG v. Bauman, wherein the Court held that …
Federal Civil Litigation At The Crossroads: Reshaping The Role Of The Federal Courts In Twenty-First Century Dispute Resolution, Edward D. Cavanagh
Federal Civil Litigation At The Crossroads: Reshaping The Role Of The Federal Courts In Twenty-First Century Dispute Resolution, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were promulgated in 1938 to provide the “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of all civil actions. The underlying theme of the Federal Rules is that meritorious litigants should have their day in court. To that end, the Federal Rules eliminated procedural pitfalls, including highly technical forms of action inherited from common law, that rewarded mastery of pleading techniques over the substantive merits of claims. The Federal Rules also introduced a simplified pleading system, commonly denominated as “notice pleading,” thereby easing the heavy burden imposed on the parties. The factual details of the case could …
The Cplr At Fifty: A View From Academia, Vincent C. Alexander
The Cplr At Fifty: A View From Academia, Vincent C. Alexander
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
First and foremost, teaching students in an advanced civil procedure course that concentrates on the CPLR helps them prepare for civil litigation in all of the state courts of New York. As we all know, New York has numerous civil courts of original subject matter jurisdiction--a distressing feature for students and litigants alike. What is sometimes overlooked, however, is that the CPLR governs the procedure in all of those courts unless some specific statute says otherwise. Even for students who intend to practice law in other states, an in-depth study of the CPLR will enhance their ability to cope …
Twombly’S Seismic Disturbances, Edward D. Cavanagh
Twombly’S Seismic Disturbances, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
The Supreme Court's decision in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007), has had a seismic impact on federal civil litigation. We all thought the notice pleading concept introduced under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure had substantially eased the plaintiff's burden at the pleading stage. The Supreme Court in Twombly said "yes, but," and emphasized that notice pleading was never intended to dispense entirely with the need to plead facts demonstrating a right to relief. In short, facts matter: Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires a statement of circumstances, events, and …
Making Sense Of Twombly, Edward D. Cavanagh
Making Sense Of Twombly, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
In May 2007, the United States Supreme Court decided Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and sent shockwaves throughout the federal civil justice system. Reversing the Second Circuit, the Court held that an antitrust complaint that alleged mere parallel behavior among rival telecommunications companies, coupled with stray averments of agreement that amounted merely to legal conclusions, failed as a matter of law to state a claim for conspiracy in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act and had been properly dismissed by the trial court. The Court then proceeded to (1) redefine the concept of notice pleading by "retiring" …
Rulemaking, Litigation Culture And Reform In Federal Courts, Edward D. Cavanagh
Rulemaking, Litigation Culture And Reform In Federal Courts, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
Culturally based litigation practices are central to the policies of federal courts. Unlike the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, cultural based practices are neither uniform nor explicitly defined among the federal courts. These practices are specifically tailored to ensure judicial efficiency, and in turn, they heavily influence practice and procedure in federal courts. This Article examines the significance of cultural litigation practices and their influence on amending or establishing new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The author proposes that rulemaking must compliment cultural practices in order to be successful and concludes that when conflict exists between these practices and rulemaking, …
Issue Preclusion In Complex Litigation, Edward D. Cavanagh
Issue Preclusion In Complex Litigation, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
In an era of multiparty, multijurisdictional, multidistrict litigation, federal cases have grown increasingly complex. As judges struggle to manage complicated cases, a new litigation paradigm has emerged. Rather than attempting to try all cases in one action, federal judges are now breaking the litigation down into smaller pieces, using "fast tracks" or "bellwether" cases, hoping that resolution of one or two cases will lead to settlement of the rest. Inevitably, because the cases involve identical fact issues and identical defendants, the doctrine of prior adjudication comes into play. This Article identifies and analyzes significant issues that arise in the …
A New Look At Judicial Impact: Attorney's Fees In Securities Class Actions After Goldberger V. Integrated Resources, Inc., Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey Miller, Michael A. Perino
A New Look At Judicial Impact: Attorney's Fees In Securities Class Actions After Goldberger V. Integrated Resources, Inc., Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey Miller, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
Political scientists have long been interested in what impact judicial decisions have on their intended audiences. Compliance has been defined as the lower court's proper application of standards the superior court has enunciated in deciding all cases raising similar or related questions. Most studies find widespread compliance in lower courts, with only rare instances of overt defiance.
This Article attempts to address three questions in the extant judicial impact literature. First, existing studies use rather insensitive measures of compliance and thus may fail to identify instances of subtle resistance to higher court rulings. Second, judicial impact literature has a restrained …
Law, Ideology, And Strategy In Judicial Decision Making: Evidence From Securities Fraud Actions, Michael A. Perino
Law, Ideology, And Strategy In Judicial Decision Making: Evidence From Securities Fraud Actions, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
Legal academics and political scientists continue to debate whether the legal, attitudinal, or strategic model best explains judicial decision making. One limitation in this debate is the high-court bias found in most studies. This article, by contrast, examines federal district court decisions, specifically interpretations of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Initial interpretations of the Act articulated distinct liberal and conservative positions. The data compiled here support the hypothesis that the later emergence of an intermediate interpretation was the result of strategic statutory interpretation rather than simply judges acting consistently with their ideological preferences, although there is some …
Did The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Work?, Michael A. Perino
Did The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Work?, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
In 1995 Congress passed the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (the PSLRA or the Act) to address abuses in securities fraud class actions. In the wake of Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and other high profile securities frauds, critics suggest that the law made it too easy to escape liability for securities fraud and thus created a climate in which frauds are more likely to occur. Others claim that the Act has largely failed because it did little to deter plaintiffs' lawyers from filing nonmeritorious cases. This article employs a database of the 1449 class actions filed from 1996 through 2001 to …
Pleading Rules In Antitrust Cases: A Return To Fact Pleading?, Edward D. Cavanagh
Pleading Rules In Antitrust Cases: A Return To Fact Pleading?, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted in 1938, introduced a simplified pleading regimen for litigation in the federal courts. Commonly referred to as notice pleading, this new pleading regimen was designed to shift the courts' attention away from the pleadings and toward proof at trial. Under the simplified pleading standards adopted by the Federal Rules, the complaint need not contain a ritualistic recitation of elements of an abstruse theory of recovery, as required at common law; nor did it need to detail "facts" sufficient to make out a "cause of action," as required under the old scheme of …
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1998, Christopher J. Borgen
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1998, Christopher J. Borgen
Faculty Publications
American procedure regarding international discovery stems from 28 U.S.C. §§ 1781-1783, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in particular Rule 28(b). The leading case on the topic of international discovery is the Supreme Court's decision in Société Nationale Industielle Aerospatiale v. United States District Court. Many later cases base their reasoning on interpretations of Aerospatiale. This article is a brief review of developments during the year.
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1997, Christopher J. Borgen
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1997, Christopher J. Borgen
Faculty Publications
U.S. law provides litigants with a variety of means to obtain evidence from foreign jurisdictions. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (the Federal Rules) and rules of state courts may be used if a U.S. court has jurisdiction over the person who is in control of the evidence in question. Section 1783 of tide 28 of the United States Code provides a means for serving a subpoena on U.S. nationals or residents abroad. Litigants may also obtain foreign discovery through letters rogatory as permitted by 28 U.S.C. § 1781 and treaties such as the Hague Convention on Taking Evidence (the …
Fraud And Federalism: Preempting Private State Securities Fraud Causes Of Action, Michael A. Perino
Fraud And Federalism: Preempting Private State Securities Fraud Causes Of Action, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
The passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 has engendered a significant forum shift in class action securities fraud litigation, from federal to state court. This unintended by-product of the Act has reignited debate over our dual federal-state system of securities regulation and in turn has inspired a discussion as to whether Congress should now preempt state securities fraud causes of action. This article argues that preemption is an appropriate, but not the only, solution to these concerns. To support this argument, this article first traces the history of dual state-federal securities regulation within the context of …
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1996, Christopher J. Borgen
Discovery In International Legal Developments Year In Review: 1996, Christopher J. Borgen
Faculty Publications
American procedure regarding international discovery stems from 28 U.S.C. §§ 1781-83, and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP or Rule) 28(b). Broadly speaking, these rules are concerned with the mechanics of assessing requests for discovery in the United States to assist a proceeding in a foreign country and attempts by one or more parties before a U.S. court to obtain evidence located in another country. This article serves as a brief review of developments during the year.
Class Action Chaos? The Theory Of The Core And An Analysis Of Opt-Out Rights In Mass Tort Class Actions, Michael A. Perino
Class Action Chaos? The Theory Of The Core And An Analysis Of Opt-Out Rights In Mass Tort Class Actions, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
From breast implants to cigarettes, mass tort class actions are a prominent and controversial part of the contemporary litigation landscape. A critical component of these actions is the ability of class members to “opt out” and thereby exclude themselves from the effect of any class judgment. The tension between individual autonomy and the desire for global resolution of mass controversies has led to an intense debate concerning the circumstances under which opt-out rights should be constrained, if at all.
This Article makes five distinct contributions to the class action literature. First, the Article applies the game theoretic concept of the …
The Persistent Nation State And The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Mark L. Movsesian
The Persistent Nation State And The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Mark L. Movsesian
Faculty Publications
One hears a great deal these days about the decline of the nation state. The concept of a sovereign country whose inhabitants share a common ancestry or culture is said to be obsolescent, if not already obsolete. Several factors, apparently, are responsible: the creation of supranational institutions like the European Union and the World Trade Organization; the growing influence of nongovernmental organizations; the emergence of a new global economy; and the formation of a worldwide consumer culture, to name just a few. The law, it is argued, must adapt.
The decline of the nation state is, of course, the premise …
Drafting Mediation Privileges: Lessons From The Civil Justice Reform Act, Michael A. Perino
Drafting Mediation Privileges: Lessons From The Civil Justice Reform Act, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
Mediation confidentiality provisions or privileges are now prevalent throughout the United States. Forty-one states have enacted some form of mediation privilege. As part of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1990, Congress enacted legislation to protect confidentiality in mediations involving federal agencies. An additional source for such provisions is the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA), which required each federal district court to implement a civil justice expense and delay reduction plan (Plan(s)) by the end of 1993. Those Plans seek to implement mechanisms designed to address causes of excessive expense and delay in the federal courts.
A number …
Justice Scalia: Standing, Environmental Law And The Supreme Court, Michael A. Perino
Justice Scalia: Standing, Environmental Law And The Supreme Court, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
President Reagan's appointment of Antonin Scalia to the United States Supreme Court raises concern among liberals that Justice Scalia will help lead the Court away from a number of liberal positions toward a new conservatism. The Reagan Administration's requirement that judicial appointments advance the Administration's preference for judicial restraint and strict constructionism enhances this concern. These new executive requirements mean that federal courts should accord greater authority to the democratically elected branches of the government. Justice Scalia's primary areas of study, administrative law and separation of powers, reflect his adherence to judicial self-restraint.
One aspect of administrative law and separation …
Developing Standards Under Amended Rule 11 Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Edward D. Cavanagh
Developing Standards Under Amended Rule 11 Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is designed to ensure the integrity of pleadings and other papers filed in federal district court. The rule was amended in 1983 in response to the widely held perception that its provisions, as originally promulgated, had proven ineffective in deterring strike suits, litigation abuses, and lawsuits used as instruments of delay and oppression. Amended Rule 11 introduces more stringent standards designed to make attorneys stop and think about their legal obligations before signing pleadings and motions. These obligations are reinforced by imposing mandatory sanctions upon violation of the standards. The …
The August 1, 1983 Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure: A Critical Evaluation And A Proposal For More Effective Discovery Through Local Rules, Edward D. Cavanagh
The August 1, 1983 Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure: A Critical Evaluation And A Proposal For More Effective Discovery Through Local Rules, Edward D. Cavanagh
Faculty Publications
(Excerpt)
The 1983 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1983 amendments) represent by far the most ambitious effort to date to remedy the widely perceived problem of discovery abuse in federal practice. These amendments are designed to improve the conduct of discovery by eliminating improper practices and making discovery more cost-effective for the parties, and thereby helping the pretrial phase of an action to run more smoothly. The 1983 discovery amendments have three basic thrusts: (1) active involvement by the court in the pretrial phases of a case pursuant to rule 16; (2) recognition of specific limitations on …
State Medical Malpractice Screening Panels In Federal Diversity Actions, Vincent C. Alexander
State Medical Malpractice Screening Panels In Federal Diversity Actions, Vincent C. Alexander
Faculty Publications
During the early 1970's, a medical malpractice crisis was perceived in the United States. An increasing number of costly and time-consuming lawsuits alleging medical malpractice against doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers caused malpractice insurers to raise premiums substantially, which in turn threatened to curtail the availability of adequate health care at reasonable cost. State legislatures responded to the crisis with a variety of substantive and procedural measures intended to reduce the number of litigated claims and the size of jury awards. One of the principal steps taken in a majority of states was the creation of extrajudicial panels …