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Articles 31 - 60 of 72
Full-Text Articles in Law
What We Know About Malpractice Settlements, Philip G. Peters Jr.
What We Know About Malpractice Settlements, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Faculty Publications
The enclosed article is the first comprehensive synthesis of two decades of empirical research on medical malpractice settlement. The portrait that emerges from this synthesis is both more reassuring and more complex than popular portrayals. Although the fit is not perfect, the merits generally drive the settlement process. Weak claims consistently fare the worst, toss-ups cases do better, and strong cases have the most success.Prior scholarship on malpractice outcomes has understated the strength of this correlation because it has focused principally on the impact of negligence on the settlement rates and has largely ignored the importance of settlement amount. The …
Introduction To Vanishing Trial Symposium, John M. Lande
Introduction To Vanishing Trial Symposium, John M. Lande
Faculty Publications
This symposium shows that "vanishing trial" phenomena touch an extremely broad range of issues including transformations of society, courts, dispute resolution procedures, and even the nature of knowledge. These phenomena relate to decisions by litigants in particular cases, court systems, national policy, and international relations. This subject is too large and complex for any symposium to analyze fully, especially at this early stage of analysis. This symposium makes an important contribution to this study, with theories and evidence about the existence, nature, and extent of reductions in trials and similar proceedings. It elaborates a range of theories about possible causes …
Convicting The Innocent: Aberration Or Systemic Problem?, Rodney J. Uphoff
Convicting The Innocent: Aberration Or Systemic Problem?, Rodney J. Uphoff
Faculty Publications
In practice, the right to adequate defense counsel in the United States is disturbingly unequal. Only some American criminal defendants actually receive the effective assistance of counsel. Although some indigent defendants are afforded zealous, effective representation, many indigent defendants and almost all of the working poor are not. The quality of representation a defendant receives generally is a product of fortuity, of economic status, and of the jurisdiction in which he or she is charged. For many defendants, the assistance of counsel means little more than counsel's help in facilitating a guilty plea. With luck, money, and location primarily determining …
The 'Failure To Mitigate' Defense In Antitrust, Thom Lambert
The 'Failure To Mitigate' Defense In Antitrust, Thom Lambert
Faculty Publications
The article begins with the premise that any failure to mitigate defense should aim to minimize the sum of three costs: the costs associated with inefficient behavior by defendants, the costs associated with inefficient behavior by plaintiffs, and the administrative costs of claim adjudication. If cost minimization is the goal, then whether a failure to mitigate defense exists, and the content of the antitrust plaintiff’s mitigation requirement, should differ depending on the type of damages the plaintiff is seeking to recover. The bulk of this article discusses how the defense should apply to different damages claims.The article proceeds as follows: …
Weyerhaeuser And The Search For Antitrust's Holy Grail, Thom Lambert
Weyerhaeuser And The Search For Antitrust's Holy Grail, Thom Lambert
Faculty Publications
A general definition of exclusionary conduct has become a sort of Holy Grail for antitrust scholars. At present, four proposed definitions appear most promising: (1) conduct that could exclude an equally efficient rival; (2) conduct that raises rivals' costs unjustifiably; (3) conduct that, on balance, impairs consumer welfare by creating market power without providing countervailing consumer benefits; and (4) conduct that makes no economic sense but for its exclusionary effect on rivals.
How Much Justice Can We Afford?: Defining The Courts' Roles And Deciding The Appropriate Number Of Trials, Settlement Signals, And Other Elements Needed To Administer Justice, John M. Lande
Faculty Publications
This article discusses how the U.S. court system can function optimally given declining trial rates and the limited resources available. The question of how much justice we can afford is a challenge that becomes more difficult as budgets fall behind the increasing demand for and cost of court services. Presumably most analysts would agree that courts should try cases when appropriate - and help litigants find just resolutions without trial when it is not needed. The courts' ability to provide trials in some cases is possible only if the vast majority of other cases are not tried.This article provides background …
Justice Blackmun And The Spirit Of Liberty, Richard C. Reuben
Justice Blackmun And The Spirit Of Liberty, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
As we see in this symposium, Justice Harry Blackmun is as controversial in death as he was in life. We live in a time of increasing absolutism, where things are either black or white, red or blue, you are either for me or against me, my way or the highway. It is when we are swayed by the sirens of absolutism that we are most likely to make mistakes, for absolutism diminishes our capacity to see nuance, much less to appreciate and account for it in our reasoning. This is a dangerous thing in a court, and in a democracy. …
Shifting The Focus From The Myth Of "The Vanishing Trial" To Complex Conflict Management Systems, Or I Learned Almost Everything I Need To Know About Conflict Resolution From Marc Galanter, John M. Lande
Faculty Publications
To say that The Vanishing Trial is a myth is not to suggest that the facts or analysis in Professor Marc Galanter's seminal report on the vanishing trial are fictional or inaccurate. Indeed, he marshals a massive amount of data to show that the number of trials and the trial rates have been declining for the past four decades, particularly in the federal courts. The report documents an apparent paradox: the proportion of cases going to trial has dropped sharply during the past forty years despite substantial increases in many other legal indicators including the number of lawyers, the number …
The Citation Of Unpublished Opinions As Precedent, Martha Dragich
The Citation Of Unpublished Opinions As Precedent, Martha Dragich
Faculty Publications
Professor Dragich examines the no-citation rules of the federal courts of appeals in light of the purpose and operation of the doctrine of precedent. The article concludes that no-citation rules are fundamentally incompatible with the rule of precedent. The rules also cannot be justified on grounds of economy or efficiency. The courts of appeals cannot legitimately declare decisions to be "non-precedential," and must not continue to forbid their citation.
First Options, Consent To Arbitration, And The Demise Of Separability: Restoring Access To Justice For Contracts With Arbitration Provisions, Richard C. Reuben
First Options, Consent To Arbitration, And The Demise Of Separability: Restoring Access To Justice For Contracts With Arbitration Provisions, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
This article describes the context and current state of the law in this area under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), urges the Court to continue its path toward actual consent to arbitration, and suggests an approach for finally reconciling the tension between Prima Paint and First Options. Part II describes the nature and historical context of the arbitrability problem. Part III focuses specifically on the doctrine of separability, which is the most critical (and most complex) of these exceptions. Part IV discusses the impact on separability of recent U.S. Supreme Court case law, especially the 1995 decision in First Options …
The Role Of Jury In Modern Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.
The Role Of Jury In Modern Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Faculty Publications
This article explores the policy issues raised by the choice between a custom-based standard of care and a jury-determined reasonability standard. The author examines not only traditional legal arguments but also the recent findings of cognitive psychology, jury performance studies, and health industry research. Not surprisingly, this analysis reveals that both options are imperfect. However, the author cautiously recommends the reasonable physician standard. The revolutionary transformation of the health care industry in last quarter of a century has transferred considerable power from physicians to the health insurance industry, an industry that has not yet earned the privilege of self-regulation. Unlike …
Beyond Campaign Finance: The First Amendment Implications Of Nixon V. Shrink Missouri Pac, Christina E. Wells
Beyond Campaign Finance: The First Amendment Implications Of Nixon V. Shrink Missouri Pac, Christina E. Wells
Faculty Publications
This essay, however, is less concerned with the campaign finance aspects of Shrink than with the decision's broader implications. In the course of its decision, the Shrink Court not only obfuscated the standard of scrutiny applicable to contribution regulations, it effectively ignored the government's lack of factual support for the law, instead accepting the state's assertions at face-value. Consequently, Shrink is far more than a simple application of Buckley. Rather, it reflects fundamental problems with the Court's standards of review in First Amendment cases generally. The more global nature of Shrink's problems suggest that, despite scholarly focus on the Buckley …
State Constitutional Restrictions On Legislative Procedure: Rethinking Analysis Of Original Purpose, Single Subject, And Clear Title Challenges, Martha Dragich
State Constitutional Restrictions On Legislative Procedure: Rethinking Analysis Of Original Purpose, Single Subject, And Clear Title Challenges, Martha Dragich
Faculty Publications
Recognizing that state courts are beginning to review procedural challenges more rigorously, this Article attempts to provide guidance for the resolution of such cases. Part I examines the history, purposes, and standards of original purpose, single subject, and clear title restrictions, using Missouri's provisions as examples. Part I also identifies paradigmatic cases of each of the procedural violations with the hope of more sharply differentiating the three claims. Parts II through V present a case study of ten Missouri cases decided since 1994, supplemented with notable cases from other states. Part II begins with a brief description of the Missouri …
Book Review: We The People: The Fourteenth Amendment And The Supreme Court, S. I. Strong
Book Review: We The People: The Fourteenth Amendment And The Supreme Court, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
Never one to shirk a challenge, Michael Perry has taken on the difficult task of investigating whether, as charged by a number of prominent social and legal commentators, "the modern Supreme Court, in the name of the Fourteenth Amendment [to the US Constitution], [has] usurped prerogatives and made choices that properly belong to the electorally accountable representatives of the American people," and if so, to what extent (p. 8). Perry makes no attempt to address every facet of Fourteenth Amendment doctrine, but instead focuses his discussion on some of the most controversial topics: racial segregation, affirmative action, discrimination on the …
Health Care Law: Breaking Down The Boundaries Of Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Health Care Law: Breaking Down The Boundaries Of Malpractice Law, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Faculty Publications
Historically, courts have treated professional malpractice cases as unique. When disputes that would otherwise have been governed by tort rules of general application have arisen in the context of medical treatment, courts have routinely constructed special rules for the resolution of those disputes. Recent evidence suggests that this penchant for special rules may be weakening and that malpractice law may be slowly melting back into the sea of tort doctrine.The three Missouri health care law cases noted in this issue are the latest evidence that courts today are more willing to resolve medical negligence actions using tort rules of general …
Bringing Structure To The Law Of Injunctions Against Expression, Christina E. Wells
Bringing Structure To The Law Of Injunctions Against Expression, Christina E. Wells
Faculty Publications
Part I of this Article reviews the Court's cases regarding injunctions against speech, focusing first on the increasing elevation of rhetoric (as opposed to analysis) in the Court's prior restraint decisions. Part I also reviews the Court's other decisions involving injunctions and demonstrates that they too contain little, if any, analysis concerning the appropriateness of injunctive relief against expression. Part II examines Madsen's interaction with the Court's previous decisions and discusses how Madsen furthers the incoherence of the Court's previous cases. Part III explains that content discrimination principles, although superficially attractive, are inappropriate with injunctive relief because the content-based/content-neutral distinction's …
Of Communists And Anti-Abortion Protestors: The Consequences Of Falling Into The Theoretical Abyss, Christina E. Wells
Of Communists And Anti-Abortion Protestors: The Consequences Of Falling Into The Theoretical Abyss, Christina E. Wells
Faculty Publications
Part I of this article briefly reviews the legal and social context of Dennis and Yates. Parts II and III similarly review Madsen and Schenck in order to show potential parallels to the earlier communist decisions. Part IV further examines both Madsen and Schenck, demonstrating that, from a doctrinal standpoint, they are far removed from the earlier communist cases. Finally, Part V explains how the Court in Madsen and Schenck actually contributed to misconceptions or manipulation of its opinions. Specifically, Part V examines the Madsen and Schenck Courts' approaches to three of the more difficult doctrinal issues facing them--prior restraint, …
Completing The Admissibility Equation, Richard C. Reuben
Completing The Admissibility Equation, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up an evidence dispute from Georgia that promises to be one of the new term's most important nuts-and-bolts cases for litigators. General Electric Co. v. Joiner, no. 96-188, is expected to determine the standard of review that federal appellate courts must give to lower court decisions on the admissibility of scientific evidence. The Court's decision in Joiner promises to have an important effect on a broad range of cases in which causation often is a pivotal issue.
Moment Of Truth, Richard C. Reuben
Moment Of Truth, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
While the technical sophistication of today's polygraphs is far beyond the cathode-tube stuff of the 1920s, many lawyers and judges continue to view them as inherently unreliable and overly prejudicial. Their concern is that the procedure does not test whether a subject is telling the truth but measures physiological responses to questions- which may reveal much, but not necessarily the truth. But this fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider, in United States v. Scheffer, No. 96-1133, whether to finally lift the barrier to admissibility of polygraph evidence, at least in the federal courts, on grounds that it inhibits the …
Places In The Heartland: Departure Jurisprudence After Koon, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Places In The Heartland: Departure Jurisprudence After Koon, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Faculty Publications
There are two things upon which I suspect most observers will agree following the decision in Koon v. United States. First, the United States Supreme Court wants district courts to have more discretion to depart from the otherwise applicable guideline range, and wants appellate courts to have less authority to overturn those discretionary judgments. Second, in light of the conflicting signals the Court gave by, on the one hand, declaring that the standard of appellate review for departure decisions is to be abuse of discretion,” and on the other hand, finding that two of the five factors relied upon by …
When Physicians Balk At Futile Care: Implications Of The Disability Rights Laws, Philip G. Peters Jr.
When Physicians Balk At Futile Care: Implications Of The Disability Rights Laws, Philip G. Peters Jr.
Faculty Publications
Part I of this article reviews the factual background of the futility debate. Part II introduces the antidiscrimination laws. Thereafter, Parts III, IV, and V examine the three components of the proposal suggested above.
Justices Take The 11th, Richard C. Reuben
Justices Take The 11th, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
Until not long ago, the 11th Amendment with its barrier to some citizen suits in federal courts was a largely ignored provision of the U.S. Constitution. Those days may be coming to an end, however, as the Supreme Court has resurrected the dusty old amendment in its steady, if not always consistent, march toward a new federalism or what some scholars are calling the "antifederalist revival."
Quality Of Mercy Must Be Restrained, And Other Lessons In Learning To Love The Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Quality Of Mercy Must Be Restrained, And Other Lessons In Learning To Love The Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Frank O. Bowman Iii
Faculty Publications
In the remarks that follow, I do four things. First, for those unfamiliar with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, I begin by explaining briefly how the Guidelines work. Second, I endeavor to show why Judge Cabranes is wrong, absolutely wrong in declaring the Guidelines a failure, and mostly wrong in the specific criticisms he and others level against the Guidelines. Third, after jousting with Judge Cabranes a bit, I discuss some problems with the current federal sentencing system, most notably the sheer length of narcotics sentences. Finally, I comment briefly on some of the implications of the Guidelines, and the principles …
Once A Century: Time For A Structural Overhaul Of The Federal Courts, Martha Dragich
Once A Century: Time For A Structural Overhaul Of The Federal Courts, Martha Dragich
Faculty Publications
In this Article, I describe a structure capable of accommodating growing caseloads in a manner consistent with basic values of appellate justice. Before doing so, I sketch in Part I the structural evolution of the federal courts. Part II describes the current pressures on the courts of appeals, while Part III examines the effects of internal reforms on the quality of appellate justice and the development of a coherent body of national law. Next, in Part IV, I posit requirements for the federal courts' third century. Part V reviews major proposals to address the caseload crisis in the courts of …
Trademark Parody: Lessons From The Copyright Decision In Campbell V. Acuff-Rose Music, Gary Myers
Trademark Parody: Lessons From The Copyright Decision In Campbell V. Acuff-Rose Music, Gary Myers
Faculty Publications
Parodies have long provided many of us with amusement, entertainment,and sometimes even information. An effective parody can convey one or more messages with powerful effect. The message may be a political statement, social commentary, commercial speech, a bawdy joke, ridicule of a brand name, criticism of commercialism, or just plain humor for its own sake. Often someone's ox is being gored, or someone feels that a property right has been infringed. The party so injured often contemplates a lawsuit, and an array of legal theories are available to further that impulse. Perhaps copyright infringement is the claim, if some protectable …
One Crime, Two Punishments - Asset Forfeiture Cases Offer Chance To Sort Out Double Jeopardy Issues, Richard C. Reuben
One Crime, Two Punishments - Asset Forfeiture Cases Offer Chance To Sort Out Double Jeopardy Issues, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
At a time when anti-government sentiment is running high in some quarters, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering several cases on the hot-button issue of government seizure of private property linked to crimes, known as asset forfeitures.
Will The Federal Courts Of Appeals Perish If They Publish? Or Does The Declining Use Of Opinions To Explain And Justify Judicial Decisions Pose A Greater Threat?, Martha Dragich
Faculty Publications
This Article examines three of those practices: selective publication, summary disposition, and vacatur upon settlement.
Justice Defined - It Takes More Than A Single Opinion To Understand How Legal Reasoning And Personal Experience Shape A 24-Year Career, Richard C. Reuben
Justice Defined - It Takes More Than A Single Opinion To Understand How Legal Reasoning And Personal Experience Shape A 24-Year Career, Richard C. Reuben
Faculty Publications
With his retirement in June after participating in more than 800 cases - including his career-identifying 7-2 opinion in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion - the definition of Harry Blackmun's tenure lies in the seeming contradiction of commitment and flexibility. Along with a steadfast defense of the right to abortion in Roe, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and successive cases, Blackmun's significance was in the power of his vote. Often overlooked in the public's emphasis on Roe is an appreciation of Blackmun's reflective, methodical, if not occasionally pointed, jurisprudence.
Small Numbers, Black Men, Precipitous Responses, Big Problems, Michael A. Middleton
Small Numbers, Black Men, Precipitous Responses, Big Problems, Michael A. Middleton
Faculty Publications
Professor Culp has aptly warned us that in our discussion of employment discrimination we should not lose sight of the need to address the spectrum of policies affecting the status of African-Americans. Without serious efforts in all aspects of American life (e.g., housing, education, health care, political and economic empowerment) our chances of significantly improving the future for African-American men are slim.
The Role Of The Federal Magistrate Judge In Civil Justice Reform, R. Lawrence Dessem
The Role Of The Federal Magistrate Judge In Civil Justice Reform, R. Lawrence Dessem
Faculty Publications
This Article considers the role of the United States magistrate judge in civil justice reform and, more specifically, the role that the early implementation districts envision for magistrate judges within their own districts. Part I briefly considers the evolution of the office of magistrate judge prior to the enactment of the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990. Part II addresses the treatment of magistrate judges under that legislation. Next, Part III recounts the roles assigned to magistrate judges under the Civil Justice Reform Act in the individual district courts. These varying uses of magistrate judges then will be critiqued in Part …