Law Commons^™

Trial Practice And Procedure, Jason Crawford, Matthew E. Cook, J. Clay Fuller, Michael A. Eddings, Dustin T. Brown

Mercer Law Review

This survey period yielded several decisions of interest and importance to practitioners trying cases and preparing for trial. This Article will analyze the recent judicial developments in the law relating to evidence, insurance, jurors and jury instructions, professional liability, service of process, and damages, as well as other issues of import to the trial practitioner.

Apologies And Legal Settlement: An Empirical Examination, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

Michigan Law Review

It is often said that U.S. legal culture discourages apologies. Defendants, defense counsel, and insurers worry that statements of apology will be admissible at trial and will be interpreted by jurors and judges as admissions of responsibility. In recent years, however, several legal commentators have suggested that disputants in civil lawsuits should be encouraged to apologize to opposing parties. They claim that apologies will avert lawsuits and promote settlement. Consistent with this view, legislatures in several states have enacted statutes that are intended to encourage and protect apologies by making them inadmissible. In addition, some commentators argue that defendants might …

The Exclusion Of Felons From Jury Service, Brian C. Kalt

American University Law Review

The lifetime exclusion of felons from jury service is the majority rule in the U.S., used in thirty one states and in federal courts. The result is that over 6% of the adult population is excluded, including about 30% of black men.

The parallel issue of felon disenfranchisement has drawn considerable scholarly attention, despite its lower, declining, and less racially charged numbers. The racial composition of juries has been widely discussed in the literature as well. By contrast, felon jury service has been almost entirely ignored, despite a mass of legislation and appellate litigation, and despite glaring racial disparities.

One …

The Indulgence Of Reasonable Presumptions: Federal Court Contractual Civil Jury Trial Waivers, Joel Andersen

Michigan Law Review

Large institutions such as banks, franchisers, international companies, and lessors distrust juries' ability to properly resolve disputes and award reasonable damages. As a result, these and other actors have attempted to limit juries' potential influence on the contracts to which they are parties. They have done so through contractual jury trial waiver clauses in these agreements. The Seventh Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the jury trial right. Whether the right is determined to exist in an individual instance is a matter of federal common law, which merely preserves the jury trial right as it existed when the Amendment was adopted …

Employer Tros Are All The Rage: A New Approach To Workplace Violence, Kyle Riley

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Litigation To Redefine Marriage: Equality And Social Meaning , William C. Duncan

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Just What The Doctor Ordered: The Admissibility Of Differential Diagnosis In Pharmaceutical Product Litigation, Wendy Michelle Ertmer

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the decade since Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., federal judges have exercised their role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony to evaluate many different categories of scientific evidence. They have not done so without controversy, however. Because the element of causation in pharmaceutical product litigation is frequently dispositive, the application of Daubert to scientific evidence of causation has been particularly contentious. Plaintiffs in such cases must prove both general causation-that the product is capable of causing an injury of the type from which the plaintiff suffers-and specific causation-that the product was the actual cause of the plaintiffs injury. …

Applications For Certificates Of Appealability And The Supreme Court's "Obligatory" Jurisdiction, Brent E. Newton

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Advocacy Before The United States Supreme Court, Robert H. Jackson

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Litigation Landmines: Obtaining Attorneys Fees In Conditions Of Confinement. Litigation After Bloomberg V. Christina A, Mark Soler

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Abuse of children in state institutions is a longstanding and notorious problem.1 Advocates for children have successfully brought federal civil rights litigation over the past thirty years to protect the lives, safety, and rights of children in jails,2 juvenile detention facilities, 3 and state corrections institutions. 4 In recent years, however, such litigation has become more difficult as a result of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) 5 and an array of United States Supreme Court decisions. In a number of decisions over the past two decades, the Supreme Court has significantly restricted the rights of prisoners and …

Foreword: Why Retry? Reviving Dormant Racial Justice Claims, Martha Minow

Michigan Law Review

Two familiar arguments oppose lawsuits and legislative efforts to address racial injustices from our national past, and a third tacit argument can be discerned. "Why open old wounds?": this question animates the first argument. The evidence is stale - this expresses the second argument. The third, less explicit objection reflects worries that exposing some gross and unremedied racial injustices from the past will reveal the scale of imperfections in the systems of justice and government and thereby undermine the legitimacy of those systems. To introduce the meticulous and passionate essays in this Colloquium, I elaborate and respond to each of …

Contracting For Judicial Review Of Arbitration Agreements: Sidestepping The Faa Weakens Arbitration Viability, Julie E. Patalano

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Deregulating Voluntary Dismissals, Michael E. Solimine, Amy E. Lippert

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a) and its state law counterparts permit, under certain circumstances, a plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss her lawsuit without prejudice. Within certain windows of opportunity, plaintiffs can take this unilateral action without the permission of the defendant or of the court, and without any conditions attached. When those windows are closed, plaintiffs can still seek dismissal with the approval of the defendant or of the court. This regime is problematic: giving plaintiffs this unilateral power is an anachronism in an age of managerial judging, and can be considerably inconvenient for defendants. Likewise, the case law has …

Is It Time For A Federal Terrorist Court: Terrorists And Prosecutions: Problems, Paradigms, And Paradoxes, Harvey Rishikof

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Determining The Dischargeability Of Fraudulent Claim Settlement Agreements In Bankruptcy, Stephen R. Bentfield

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Internal Revenue, John T. Mcinnes

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Masthead, Jtaa Editors

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Cartoon Criminals: The Unclear Future Of Computer Animation In The Minnesota Criminal Courtroom—State V. Stewart, Katherine A. Godden

William Mitchell Law Review

This article examines the development of computerized animation and its use in the legal field. It then analyzes the Minnesota Supreme Court's holding in Stewart and the consequences of that ruling. Finally, the article concludes that the court's decision failed to delineate a test for the district courts to apply when faced with the use of computerized animation in a criminal case.

The Potential And Challenges Of Transnational Litigation For Feminist Concerned About Domestic Violence Here And Abroad, Merle H. Weiner

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Prologue: Brief Of Amici Curiae On Behalf Of A Committee Of Concerned Black Graduates Of Aba Accredited Law Schools: Vicky L. Beasley, Devon W. Carbado, Tasha L. Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Shavar Jeffries, Sidney Majalya, Wanda R. Stansbury, Jory Steele, Et Al., In Support Of Respondents, Luke Charles Harris

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The brief of Amici Curiae on Behalf of a Committee of Concerned Black Graduates of ABA Accredited Law Schools in Grutter v. Bollinger was written so as to intervene and to assist in the refraining of the public debate surrounding minority admissions programs in institutions of higher education.

Brief Of Amici Curiae On Behalf Of A Committee Of Concerned Black Graduates Of Aba Accredited Law Schools: Vicky L. Beasley, Devon W. Carbado, Tasha L. Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Shavar Jeffries, Sidney Majalya, Wanda R. Stansbury, Jory Steele, Et Al., In Support Of Respondents, Mary Mack Adu Esq.

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

In the Supreme Court of the United States. Barbara Grutter V. Lee Bollinger

Epa’S Administrative Compliance Orders Ruled Unconstitutional, Mary Margaret Mccleroy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Epa’S Administrative Compliance Orders Ruled Unconstitutional, Mary Margaret Mccleroy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Quandary Of Megan's Law: When The Child Sex Offender Is A Child, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 73 (2003), Timothy E. Wind

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Illinois Construction Negligence, Post-Structural Work Act: The Need For A Clear Legislative Mandate, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 531 (2003), Peter Puchalski

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wrongful Death Actions Under Section 1983, Martin A. Schwartz, Steven Steinglass, Richard Emery, Ilann Margalit Maazel

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Minnesota And The American Rule: The Recoverability Of Attorneys’ Fees Following In Re Silicone Implant Insurance Coverage Litigation, John M. Bjorkman

William Mitchell Law Review

In the United States, a successful litigant is generally not entitled to recover attorneys' fees from the opposing party absent specific statutory or contractual authorization. This basic principle is commonly referred to as the American Rule. Minnesota recognized and adopted the American Rule roughly 125 years ago. A limited number of exceptions to this longstanding rule exist, but Minnesota courts have generally been reluctant to expand or add to these exceptions. In Minnesota, an exception to the American Rule exists for fees incurred in a declaratory action to establish insurance coverage but only if the insurer has breached its duty …

Into The Abyss: How Party Autonomy Supports Overreaching Through The Exercise Of Unequal Bargaining Power, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 421 (2003), Pamela Edwards

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond Napster, Beyond The United States: The Technological And International Legal Barriers To On-Line Copyright Enforcement, Jeffrey L. Dodes

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jon Newman’S Theory Of Disparagement And The First Amendment In The Administrative State, Edward L. Rubin

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.