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Direct Inference In The Lost Chance Cases: Factfinding Constraints Under Minimal Fairness To Parties, Vern R. Walker

Hofstra Law Review

In this Article, I use the lost chance cases to examine the logical conditions for such a warranted direct inference in legal fact-finding. I first set out various interpretations of what "probable" means when used in the lost chance cases. This is the topic of part I. In part II, I use this discussion of the meaning of probability, together with an examination of two contemporary epistemological theories of direct inference, to propose an analysis of the appropriate conditions for the type of direct inference central to resolving the lost chance cases. My proposal is that the direct inference is …