Law Commons^™

Batson V. Kentucky And J.E.B. V. Alabama Ex Rel. T.B.: Is The Peremptory Challenge Still Preeminent?, Eric N. Einhorn

Boston College Law Review

No abstract provided.

On War And Justice, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

New Wine In An Old Bottle—Arkansas's Liberalized Class Action Procedure—A Boon To The Consumer Class Action?, Kenneth S. Gould

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Statutory Post-Judgment Interest: The Effect Of Legislative Changes After Judgment And Suggestions For Construction, Brian P. Miller

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecutorial Immunity: Imbler, Burns, And Now Buckley U. Fitzsimmons-The Supreme Court's Attempt To Provide Guidance In A Difficult Area, Jeffery J. Mckenna

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Progress Report In Automatic Disclosure In The Federal Districts, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In this brief article, Tobias gives an update on a controversial amendment in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides for mandatory prediscovery, or automatic, disclosure. This articles serves to update readers on developments and clarifications since the author's previous article on the subject, published half a year earlier.

Comment On Judge Joseph F. Weis, Jr., Service By Mail--Is The Stamp Of Approval From The Hague Convention Always Enough?, Doug Rendleman

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

The Reluctant Partner: Making Procedural Law For International Civil Litigation, Stephen B. Burbank

Faculty Scholarship at Penn Carey Law

No abstract provided.

Fisons: Will It Tame The Beast Of Discovery Abuse?, Barbara J. Gorham

Washington Law Review

In WSPIEA v. Fisons, the Washington Supreme Court held that evasive and misleading discovery tactics violate Civil Rule 26(g). This Note examines the discovery tactics used in Fisons against the backdrop of the historic failure of courts to impose adequate sanctions for discovery abuse. It argues that courts must do more to deter discovery abuse by clearly articulating the requirements of the rules governing discovery, imposing severe sanctions for discovery abuse, and closely monitoring discovery in large, complex cases.

Civil Contempt And The Rational Contemnor, Linda S. Beres

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Civil Procedure: Other Disciplines, Globalization, And Simple Gifts, Gene R. Shreve

Michigan Law Review

A Review of American Civil Procedure: An Introduction by Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr. and Michele Taruffo

Perceptions Of Civil Justice: The Litigation Crisis Attitudes Of Civil Jurors, Valerie P. Hans, William S. Lofquist

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Public perceptions that the civil justice system is in crisis are apparently widespread, but little is known about the causes or correlates of such views. This article analyzes the litigation crisis attitudes of a sample of civil jurors. Like the public, jurors endorsed a number of statements suggesting that there is a litigation crisis. Factor analysis identified two independent components: general concern over excessive litigation, and criticism of the civil jury. Litigation crisis views were found in all demographic and attitudinal subgroups. However, attitudes about the civil justice system were related to the respondent's political efficacy, claims consciousness, belief in …

Pragmatism Applied: Imagining A Solution To The Problem Of Court Congestion, Michael L. Seigel

UF Law Faculty Publications

Can we improve the efficiency of jury trials? If so, would this reduce the problem of court congestion? Is there any reason to favor this approach over those that seek to avoid jury trials altogether?

This Article attempts to answer these difficult questions. It does so by articulating and then employing a methodology suggested by recent scholarly ruminations about the philosophy of pragmatism and its implications for legal scholarship and practice. Although pragmatism does not provide "right answers" to questions of legal doctrine-indeed, it rejects the notion that such things exist-it does provide some guidance in formulating the search for …

On War And Justice, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Jeffrey C. Tuomala

No abstract provided.

The Straight-Line Method Of Determining Personal Jurisdiction, John M. Brumbaugh, William L. Reynolds

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Iron Law Of Full Faith And Credit, William L. Reynolds

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Elevated Pleading In Environmental Litigation, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The recent United States Supreme Court opinion in Leatherman v. Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit is critical to parties and attorneys who participate in environmental litigation. Leatherman proscribed the imposition of pleading requirements that are stricter than those ordinarily applied under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). Such heightened pleading requirements compel plaintiffs to plead more facts, and courts can dismiss claims that fall short of the mark.

The Leatherman court considered civil rights actions alleging that municipalities are liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.2 Although Leatherman might seem of limited relevance to environmental lawsuits, its holding and …

Recent Federal Civil Justice Reform In Montana, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Montana Federal District Court has continued to experiment with nearly all of the procedures that the court included in the civil justice expense and delay reduction plan which it officially adopted during April 1992 under the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990. The most important procedures are automatic disclosure, co-equal assignment of cases to Article III judges and magistrate judges located in Billings, and rather close judicial case management. The judicial officers, who include three active and one senior Article III judges and three full-time magistrate judges, and many Montana attorneys who practice in federal court have now …

Issue Preclusion - Assessing The Issue Preclusive Effect Of State Agency Decisions In The Third Circuit, Michael J. Maransky

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Federal Civil Justice Reform In Montana, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) has reached the mid-point of its implementation nationally and in the Montana Federal District Court. At this juncture, one of the most important aspects of statutory effectuation is evaluation of the experimentation that federal district courts have conducted under the legislation. The timing is particularly propitious in the Montana federal district because the court recently completed the annual assessment of statutory implementation that the CJRA requires. These developments in civil justice reform, particularly relating to evaluation of the experimentation which has occurred, warrant examination. This Article undertakes that effort. The Article first …

The 1993 Revision Of Federal Rule 11, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The 1983 revision of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ("Rule 11" or the "Rule") proved to be the most controversial amendment in the long history of the Federal Rules. Many federal judges inconsistently interpreted the provision's language and inconsistently applied the Rule. The 1983 version fostered much costly, unwarranted satellite litigation over its phrasing and the magnitude of sanctions that courts imposed while increasing incivility among lawyers. Rule 11 motions were filed and granted against civil rights plaintiffs more frequently than any other class of litigant, and numerous judges vigorously enforced the provision against the plaintiffs, …

Improving The 1988 And 1990 Judicial Improvements Acts, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, Professor Tobias analyzes and attempts to harmonize the conflicting frameworks for civil procedure reform embodied in the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) and its immediate predecessor, the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act of 1988 (JIA). Congress intended the JIA to open the national and local rulemaking processes to public scrutiny and to decrease the use of local rules. Yet Professor Tobias finds the 1990 Act at odds with the earlier measure in several ways. By encouraging local experiments aimed at reducing litigation costs and delay, he argues, the CJRA shifted the locus of …

The Transmittal Letter Translated, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The letter in which Chief Justice Rehnquist transmitted to Congress amendments to various Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which became effective on December 1, 1993 is reproduced. Professor Tobias then offers his "translation" of the letter with his interpretation of what likely took place during the rule revision process involving the Advisory Committee on the Civil Rules, emphasizing the controversial revision of F.R.C.P. Rule 11.

1993 Federal Rules Amendments And The Montana Civil Rules, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

On December 1, 1993, the most comprehensive package of amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Federal Rules) in their half-century history became effective. Although the revisions include a number of changes that are relatively innocuous, modifications in Rule 11 governing sanctions and Rule 26 requiring mandatory pre-discovery or automatic disclosure were and remain controversial. The amendment to Rule 11 altered the 1983 revision of that Rule which had proved to be the most controversial amendment ever developed. The amendment to Rule 26 prescribing automatic disclosure was the most controversial formal proposal changing the Rules in their history. These …

Kentucky's Strict Summary Judgment Standard In Light Of The Supreme Court's Ruling In Steelvest, Inc. V. Scansteel Service Center, Heather C. Wright

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Halting Devolution Or Bleak To The Future? Subrin's New-Old Procedure As A Possible Antidote To Dreyfuss's "Tolstoy Problem", Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Professors Rochelle Dreyfuss and Stephen Subrin first presented their ideas on the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Civil Rules) at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in a program titled, “The 1993 Discovery Amendments: Evolution, Revolution, or Devolution?” After the program, I was left with the depressing view that the answer was devolution, which is defined as a “retrograde evolution,” or “degeneration.” Dreyfuss provides a detailed but succinct review of the changes in discovery occasioned by the new rules as well as a vantage point for assessing the social and …

The Constitutionality Of Enjoining Criminal Street Gangs As Public Nuisances, Christopher S. Yoo

Faculty Scholarship at Penn Carey Law

California jurisdictions have increasingly used injunctions to combat the growth criminal street gangs. The use of civil sanctions to redress criminal activity raises difficult constitutional questions, potentially creating personal criminal codes that may infringe upon defendants’ substantive constitutional rights. In addition, employing civil remedies may deprive defendants of constitutional procedural protections that would have been provided if the jurisdiction had elected to deter the same behavior with available criminal sanctions. Although the use of injunctions places pressure on a number of substantive constitutional rights, including the freedom of association, freedom of expression, right to travel, the injunction terms will likely …

The Hague Evidence Convention: The Need For Guidance On Procedures And Resolution Of Conflicts In Transnational Discovery, John C. Plaster

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

As international commercial disputes become more common, United States courts increasingly face difficult issues involved in transnational discovery. Two frequently encountered issues are choosing whether to use the discovery procedures of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Hague Evidence Convention and whether to enforce a discovery order when the order conflicts with a law of the state in which discovery is to occur. Although the Supreme Court has addressed both of these issues, it has left lower courts considerable discretion to deal with these issues case by case. Lower courts, therefore, have not been uniform in their approaches …

Limitation Of Legal Malpractice Actions: Defining Actual Injury And The Problem Of Simultaneous Litigation, Tyler T. Ochoa, Andrew Wilstrich

Faculty Publications

In this article, we will first review the development of the "actual injury" tolling provision in California, from its judicial adoption in 1971 to its legislative adoption in 1977. Second, we will explore the policies underlying the legal malpractice statute of limitation and the countervailing policies that may make delayed accrual or tolling desirable in situations involving simultaneous litigation. Third, we will examine case law applying the "actual injury" tolling provision to various fact situations and analyze potential legal solutions to the problem of defining "actual injury," including the doctrine of equitable tolling. Finally, we will demonstrate how the doctrine …

Rodney King And The Decriminalization Of Police Brutality In America: Direct And Judicial Access To The Grand Jury As Remedies For Victims Of Police Brutality When The Prosecutor Declines To Prosecute, Peter L. Davis

Scholarly Works

This Article begins with the premise that, despite political rhetoric and occasional prosecutions to the contrary, police brutality has been effectively decriminalized in this country. The Article adopts the Rodney King case as the paradigm for examining this phenomenon. Scrutinizing the culture and semantics of police brutality, the author concludes that a double standard of criminality exists in the United States, under which different rules apply to a police than to everyone else. This double standard is socially dysfunctional. Particularly among minorities, it leads to a sense of cynicism about our legal system that can result in civil disorder when …