Law Commons^™

The Routinization Of Debt Collection: An Essay On Social Change And Conflict In The Courts, Robert Kagan

Robert Kagan

No abstract provided.

In The Eye Of The Beholder: Tort Litigants' Evaluations Of Their Experiences In The Civil Justice System, E. Lind, Robert Maccoun, Patricia Ebener, William Felstiner

Robert MacCoun

Little is known about the reactions of tort litigants to traditional and alternative litigation procedures. To explore this issue, we interviewed litigants in personal injury cases in three state courts whose cases had been resolved by trial, court-annexed arbitration, judicial settlement conferences, or bilateral settlement. The litigants viewed the trial and arbitration procedures as fairer than bilateral settlement, apparently because they believed that trials and arbitration hearings gave their case more respectful treatment. They were less satisfied with the outcome of judicial settlement conferences than with the outcome of bilateral settlements, because judicial settlement conference outcomes were more likely to …

China's Judicial System And Judicial Reform, Nicholas Howson

Nicholas Howson

The following is an extract from the statement delivered by Michigan Law School Professor Nicholas Howson at the inaugural “China-U.S. Rule of Law Dialogue” held at Beijing’s Tsinghua University July 29-30, 2010, and convened by Tsinghua Law Dean Wang Zhenmin and Harvard Law School Professor and East Asian Legal Studies Director William Alford, and with the support of the China-United States Exchange Foundation chaired by C.H. Tung, first chief executive and president of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The dialogue was organized as a private meeting between senior PRC law professors and U.S.-based Chinese law …

Standing The Test Of Time: The Breadth Of Majority Coalitions And The Fate Of U.S. Supreme Court Precedents, Stuart Benjamin, Bruce Desmarais

Bruce A. Desmarais

Should a strategic Justice assemble a broader coalition for the majority opinion than is necessary, even if that means accommodating changes that move the opinion away from the author’s ideal holding? If the author’s objective is to durably move the law to his or her ideal holding, the conventional answer is no, because there is a cost and no corresponding benefit. We consider whether attracting a broad majority coalition can placate future courts. Controlling for the size of the coalition, we find that cases with ideologically narrow coalitions are more likely to be treated negatively by later courts. Specifically, adding …

The Center Of The Center For Alternative Dispute Resolution, Wayne Brazil

Wayne Brazil

Hawaii was one of the first states to establish within its judiciary a Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution. The Center's mission is: to mediate major public policy disputes and to facilitate policy formulation dialogues, to design and help implement mediation and other ADR programs for state and local governmental agencies, to provide education about and training in mediation for the public and for employees of state and local government, and to oversee the extensive network of community mediation centers that provide grass-roots mediation services throughout the Islands. In November of 2005 the Center celebrated its 20th anniversary by sponsoring various …

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: An Assessment Of Progress, Alan Weinstein, Kathryn Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Kathryn W. Hexter

In August 2006, Cleveland State University was asked to conduct an initial assessment of the Cuyahoga County Commissioners' Report and Recommendations on Foreclosure that would assist the county in planning for future phases of the project. This report presents the findings of this initial assessment of the first 18 months of the initiative. It documents the process undertaken by the county, assesses the progress made toward reaching goals, identifies successes and concerns, and offers some preliminary recommendations about program operations. It also offers suggestions for a more formal evaluation process going forward

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: A Pilot Initiative, Interim Report, Alan Weinstein, Kathryn Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Kathryn W. Hexter

The Center for Civic Education and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law released their report, on May 12, 2008. The report, prepared for the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, is an assessment of the County's comprehensive approach to addressing foreclosures on two levels: 1) Making foreclosure proceedings faster and fairer and 2) Creating an early intervention program to help residents prevent foreclosure.

The Cleveland Housing Court Act: New Answer To An Old Problem, Frederic White

Frederic White Jr

This Article will critically examine the Housing Court's historical setting, constitutional foundation and jurisdictional powers. In addition, comparison with systems established in other states provides possible alternative suggestions for successful operation. Finally, an in-depth analysis of current problems, including inadequate funds and staff, political manipulation and protracted procedural delays, seeks to answer the question of whether the Housing Court will become a meaningful and positive force for change, or simply an "indecisive, inefficient and interminable" bureaucratic nightmare.

Jury 2.0, Caren Morrison

Caren Myers Morrison

When the Framers drafted the Sixth Amendment and provided that the accused in a criminal case would have the right to a speedy and public trial by an “impartial jury,” it is unlikely that they imagined the members of that impartial jury becoming Facebook friends during deliberations, or Googling the defendant’s name during trial. But in the past few years, such cases have increasingly been making headlines. The impact of the Internet on the functioning of the jury has generated a lot of press, but has not yet attracted scholarly attention. This article seeks to focus legal discourse on this …

The Role Of Courts In Improving The Legislative Process, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov

Dr. Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov

ג'ון הארט גרוניס?: פסיקתו של הנשיא גרוניס לאור התיאוריה החוקתית של אילי (John Hart Grunis?: The Jurisprudence Of Chief Justice Grunis In Light Of Ely's Constitutional Theory), Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov

Dr. Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov

Praise Defenders, Not Just Prosecutors, Stephen E. Henderson

Stephen E Henderson

Colloquy, Transactional Economics: Victor Goldberg’S Framing Contract Law, Keith A. Rowley, Mark P. Gergen, Victor Goldberg, Stewart Mcaulay

Mark P. Gergen

Panel discussion among law faculty who teach contracts of 2007 book authored by Victor Goldberg, which suggests that an economic approach to contract interpretation is appropriate.

Hollow Hopes, Flypaper, And Metaphors, Malcolm M. Feeley

Malcolm Feeley

No abstract provided.

Two Models Of The Criminal Justice System: An Organizational Perspective, Malcolm M. Feeley

Malcolm Feeley

Systematic studies of the administration of justice in the United States have stressed either the rational-goal model or the functional-systems model. The former model emphasizes problems with the justice system's formal rules of operation and appears to be the dominant view of appellate judges, lawyers, and law students, while the latter model is concerned with the identification and adaptation of action to the environment and the interests of action within the system.

66th National Law Day Celebrates By Indian National Bar Association, Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar

Global conference to coincide with the Indian Law Day celebrations, INBA is to conduct Annual Conference, titled “66th National Law Day” on November 25th to 26th, 2015 at The Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi. This conference proposes to bring participation from Legal Luminaries, Senior Government Officials, Legal Departments of Fortune 500 companies, International Law Firms, Senior Lawyers, business and Judges across the globe. The main goal of the conference is to provide platform for Legal Community to discuss and deliberate on several important international legal issues. Opportunities: 1. Networking with Peers. 2. Speaking Opportunity. 3. Get Inspired. 4. Meet Key …

The History Of Children's Hearsay: From Old Bailey To Post-Davis, Thomas D. Lyon, Raymond Lamagna

Thomas D. Lyon

The papers in this symposium were originally prepared for the Section on Evidence of the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools.

The Complexity Of International Criminal Trials Is Necessary, 48 Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 151 (2015), Stuart Ford

Stuart Ford

There is a widespread belief among both academics and policymakers that international criminal trials are too complex. As a result, tribunals have come under enormous pressure to reduce the complexity of their trials. However, changes to trial procedure have not meaningfully affected trial complexity. This Article explains why these changes have failed and argues that the complexity of international criminal trials is necessary for them to achieve their purposes. Using a multiple regression model of the factors driving trial complexity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), this Article shows that the largest drivers of complexity are …

Spokeo, Where Shalt Thou Stand?, Joan Steinman

Joan E. Steinman

No abstract provided.

Dealing With Dirty Deeds: Matching Nemo Dat Preferences With Property Law Pragmatism, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Access To Justice For A New Century: The Way Forward, Julia H. Bass, W. A. Bogart, Frederick H. Zemans

Frederick H. Zemans

This book is a timely addition to the literature on access to justice. The book's essays address all aspects of the topic, including differing views on the meaning of access to justice; ways to improve access to legal services; litigation and its role in achieving social justice; and the roles of lawyers, citizens, and legal insitutions.

Access to Justice for a New Century is based on papers given at an international symposium presented by the Law Society of Upper Canada, sponsored by the Law Foundation of Ontario.

The Corporate Conspiracy Vacuum (Formerly "Corporate Conspiracy: How Not Calling A Conspiracy A Conspiracy Is Warping The Law On Corporate Wrongdoing"), J.S. Nelson

J.S. Nelson

Precedent And Legal Authority: A Critical History, Charles W. Collier

Charles W. Collier

In this Article, Professor Charles Collier traces out a general theory of precedential authority through historical sources. The Article focuses on three particularly influential views of precedent: Wambaugh's concept of dictum, Oliphant's concept of stare decisis, and Goodhart's concept of ratio decidendi. These views illustrate an underlying tension between two distinct doctrines of precedential authority. The first doctrine, derived from humanistic thought, restricts-legal authority as narrowly as possible to the express terms of an original text. The second doctrine draws on the broad, generalizing tendencies of the empirical sciences and their corresponding conceptions of scientific authority. The two doctrines coexist …

Legislatively Directed Judicial Activism: Some Reflections On The Meaning Of The Civil Justice Reform Act, 28 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 305 (1995), Matthew R. Kipp, Paul B. Lewis

Paul Lewis

With the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA), Congress attempted to further a trend that the federal judiciary had undertaken largely on its own initiative. Sensing a critical need to address the mounting expense and delay of federal civil litigation, Congress, like the judiciary, sought to increase the degree of early and active involvement of judges in the adjudicatory process. The result of this mandate has been a further emphasis on the role of the judge as a case manager. As a necessary corollary, the liberty and self-determination of individual litigants-ideals that have historically been seen as philosophical cornerstones of the …

Systemic Due Process: Procedural Concepts And The Problem Of Recusal, 38 U. Kan. L. Rev. 381 (1990), Paul B. Lewis

Paul Lewis

No abstract provided.

Currency Of Love: Customary International Law And The Battle For Same-Sex Marriage In The United States, 14 U. Pa. J.L. & Soc. Change 53 (2011), Sonia Bychkov Green

Sonia Bychkov Green

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Leaks And Recusals: A Response To Professor Steven Lubet’S Scotus Ethics In The Wake Of Nfib V. Sebelius, 47 Val. U. L. Rev. 925 (2013), Kevin Hopkins

Kevin L. Hopkins

As Professor Steven Lubet notes in his article, Stonewalling, Leaks, and Counter-Leaks: SCOTUS Ethics in the Wake of NFIB v. Sebelius, the ethical conduct of Supreme Court Justices has once again gained national attention. This time, however, the context for public outcry is due to actions of an in-house source who released confidential information to a member of the press concerning the voting behavior and the overall sentiments of members of the Court's minority in one of the most significant and controversial rulings of the year: NFIB v. Sebelius (the "Affordable Care Act"). Professor Lubet uses this leaking of significant …

The Law And Science Of Video Game Violence: What Was Lost In Translation?, 31 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 297 (2013), William K. Ford

William K. Ford

"[A]s a general rule," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes, "courts don't do science very well."' Susan Haack, a professor of law and philosophy, elaborates on why this may be true, offering several reasons for "deep tensions" between science and law. The reasons offered by Haack may be less of a concern where the dispute involves litigation against the government on significant questions of public policy. Recent decisions assessing the constitutionality of laws restricting minors' access to violent video games therefore offer an opportunity to examine how well the courts handled scientific evidence in a situation lacking some of the …

Judging Expertise In Copyright Law, 14 J. Intell. Prop. L. 1 (2006), William K. Ford

William K. Ford

No abstract provided.

The Phantom Philosophy? An Empirical Investigation Of Legal Interpretation, 65 Md. L. Rev. 841 (2006), Jason J. Czarnezki, William K. Ford

William K. Ford

This Article tests a model of judicial decision making that incorporates elements of both the attitudinal model and the legal model, along with measures of institutional and judicial background characteristics such as collegiality and trial court experience. We develop a measure of interpretive philosophy relying primarily on judicial opinions, which we code for certain indicators of traditional interpretive approaches (i.e., the use of interpretive tools). The critical question is whether judges with similar interpretive philosophies are more likely to agree with one another when deciding cases. Our general finding is that ideology and interpretive philosophy are not significant predictors of …