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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Unwritten Norms Of Civil Procedure, Diego A. Zambrano
The Unwritten Norms Of Civil Procedure, Diego A. Zambrano
Northwestern University Law Review
The rules of civil procedure depend on norms and conventions that control their application. Civil procedure is a famously rule-based field centered on textual commands in the form of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). There are over eighty rules, hundreds of local judge-made rules, due process doctrines, and statutory rules, too. But written rules are overrated. Deep down, proceduralists know that the application of written rules hinges on broader norms that animate them, expand or constrain them, and even empower judges to ignore them. Unlike the FRCP and related doctrines, these procedural norms are unwritten, sociological, flexible, and …
Introduction To A Festschrift Honoring Professor Rhonda Wasserman, Deborah L. Brake
Introduction To A Festschrift Honoring Professor Rhonda Wasserman, Deborah L. Brake
Articles
Rhonda Wasserman joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1986, after graduating from Yale Law School and practicing law in New York City for three years. She has been a powerhouse on the Pitt Law faculty for three and a half decades. In that time, she served in many roles, including Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and, outside the law school, Reporter to the Local Rules Committee of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She has been recognized with numerous titles and honors, such as John E. Murray Faculty Scholar, …
Civil Rights, Access To Counsel, And Injunctive Class Actions In The United States, Maureen Carroll
Civil Rights, Access To Counsel, And Injunctive Class Actions In The United States, Maureen Carroll
Book Chapters
According to a familiar story about class actions in the United States, aggregation promotes access to counsel by increasing the amount of money from which counsel fees can be taken. Courts usually award class counsel a percentage of the monetary recovery obtained on behalf of the class, and class treatment can turn a $30 case into a $3 million case. But what about class actions that do not involve monetary relief at all? Some civil rights plaintiffs seek to stop a violation, rather than to obtain compensation for past harm, and therefore choose to pursue only an injunction or declaratory …
Mootness Fees, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Randall Thomas
Mootness Fees, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Randall Thomas
All Faculty Scholarship
In response to a sharp increase in litigation challenging mergers, the Delaware Chancery Court issued the 2016 Trulia decision, which substantively reduced the attractiveness of Delaware as a forum for these suits. In this Article, we empirically assess the response of plaintiffs’ attorneys to these developments. Specifically, we document a troubling trend—the flight of merger litigation to federal court where these cases are overwhelmingly resolved through voluntary dismissals that provide no benefit to the plaintiff class but generate a payment to plaintiffs’ counsel in the form of a mootness fee. In 2018, for example, 77% of deals with litigation were …
Better Briefs, Lydia Fearing
Better Briefs, Lydia Fearing
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
Abstract forthcoming
It’S A Trap! The Ethical Dark Side Of Requests For Admission, Colin Flora
It’S A Trap! The Ethical Dark Side Of Requests For Admission, Colin Flora
St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
Due largely to an overlap of authority between disciplinary bodies charged with supervising the professional conduct of attorneys and the authority of courts to supervise litigation, the ethical ramifications of routine discovery abuses often pass without comment. That is because disciplinary authorities routinely defer to courts to police litigation behavior despite courts frequently rejecting the role of enforcers of professional rules. A further contributing factor to unethical conduct becoming routine practice in discovery are ill-defined parameters and a dearth of guidance. One tool in particular, requests for admission, has gone overlooked in the literature and caselaw, but poses unique ethical …
Just And Speedy: On Civil Discovery Sanctions For Luddite Lawyers, Michael Thomas Murphy
Just And Speedy: On Civil Discovery Sanctions For Luddite Lawyers, Michael Thomas Murphy
All Faculty Scholarship
This article presents a theoretical model by which a judge could impose civil sanctions on an attorney - relying in part on Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - for that attorney’s failure to utilize time- and expense-saving technology.
Rule 1 now charges all participants in the legal system to ensure the “just, speedy and inexpensive” resolution of disputes. In today’s litigation environment, a lawyer managing a case in discovery needs robust technological competence to meet that charge. However, the legal industry is slow to adopt technology, favoring “tried and true” methods over efficiency. This conflict is …
Developing Standards For The Imposition Of Sanctions Under Rule 11 Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Adam H. Bloomenstein
Developing Standards For The Imposition Of Sanctions Under Rule 11 Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Adam H. Bloomenstein
Akron Law Review
This article will argue that the standard for imposing sanctions under Rule 11 should focus on the nature of the conduct alleged to violate the rule. Sanctions under the rule can be triggered by different types of conduct. Certain types of conduct should be scrutinized more closely, requiring the imposition of sanctions more frequently. Factors such as whether a party subject to Rule 11 sanctions is acting pro se or through counsel should also impact on a decision to assess sanctions under Rule 11. Each type of conduct should be evaluated under an independent set of standards. Part I will …
Rethinking Summary Judgment Empirics: The Life Of The Parties, Jonah B. Gelbach
Rethinking Summary Judgment Empirics: The Life Of The Parties, Jonah B. Gelbach
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Cooperation-What Is It And Why Do It?, David J. Waxse
Cooperation-What Is It And Why Do It?, David J. Waxse
Richmond Journal of Law & Technology
Litigation is a method of resolving disputes that is too costly and time consuming for most parties involved. As a Federal Magistrate Judge involved in case management on a day-to-day basis, I often see evidence of this. I also participated in the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation held at Duke Law School and sponsored by the Federal Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. The conference explored “the current costs of civil litigation in Federal Court, particularly discovery, and discuss[ed] possible solutions.” As part of the conference, the Federal Judicial Center presented4its research findings on its study …
Procedural And Substantive Problems In Complex Litigation Arising From Disasters, Jack B. Weinstein
Procedural And Substantive Problems In Complex Litigation Arising From Disasters, Jack B. Weinstein
Touro Law Review
No abstract provided.
Interjurisdictional Preclusion, Full Faith And Credit And Federal Common Law: A General Approach, Stephen B. Burbank
Interjurisdictional Preclusion, Full Faith And Credit And Federal Common Law: A General Approach, Stephen B. Burbank
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Counsel Fees In Stockholders' Derivative And Class Actions-Hornstein Revisited, Douglas G. Cole
Counsel Fees In Stockholders' Derivative And Class Actions-Hornstein Revisited, Douglas G. Cole
University of Richmond Law Review
In 1939, the first in a series of four comprehensive law review articles by Professor George D. Hornstein was published on the subject of the award of counsel fees in stockholders' derivative suits and corporate class actions. These articles highlighted equitable principles peculiar to such actions, previously not fully understood by either attorneys or the courts, which have made derivative and class actions extremely effective weapons in the battle for corporate democracy. Three very basic questions were posed and answered: 1) Who will pay for the attorneys fees and expenses incurred in such litigation? 2) What factors govern the award …