Courts Commons^™

Common Sense And Other Legal Reforms, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Enactment of Congress' proposed Common Sense Legal Reforms Act (CSLRA) would impose procedural and substantive reforms that could significantly affect much federal civil litigation and could have substantial systemic impacts on the civil justice process. For instance, the measure's advocates drafted and introduced the proposed legislation with little apparent appreciation for how it might conflict with a number of ongoing public and private reform initiatives, such as an earlier Congress's Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 and the American Law Institute's efforts to adopt a Third Restatement of Torts governing products liability.

The bill's enactment, therefore, could additionally complicate the …

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 …

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 …

Fractured Procedure: The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 1990, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Federal district courts have viewed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 as a mandate to adopt procedural rules inconsistent with existing law. But in this article, Professor Robel argues that the Act neither compels nor authorizes such local deviations. Citing examples from reforms underway in district courts nationwide, Professor Robel contends that courts' assertions of broad rulemaking authority rest on a misreading of the Act and of the compromise between Congress and the judiciary that led to its passage. Professor Robel cautions that the goal of national uniformity underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure should not be compromised …

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 …

28 U.S.C. § 1658: A Limitation Period With Real Limitations, Kimberly Jade Norwood

Scholarship@WashULaw

Several centuries from now, when archaeologists have unearthed a copy of the Federal Reporter and turned it over to legal historians for study and analysis, our descendants will be puzzled to discover that a society in which judicial resources were such a scarce "commodity" expended so much of that "commodity" searching its state codes for "analogous" limitation periods. I doubt very much that, at least in this regard, our priorities will command much admiration.

Fixing the statute of limitation for a particular cause of action is a legislative function. Indeed, it is not a particularly difficult or complex legislative function. …

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 …

Jurors' Views Of Civil Lawyers: Implications For Courtroom Communication, Valerie P. Hans, Krista Sweigart

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In courtroom communication, lawyers play a key role. During presentations of opening statements and closing arguments, and through examination and cross-examination of witnesses, lawyers communicate the merits of the case that the jury is to decide. Yet there is surprisingly little systematic information about how jurors perceive lawyers' communication activities. This Article presents new information based upon an interview study with civil jurors about how jurors view and evaluate attorneys and their courtroom behavior. The results of this study are used to make recommendations about enhancing the effectiveness of lawyers' communications.

A New Antidote For An Opponent's Pretrial Discovery Misconduct: Treating The Misconduct At Trial As An Admission By Conduct Of The Weakness Of The Opponent's Case, Edward J. Imwinkelried

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Private Justice And The Federal Bench, Lauren K. Robel

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tightening Judicial Standards For Granting Foreign Discovery Requests, Ryan J. Earl

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jaws Xvi: The Exceptions That Ate Rule 220, 26 J. Marshall L. Rev. 189 (1993), Charles W. Chapman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Time Warps And Identity Crises: Muddling Through The Misnomer/Misidentification Mess, 26 J. Marshall L. Rev. 257 (1993), Diane S. Kaplan, Kimberly L. Craft

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Forging Of A Political Weapon: The Impact Of The Cold War On The Law Of Contempt, 27 J. Marshall L. Rev. 3 (1993), Melvin B. Lewis

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Article Iii Procedural Issues Considered At The Federal Circuit During Its First Decade, 27 J. Marshall L. Rev. 25 (1993), Jerry R. Selinger

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Jurisdiction

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pro Se Litigants: Application Of A Single Objective Standard Under Frcp 11 To Reduce Frivolous Litigation, Brian L. Holtzclaw

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment addresses the application of Rule 11 sanctions to pro se litigants and argues that based on the language of Rule 11, the concerns expressed in the Advisory Committee Note to Rule 11, and the primary goal of Rule 11 to deter abusive pleadings, a single objective standard should be applied to all parties-attorneys, represented parties, and pro se litigants-to determine whether Rule 11 has been violated. Under this single objective standard, a pro se litigant's lack of legal representation should be considered only in determining the severity of the sanction, not in determining whether Rule 11 has been …

Civil Juries And Complex Cases: Taking Stock After Twelve Years, Richard O. Lempert

Book Chapters

Twelve years ago, as the first Reagan administration was coming into office, it appeared that the civil jury, at least in complex cases, might be on the way out. The hostility of Chief Justice Warren Burger toward the civil jury was no secret and the circuit courts were split on the question of whether the Seventh Amendment guarantee of trial allowed an exception for complex cases. The issue was ripe for Supreme Court resolution. Moreover, a body of then-recent scholarship provided the Court with some historical justification for reading a complexity exception into the Seventh Amendment as well as with …

Self Incrimination

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trial By Jury

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Justice Reform In The Fourth Circuit, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) because it was increasingly concerned about litigation and discovery abuse in federal civil cases, growing cost and delay in such suits, and decreasing access to federal courts. The statute requires that all ninety-four federal district courts develop civil justice expense and delay reduction plans by December 1993. Thirty-four districts issued plans by December 1991, and the Judicial Conference of the United States recently designated these districts as Early Implementation District Courts (EIDC).

Three of those EIDCs, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Southern …

Recalibrating The Civil Justice Reform Act, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In 1990, Congress enacted the Civil Justice Reform Act ("CJRA"), a measure which could substantially change the nature of federal civil litigation. One aspect of the CJRA that provides evidence respecting the progress of civil justice reform is the civil justice expense and delay reduction plans issued in late 1991 by the thirty-four federal district courts which the Judicial Conference of the United States designated as Early Implementation District Courts ("EIDCs").

Congress is currently attempting to assess the reforms included in these plans, which constitute the initial significant step in implementing the CJRA. By some oversight, Congress has not invited …

Civil Justice Reform In The Western District Of Missouri, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990 out of growing concern about litigation abuse in federal civil lawsuits, increasing cost and delay in those cases, and declining federal court access. The legislation commands every federal district court to promulgate a civil justice expense and delay reduction plan by December 1993. The statute also creates a demonstration program and designates the Northern District of California, the Northern District of West Virginia, and the Western District of Missouri as courts that are to "experiment with various methods of reducing cost and delay in civil litigation, including alternative dispute resolution. …

Silver Linings In Federal Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Many observers, including most of the participants in the civil litigation symposium, have levelled considerable criticism at the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 ("CJRA" or "Act") and its implementation. This criticism--which encompasses numerous phenomena, as abstract as constitutional theory and as pragmatic as numerical limitations on interrogatories--emanates from several quarters and ranges across the political spectrum.

Notwithstanding the numerous criticisms that observers have lodged at the statute and its effectuation, a number of which have considerable validity, the federal reform initiative has afforded many advantages. Unfortunately, these benefits have received comparatively little recognition. Because the reform's salutary aspects could …

Grass Roots Procedure: Local Advisory Groups And The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 1990, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Specifying Grounds For Judicial Disqualification In Federal Courts., Leslie W. Abramson

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

One essential component of equal justice under the law is a neutral and detached judge to preside over the court proceedings. Public confidence in the legal system is maintained when a judge has no interest in the parties, attorneys or subject matter of the litigation. Sua sponte or by motion of a party, a federal judge is subject to disqualification for conflicts of interest on both constitutional and statutory grounds

Opt-Outs At The Outlaw Inn: A Report From Montana, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Report of Prof. Tobias' CLE presentation at the Montana State Bar Association's annual meeting, highlighting the 1993 revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Civil Justice Reform Act.

Executive Branch Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The authors of several papers in this Symposium have justifiably criticized the essay that former Vice President Dan Quayle published in Volume 41 of The American University Law Review. Many knowledgeable observers of the civil justice system have leveled equally legitimate criticism at civil justice reform initiatives that the Bush administration instituted. Questionable data, arguable policy, or overheated political rhetoric supported certain aspects of the Vice President's paper, as well as most of the proposals developed by the Competitiveness Council that the Vice President chaired and numerous efforts of the Republican administration in the area of civil justice reform.

One …

New Rule 50 May End Directed Verdicts For Plaintiffs, Michael J. Waggoner

Publications

No abstract provided.

Change Of Position And Estoppel As Defences To An 'Action For Money Paid By Mistake, Karl J. Dore

Dalhousie Law Journal

The recent decision in RBC Dominion Securities Inc.v. Dawson' raises some interesting questions regarding the defences available to a claim in restitution for the recovery of money paid by mistake. At issue were the, defences of change of position and estoppel. Both defences are recognized in Canadian law, but questions remain regarding their limits and their relationship.