Litigation Commons^™

Trial Practice And Procedure, John O'Shea Sullivan, Ashby L. Kent

Mercer Law Review

The 2005 survey period yielded several noteworthy decisions relating to federal trial practice and procedure, many of which concerned issues of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This Article analyzes several recent developments in the Eleventh Circuit, including significant rulings in the areas of arbitration, civil procedure, statutory interpretation, personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, and other issues of interest to the trial practitioner.

Jurisdiction To Adjudicate: A Revised Analysis, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Personal jurisdiction doctrine as articulated by the Supreme Court is in disarray. As a constitutional doctrine whose contours remain imprecise, the law of personal jurisdiction has generated confusion, unpredictability, and extensive satellite litigation over what should be an uncomplicated preliminary issue. Many commentators have long lamented these defects, making suggestions for how the doctrine could be improved. Although many of these proposals have had much to offer, they generally have failed to articulate (or adequately justify or explain) a simple and sound approach to jurisdiction that the Supreme Court can embrace. This Article revises the law of personal jurisdiction by …

Celotex Trilogy Revisited: How Misapplication Of The Federal Summary Judgment Standard Is Undermining The Seventh Amendment Right To A Jury Trial, David H. Simmons, Stephen J. Jacobs, Daniel J. O'Malley, Richard H. Tami

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Hybrid Class Action As Judicial Spork: Managing Individual Rights In A Stew Of Common Wrong, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 231 (2006), Jon Romberg

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

In The Service Of Secrets: The U.S. Supreme Court Revisits Totten, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 475 (2006), Douglas Kash, Matthew Indrisano

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes

Seattle University Law Review

On August 1, 2005, significant amendments to the Washington Condominium Act (WCA) became effective. These amendments were intended to substantially reduce water infiltration in multiunit residential buildings and to simplify the condominium construction dispute resolution process. The heart of the amendments is the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, as well as fee-shiftingprovisions which require the non-prevailing party to pay the attorney fees and costs of the prevailing party. A decade of lawsuits brought under the WCA by condominium owners associations against builders and developers, and in turn by builders against subcontractors, alleging defects in the ability of the …

Burda Media, Inc. V. Viertel, Aaron F. Miner

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Access To Justice And The Evolution Of Class Action Litigation In Australia, Bernard Murphy, Camille Cameron

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The federal and Victorian class action regimes are intended to facilitate aggregation of multiple claims. Aggregation can improve efficiency by combining similar claims and can enhance access to justice by providing a mechanism to litigate small claims. This article considers whether these efficiency and access aims are being achieved. The authors argue that whilst some developments in class action jurisprudence have been consistent with these legislative aims, other have not. Several features of Australian class action jurisprudence and practice have hampered the healthy development of the legislative regimes, including adverse costs orders, unclear threshold requirements, evasive posturing and unresolved class …

Designer Trials, Elizabeth G. Thornburg

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article considers the intersection of freedom of contract and the trials that have not vanished. Could contracting parties effectively agree in advance of a dispute that any litigation of the case will comply with certain rules? Would such an agreement be enforced even in a contract of adhesion? If so, parties with sufficient bargaining leverage could design away many of the characteristics of litigation that they find unappealing, without the need to resort to private processes. The result: a designer trial with the procedural deck stacked in favor of the party with the greatest pre-dispute bargaining power.

Such a …

Learning From Wal-Mart, Melissa Hart

Publications

This article considers the landmark gender discrimination class action, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, both as a prototype of an emerging litigation strategy and also as a case that is entirely unique. As part of a growing trend of gender discrimination class claims, Dukes has the potential to push the boundaries of the law to confront the pervasive, tenacious stereotypes that continue to limit women's workplace opportunities. The plaintiffs' arguments - both the narrative of discrimination their evidence set out and the legal strategies they chose - are strikingly similar to claims that have been made in many class action …

Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari, Scott V. Johanns, No. 05-356 (U.S. Sept. 15, 2005), Scott L. Nelson, David C. Vladeck

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Appellate Practice And Procedure, K. Todd Butler

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews federal appellate procedure developments in the Eleventh Circuit during the 2004 calendar yea. As is the case each year, perhaps the most important procedural matter the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals considered was its own federal subject matter jurisdiction and that of the district courts in the Eleventh Circuit. If a matter is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts, or the federal appellate jurisdiction of the Eleventh Circuit, then the final order rule, along with the exceptions to the final order rule, dominate the consideration of whether a decision is subject to review. The …

Trial Practice And Procedure, John O'Shea Sullivan, Ashby L. Kent

Mercer Law Review

The 2004 survey period yielded several noteworthy decisions relating to federal trial practice and procedure, many of which concerned issues of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This Article analyzes several recent developments in the Eleventh Circuit, including significant rulings in the areas of evidence, civil procedure, statutory interpretation, jurisdiction, as well as other issues of interest to the trial practitioner.

Are Rules Just Meant To Be Broken? The One-Year Two-Step In Tedford V. Warner- Lambert Co., E. Kyle Mcnew

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preventing "You've Got Mail"™ From Meaning "You've Been Served": How Service Of Process By E-Mail Does Not Meet Constitutional Procedure Due Process Requirements, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1121 (2005), Matthew R. Schreck

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adjudicating International Trade Cases At The U.S. Commerce Department: Endless Remand Or Balanced Resolve?, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 59 (2005), Elizabeth C. Seastrum, Matthew D. Walden

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Class Actions And Limited Vision: Opportunities For Improvement Through A More Functional Approach To Class Treatment Of Disputes, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

This Article describes the evolution of the perception of the modern class action from populist darling to greedy lawyer pariah, including recent passage of CAFA. It then examines the degree to which different types of cases present different potential benefits and detriments of class action treatment and explains why investor class actions, including those brought by institutional investors, are particularly likely to benefit from class treatment, are resistant to many of the perceived problems of class actions in other contexts, and should receive a warmer welcome from courts, both in absolute terms and relative to other types of class actions. …

What Counts As Fraud? An Empirical Study Of Motions To Dismiss Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Adam C. Pritchard, Hillary A. Sale

Articles

This article presents the findings of a study of the resolution of motions to dismiss securities fraud lawsuits since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) in 1995. Our sample consists of decisions on motions to dismiss in securities class actions by district and appellate courts in the Second and Ninth Circuits for cases filed after the passage of the Reform Act to the end of 2002. These circuits are the leading circuits for the filing of securities class actions and are generally recognized as representing two ends of the securities class action spectrum. Post-PSLRA, the Second …

A Device Designed To Manipulate Diversity Jurisdiction: Why Courts Should Refuse To Recognize Post-Removal Damage Stipulations, Benjamin T. Clark

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unconstitutional Courses, Frederic M. Bloom

Publications

By now, we almost expect Congress to fail. Nearly every time the federal courts announce a controversial decision, Congress issues a call to rein in "runaway" federal judges. And nearly every time Congress makes a "jurisdiction-stripping" threat, it comes to nothing.

But if Congress's threats possess little fire, we have still been distracted by their smoke. This Article argues that Congress's noisy calls have obscured another potent threat to the "judicial Power": the Supreme Court itself. On occasion, this Article asserts, the Court reshapes and abuses the "judicial Power"--not through bold pronouncements or obvious doctrinal revisions, but through something more …

Appellate Practice And Procedure, Roland F. L. Hall

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys noteworthy decisions addressing appellate practice and procedure handed down by the Georgia appellate courts. The reviewed decisions fall into the following categories: (1) appellate jurisdiction; (2) preserving the record; (3) notice of appeal; (4) timeliness of appeal; and (5) miscellaneous cases of interest. Although there were no dramatic developments during the survey period, the courts addressed several topics of interest to the practitioner, particularly in the areas of preserving issues for appeal and correctly drafting the notice of appeal.

Trial Practice And Procedure, Jason L. Crawford, J. Clay Fuller, Dustin T. Brown, Kate S. Cook

Mercer Law Review

During this survey period, the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals issued several noteworthy opinions on topics of interest to practitioners. This Article will address these judicial opinions that cover, among other topics, the issues of damages, immunity, the attorney-client relationship, indemnification, jurisdiction and venue, statutes of limitation, standing, and trial procedure. This Article will also address several developments in Georgia's statutory law impacting trial practice and procedure.

Appeal Rates And Outcomes In Tried And Nontried Cases: Further Exploration Of Anti-Plaintiff Appellate Outcomes, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Federal data sets covering district court and appellate court civil cases for cases terminating in fiscal years 1988 through 2000 are analyzed. Appeals are filed in 10.9 percent of filed cases, and 21.0 percent of cases if one limits the sample to cases with a definitive judgment for plaintiff or defendant. The appeal rate is 39.6 percent in tried cases compared to 10.0 percent of nontried cases. For cases with definitive judgments, the appeal filing rate is 19.0 percent in nontried cases and 40.9 percent in tried cases. Tried cases with definitive judgments are appealed to a conclusion on the …

How Like A Winter? The Plight Of Absent Class Members Denied Adequate Representation, Susan P. Koniak

Faculty Scholarship

Class actions assume absent class members. ² Notices in class actions tell class members that they need not show up in the courthouse, although they may if they choose.³ Class members are told that class counsel and the named class representatives will look out for them, although if they choose to hire their own lawyer, she may appear on their behalf.⁴ They are also routinely told that once the decision in the class action becomes final they will be bound by it, losing any and all right to protest the resolution of their claims by the class action …

The Role Of Opt-Outs And Objectors In Class Action Litigation: Theoretical And Empirical Issues, Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey P. Miller

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

2003 Patent Law Decisions Of The Federal Circuit, Paul Devinsky, Mark G. Davis

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Avoidable Due Process Confusion: Special Use Hearings In Illinois After Klaeren, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 609 (2004), James C. Munson, Christi J. Guerrini

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of The Misuse Of Administrative Law In Erisa Benefit Claims, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 727 (2004), Mark D. Debofsky

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Boundary Of Personal Jurisdiction: The "Effects Test" And The Protection Of Crazy Horse's Name, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 381 (2004), Scott Fruehwald

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Sovereign Immunity And The Plaintiff State: Does The Eleventh Amendment Bar Removal Of Actions Filed In State Court?, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 513 (2004), Virginia F. Milstead

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.