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Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

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Articles 61 - 67 of 67

Full-Text Articles in Litigation

Rethinking Bivens: Legitimacy And Constitutional Adjudication, James E. Pfander, David Baltmanis Jan 2009

Rethinking Bivens: Legitimacy And Constitutional Adjudication, James E. Pfander, David Baltmanis

Faculty Working Papers

The Supreme Court's decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics provides an uncertain framework for the enforcement of constitutional rights against the federal government. Rather than recognizing a federal common law right of action for use in every case, the Court views itself as devising actions on a case-by-case basis in light of a range of factors. Critics on all sides question the Court's approach, doubting either its power to fashion federal common law or the tendency of its case-by-case analysis to create gaps in constitutional enforcement. Particularly when compared with actions under …


Consumer Harm Acts? An Economic Analysis Of Private Actions Under State Consumer Protection Acts, Henry N. Butler, Jason S. Johnston Jan 2009

Consumer Harm Acts? An Economic Analysis Of Private Actions Under State Consumer Protection Acts, Henry N. Butler, Jason S. Johnston

Faculty Working Papers

State Consumer Protection Acts (CPAs) were adopted in the 1960s and 1970s to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices that would not be redressed but for the existence of the acts. In this sense, CPAs were designed to fill existing gaps in market, legal and regulatory protections of consumers. CPAs were designed to solve two simple economic problems: 1) individual consumers often do not have the incentive or means to pursue individual claims against mass marketers who engage in unfair and deceptive practices; and, 2) because of the difficulty of establishing elements of either common law fraud or breach …


Litigation And The Optimal Combination Of Vague And Precise Clauses In Contracts, Alvaro E. Bustos Jan 2008

Litigation And The Optimal Combination Of Vague And Precise Clauses In Contracts, Alvaro E. Bustos

Faculty Working Papers

In this paper we determine the optimal combination of precise and vague clauses written in contracts when the parties face writing and enforcement costs, the second ones in the form of litigation. We show that the parties may prefer to write vague instead of precise clauses not only because they are cheaper to write but also because they are cheaper to enforce. We extend Battigalli and Maggi (2002) to model the decision of a principal who chooses clauses to describe the actions that an agent has to perform. As both players observe nature imperfectly they may call for a court …


Antidumping And Cotton Subsidies: A Market-Based Defense Of Unfair Trade Remedies, Nadia E. Nedzel Jan 2008

Antidumping And Cotton Subsidies: A Market-Based Defense Of Unfair Trade Remedies, Nadia E. Nedzel

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article argues that trade remedies, problematic though they may be, provide a legal framework in which litigation can and must be promulgated to protect the benefits of a global market economy.


Class Actions And Group Litigation In Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner Jan 2007

Class Actions And Group Litigation In Switzerland, Samuel P. Baumgartner

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

In what follows, I hope to contribute to that information with a look at group litigation devices in Switzerland. To begin with, Switzerland is one of the many countries that do not currently have an American-style class action. Suggestions to examine the possibility of introducing such a procedural vehicle have met with considerable opposition. Some of the reasons for that opposition are grounded in reactions to litigation in the United States. More broadly, however, there seems to be a general unease with civil litigation involving more than the traditional plaintiff and defendant and an occasional individual joined out of an …


Train Our Jurors, Jonathan Koehler Jan 2006

Train Our Jurors, Jonathan Koehler

Faculty Working Papers

Lay jurors are often legally and logically unprepared for trial. In response, it is recommended that jurors receive training in how to make better legal decisions. This chapter suggests that jurors should receive comprehensive training in critical legal doctrines and in how to reason with legal evidence. Jurors who cannot be trained to achieve minimal levels of competence (in the law or in basic reasoning) should be excused from jury service. Suggestions are given as to how policy makers and researchers who are interested in jury reform may wish to proceed.


Why Tobacco Litigation Has Not Been Successful In The United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis Of Tobacco Litigation In The United States And The United Kingdom, Andrei Sirabionian Jan 2005

Why Tobacco Litigation Has Not Been Successful In The United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis Of Tobacco Litigation In The United States And The United Kingdom, Andrei Sirabionian

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Litigation against tobacco companies, about smoking-related diseases, is novel outside of the United States. While in the past two decades U.S. courts have handed down costly verdicts against tobacco companies, European courts have not been as willing to rule against the tobacco industry. European courts have been much more reluctant to award damages to individuals with smoking related diseases or their families. As a result, courts outside the United States have not handed down major decisions against tobacco companies.