Litigation Commons^™

Water For Energy In The Southwest: Finding Water For Mohave, Stanley M. Pollack

Publications

No abstract provided.

"Peoples Distinct From Others": The Making Of Modern Indian Law, Charles Wilkinson

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No abstract provided.

The Unexpected Value Of Litigation: A Real Options Perspective, Joseph A. Grundfest, Peter H. Huang

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In this Article, we suggest that litigation can be analyzed as though it is a competitive research and development project. Developing this analogy, we present a two-stage real option model of the litigation process that involves sequential information revelation and bargaining over the surplus generated by early settlement. Litigants are risk-neutral and have no private information. The model generates results that, we believe, have analytic and normative significance for the economic analysis of litigation

From an analytic perspective, we demonstrate that negative expected value (NEV) lawsuits are analogous to out of the money call options held by plaintiffs and that …

An Environmental Pool For The Rio Grande, Kara Gillon

Publications

The Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers operate a series of dams, reservoirs, and levees along the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico. The plight of the Rio Grande silvery minnow, an endangered species, and of the river itself demonstrates the need for a change from the emphasis on water development to sustainable river management. Conservation groups invoked the protections of the Endangered Species Act to catalyze this change. Recognizing that flexibility is necessary to meeting competing water needs, the groups also promoted the need for and several approaches to a sustainable and long-term approach to river management and …

Learning From Wal-Mart, Melissa Hart

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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 …

The Virtues And Vices Of Sovereignty, Sarah Krakoff

Publications

American Indian tribal sovereignty is viewed very differently in the United States Supreme Court than it is in American Indian tribal nations. The United States Supreme Court, the progenitor of the legal doctrine of tribal sovereignty, appears skeptical of the doctrine's continuing viability. The Court is therefore veering away from any strong notion of retained inherent tribal sovereignty. American Indian tribes, the sources and perpetuators of de facto tribal sovereignty, are more committed than ever to enacting their sovereignty on the ground, as well as promoting and protecting its legal status in the courts and in Congress. There is an …

Delawate River Basin Compact, Jeffrey Featherstone

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No abstract provided.

Debacle In Dixie: A Story Of Six Rivers, Three States, Two Compacts And One Well-Paved Path, George William Sherk

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No abstract provided.

Statutes Of Limitations: A Policy Analysis In The Context Of Reparations Litigation, Suzette M. Malveaux

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This article discusses the underlying policy rationales for statutes of limitations and their exceptions, as demonstrated by Supreme Court precedents. This article explores limitations law in the context of a case brought by African-American survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 who sought restitution from the local government for its participation in one of the worst race riots in American history, in violation of their constitutional and federal civil rights. Using the Tulsa case as an exemplar, this article analyzes the propriety of the case’s dismissal as time-barred, and contends that this outcome was unwarranted under precedents and failed …

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 …

Moody Investing And The Supreme Court: Rethinking The Materiality Of Information And The Reasonableness Of Investors, Peter H. Huang

Publications

This Article critically analyzes the judicial decisions and reasoning of the United States Supreme Court and lower courts accepting certain defenses in securities fraud litigation. This Article develops how and why the core notions of materiality of information and the reasonable investor should be revised in light of recent empirical data, experimental evidence, and theoretical models of moody investing. This Article proposes modifying three recent developments in materiality doctrine to take into account moody investing. In particular, this Article argues that current judicial treatment of puffery is flawed because it neglects the power of puffery to alter moods. This Article …

Will Employment Discrimination Class Actions Survive?, Melissa Hart

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Recent years have witnessed increasing attacks on the appropriateness of certification of employment discrimination class action claims. The shift is often attributed to amendments to federal antidiscrimination laws in the Civil Rights Act of 1991. This paper argues, however, that the changes wrought by the 1991 amendments need not pose a barrier to resolution of employment discrimination claims through class litigation. The addition of compensatory and punitive damages and a jury-trial right may increase the level of scrutiny and perhaps the level of judicial involvement necessary in an employment discrimination class action. But they do not render such a class …

Lawsuit Abandonment Options In Possibly Frivolous Litigation Games, Peter H. Huang

Publications

This paper develops a new theory of possibly frivolous litigation by focusing on a plaintiff's options to unilaterally abandon a lawsuit. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(i) and its various state law counterparts permit, under certain circumstances, a plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss her lawsuit without prejudice. This paper's options approach to litigation, including quite possibly, frivolous litigation is placed in the context of the literature of economic models about litigation in general and frivolous litigation in particular. This paper demonstrates that possibly frivolous lawsuits will be filed and settled when the values of a plaintiff's options to unilaterally abandon litigation …

Litigation Narratives: Why Jensen V. Ellerth Didn't Change Sexual Harassment Law, But Still Has A Story Worth Telling, Melissa Hart

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No abstract provided.

What Bush V. Gore Means For Elections In The 21st Century, Helen Norton

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No abstract provided.

Politics And Denial, Pierre Schlag

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No abstract provided.

Rethinking Statutory Antiwaiver Provisions Following The Lloyd's Of London Litigation, Mark J. Loewenstein

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In the Lloyd's of London cases, the United States Courts of Appeals upheld certain forum-selection clauses that effectually deprived investors of the protections of the federal securities laws as if the investors had expressly waived those protections. This article examines statutory antiwaiver provisions in light of the Lloyd's cases, exploring the effect those provisions have on the administration of the federal securities laws, and suggests that the law be amended to allow contractual waiver in certain circumstances.

Shareholder Derivative Litigation And Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

In approving settlements of derivative actions that include fees for plaintiff's attorney, courts typically announce that attorney's fees are approved if a substantial benefit is obtained. In fact, courts, particularly Delaware courts, approve settlements in shareholder derivative actions that included substantial fees for plaintiff's attorney, despite the absence of a corresponding benefit to the corporation. Frequently, the "benefit" obtained is a reform in corporate governance, which is of dubious value to the corporation. To deter frivolous litigation, courts should resist the temptation to approve these settlements just to dispose of the litigation. The paper concludes that fees should not be …

A New Options Theory For Risk Multipliers Of Attorney's Fees In Federal Civil Rights Litigation, Peter H. Huang

Publications

Given the importance of private enforcement of federal civil rights laws, Congress and the courts have attempted to encourage plaintiffs' attorneys to accept meritorious civil rights cases through fee shifting and risk multipliers. Recently, however, the Supreme Court has essentially prohibited the use of risk multipliers, thus undercompensating attorneys for the risk of losing civil rights actions and discouraging the filing of such cases. In this Article, Professor Huang develops a new options-based theory of calculating attorney's fees. Professor Huang argues that a lawsuit consists of a sequence of options to continue with the case rather than a once-and-for-all irreversible …

Publicity In High Profile Criminal Cases, H. Patrick Furman

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No abstract provided.

Implementing The Public Welfare Requirement In New Mexico's Water Code, Consuelo Bokum

Publications

Despite the fact that the New Mexico legislature added a public welfare criterion to the water code over 10 years ago, the State Engineer Office has not addressed the application of the criterion by regulation and has only addressed the public welfare briefly in a few decisions. There is almost no case law in New Mexico addressing this issue. More and more participants, however, are raising public welfare in water rights protests. This paper addresses how the public welfare criterion has developed in western water law and proposes an approach for use of the criterion in New Mexico.

In-Kind Class Action Settlements, Scott R. Peppet

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No abstract provided.

Legislative Development, The Attorney Accountability Act: A Case Study Of The Complexities Of Incentive-Based Legal Reform, Jamie S. Henikoff, Scott R. Peppet

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No abstract provided.

What's Quality Got To Do With It?: Constitutional Theory, Politics, And Education Reform, Phil Weiser

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No abstract provided.

Foreword, J. Dennis Hynes

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No abstract provided.

Clerks In The Maze, Pierre Schlag

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No abstract provided.

Girls Should Bring Lawsuits Everywhere . . . Nothing Will Be Corrupted: Pornography As Speech And Product, Marianne Wesson

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No abstract provided.

Fifty Years Of Bernhard V. Bank Of America Is Enough: Collateral Estoppel Should Require Mutuality But Res Judicata Should Not, Michael J. Waggoner

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No abstract provided.

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

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No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Thurgood Marshall, Peter N. Simon

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No abstract provided.