Litigation Commons^™

Litigation Landmines: Obtaining Attorneys Fees In Conditions Of Confinement. Litigation After Bloomberg V. Christina A, Mark Soler

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Abuse of children in state institutions is a longstanding and notorious problem.1 Advocates for children have successfully brought federal civil rights litigation over the past thirty years to protect the lives, safety, and rights of children in jails,2 juvenile detention facilities, 3 and state corrections institutions. 4 In recent years, however, such litigation has become more difficult as a result of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) 5 and an array of United States Supreme Court decisions. In a number of decisions over the past two decades, the Supreme Court has significantly restricted the rights of prisoners and …

Foreword: Why Retry? Reviving Dormant Racial Justice Claims, Martha Minow

Michigan Law Review

Two familiar arguments oppose lawsuits and legislative efforts to address racial injustices from our national past, and a third tacit argument can be discerned. "Why open old wounds?": this question animates the first argument. The evidence is stale - this expresses the second argument. The third, less explicit objection reflects worries that exposing some gross and unremedied racial injustices from the past will reveal the scale of imperfections in the systems of justice and government and thereby undermine the legitimacy of those systems. To introduce the meticulous and passionate essays in this Colloquium, I elaborate and respond to each of …

Cartoon Criminals: The Unclear Future Of Computer Animation In The Minnesota Criminal Courtroom—State V. Stewart, Katherine A. Godden

William Mitchell Law Review

This article examines the development of computerized animation and its use in the legal field. It then analyzes the Minnesota Supreme Court's holding in Stewart and the consequences of that ruling. Finally, the article concludes that the court's decision failed to delineate a test for the district courts to apply when faced with the use of computerized animation in a criminal case.

Does Lewis V. Casey Spell The End To Court-Ordered Improvement Of Prison Law Libraries?, Joseph L. Gerken

Law Librarian Journal Articles

The Supreme Court's decision in Lewis v. Casey raises the bar for advocates seeking court-ordered improvements in prison law libraries. Whether it dooms all such efforts to failure may well depend on the willingness of trial courts to take into account the realities of prisoners' pro se litigation.

The Potential And Challenges Of Transnational Litigation For Feminist Concerned About Domestic Violence Here And Abroad, Merle H. Weiner

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Illinois Construction Negligence, Post-Structural Work Act: The Need For A Clear Legislative Mandate, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 531 (2003), Peter Puchalski

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Into The Abyss: How Party Autonomy Supports Overreaching Through The Exercise Of Unequal Bargaining Power, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 421 (2003), Pamela Edwards

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandamus As A Weapon Of "Class Warfare" In Sixth Amendment Jurisprudence: A Case Comment On United States V. Santos, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 733 (2003), John F. Costello Jr.

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Forum Selection Clauses In Diversity Actions, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 941 (2003), Kendra Johnson Panek

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agreeing To Disagree: A Balanced Solution To Whether Parties May Contract For Expanded Judicial Review Beyond The Faa, 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1005 (2003), Anthony J. Longo

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Discrimination?:The Conflict Between Public Accommodations' Freedom Association And State Anti-Discrimination Laws, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 125 (2003), Gregory J. Wartman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Low Can You Go (Down The Ladder): The Vertical Reach Of Rico, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1 (2003), Scott Paccagnini

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Quandary Of Megan's Law: When The Child Sex Offender Is A Child, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 73 (2003), Timothy E. Wind

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Catalyst Calamity: Post-Buckhannon Fee-Shifting In Environmental Litigation And A Proposal For Congressional Action, Lucia A. Silecchia

Scholarly Articles

Acknowledging the importance of citizen suits in giving teeth to environmental laws, and recognizing the often prohibitive costs of such litigation, Congress often included fee-shifting provisions in most environmental citizen suit statutes. It is well established that plaintiffs who win a judicial ruling in their favor qualify for the benefits of such fee-shifting. What is less clear is whether those parties whose successes come outside the courtroom - as is often true in the environmental context - can also recover fees. In the past, the so-called “catalyst theory” answered this question affirmatively. However, in 2001, the catalyst theory was dealt …

Editor's Note, Jeff D. Bernarducci

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Recent New York Appellate Decisions Will Impact Municipal Tort Litigation, John M. Shields

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses and summarized the recent decisions by the New York State Court of Appeals and other appellate courts that will alter or greatly impact future tort litigation, especially with regard to municipal liability. The article addresses time limitations for filing claims against the state, the "serious injury" standard under insurance law, the case of Rangolan v. County of Nassau.

Is Citizen Suit Notice Jurisdictional And Why Does It Matter?, Karl S. Coplan

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The question of whether notice is jurisdictional or not has important ramifications for citizen suit litigation. The characterization of the notice requirement as “jurisdictional” implicates the proper procedure for raising notice objections, the means of curing notice defects, the question of waiver of notice objections, and the timing of raising notice objections. This article will conduct a brief review of the case law concerning the jurisdictional nature (or not) of the notice requirement, a consideration of the as-yet unnoticed impact of Steel Co. on the issue, and a discussion of the procedural and litigation ramifications of characterizing the notice element …

Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917), Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917) was a trial lawyer and diplomat.

The Insurability Of Punitive Damages In Washington: Should Insureds Who Engage In Intentional Misconduct Reap The Benefit Of Their "Bargains?", Stephanie L. Grassia

Seattle University Law Review

This Note examines the issue of the insurability of punitive damages, concluding that insurance coverage should not be allowed for punitive damages arising from intentional misconduct because such coverage contravenes public policy in the state of Washington. Part I defines and provides background for punitive damages and malicious prosecution. Part II outlines and synthesizes the treatment of the insurability of punitive damages in various states. The facts of the Fluke case, including the Court of Appeals's rationale that insurance coverage for punitive damages is not against public policy in Washington, are detailed in Part III. The next section reveals the …

Standing To Sue In Citizen Suits Against Air And Water Polluters Under Friends Of The Earth, Inc. V. Laidlaw Environmental Services (Toc), Inc., Steven A.G. Davison

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Possibilities For Collaborative Law: Ethics And Practice Of Lawyer Disqualification And Process Control In A New Model Of Lawyering, John M. Lande

Faculty Publications

This article assesses the possibilities for collaborative law (CL) to promote problem-solving negotiation and analyzes the operation and effect of the CL disqualification agreement (DA), which CL leaders hold as essential to the process. In CL, the lawyers and clients agree to negotiate from the outset of the case using a problem-solving approach. Under CL theory, the process creates a metaphorical "container" by using a DA disqualifying both lawyers from representing their clients if either party chooses to proceed in litigation. This article argues that much CL theory and practice is valuable, including protocols of early commitment to negotiation, interest-based …

Symposium Introduction: Perspectives On Dispute Resolution In The Twenty-First Century, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act And Its Implications For Attorneys, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, H.R. 3763, well-publicized in the press as a legislative response to the perceived excesses of corporate America: Enron; WorldCom; Tyco; Global Crossing, etc.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 contains an array of provisions affecting lawyers as professionals serving businesses and contains one provision that will clearly impact corporate counsel in the ethical discharge of their duties. Section 307 of the Act and the recently released Proposed Roles of the Securities Exchange Commission regarding lawyer duties and implementation of Section 307 require counsel to go "up the ladder," to …

Should Congress Repeal Securities Class Action Reform?, Adam C. Pritchard

Other Publications

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 was designed to curtail class action lawsuits by the plaintiffs’ bar. In particular, the high-technology industry, accountants, and investment bankers thought that they had been unjustly victimized by class action lawsuits based on little more than declines in a company’s stock price. Prior to 1995, the plaintiffs’ bar had free rein to use the discovery process to troll for evidence to support its claims. Moreover, the high costs of litigation were a powerful weapon with which to coerce companies to settle claims. The plaintiffs’ bar and its allies in Congress have called …

The Reliability Of The Administrative Office Of The U.S. Courts Database: An Initial Empirical Analysis, Theodore Eisenberg, Margo Schlanger

Articles

Researchers have long used federal court data assembled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) and the Federal Judicial Center (FJC). The data include information about every case filed in federal district court and every appeal filed in the twelve nonspecialized federal appellate courts. Much research using the AO data spans subject matter areas, and includes articles on appeals, caseloads and case-processing times, case outcomes, the relation between demographics and case outcomes, class actions, diversity jurisdiction, and litigation generally. Other research using the AO data covers particular subject matter areas, such as inmate cases, contract cases, corporate litigation, …

A Taxing Settlement, Hanoch Dagan, James J. White

Articles

The following essay is based on the talk "Government, Citizens, and Injurious Industries: A Case Study of the Tobacco Litigation," delivered by Hanoch Dagan last May to the Detroit Chapter of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and on the article "Governments, Citizens, and Injurious Industries," by Dagan and James J. White, '62, which appeared in 75.2 New York University Law Review 254-428 (May 2000). The authors hold conflicting view on the underlying issue of this topic: tobacco company product liability. Professor Dagan holds the position that tobacco companies are liable for harm done by their products; Professor …

Helping The Pro Se Litigant: A Changing Landscape, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

This article describes how the influx of self-represented litigants has forced many within the court and legal communities to reconsider some of the fundamental premises on which the civil justice system is based and to respond in new and creative ways to changing litigant demands on existing court and legal resources. It focuses on changes to the delivery of legal services to low- and moderate-income people, especially the emergence of “unbundled” legal services, and addresses the practical implications related to the distinction between legal information and legal advice. Finally, it describes how judges and court staff are rethinking the conceptual …

Research On Self-Represented Litigation: Preliminary Results And Methodological Considerations, Paula Hannaford-Agor, Nicole Mott

Faculty Publications

As various programs for self-represented litigants proliferate and costs increase, fund­ing agencies are beginning to demand that programs demonstrate their effectiveness through empirical evaluation. This article recounts some of the lessons learned from a National Center for State Courts' research project on improving access to justice for self-represented litigants. First, the article briefly describes the problems faced by courts as a result of the influx of self-represented litigants. The article then describes automated case-level data and litigant self-reported data from five jurisdictions and some preliminary findings. We conclude with a discussion of problems that we encoun­tered in analyzing those data.

Prologue: Brief Of Amici Curiae On Behalf Of A Committee Of Concerned Black Graduates Of Aba Accredited Law Schools: Vicky L. Beasley, Devon W. Carbado, Tasha L. Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Shavar Jeffries, Sidney Majalya, Wanda R. Stansbury, Jory Steele, Et Al., In Support Of Respondents, Luke Charles Harris

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The brief of Amici Curiae on Behalf of a Committee of Concerned Black Graduates of ABA Accredited Law Schools in Grutter v. Bollinger was written so as to intervene and to assist in the refraining of the public debate surrounding minority admissions programs in institutions of higher education.

Minnesota And The American Rule: The Recoverability Of Attorneys’ Fees Following In Re Silicone Implant Insurance Coverage Litigation, John M. Bjorkman

William Mitchell Law Review

In the United States, a successful litigant is generally not entitled to recover attorneys' fees from the opposing party absent specific statutory or contractual authorization. This basic principle is commonly referred to as the American Rule. Minnesota recognized and adopted the American Rule roughly 125 years ago. A limited number of exceptions to this longstanding rule exist, but Minnesota courts have generally been reluctant to expand or add to these exceptions. In Minnesota, an exception to the American Rule exists for fees incurred in a declaratory action to establish insurance coverage but only if the insurer has breached its duty …