Litigation Commons^™

The Admissibility Of Laboratory Reports In Criminal Trials: The Reliability Of Scientific Proof, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Distorted Mirror: The Supreme Court's Shimmering View Of Summary Judgment, Directed Verdict, And The Value Of Adjudication, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

As almost anyone alive during the past decade knows, this is the era of the ‘litigation explosion,’ or there is at least the perception that a litigation explosion exists. Although all agree that the absolute number of lawsuits has increased in virtually every corner of the state and federal court systems, there exists vigorous debate about whether the increase is unusual in relative or historical terms and even more vigorous debate about whether the absolute increase in cases symbolizes the American concern for fairness and justice or represents a surge in frivolous or trivial disputes needlessly clogging the courts. As …

A Nonsettling Defendant's Perspective On Reasonableness Hearings Under Washington's 1981 Tort Reform Act, Luanne Coachman

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment addresses the questions that the nonsettling defendant's attorney must answer. Section I sets out the function of reasonableness hearings in light of the policies the hearings are intended to further-avoiding collusion between settling defendants and plaintiffs and equitably apportioning the financial burden among tortfeasors. Section II examines the form of reasonableness hearings, including what evidence should be presented, what standards must be met, and the need for reviewable findings and conclusions. Section III analyzes, in terms of constitutional due process, the notice required by the statute. Section IV considers what remedy should follow a finding that a settlement …

Accidents Do Happen: Hazardous Technology And International Tort Litigation, Stephen C. Mccaffrey

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

A Rededication, John W. Reed

Other Publications

The delivered keynote address during the April 18, 1988, dedication of the new Lansing courtroom of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Science In School: From Antireligion To Scientific Cult, 21 J. Marshall L. Rev. 449 (1988), Elizabeth Freidheim

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Voluntary Dismissal In Illinois - A Sword Or A Shield, 21 J. Marshall L. Rev. 537 (1988), Robert G. Johnston

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Illinois Videotape Statute In Child Sexual Abuse Cases: Reconciling The Defendant's Constitutional Rights With The State's Interest In Prosecuting Defenders, 22 J. Marshall L. Rev. 331 (1988), Denise C. Hockley-Cann

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Litigation, J. Wheaton

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Making Uncle Sam Pay: A Review Of Equal Access To Justice Act Cases In The Sixth Circuit, 1983-1987, Martin Geer, Paul D. Reingold

Articles

Despite the recent admonition of the Supreme Court that a "request for attorneys' fees should not result in a second major litigation,"12 the courts have been frequently called on to interpret the often ambiguous language of the EAJA. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has not been spared this difficult chore. While the 1985 amendments have clarified some provisions of the Act and affected some major decisions in the Sixth Circuit, the recent changes have also left other previously settled areas in a state of flux. This article will review the Sixth Circuit's EAJA decisions from 1983-1987, …

Developments In Merger Litigation: The Government Doesn't Always Win, Stephen Calkins

Law Faculty Research Publications

"The sole consistency that I can find is that under Section 7, the Government always wins." When this famous antitrust apothegm was pronounced in 1966 by Justice Stewart, dissenting in United States v. Von's Grocery, it had the ring of truth. It is less true today: of the (admittedly few) reported Justice Department merger cases decided since William Baxter assumed responsibility as Assistant Attorney General, the Government has lost all but one. The Federal Trade Commission's court record in merger cases has been substantially better. Even in private cases, usually involving challenges to mergers to which the federal antitrust …

Single Firm Conduct, George A. Hay

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

My assignment is to discuss likely future developments involving single firm conduct. I will first discuss general trends and then move on to discuss some specific areas of the law. At the outset, however, I should remind the reader that what follows are predictions, not endorsements.

Civil Practice, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

While 1986 was a watershed year for the CPLR practitioner, 1987 passed with what one prominent commentator has referred "a yawn." Nonetheless, there were several important amendments to the CPLR in 1987 and our courts produced more than a few ''drab” opinions worthy of discussion. Furthermore, the bar and bench should rejoice because this year's Survey marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the CPLR and the fiftieth anniversary of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It is also the sixty-fifth year since a commentator first reviewed significant developments in New York civil practice.

Procedure For Admitting And Excluding Evidence, Paul C. Giannelli

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Brief Amici Curiae Of Feminist Anti-Censorship Taskforce, Et Al., In American Booksellers Association V. Hudnut, Nan D. Hunter, Sylvia A. Law

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The document that follows represents both a legal brief and a political statement. It was written for two purposes: to mobilize, in a highly visible way, a broad spectrum of feminist opposition to the enactment of laws expanding state suppression of sexually explicit material; and to place before the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit a cogent legal argument for the constitutional invalidity of an Indianapolis municipal ordinance that would have permitted private civil suits to ban such material, purportedly to protect women. Drafting this brief was one of the most demanding and exhilarating assignments either author has yet …

The Institution Of The Private Attorney General: Perspectives From An Empirical Study Of Class Action Litigation, Bryant G. Garth, Ilene H. Nagel, S. Jay Plager

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Report On Survey Of The Bar, Committee On Federal Courts Of The New York State Bar Association

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lesbians, Gays And Feminist At The Bar: Translating Personal Experience Into Effective Legal Argument - A Symposium, Elizabeth M. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Attorneys’ Fees In Antitrust Litigation: Making The System Fairer, Edward D. Cavanagh

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Section 4(a) of the Clayton Act entitles prevailing plaintiffs in private antitrust actions to recover, in addition to treble damages, their reasonable attorneys' fees. Unique when adopted as part of the Sherman Act in 1890, this fee-shifting provision has been imitated, at least in part, in over 100 federal statutes. In providing for attorneys' fees, Congress intended to promote private enforcement of the antitrust laws and to insulate the treble damages recovery from expenditures for legal fees. Fee-shifting is mandatory where a plaintiff prevails, but the court has some leeway in setting the amount of the fee. The controversy …

Product Liability Litigation With Risk Aversion, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The recent law and economics literature has directed much energy toward identifying the various factors that determine whether parties will litigate or settle accident claims.' The substantive interest in this area rests in large measure on the obvious element of conflict in all these cases: the plaintiff is trying to obtain reimbursement for his losses from the defendant, which the defendant wishes to avoid paying. The strategic structure of their interaction is quite complex because the outcomes of bringing claims are heavily influenced by the costs, usually substantial, of both bargaining and litigating. The game between plaintiff and defendant is …

Jury Instructions: A Persistent Failure To Communicate, Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Walter W. Steele Jr.

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article reports on an empirical study of juror comprehension of pattern jury instructions. It demonstrated that comprehension of the original instructions was poor, but that rewriting significantly improved their ability to understand and explain the meaning of the instructions. A separate study showed that jurors report that they discuss and consider the language of the instructions provided to them.

Suggestions For The Limited Acceptance Of Compulsory Jurisdiction Of The International Court Of Justice By The United States, Louis B. Sohn

Scholarly Works

In the last few years quite a few international lawyers have been complaining about the 1985 termination (with effect on April 7, 1986) by the United States of its 1946 declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Little attention has been paid to the fact that during the forty years since the making of this declaration many other states have changed their declarations, often several times, in order to adept them to the Court's jurisprudence and to new circumstances. By 1985, the United States declaration was in fact obsolete, and some of the reservations contained in …

Tort Litigation And Social Change: Accidents And Trial Court Litigation In West Virginia, 1870-1940, Frank W. Munger

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Mail Fraud After Mcnally And Carpenter: The Essence Of Fraud, Craig M. Bradley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Procedural And Substantive Problems In Complex Litigation Arising From Disasters, Jack B. Weinstein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Collision Between New Discovery Amendments And Expert Testimony Rules, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The young litigator's nightmare was always the same. He was in medieval Europe, ready to engage in a sword fight with the expert swordsman representing his arch rival. After countless hours of preparation, he felt confident that he would be able to hold his own against the swordsman. But when the swordsman drew his lengthy rapier from its sheath, the young attorney pulled only a short dagger from his scabbard. Realizing that he was doomed to defeat, he tossed his dagger into the air and ran from the scene with the laughter of the onlookers ringing in his ears.

The …

Law, Litigation And Social Change: A Critical Evaluation Of An Empirical Research Tradition, Frank W. Munger

Articles & Chapters

This article examines the theory and empirical methods of recent studies of law and litigation. It argues that the recent interest in longitudinal studies of trial court dockets proceeds from a deeply rooted functionalist theoretical tradition in empirical work on courts. Functionalist theory, through its sophisticated application in the work of James Willard Hurst, is described as the direct or indirect source of theory for longitudinal litigation studies. Though there are many reasons for suspecting that fuctionalist theory is inadequate, it has seldom been rejected through proper empirical testing of its hypotheses. The theory, often poorly conceptualized, is discussed here …

Task Force Reports On Women In The Courts: The Challenge For Legal Education, Elizabeth M. Schneider

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Federal Courts And Attorney Disqualification Motions: A Realistic Approach To Conflicts Of Interest, Linda Ann Winslow

Washington Law Review

The motion to disqualify an adversary's attorney has become the newest weapon in a litigator's motion arsenal. Disqualification motions alleging conflicts of interest can result in a great advantage to the movant by denying the opposition their choice of counsel, or by delaying the proceedings for several weeks or months. The attractiveness of the attorney disqualification motion as a strategic weapon is enhanced by the failure of the courts to impose sanctions against attorneys who bring frivolous disqualification motions. This Comment examines the treatment in federal courts of motions made to disqualify an adversary attorney and the relevant rules of …

Truth And Uncertainty: Legal Control Of The Destruction Of Evidence, Lawrence B. Solum, Stephen Marzen

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes legal controls on evidence destruction in more or less six parts. Part I describes the rich variety of authority to control evidence destruction. In civil cases, the spoliation inference, discovery sanctions, tort liability, and criminal obstruction of justice statutes provide sanctions against destruction of evidence. In criminal cases, defendants face fines and imprisonment from federal and state evidence destruction and contempt statutes. Also in criminal cases, prosecutors who destroy exculpatory 1086 evidence risk dismissal of indictments under the process clause, the Jencks Act, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16, and court's supervisory power. In addition, attorneys may …