Civil Procedure Commons^™

Class Actions, Heightened Commonality, And Declining Access To Justice, A. Benjamin Spencer

Scholarly Articles

A prerequisite to being certified as a class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is that there are "questions of law or fact common to the class." Although this “commonality” requirement had heretofore been regarded as something that was easily satisfied, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes the Supreme Court gave it new vitality by reading into it an obligation to identify among the class a common injury and common questions that are "central" to the dispute. Not only is such a reading of Rule 23’s commonality requirement unsupported by the text of the rule, but …

Removing Removal's Unanimity Rule, Jayne Ressler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Remedies: A Guide For The Perplexed, Doug Rendleman

Scholarly Articles

Remedies is one of a law student’s most practical courses. Remedies students and their professors learn to work with their eyes on the question at the end of litigation: what can the court do for the successful plaintiff? Remedies develops students’ professional identities and broadens their professional horizons by reorganizing their analysis of procedure, torts, contracts, and property around choosing and measuring relief - compensatory damages, punitive damages, an injunction, specific performance, disgorgement, and restitution. This article discusses the law-school course in Remedies - the content of the Remedies course, the Remedies classroom experience, and Remedies outside the classroom through …

Civil Procedure—Be More Specific: Vague Precedents And The Differing Standards By Which To Apply “Arises Out Of Or Relates To” In The Test For Specific Personal Jurisdiction, Ryne H. Ballou

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Twin Aims Of Erie, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

We all remember the twin aims of the Erie rule from first-year civil procedure. A federal court sitting in diversity must use forum state law if it is necessary to avoid 'forum shopping" and the "inequitable administration of the laws." This Article offers a reading of the twin aims and a systematic analysis of their proper role in federal and state court. I argue that the twin aims apply in diversity cases not because they protect state interests, but because they serve the federal purposes standing behind the diversity statute. So understood, they are about separation of powers, not federalism. …

Some Important Causes For Settlement In American Civil Litigation, Felipe Forte Cobo

LLM Theses and Essays

This paper focuses on pure economic disputes such as contract, real property and tort conflicts, in which the economic efficiency model is very accepted. In this limited scenario, the consensual resolution of disputes is always more efficient than decisions made by a third-party decision-maker, whether from a post-trial or pre-trial perspective.

Considering that lower transaction costs drive parties towards settlement, part II of this essay provides an overview of the American costs of legal disputes, framing several issues that might be determinative to settlements. Part III explores how two specific American procedural institutes – discovery and civil jury trial – …

Predictive Coding: Emerging Questions And Concerns, Charles M. Yablon, Nick Landsman-Roos

Articles

Technology-assisted review-also referred to as "predictive coding," "computer-aided review," and "content-based advanced analytics"-is the most important development in e-discovery to have occurred in some time. While technical characterizations of the process vary largely because of differences across software platforms, basically predictive coding is a process whereby computers are programmed to search large quantities of documents using complex algorithms to mimic the document selection process of a knowledgeable, human document review. It is said to do such a review faster and without many of the dangers of human error. Because of its speed and accuracy, it has been described as a …

Law Day Fifth District Court Of Appeal Oral Arguments At Florida A&M University College Of Law, 2013, Honorable C. Alan Lawson, Presiding Judge, Honorable Bruce W. Jacobus, Honorable Wendy W. Berger

Law Day Presentations

As part of Law Day activities, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal is holding a session in the FAMU College of Law Ceremonial Moot Courtroom. A three judge panel is hearing oral arguments from attorneys representing their clients in cases involving extortion and jury instructions, as well as issues regarding the interpretation of statute of limitations. A question-and-answer session follows each set of arguments during which the justices and attorneys entertain questions about the appellate process and organization of the court.

Summary Of Stubbs V. Strickland, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 15, David H. Rigdon

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This is a consolidated appeal from a district court order dismissing an action for anti-SLAPP relief and from a post judgment district court order denying attorney fees and costs.

Buying A Judicial Seat For Appeal: Caperton V. A.T. Massey Coal Company, Inc., Is Right Out Of A John Grisham Novel, Richard Gillespie

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

There But For The Grace Of God Go I: The Right Of Cross-Examination In Social Security Disability Hearings , Bradley S. Dixon

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Summary Of I. Cox Construction Co. V. Ch2 Investments, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 14, Katelyn M. Franklin

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered I. Cox Construction Company, LLC’s (Cox) appeal from a district court’s order releasing Cox’s mechanic’s lien. Cox challenged the district court’s finding that the lien was untimely as clearly erroneous, arguing (1) the court should not have considered the timeliness of the lien in light of parties’ failure to raise the issue in pleadings; and (2) the district court incorrectly relied on Vaughn Materials v. Meadowvale Homes to find the lien untimely.

Summary Of Peck V. Crouser, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 12, Ivy Hensel

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Whether the Court has jurisdiction to review an appeal of a post-judgment district court order that declared the appellant to be a vexatious litigant.

Supplemental Jurisdiction Over Permissive Counterclaims And Set Offs: A Misconception, Douglas D. Mcfarland

Mercer Law Review

In the years prior to 1990, courts extended federal jurisdiction over joined claims and parties in an orderly system. Pendent jurisdiction allowed a plaintiff to join a state law theory of recovery to a federal question theory in the complaint when both arose from a "common nucleus of operative fact."Ancillary jurisdiction allowed a defendant to join a state law claim to a federal claim in a civil action when both arose from the same "transaction or occurrence." Since a compulsory counterclaim arose from the same "transaction or occurrence" and a permissive counterclaim did not, courts had no difficulty in holding …

Class Actions, Heightened Commonality, And Declining Access To Justice, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

A prerequisite to being certified as a class under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is that there are "questions of law or fact common to the class. " Although this "commonality" requirement had heretofore been regarded as something that was easily satisfied, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes the Supreme Court gave the requirement new vitality by reading into it an obligation to identify among the class a common injury and common questions that are "central" to the dispute. Not only is such a reading of Rule 23 's commonality requirement unsupported by the text of …

The California Constitutional Right Of Privacy And Exclusion Of Evidence In Civil Proceedings, Jerry D. Mackey

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Allocation Of Responsibility After American Motorcycle Association V. Superior Court, Erwin E. Adler

Pepperdine Law Review

In its landmark case of Li v. Yellow Cab Co., the California Supreme Court judicially adopted the doctrine of comparative negligence in an action involving a plaintiff and a single defendant. The court in Li specifically avoided making any decision concerning the numerous issues which would be involved in a multi-party action: the relationship of multiple defendants with one another, the right of one defendant to join others for the purpose of sharing payment of the judgment, the respective responsibilities of such parties for the judgment (including those insolvent, partially solvent or possessing an immunity), and the procedure for the …

Flawed But Noble: Desegregation Litigation And Its Implications For The Modern Class Action, David Marcus

Florida Law Review

In this Article, I excavate the historical answer to the Rule 23 puzzle, one that suggests that the rule’s structure has little to do with theoretical distinctions between types of remedies. Far more important was the particular moment in American history during which the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee (the “1966 authors”) undertook the revision of Rule 23. To capture this moment, I reconstruct a neglected chapter in procedural history that stretches from 1938, when the first Rule 23 went into force, to the early 1960s, when the 1966 authors labored. I pay particular attention to Rule 23′s experience in …

The End Of An Era: The Supreme Court (Finally) Butts Out Of Punitive Damages For Good, Jim Gash

Florida Law Review

Part I of this Article chronicles and summarizes the development of the Supreme Court’s punitive damages jurisprudence. Over the past two decades, the Court has increasingly constitutionalized various aspects of punitive damages jurisprudence, using both procedural and substantive due process rationales. A set of three “guideposts” has emerged that courts are to use in determining whether a punitive damages award runs afoul of constitutional guarantees.

Part II outlines the multiple punishments problem that is currently facing courts throughout the country and provides a brief overview of the various failed attempts and current proposals to remedy this problem.

Part III provides …

Comment On The Proposed Amendment To Evidence Rule 801(D)(1)(B), Liesa L. Richter

Other Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.