Litigation Commons^™

Market-Based Prediction Models As An Aid To Litigation Strategy And Settlement Negotiations, Kris Steckman

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

In his recent book, “Litigation is War,” Fredrick L. Whitmer suggests effective advocacy in litigation mirrors many tactics common in strategic military preparation. On a battlefield or in a courtroom, quantifying the likelihood of uncertainties that may hinder or facilitate a particular line of attack will provide an advantage to the party holding such information. Consider this scenario: you are a plaintiff bringing suit against a corporation for ten million dollars, your trial starts in two weeks, the corporation has offered to settle for one million dollars, but you believe that you deserve more; do you accept? There is no …

The Decline Of Oral Argument In The Federal Courts Of Appeals: A Modest Proposal For Reform, David R. Cleveland, Steven Wisotsky

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Terms Of The Debate: Litigation, Argumentative Strategies, And Coalitions In The Same-Sex Marriage Struggle, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

Why, in the face of ongoing criticism, do advocates of same-sex marriage continue to pursue litigation? Recently, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a challenge to California’s ban on same-sex marriage, and Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, a lawsuit challenging section three of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, have created divisive debate. Leading scholarship and commentary on the litigation of decisions like Perry and Gill have been strongly critical, predicting that it will produce a backlash that will undermine the same-sex marriage cause.

These studies all rely on a particular historical account of past same-sex marriage decisions and their …

Evidence-Based Litigation Reform, Emily Spottswood

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Narrative And Drama In The American Trial, Robert P. Burns

Faculty Working Papers

This short essay summarizes an understanding of the trial as a medium in which law is realized or actualized, rather than imposed or enforced. It suggests that we should pay close attention to the actual practices that prevail at trial, its "consciously structured hybrid" of languages and practices, if we want to understand the nature of law.

Getting Nowhere: Florida's Failed Choice Of Law Approach To Torts And A Proposal For Change, Shirley A. Wiegand

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

New Models For The Compensation Of Natural Resources Damage, Michael Faure, Jing Liu

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

What You Have Said In The Dark: The Evolution Of Media In The Courtroom And The New Challenges Of Containing The Jury's Information Space, Charles Nesson

St. Thomas Law Review

The trial system is in a form of crisis. Recently, the United States Supreme Court effectively recognized that we no longer have a jury system. Instead, we have a plea bargaining system with the remote possibility of a jury trial at the very tail end of that system. Given the pervasiveness of sensational news stories, the option of settlement may appear more attractive to a litigant because it avoids the public display that often accompanies high-profile trials. This also serves a benefit to nervous judges who, without the stress of a trial, may avoid the onslaught of media pressure for …

Sorry Linus, I Need Your Security Blanket: How The Smartphone, Constant Connectivity With The Internet, And Social Networks Act As Catalysts For Juror Misconduct, Patrick M. Delaney

St. Thomas Law Review

In the context of the judicial system, it is the judges, lawyers, and parties to lawsuits who are equally affected by juror's statements. While this problem is not exclusive to criminal law, it is within the context of criminal law that the most severe problems are presented to the courts. This is not an attempt to suggest any lack of seriousness associated with a civil claim, but the fact that the stakes for a defendant remain higher in a criminal case because an individual's fundamental, constitutional rights are at issue is a significant difference. The knee jerk reaction by the …

Gambling On Goldilocks: Illinois Medical Malpractice Damage Caps And The Quest For "Just Right" Reform, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 917 (2012), Kristen Zaharski

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Qualified Immunity: Protecting All But The Plainly Incompetent (And Maybe Some Of Them, Too), 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1023 (2012), Susan Bendlin

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pain, Love, And Voice: The Role Of Domestic Violence Victims In Sentencing, Hadar Dancig-Rosenberg, Dana Pugach

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Criminal law systems throughout the world have evolved to a stage where they no longer ask, "What is the appropriate role of the victim in a criminal trial?" The questions now relate to the scope of the victim's rights, in which procedures she has independent standing, and at what stage she should be heard. The process of the "prosecution stepping into the victim's shoes," whereby the state controls the entire criminal process, seemingly on behalf of the victim, has been replaced by the recognition that the interests of the prosecution (the State) are not always consistent with those of the …

Patent Law As Public Law, Megan M. La Belle

Scholarly Articles

Historically, patent litigation has been viewed and treated primarily as private law litigation, as opposed to public law litigation. This paradigm has begun to shift, however, as various stakeholders have come to acknowledge the profound impact that the patent system – and particularly invalid patents – have on the public at large. Yet, in order for a public law regime to succeed, there must be a host of enforcement mechanisms available, including the opportunity for privately-initiated litigation.

Public interest organizations have played a prominent role in the enforcement of certain public rights, such as free speech, equal protection, and environmental …

Compelling Disclosure Of Facebook Content Under The Stored Communications Act, Allen D. Hankins

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Litigation In The European Union: Does The U.S. Class Action Have A New Analogue?, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

This article is the first to consider the European resolution from a regulatory perspective, using a combination of new governance theory and equivalence functionalism to determine whether the European Union has adopted or is in the process of adopting a form of regulatory litigation. In so doing, the article considers a number of issues, including the basic definition of regulatory litigation, how class and collective relief can act as a regulatory mechanism and the special problems that arise when regulatory litigation is used in the transnational context. The article also includes a normative element, providing a number of suggestions on …

Professionalism And Advocacy At Trial – Real Jurors Speak In Detail About The Performance Of Their Advocates, Mitchell J. Frank, Osvaldo F. Morera

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Women's Health Amendment And Religious Freedom: Finding A Sufficient Compromise, Rebecca Hall

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Professional Identity As Advocacy, Robert Rubinson

All Faculty Scholarship

The legal profession adheres to a story of a unified profession. Nevertheless, the profession has distinct professional sub-groups which repeatedly represent clients with interests adverse to those represented by attorneys who identify with other sub-groups. The idea of "professional identity as advocacy" describes how such professional sub-groups accuse opposing subgroups of greed, self-aggrandizement, or worse. This is most notable in two areas: personal injury litigation and criminal cases. This process has two seemingly contradictory consequences. First, it renders narrow areas extraordinarily visible, thus defining popular discourse and conceptions about lawyers and law. Second, it masks vast areas of litigation and …

Clarification Needed: Fixing The Jurisdiction And Venue Clarification Act, William Baude

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

One hates to seem ungrateful. Judges and scholars frequently call for Congress to fix problems in the law of jurisdiction and procedure, and Congress doesn't usually intervene. In that light, the Jurisdiction and Venue Clarification Act ("JVCA"),[1] signed into law on December 7, 2011, ought to be a welcome improvement. And hopefully, on balance, it will be. But in at least one area that it attempts to clarify, the JVCA leaves much to be desired. Professor Arthur Hellman has called the JVCA "the most far-reaching package of revisions to the Judicial Code since the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990."[2] The …

Res Or Rules - Patents And The (Uncertain) Rules Of The Game, Emily Michiko Morris

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Article proceeds as follows. Part I reviews the basics of patent claiming, the traditional view of claims as real property deeds, and why uncertainty as to the boundaries of those deeds is considered undesirable. Part II critiques the analogy between real property deeds and patent claims, highlighting in particular the requisite novelty and conceptual nature of the patent res, the differences between the purposes of the patent system and real property regimes, and the effect of these different purposes on the expected predictability of patent boundaries. Part III then changes the analogy from patent claims as property deeds to …