An Economic Analysis Of Fact Witness Payment,
2011
Northwestern University School of Law
An Economic Analysis Of Fact Witness Payment, Eugene Kontorovich, Ezra Friedman
Faculty Working Papers
In this paper we discuss the disparate treatment of perceptual (''fact'') witnesses and expert witnesses in the legal system. We highlight the distinction between the perceptual act of witnessing and the act of testifying, and argue that although there might be good reasons to regulate payments to fact witnesses, the customary prohibition on paying them for their services is not justified by reference to economic theory. We propose considering a court mediated system for compensating fact witnesses so as to encourage witnessing of legally important events.We construct a simple model of witness incentives, and simulate the effects of several possible …
The Case For Contribution In Patent Law,
2011
University of Denver
The Case For Contribution In Patent Law, Bernard Chao
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
Under tort law’s theory of contribution, when one party is sued, it can implead other parties that may be jointly and severally liable and ask that they pay their fair share of any judgment. Although contribution theory has spread to numerous wide-ranging areas of the law, patent law is not among them. Thus, when a manufacturer is sued for patent infringement, it cannot seek contribution from the component supplier that included the patented technology in its component. This omission from patent law has generated surprisingly little commentary. In the few instances where an accused infringer has sought a right of …
Climate Change And The Public Law Model Of Torts: Reinvigorating Judicial Restraint Doctrines,
2011
University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Climate Change And The Public Law Model Of Torts: Reinvigorating Judicial Restraint Doctrines, Donald G. Gifford
Faculty Scholarship
The Article traces the origins of climate change litigation back to earlier forms of “public interest tort litigation,” including government actions against the manufacturers of cigarettes, handguns and lead pigment. Public interest tort litigation is different in kind from traditional tort actions, even asbestos and other mass products litigation. These new lawsuits address society-wide or even worldwide problems and seek judicially imposed regulatory regimes. As such, they more closely resemble civil rights litigation and what Abram Chayes deemed “the public law model” than they do earlier tort actions. I conclude that the public law model of tort litigation is the …
Quieting Cognitive Bias With Standards For Witness Communications,
2011
Washington and Lee University School of Law
Quieting Cognitive Bias With Standards For Witness Communications, Melanie D. Wilson
Scholarly Articles
Last year, as part of a project to revise the ABA Criminal Justice Standards for Prosecution and Defense Functions, the ABA Criminal Justice Section initiated roundtable discussions with prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, and academics throughout the United States. The Standards under review provide aspirational guidance for all criminal law practitioners. This Article stems from the Criminal Justice Section's undertaking. It considers the wording, scope, and propriety of several of the proposed changes that address lawyer-witness communications. It begins with a discussion of the effects of cognitive bias on these communications and explains why carefully tailored Standards may lessen the detrimental …
What Will We Lose If The Trial Vanishes?,
2011
Northwestern University School of Law
What Will We Lose If The Trial Vanishes?, Robert P. Burns
Faculty Working Papers
The number of trials continues to decline andfederal civil trials have almost completely disappeared. This essay attempts to address the significance of this loss, to answer the obvious question, "So what?" It argues against taking a resigned or complacent attitude toward an important problem for our public culture. It presents a short description of the trial's internal structure, recounts different sorts of explanations, and offers an inventory of the kinds of wounds this development would inflict.
Ducks And Decoys: Revisiting The Exit-Voice-Loyalty Framework In Assessing The Impact Of A Workplace Dispute Resolution System,
2011
Northwestern University School of Law
Ducks And Decoys: Revisiting The Exit-Voice-Loyalty Framework In Assessing The Impact Of A Workplace Dispute Resolution System, Zev J. Eigen, Adam Seth Litwin
Faculty Working Papers
Until now, empirical research has been unable to reliably identify the impact of organizational dispute resolution systems (DRSs) on the workforce at large, in part because of the dearth of data tracking employee perceptions pre- and post- implementation. This study begins to fill this major gap by exploiting survey data from a single, geographically-expansive, US firm with well over 100,000 employees in over a thousand locations. The research design allows us to examine employment relations and human resource (HR) measures, namely, perceptions of justice, organizational commitment, and perceived legal compliance, in the same locations before and after the implementation of …
A Moral Contractual Approach To Labor Law Reform: A Template For Using Ethical Principles To Regulate Behavior Where Law Failed To Do So Effectively,
2011
Northwestern University School of Law
A Moral Contractual Approach To Labor Law Reform: A Template For Using Ethical Principles To Regulate Behavior Where Law Failed To Do So Effectively, Zev J. Eigen, David S. Sherwyn
Faculty Working Papers
If laws cease to work as they should or as intended, legislators and scholars propose new laws to replace or amend them. This paper posits an alternative—offering regulated parties the opportunity to contractually bind themselves to behave ethically. The perfect test-case for this proposal is labor law, because (1) labor law has not been amended for decades, (2) proposals to amend it have failed for political reasons, and are focused on union election win rates, and less on the election process itself, (3) it is an area of law already statutorily regulating parties' reciprocal contractual obligations, and (4) moral means …
The Dignity, Rights, And Responsibilities Of The Jury: On The Structure Of Normative Argument,
2011
Northwestern University School of Law
The Dignity, Rights, And Responsibilities Of The Jury: On The Structure Of Normative Argument, Robert P. Burns
Faculty Working Papers
Many theorists follow an inevitably circular method in evaluating legal institutions and practices. "Considered judgments of justice" embedded in practices and institutions in which we have a high level of confidence can serve as partial evidence for the principles with which they are consistent, principles that can then have broader implications. Conversely, principles that we have good reason to embrace can serve as partial justification for institutions and practices with which they are consistent. This is the heart of Rawls' notion of "reflective equilibrium," where we "work at both ends" to justify institutions, practices, and principles. This method is applicable …
The Need For Non-Discretionary Interlocutory Appellate Review In Multidistrict Litigation,
2011
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
The Need For Non-Discretionary Interlocutory Appellate Review In Multidistrict Litigation, Andrew S. Pollis
Faculty Publications
Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) is a tool for managing complex litigation by transferring cases with common questions of fact to a single judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings. The subject matter of the cases can run the gamut from airplane crashes to securities fraud to environmental disasters, such as the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, about a third of all pending civil cases in federal court are part of the MDL system. A single judge renders all the important legal decisions in each MDL, exerting outsized impact on the parties and on the evolution of the law …
E-Discovery's Threat To Civil Litigation: Reevaluating Rule 26 For The Digital Age,
2011
University of Denver
E-Discovery's Threat To Civil Litigation: Reevaluating Rule 26 For The Digital Age, Robert M. Hardaway, Dustin D. Berger, Andrea Defield
Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, even though they were amended in 2006 specifically to address the costs and scale of ediscovery, not only fail to contain the cost or scope of discovery, but, in fact, encourage expensive litigation ancillary to the merits of civil litigants' cases. This Article proposes that the solution to this dilemma is to eliminate the presumption that the producing party should pay for the cost of discovery. This rule should be abandoned in favor of a rule that would equally distribute the costs of discovery between the requesting and producing parties.
Barnes-Wallace V. City Of San Diego: "Psychological Injury" And Its Effect On Standing, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 507 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
Barnes-Wallace V. City Of San Diego: "Psychological Injury" And Its Effect On Standing, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 507 (2011), Andrew Meyer
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
Small-Donor Public Financing In The Post-Citizens United Era, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 619 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
Small-Donor Public Financing In The Post-Citizens United Era, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 619 (2011), Monica Youn
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
A Capitalist Joker: The Strange Origins, Disturbing Past, And Uncertain Future Of Corporate Personhood In American Law, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 643 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
A Capitalist Joker: The Strange Origins, Disturbing Past, And Uncertain Future Of Corporate Personhood In American Law, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 643 (2011), David H. Gans, Douglas T. Kendall
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
So What If Corporations Aren't People?, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 701 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
So What If Corporations Aren't People?, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 701 (2011), Ilya Shapiro, Caitlyn W. Mccarthy
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
Citizens United And Tiered Personhood, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 717 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
Citizens United And Tiered Personhood, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 717 (2011), Atiba R. Ellis
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
Convicted By A Sleeping Jury: Harmless Error Or A Challenge To The Integrity Of Our Criminal Justice System, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 751 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
Convicted By A Sleeping Jury: Harmless Error Or A Challenge To The Integrity Of Our Criminal Justice System, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 751 (2011), Rhandi Childress
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
Amending The Prison Litigation Reform Act: Imposing Financial Burdens On Prisoners Over Tax Payers, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1061 (2011),
2011
UIC School of Law
Amending The Prison Litigation Reform Act: Imposing Financial Burdens On Prisoners Over Tax Payers, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1061 (2011), Mallory Yontz
UIC Law Review
No abstract provided.
Work Product Protection, Tax Accrual Documents, And United States V. Textron, Inc.: Why The First Circuit Got It Right For The Wrong Reasons,
2011
Suffolk University Law School
Work Product Protection, Tax Accrual Documents, And United States V. Textron, Inc.: Why The First Circuit Got It Right For The Wrong Reasons, Stacey Roberts
Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy
No abstract provided.
Evidence Of Ambiguity: The Effect Of Circuit Splits On The Interpretation Of Federal Criminal Law,
2011
Suffolk University Law School
Evidence Of Ambiguity: The Effect Of Circuit Splits On The Interpretation Of Federal Criminal Law, Julian W. Smith
Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy
No abstract provided.
The Future Of Climate Change Litigation After Aep V. Connecticut,
2011
American University Washington College of Law
The Future Of Climate Change Litigation After Aep V. Connecticut, Amanda Leiter, Rick Faulk, Eric Lasker, Mike Myers
Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals
No abstract provided.
