Tag Archives: Civil Justice

Will Gretchen Carlson’s Case Against Roger Ailes Go Through the Courts, Not Arbitration, Because of Sloppy Drafting?

You may have heard about the lawsuit that Gretchen Carlson filed against Roger Ailes.  According to the New York Times: “Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News, was accused on Wednesday of forcing out a prominent female anchor after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about persistent harassment in the newsroom, a … Continue reading Will Gretchen Carlson’s Case Against Roger Ailes Go Through the Courts, Not Arbitration, Because of Sloppy Drafting?

Compared to What?

My colleague, S.I. Strong, recently circulated on the DRLE listserv a link to a survey conducted in 2015 for the National Center for State Courts.  The survey involved a nationwide random sample of 1000 members of the public (actually registered voters). This is a very respectable sample, especially considering that the reported findings are very … Continue reading Compared to What?

Is Proportionality of Discovery Good or Bad?

Alert readers of this blog will recall that amendments of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect on Dec. 1, 2015, including a new requirement that discovery be “proportional to the needs of the case.” The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) thinks that’s a good thing.  Critics, like … Continue reading Is Proportionality of Discovery Good or Bad?

Another View of the New FRCP Rules

I recently posted an item citing the IAALS’s work touting the benefits of the new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For a counterpoint, here’s a draft article by SMU Professor Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Cognitive Bias, the ‘Band of Experts,’ and the Anti-Litigation Narrative.  Here’s the abstract: In December of 2015, yet another … Continue reading Another View of the New FRCP Rules

FRCP Amendments Intended to Change Culture of Litigation

On December 1, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will take effect which are intended to change the culture of litigation. According to a post on the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) blog, the new rules affect “judicial case management, disclosure, use of experts, and education for judges.” … Continue reading FRCP Amendments Intended to Change Culture of Litigation

PEDR is Important for Culture Change in Courts

As you may know, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), is a “national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement and advancing excellence in the American legal system.”  It is an impressive, high-powered organization based in the University of Denver. It just released a new report entitled, Change the … Continue reading PEDR is Important for Culture Change in Courts

The Commodification of Legal Decisionmaking

The Delaware Chancery Court arbitration scheme is on one side of a gold coin, with the “federal policy favoring arbitration” on the other. The story starts with the slow strangulation of the judiciary caused by Congress’s failure over the last forty years to add enough judges to keep up with the draconian penal laws that … Continue reading The Commodification of Legal Decisionmaking