"Legal and economic analyses overlap and interact in many areas. Recent U.S. Supreme Court and lower court decisions on class action lawsuits clearly focus on the critical role that economic analysis plays in determining the outcome of class actions. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes and Comcast Corp. v. Behrend have made national headlines, raising the bar in class certification for showing common impact and preponderance through expert testimony. These decisions have turned on the adequacy of the analyses put forth by expert economists, finding the analyses of the plaintiffs' economists to be insufficient. The decisions will have significant implications for use of expert testifiers in class certification and in estimation of monetary damages, presenting challenges to both attorneys and economists in antitrust and other class actions. This book focuses on the changing landscape of class action law and its interaction with the economic analysis of key issues in class actions. Articles examine the elements of class action law from diverse viewpoints, featuring defendant and plaintiff perspectives, concerning domestic and international law, and written by lawyers and economists."

The revised edition 2011 of sections 620-630 provides a solid and dogmatic overview of the law regarding the termination of the employment relationship. Principles are explained and selected significant key issues are addressed in detail, such as the notion of prediction as it pertains to behavior-based termination, the crossing of boundaries while engaging in private conduct, and the limitation of entrepreneurial freedom by the protection rights of the employee. An overview of the special termination rights facilitates an introduction to solving employment law cases.

This book describes the state of the lay participation system in criminal justice, saiban-in seido, in Japanese society. Starting with descriptions of the outlines of lay participation in the Japanese criminal justice system, the book deals with the questions of what the lay participants think about the system after their participation, how the general public evaluate the system, whether the introduction of lay participation has promoted trust in the justice system in Japan, and the foci of Japanese society's interest in the lay participation system. To answer these questions, the author utilizes data obtained from social surveys of actual participants and of the general public. The book also explores the results of quantitative text analyses of newspaper articles. With those data, the author describes how Japanese society evaluates the implementation of the system and discusses whether the system promotes democratic values in Japan.

I found the book extremely interesting and informative. I was particularly impressed with the practical advice given in the text, advice that is not often found in the legal literature. . . . The writing is clear and compelling, and Paul Stern's style is perfect: he entertains as he educates. --Thomas D. Lyon, The Law School, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Called upon to educate courtroom decision makers, the expert witness provides testimony that is critical to achieving intelligent and just verdicts. Few judges and jury members possess the knowledge base needed to adequately understand complexities of human behavior as they relate to acts of interpersonal violence. While the lay witness can testify to actual incidents or observations, it is the "expert witness" who can provide forensic significance to such evidence. With this vital insight, courts can more accurately assess and weigh evidence, leading to more informed and appropriate decisions. Timely and accessible, The Preparation and Presentation of Expert Testimony clearly defines the need for and role of expert witnesses in litigation. Author Paul Stern demystifies the process while providing practical, stepwise guidance for those who want to prepare and present expert testimony with confidence and clarity. Beginning with discussions of the who, what, and why of expert testimony, the book also defines the role of the expert, including ethical and professional issues that may arise. Filled with tips, techniques, and case examples, chapters also show expert witnesses and attorneys how to prepare for court, how to present testimony in the most convincing and credible manner possible, how to deal with cross-examination, and how to cross-examine irresponsible expert witnesses. Anyone who may be called upon to testify--or participate in court in any way--in cases of interpersonal violence will find this book an invaluable resource. In particular, mental health professionals, medical personnel, scientists, investigators, attorneys, and judges will want to use the book to prepare themselves for the rigors involved in every aspect of expert testimony.

For most people in rural South Africa, traditional justice mechanisms provide the only feasible means of accessing any form of justice. These mechanisms are popularly associated with restorative justice, reconciliation and harmony in rural communities. Yet, this ethnographic study grounded in the political economy of rural South Africa reveals how historical conditions and contemporary pressures have strained these mechanisms' ability to deliver the high normative ideals with which they are notionally linked. In places such as Msinga access to justice is made especially precarious by the reality that human insecurity - a composite of physical, social and material insecurity - is high for both ordinary people and the authorities who staff local justice forums; cooperation is low between traditional justice mechanisms and the criminal and social justice mechanisms the state is meant to provide; and competition from purportedly more effective 'twilight institutions', like vigilante associations, is rife. Further contradictions are presented by profoundly gendered social relations premised on delicate social trust that is closely monitored by one's community and enforced through self-help measures like witchcraft accusations in a context in which violence is, culturally and practically, a highly plausible strategy for dispute management. These contextual considerations compel us to ask what justice we can reasonably speak of access to in such an insecure context and what solutions are viable under such volatile human conditions? The book concludes with a vision for access to justice in rural South Africa that takes seriously ordinary people's circumstances and traditional authorities' lived experiences as documented in this detailed study. The author proposes a cooperative governance model that would maximise the resources and capacity of both traditional and state justice apparatus for delivering the legal and social justice - namely, peace and protect

This work presents a thorough investigation of existing rules and features of the treatment of foreign law in various jurisdictions. Private international law (conflict of laws) and civil procedure rules concerning the application and ascertainment of foreign law differ significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Combining general and individual national reports, this volume demonstrates when and how foreign law is applied, ascertained, interpreted and reviewed by appeal courts. Traditionally, conflicts lawyers have been faced with two contrasting approaches. Civil law jurisdictions characterize foreign law as "law" and provide for the ex officio application and ascertainment of foreign law by judges. Common law jurisdictions consider foreign law as "fact" and require that parties plead and prove foreign law. A closer look at various reports, however, reveals more differentiated features with their own nuances among civil law jurisdictions, and the difference of the treatment of foreign law from other facts in common law jurisdictions. This challenges the appropriacy of the conventional "law-fact" dichotomy. This book further examines the need for facilitating access to foreign law. After carefully analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of existing instruments, this book explores alternative methods for enhancing access to foreign law and considers practical ways of obtaining information on foreign law. It remains to be seen whether and the extent to which legal systems around the world will integrate and converge in their treatment of foreign law.

This book analyses the mixed courts of professional and lay judges in the Japanese criminal justice system. It takes a particular focus on the highly public start of the mixed court, the saiban-in system, and the jury system between 1928-1943. This was the first time Japanese citizens participated as decision makers in criminal law. The book assesses reasons for the jury system's failure, and its suspension in 1943, as well as the renewed interest in popular involvement in criminal justice at the end of the twentieth century. Popular Participation in Japanese Criminal Justice proceeds by explaining the process by which lay participation in criminal trials left the periphery to become an important national matter at the turn of the century. It shows that rather than an Anglo-American jury model, outline recommendations made by the Japanese Judicial Reform Council were for a mixed court of judges and laypersons to try serious cases. Concerns about the lay judge/saiban-in system are raised, as well as explanations for why it is flourishing in contemporary society despite the failure of the jury system during the period 1928-1943. The book presents the wider significance of Japanese mixed courts in Asia and beyond, and in doing so will be of great interests to scholars of socio-legal studies, criminology and criminal justice.

This book uniquely focuses on the role of family law in transnational marriages. The author demonstrates how family law is of critical importance in understanding transnational family life. Based on extensive field research in Morocco, Egypt and the Netherlands, the book examines how, during marriage and divorce, transnational families deal with the interactions of two different legal systems. Sportel studies the interactions of European and Islamic family law, addressing its interconnections with migration and everyday life, within the context of highly politicised debates on gender, Islam, migration and the family. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of family sociology, migration and diaspora studies, transnational families, family law, and sociology of law.

This anthology provides an in-depth analysis and discusses the issues surrounding nudging and its use in legislation, regulation, and policy making more generally. The 17 essays in this anthology provide startling insights into the multifaceted debate surrounding the use of nudges in European Law and Economics. Nudging is a tool aimed at altering people's behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any option or significantly changing economic incentives. It can be used to help people make better decisions to influence human behaviour without forcing them because they can opt out. Its use has sparked lively debates in academia as well as in the public sphere. This book explores who decides which behaviour is desired. It looks at whether or not the state has sufficient information for debiasing, and if there are clear-cut boundaries between paternalism, manipulation and indoctrination. The first part of this anthology discusses the foundations of nudging theory and the problems associated, as well as outlining possible solutions to the problems raised. The second part is devoted to the wide scope of applications of nudges from contract law, tax law and health claim regulations, among others. This volume is a result of the flourishing annual Law and Economics Conference held at the law faculty of the University of Lucerne. The conferences have been instrumental in establishing a strong and ever-growing Law and Economics movement in Europe, providing unique insights in the challenges faced by Law and Economics when applied in European legal traditions.

This book presents a critical analysis of the rules on the contents and effects of contracts included in the proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL). The European Commission published this proposal in October 2011 and then withdrew it in December 2014, notwithstanding the support the proposal had received from the European Parliament in February 2014. On 6 May 2015, in its Communication 'A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe', the Commission expressed its intention to "make an amended legislative proposal (...) further harmonising the main rights and obligations of the parties to a sales contract". The critical comments and suggestions contained in this book, to be understood as lessons to learn from the CESL, intend to help not only the Commission but also other national and supranational actors, both public and private (including courts, lawyers, stakeholders, contract parties, academics and students) in dealing with present and future European and national instruments in the field of contract law. The book is structured into two parts. The first part contains five essays exploring the origin, the ambitions and the possible future role of the CESL and its rules on the contents and effects of contracts. The second part contains specific comments to each of the model rules on the contents and effects of contracts laid down in Chapter 7 CESL (Art. 66-78). Together, the essays and comments in this volume contribute to answering the question of whether and to what extent rules such as those laid down in Art. 66-78 CESL could improve or worsen the position of consumers and businesses in comparison to the correspondent provisions of national contract law. The volume adopts a comparative perspective focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on German and Dutch law.

In the myriad choices of interpretation judges face when confronted with rules and cases, legal realists are concerned with how these doctrinal materials carry over into judicial outcomes. What can explain past judicial behavior and predict its future course? How can law constrain judgments made by unelected judges? How can the distinction between law and politics be maintained despite the collapse of law's autonomy in its positivist rendition? In Reconstructing American Legal Realism & Rethinking Private Law Theory, Hanoch Dagan provides an innovative and useful interpretation of legal realism. He revives the legal realists' rich account of law as a growing institution accommodating three sets of constitutive tensions-power and reason, science and craft, and tradition and progress-and demonstrates how the major claims attributed to legal realism fit into this conception of law. Dagan seeks to rein in realist descendants who have become fixated on one aspect of the big picture, and to dispel the misconceptions that those gone astray represent the tradition accurately or that realism is now merely a historical signpost. He draws upon the realist texts of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Karl Llewellyn, and others to explain how legal realism offers important and unique jurisprudential insights that are not just a part of legal history, but are also relevant and useful for a contemporary understanding of legal theory. Building on this realist conception of law and enriching its texture, Dagan addresses more particular jurisprudential questions. He shows that the realist achievement in capturing law's irreducible complexity is crucial to the reinvigoration of legal theory as a distinct scholarly subject matter, and is also inspiring for a host of other, more specific theoretical topics, such as the rule of law, the autonomy and taxonomy of private law, the relationships between rights and remedies, and the pluralism and perfectionism that typify private law.

This book deals with the contractual platform for arbitration and the application of contractual norms to the parties' dispute. Arbitration and agreement are inter-linked in three respects: (i) the agreement to arbitrate is itself a contract; (ii) there is scope (subject to clear consensual exclusion) in England for monitoring the arbitral tribunal's fidelity and accuracy in applying substantive English contract law; (iii) the subject-matter of the arbitration is nearly always a 'contractual' matter. These three elements underlie this work. They appear as Part I (arbitration is founded on agreement), Part II (monitoring accuracy), Part III (synopsis of the English contractual rules frequently encountered within arbitration). The book will be a useful resource to foreign lawyers or English non-lawyers, English lawyers seeking a succinct discussion, and to arbitral tribunals.

This book is about one of the most controversial dilemmas of contract law: whether or not the unexpected change of circumstances due to the effects of financial crises may under certain conditions be taken into account. Growing interconnectedness of global economies facilitates the spread of the effects of the financial crises. Financial crises cause severe difficulties for persons to fulfill their contractual obligations. During the financial crises, performance of contractual obligations may become excessively onerous or may cause an excessive loss for one of the contracting parties and consequently destroy the contractual equilibrium and legitimate the governmental interventions. Uncomfortable economic climate leads to one of the most controversial dilemmas of the contract law: whether the binding force of the contract is absolute or not. In other words, unstable economic circumstances impose the need to devote special attention to review and perhaps to narrow the binding nature of a contract. Principle of good faith and fair dealing motivate a variety of theoretical bases in order to overcome the legal consequences of financial crises. In this book, all these theoretical bases are analyzed with special focus on the available remedies, namely renegotiation, rescission or revision and the circumstances which enables the revocation of these remedies. The book collects the 19 national reports and the general report originally presented in the session regarding the Effects of Financial Crises on the Binding Force of Contracts: Renegotiation, Rescission or Revision during the XIXth congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, held in Vienna, July 2014.

This edited collection addresses the major issues encountered in the calculation of economic damages to individuals in civil litigation. In federal and state courts in the United States, as well as in other nations, when one party sues another, the suing party is required not only to prove that the harm was, indeed, caused by the other party, but also to claim and demonstrate that a specified dollar value represents just compensation for the harm. Forensic economists are often called upon to evaluate, measure, and opine on the degree of economic loss that is alleged to have occurred. Aimed at both practitioners and theorists, the original articles and essays in the edited collection are written by nationally recognized and widely published forensic experts. Its strength is in showcasing theories, methods, and measurements as they differ in a variety of cases, and in its review of the forensic economics literature developed over the past thirty years. Readers will find informative discussions of topics such as establishing earnings capacity for both adults and infants, worklife probability, personal consumption deductions, taxation as treated in federal and state courts, valuing fringe benefits, discounting theory and practice, the effects of the Affordable Care Act, the valuation of personal services, wrongful discharge, hedonics, effective communication by the expert witness, and ethical issues. The volume also covers surveys of the views of practicing forensic economists, the connection between law and forensic economics, alternatives to litigation in the form of VCF-like schedules, and key differences among nations in measuring economic damages.

This edited volume examines two recent Central European recodifications of civil law. The contributors present and discuss the regulation and the fundamental changes related to the new Civil Codes in each country. They also highlight the novelties and some of the issues of great debate of the new regulation. The papers investigate specific parts of the two Civil Codes. Coverage reviews default rules of legal persons and companies, key issues of the new regulations of property law, and the topic of intellectual property. The contributors also consider the law of obligation, unforeseeable changes in circumstances in contracts, family law and law of succession, and more. Hungary and Romania connect to each other by their special historical and cultural background, which serves as a solid basis of great cooperation. This volume shows how the two countries view civil law. It offers readers straightforward and practice-oriented knowledge on the subject.

Rights, Wrongs, and Injustices is the first comprehensive account of the scope, foundations, and structure of remedial law in common law jurisdictions. The rules governing the kinds of complaints that common law courts will accept are generally well understood. However, the rules governing when and how they respond to such complaints are not. This book provides that understanding. It argues that remedies are judicial rulings, and that remedial law is the law governing their availability and content. Focusing on rulings that resolve private law disputes (for example, damages, injunctions, and restitutionary orders), this book explains why remedial law is distinctive, how it relates to substantive law, and what its foundational principles are. The book advances four main arguments. First, the question of what courts should do when individuals seek their assistance (the focus of remedial law) is different from the question of how individuals should treat one another in their day-to-day lives (the focus of substantive law). Second, remedies provide distinctive reasons to perform the actions they command; in particular, they provide reasons different from those provided by either rules or sanctions. Third, remedial law has a complex relationship to substantive law. Some remedies are responses to rights-threats, others to wrongs, and yet others to injustices. Further, remedies respond to these events in different ways: while many remedies (merely) replicate substantive duties, others modify substantive duties and some create entirely new duties. Finally, remedial law is underpinned by general principles-principles that cut across the traditional distinctions between so-called "legal" and "equitable" remedies. Together, these arguments provide an understanding of remedial law that takes the concept of a remedy seriously, classifies remedies according to their grounds and content, illuminates the relationship between remedies and substantive law, and presents remedial law as a body of principles rather than a historical category.

This well-researched and engrossing book illuminates the constitutional jurisprudence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's most notable appointees to the United States Supreme Court--Hugo L. Black, Felix Frankfurter, and Robert H. Jackson. 'New Deal Justice' draws extensively upon the memoirs, writings, opinions, and personal papers of these justices but also employs the insights of recent works on American legal, social, and political theory to dramatically alter the theoretical lens through which previous scholars have analyzed their decision making. Hockett pays particular attention to Black's controversial constitutional absolutism, Frankfurter's extraordinary deference to the decisions of legislative and administrative bodies, and Jackson's pragmatic use of the power of judicial review. The author persuasively argues that the New Deal Court was characterized by regional, cultural, and ideological tensions that manifested in the social and political theories of these three justices. This is important reading for students and scholars of constitutional judicial theory and the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The revised edition 2009 particularly focuses on the legal aspects of the securitization of debt by a security right in land (with refinancing register), the consequences of the mortgage crisis, the Bavarian legal proposal for a law to protect the borrower, and the question of which objections the legal successor in a security right in land will be confronted with. The law of compulsory mortgages and the security contract on land charges has also been extensively revised.

Dieses Buch beschaftigt sich mit Insolvenzfallen, bei denen die Insolvenzmasse zu einem Zeitpunkt der Verfahrensabwicklung allenfalls die Kosten des Insolvenzverfahrens deckt. Diese Lage tritt vielfach auf und gehoert zu den Standardproblemen, mit denen sich Insolvenzverwalter und Berater auseinandersetzen mussen. Rechtsdogmatische Stimmigkeit und Praxisorientierung verbinden sich bei den vorgeschlagenen Loesungen. Bei Eintritt der Massearmut - der Massebedurftigkeit gem. 207 InsO oder der Masseunzulanglichkeit nach den 208 ff. InsO - hat die hoechstrichterliche Rechtsprechung das Verfahren von einer Notabwicklung hin zu einer besonderen Form der Insolvenzverwaltung mit dem Ziel entwickelt, dem Insolvenzverwalter eine optimale Verwertung der Masse zu ermoeglichen und dabei seine Haftungsrisiken zu verringern. Dabei stehen die Risiken im Vordergrund, die bei einer Fortfuhrung des insolvenzschuldnerischen Betriebes auftreten. Besonderes Augenmerk wird auf die Moeglichkeiten einer Verfahrensgestaltung durch Insolvenzplane nach 210a InsO gelegt. Die Massebedurftigkeit (Massearmut i.e.S.) gem. 207 InsO wird in ihren Voraussetzungen und Rechtsfolgen fur die Abwicklung des Verfahrens eingehend dargestellt und dabei insbesondere die Handlungsmoeglichkeiten des Insolvenzverwalters beleuchtet. Der Schwerpunkt der Darstellung liegt bei der Behandlung der Masseunzulanglichkeit gem. 208 ff. InsO. Aus den dabei behandelten Fragen sind hervorzuheben: Voraussetzungen der Anzeige der Masseunzulanglichkeit; Ermessen des Insolvenzverwalters bei der Wahl des Zeitpunktes der Anzeige Prozessuale Wirkungen der Anzeige auf die Rechtsdurchsetzung der Masseglaubiger Probleme einer zweiten Masseunzulanglichkeit und deren Auswirkung auf die Rechtsstellung der Neumasseglaubiger Verjahrung von Masseforderung nach Wiederherstellung der Massesuffizienz Insolvenzplane bei Masseunzulanglichkeit Fragen der Haftung des Insolvenzverwalters: Verhaltnis der Haftungstatbestande der 60 und 61 InsO

Die Entwicklung der elektronischen Kommunikation gehoert zu den groessten Veranderungen der letzten Jahre. Der E-Commerce weist stark steigende Umsatzzahlen auf. Dementsprechend gewinnt die Verwendung elektronischer Dokumente als Beweismittel im Zivilprozess zunehmend an Bedeutung. Der Gesetzgeber hat hierzu neue Regelungen in BGB und ZPO eingefugt. Die Darstellung unterzieht diese AEnderungen einer kritischen Wurdigung und zeigt auf, dass elektronische Dokumente richtigerweise als Urkunden verstanden werden mussen.

The book is a brief journey through centuries and jurisdictions and expands on examples of enactment practices of states that support, challenge or even reject communication during pending litigations. England, as the main representative of a jurisdiction, suggests communication solutions potentially different than the practice in the United States where litigation communication first time occurred. Accordingly, the author offers a comprehensive analysis and detailed historical narrative of the positions of various jurisdictions in relation to communication in the legal process. As a kind of applied legal history, the book provides an exploration of historical events that were significant in a legal communication context and addresses their implications for modern enactments. The account looks at the history of regulations to allow a better understanding of the strict rules that have often been cited over the years support or restrict communication in the legal process. The author provides the reader with proper contexts on different judicial and communication considerations, as well as the collaboration of legal and public relations experts, in a particular form of crisis and reputation management, in the litigation process. As such, this book is an attempt to present an accurate and thoughtful account of the theory and history of litigation communication, which is directly relevant in various debates such as the work on the meaning and context of the Contempt of Court Act in England or the American First and Sixth Amendments in different centuries.

This book focuses on the analysis of liability rules of tort law from an efficiency perspective, presenting a comprehensive analysis of these rules in a self-contained and rigorous yet accessible manner. It establishes general results on the efficiency of liability rules, including complete characterizations of efficient liability rules and efficient incremental liability rules. The book also establishes that the untaken precaution approach and decoupled liability are incompatible with efficiency. The economic analysis of tort law has established that for efficiency it is necessary that each party to the interaction must be made to internalize the harm resulting from the interaction. The characterization and impossibility theorems presented in this book establish that, in addition to internalization of the harm by each party, there are two additional requirements for efficiency. Firstly, rules must be immune from strategic manipulation. Secondly, rules must entail closure with respect to the parties involved in the interaction giving rise to the negative externality, i.e., the liability must not be decoupled.