litigation costs
Judges Support Reform of Litigation Discovery Rules
March 24, 2014
In the wake of rising litigation costs and overwhelming amounts of electronic data, it may be time to overhaul the rules governing discovery processes in litigation. At least that’s what four out of five of America’s judges think, according to a new survey conducted by the Law and Economics Center at the George Mason University School of Law, with polling by Public Opinion Strategies.
March 24, 2014
In the wake of rising litigation costs and overwhelming amounts of electronic data, it may be time to overhaul the rules governing discovery processes in litigation. At least that’s what four out of five of America’s judges think, according to a new survey conducted by the Law and Economics Center at the George Mason University School of Law, with polling by Public Opinion Strategies.
Pricing Legal Claims Part II – Valuation Biases And Heuristics
August 29, 2013
In the last post, I noted that three different sources of uncertainty affected efforts to appropriately value claims: the amount in controversy, as influenced by the revealed facts and relevant decision makers; the uncertain amount in litigation costs; and the sequential nature and nonmonotonic value of the option to settle. This post focuses on the first–the challenges of gauging the amount in controversy, including but not limited to a potential judgment value. While even robotic litigants...
August 29, 2013
In the last post, I noted that three different sources of uncertainty affected efforts to appropriately value claims: the amount in controversy, as influenced by the revealed facts and relevant decision makers; the uncertain amount in litigation costs; and the sequential nature and nonmonotonic value of the option to settle. This post focuses on the first–the challenges of gauging the amount in controversy, including but not limited to a potential judgment value. While even robotic litigants...
When Courts Determine Fees in a System with a Loser Pays Norm
March 20, 2013
Unlike the English rule governing court fees and costs, under which the loser pays litigation costs, and the American rule, under which each party pays its own costs, Israel vests in judges full discretion to assess fees and costs. Given concerns about both the English and American rules, and the absence of empirical information about how either functions, an empirical study of judicial fee award practices should be of general interest. We report evidence that Israeli judges apply multiple de facto...
March 20, 2013
Unlike the English rule governing court fees and costs, under which the loser pays litigation costs, and the American rule, under which each party pays its own costs, Israel vests in judges full discretion to assess fees and costs. Given concerns about both the English and American rules, and the absence of empirical information about how either functions, an empirical study of judicial fee award practices should be of general interest. We report evidence that Israeli judges apply multiple de facto...
Costly Litigation and Optimal Damages
March 18, 2013
A basic principle of law is that damages paid by a liable party should equal the harm caused by that party. However, this principle is not correct when account is taken of litigation costs, because they too are part of the social costs associated with an injury. In this article we examine the influence of litigation costs on the optimal level of damages, assuming that litigation costs rise with the level of damages.
March 18, 2013
A basic principle of law is that damages paid by a liable party should equal the harm caused by that party. However, this principle is not correct when account is taken of litigation costs, because they too are part of the social costs associated with an injury. In this article we examine the influence of litigation costs on the optimal level of damages, assuming that litigation costs rise with the level of damages.
