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SCOTUS ‘Simply Irrelevant’ To Daily Work of Trial Courts According to Federal Judge
May 10, 2013
Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska isn’t afraid to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court. Sometimes the court “can really screw things up,” Kopf writes at his blog Hercules and the Umpire. As an example, he offers the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker, which effectively made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory. “If haphazardly injecting chaos into a system is a good thing, the Supreme Court is very good at that,” Kopf writes. But much...
May 10, 2013
Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska isn’t afraid to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court. Sometimes the court “can really screw things up,” Kopf writes at his blog Hercules and the Umpire. As an example, he offers the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker, which effectively made the federal sentencing guidelines advisory. “If haphazardly injecting chaos into a system is a good thing, the Supreme Court is very good at that,” Kopf writes. But much...
Concerted Action Includes Concerted Dispute Resolution
May 3, 2013
Professors Charles A. Sullivan and Timothy P. Glynn of the Seton Hall University School of Law have written a timely...
May 3, 2013
Professors Charles A. Sullivan and Timothy P. Glynn of the Seton Hall University School of Law have written a timely...
Litigation Finance: The Next Hot Trend?
May 2, 2013
If you’re a former Supreme Court clerk, the legal world is your oyster. In the words of one observer, “Supreme Court clerkships have become the Willy Wonka golden tickets of the legal profession. So many top-shelf opportunities within the law, such as tenure-track professorships and jobs in the SG’s office, [are] reserved for members of the Elect.” If you work at a hedge fund, maybe after a stint at Goldman Sachs or a similarly elite investment bank, you’re the Wall Street version...
May 2, 2013
If you’re a former Supreme Court clerk, the legal world is your oyster. In the words of one observer, “Supreme Court clerkships have become the Willy Wonka golden tickets of the legal profession. So many top-shelf opportunities within the law, such as tenure-track professorships and jobs in the SG’s office, [are] reserved for members of the Elect.” If you work at a hedge fund, maybe after a stint at Goldman Sachs or a similarly elite investment bank, you’re the Wall Street version...
U.S. & International Arbitration 2013
April 23, 2013
Four times in the past 15 months the Supreme Court has struck down lower court attempts to limit the impact of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) by allowing recourse to the courts — on three of those occasions issuing per curiam orders vacating state court decisions for ignoring Supreme Court precedent. Nitro-Lift Techs. v. Howard, 133 S. Ct. 500 (2012) (Oklahoma); Marmet Health Care Ctr. v. Brown, 132 S. Ct. 1201 (2012) (West Virginia); KPMG LLP v. Cocchi, 132 S. Ct. 23 (2011) (Florida);...
April 23, 2013
Four times in the past 15 months the Supreme Court has struck down lower court attempts to limit the impact of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) by allowing recourse to the courts — on three of those occasions issuing per curiam orders vacating state court decisions for ignoring Supreme Court precedent. Nitro-Lift Techs. v. Howard, 133 S. Ct. 500 (2012) (Oklahoma); Marmet Health Care Ctr. v. Brown, 132 S. Ct. 1201 (2012) (West Virginia); KPMG LLP v. Cocchi, 132 S. Ct. 23 (2011) (Florida);...
Supreme Court Upholds Employer’s Strategy of Picking Off Lead Plaintiff in FLSA Collective Action
April 20, 2013
In another highly anticipated decision of this term, the United States Supreme Court today upheld the dismissal of a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act because the lead plaintiff had been offered and declined an offer of full relief; thus leaving the trial court without subject matter jurisdiction to hear the matter. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Thomas reversed the Third Circuit’s position that despite the individual claim being moot, the remaining collective action was still viable....
April 20, 2013
In another highly anticipated decision of this term, the United States Supreme Court today upheld the dismissal of a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act because the lead plaintiff had been offered and declined an offer of full relief; thus leaving the trial court without subject matter jurisdiction to hear the matter. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Thomas reversed the Third Circuit’s position that despite the individual claim being moot, the remaining collective action was still viable....
Texas State of the Judiciary
April 18, 2013
Pro Se Litigants I have spoken about the indigent. But there is a dark secret that plagues our justice system as a whole. We in the judiciary must bring this secret to light. The sad fact is that the middle class and small businesses find our system unworkable and unaffordable. They believe there are too many unnecessary lawsuits, coupled with incessant legal wrangling that drags out cases. And they feel that even if they are entitled to a remedy for a legal wrong, they cannot afford the fees...
April 18, 2013
Pro Se Litigants I have spoken about the indigent. But there is a dark secret that plagues our justice system as a whole. We in the judiciary must bring this secret to light. The sad fact is that the middle class and small businesses find our system unworkable and unaffordable. They believe there are too many unnecessary lawsuits, coupled with incessant legal wrangling that drags out cases. And they feel that even if they are entitled to a remedy for a legal wrong, they cannot afford the fees...
Killing Them with Kindness: ‘Consumer-Friendly’ Arbitration Clauses after Concepcion
April 17, 2013
In AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court struck California’s so-called “Discover Bank rule” – a judge-made rule providing that arbitration agreements attended by class action waivers are unenforceable, if those agreements are contained in standard form consumer contracts. But, arguably, Concepcion leaves open and unresolved the viability of a state law challenge to a bilateral arbitration clause which is shown, in a particular case, to impose a forfeiture of the claimant’s ability to vindicate...
April 17, 2013
In AT&T v. Concepcion, the Supreme Court struck California’s so-called “Discover Bank rule” – a judge-made rule providing that arbitration agreements attended by class action waivers are unenforceable, if those agreements are contained in standard form consumer contracts. But, arguably, Concepcion leaves open and unresolved the viability of a state law challenge to a bilateral arbitration clause which is shown, in a particular case, to impose a forfeiture of the claimant’s ability to vindicate...
Judge’s Angry Rant Results in 4 Year Suspension
April 14, 2013
An admittedly intemperate family court judge has been suspended without pay for the remaining years of his term by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In one angry rant from the bench that has been viewed on YouTube more than 200,000 times, Putnam County Circuit Court Family Law Judge William M. Watkins III repeatedly told a pastor appearing before him to "shut up." And this was far from the only time he spoke to parties using inappropriate language, according to the opinion (PDF)...
April 14, 2013
An admittedly intemperate family court judge has been suspended without pay for the remaining years of his term by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In one angry rant from the bench that has been viewed on YouTube more than 200,000 times, Putnam County Circuit Court Family Law Judge William M. Watkins III repeatedly told a pastor appearing before him to "shut up." And this was far from the only time he spoke to parties using inappropriate language, according to the opinion (PDF)...
Mandatory Predispute Consumer Arbitration, Structural Bias, and Incentivizing Procedural Safeguards
April 9, 2013
Within the past several decades, there has been an explosion in the creation, institutionalization and use of “alternative” dispute resolution procedures. Understood broadly, these procedures include formal and informal administrative adjudication, as well as arbitration, mediation and other court-connected and agency-connected innovations. In general, reformers conceived these “alternative” processes as means to end legal (or potentially legal) disputes and escape the perceived costs and inadequacies...
April 9, 2013
Within the past several decades, there has been an explosion in the creation, institutionalization and use of “alternative” dispute resolution procedures. Understood broadly, these procedures include formal and informal administrative adjudication, as well as arbitration, mediation and other court-connected and agency-connected innovations. In general, reformers conceived these “alternative” processes as means to end legal (or potentially legal) disputes and escape the perceived costs and inadequacies...
Supreme Court Mapping Project @ University of Baltimore
March 31, 2013
Professor Colin Starger of the University of Baltimore School of Law tells us of The Supreme Court Mapping Project. Here are excerpts of the description: The SCOTUS Mapping Project has two distinct components: Enhanced development of the Mapper software. This software enables users to create sophisticated interactive maps of Supreme Court doctrine by plotting relationships between majority, concurring and dissenting opinions. With the software, users can both visualize how different “lines”...
March 31, 2013
Professor Colin Starger of the University of Baltimore School of Law tells us of The Supreme Court Mapping Project. Here are excerpts of the description: The SCOTUS Mapping Project has two distinct components: Enhanced development of the Mapper software. This software enables users to create sophisticated interactive maps of Supreme Court doctrine by plotting relationships between majority, concurring and dissenting opinions. With the software, users can both visualize how different “lines”...
