We begin with the premise that private class actions for money damages can yield significant social benefits. Class actions for damages can provide compensation for modest but non-trivial losses suffered by widely dispersed but similarly positioned persons as a result of the negligence or illegal behavior of others, allowing recovery for losses that cannot practically be achieved through indivi...

The vague notion of "probabilistic patents" is formalized through a model which combines real option theory and a fuzzy methodology. The imprecise estimates the patent holder possesses about her future profits, the validity and scope of the patent, the litigation costs, the court's decision etc. under a regime of imperfect enforcement of property rights are specified modelling uncertainty with ...

On completion of the initial stages of the programme, as outlined last month, the next stage is the actual mediation itself, or the party meeting stage. This usually begins at 9.30 am in the morning, with a brief outline of the mediator’s own background in medical malpractice litigation, as well as any previous legal experience in general; all of which assures the parties to the mediation that ...

BACKGROUND In the current debate over tort reform, critics of the medical malpractice system charge that frivolous litigation--claims that lack evidence of injury, substandard care, or both--is common and costly. METHODS Trained physicians reviewed a random sample of 1452 closed malpractice claims from five liability insurers to determine whether a medical injury had occurred and, if so, whet...

Disputes and lawsuits are quite common in business and are often a source of significant liabilities. We conjecture that measurement challenges and lack of adequate analysis tools have greatly inhibited the ability of the General Counsel’s offices in selecting the best mode for the resolution (i.e. litigation vs. out-of-court settlement) of business conflicts and disputes. Easily quantified dir...

With the huge volumes of electronic data subject to discovery in virtually every instance of litigation, time and costs of conducting discovery have become exceedingly important when litigants plan their discovery strategies. Rather than incurring the costs of having lawyers review every document produced in response to a discovery request in search of relevant evidence, a cost effective strate...