The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the certification of the massive gender discrimination class in Wal-Mart v. Dukes [pdf] has been well-publicized. We go behind the headlines, therefore, to offer a few educated guesses as to what the case will mean for the future of class actions and other forms of aggregate litigation: Statewide classes barred on state … Continue Reading
"You don’t want to lose credibility," Justice Thomas told Bryan Garner during their 2007 interview [pdf]. "That is the one thing you bring with you. And if you lose it, it’s hard to get it back." A lawyer’s credibility is his or her stock in trade, and that’s especially true in the appellate courts. Appellate judges rely on … Continue Reading
My favorite part of my job is oral argument. A well-prepared oral argument with a hot bench is everything that draws a lawyer into appellate practice — a fast-paced but thoughtful give-and-take about what the law is, and where it should go. As Justice Scalia told Bryan Garner, “I think good counsel welcomes, welcomes questions.” Still, nothing … Continue Reading
"God created man because he loved to hear stories," goes an Ethiopian proverb. You might think that narrative has little or nothing to do with writing a good brief. But as Professor James Boyd White reminds us, "The law always begins in a story . . . It ends in a story, too." Chief Justice Roberts tells … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that on the morning of Thursday, June 16, it will file opinions in four civil cases [pdf]: Studt v. Sherman Health Systems, No. 108182— Does the Illinois pattern jury instruction on professional negligence (Civil No. 105.01) correctly state the applicable standards? See Tort Law. Sheffler v. Commonwealth Edison Co., … Continue Reading
In 2006 and 2007, legal writing icon Bryan Garner had an amazing opportunity — he interviewed eight of the nine then-sitting Justices of the United States Supreme Court on legal writing and appellate advocacy. The videotapes have been posted on Garner’s LawProse site for a while now, but last year, Garner made the Justices’ advice even … Continue Reading
From time to time, I’ve reported on important new decisions from around the country on the scope of the economic loss rule, see here, and here, and here. Last month, the Arizona Court of Appeals gave the defense bar an important new precedent, extending the economic loss rule to service contracts. First, to review: economic losses are … Continue Reading
In the blog posting dated March 25, 2011, the author discussed the Florida Supreme Court’s review of Cevallos v. Rideout, No. SC09-2238, where the Court will determine how, or if, the rebuttable presumption that a rear-driver was the sole, proximate cause of a rear-end collision applies when the rear-driver was the plaintiff. No decision has been … Continue Reading
The Texas legislature has recently passed civil justice reform legislation. While most of the publicity concerning the legislation focused on the “loser pays” provisions, other changes also deserve note. The new statutes permit an interlocutory appeal of a ruling on a controlling legal issue where such an appeal is approved by the trial court and … Continue Reading
