Sequential trials and the English rule

The allocation of trial costs and the way a trial progresses are two important issues in civil procedure. The combination of these two elements has received relatively little attention in the law and economics literature. The prior literature has only compared unitary litigation (e.g. liability and damage issues are litigated, after which the court decides on both issues) under the American rule with sequential litigation (e.g. the parties first litigate the liability issue after which the court makes a decision, and then if still necessary the parties litigate the damages issue) under the American rule. In this article, I examine the influence of sequential litigation when the loser at trial pays all the litigation costs and compare the results with (a) the situation in which litigation is unitary and the loser pays all the litigation costs and (b) the situation in which litigation is sequential and each party bears her own costs. I focus on the incentive to sue, the incentive to settle (or to litigate) and on the settlement amount. Some interesting differences with the previous literature are discussed in detail.     

论行政法上的连带责任

《最高人民法院关于审理行政许可案件若干问题的规定》第13条在行政法上确立了一个新的连带责任类型,即行政主体和私人共同承担连带责任。行政法上的连带责任应从行政主体之间的连带责任拓宽到行政相对人之间的连带责任以及行政民事连带责任,应从行政许可与行政赔偿领域拓宽到行政处罚等其它领域。行政法上连带责任的实现有赖于建立或重构行政诉讼和行政赔偿诉讼第三人制度,建立行政案件与民事案件的合并审理机制。行政主体在承担责任后要向作为连带责任人的第三人追偿,则有赖于建立"官告民"的行政诉讼机制,否则只能通过民事诉讼机制去追偿。     

Civil Litigation, Access to Government-Held Information, and Coordination of Public and Private Enforcement in the Czech Republic

To correct the historical suppression of environmental information under communist rule, the Czech Republic has instituted several new laws granting citizen access to government-held information. This access should facilitate civil litigation by providing evidence in court for establishing causality in a country where practically everyone feels the effects of broad and severe environmental degradation. However, poor de facto citizen access and citizens'; traditional distrust of information severely limits litigation activity. Similarly, this paper examines the joint use of a privately-initiated ex post liability policy (i.e., tort litigation) and a state-initiated ex post liability policy (i.e., penalties). In particular, it explores a potential exchange of information between a government enforcer and plaintiffs, where the government enforcer provides information on the causality of harm to plaintiffs and plaintiffs provide information on the level of harm to the government enforcer. With more accurate information on both causality and damages, the joint use of state and private enforcement should lead to more efficient outcomes. This paper finds great potential for such improvement given the limited use of privately-provided information on harm and poor de facto access to government-provided information on environmental matters.     

Technology and torts: Memory costs, nondurable precautions and interference effects

This article examines the influence of nondurable precaution technologies on the expansion of tort awards. We provide four contributions to the literature. First, we present a general, formal model on durable and non-durable precaution technology that focuses on memory costs. Second, because liability exposure creates interference, we argue that tort law perpetuates the expansion of awards. Third, because plaintiffs do not consider the social costs of interference effects, private litigation induces socially excessive suits. Fourth, while new harm-reducing technologies likely increase accident rates, such technologies also raise the ratio of trial costs to harm, leaving undetermined the overall effect of new technologies on the rate of litigation.     

Litigation,Judicial Path-Dependence,and Legal Change

In this paper we consider the role that litigation and case selection play in the process of legal change. After identifying two necessary conditions for litigation, we examine the effect of judicial path dependence on the consolidation of liability rules and legal remedies, paying special attention to litigation with different win–loss ratios. We study the consequence of private litigation decisions on the contraction or consolidation of legal rules under various litigation and judicial environments. We also consider the relevance of the win–loss ratios, the existence and nature of positive litigation costs, and the weight of past precedents on the ongoing process of legal evolution.JEL K0, K40, K13, K41     

诉讼欺诈的侵权责任

诉讼欺诈的侵权责任问题已引起学界的关注,研究的焦点在于诉讼欺诈的界定以及侵权责任的法律构成等问题。诉讼欺诈的侵权责任在构成上的独特性为,行为人通过取得法院的生效判决书或调解书,侵害案外第三人的合法权利。为规制诉讼欺诈行为,在立法上应赋予案外第三人一种申请撤销已生效判决书或调解书的权利。     

Hospital committee proceedings and reports: their legal status.

This Article examines the legal status of hospital committee proceedings and reports, focusing on how they may be used in a medicolegal context. Specific topics dealt with include the hospital medical staff in legal perspective, the concept of institutional responsibility, liability considerations arising from committee work, and the discovery and admissiblity of committee records in litigation cases. The author concludes that the danger of committee members facing liability for their activities is slight and that the fear that these reports and proceedings may be subject to discovery or be admissible into evidence in subsequent litigation is remote because candid and conscientious evaluations of clinical practices within every institution are essential and, therefore, public policy must encourage such evaluations by maintaining the confidentiality of committee activities.     

我国《公司法》修订中商事连带责任的重构——基于“连带”的历史发展脉络

我国《公司法》存在用连带责任替代连带之债、连带责任与无限责任、补充责任混同使用的现象,给理论与司法实践造成困扰。究其原因是对商事连带责任与民事连带责任的关系界定不清,对公司法中的商事连带责任制度缺乏体系化思考与精细化设计。连带之债起源于罗马法的整体之债,形成于中世纪注释法学的理论抽象,发展于近现代民法。近现代商法将法定原因连带责任引入商事规范,构建了商事连带责任制度。商事连带责任与民法连带之债共同具有给付与清偿的整体性特征,但商事连带责任也具有自身的商事特性。由于商事信义义务的道德标准高于民事诚信义务,商事法定连带责任相对于民事连带责任的适用范围更为广泛。基于商事领域的公司股东有限责任制度,商事连带责任可为有限连带也可为无限连带。我国《公司法》未来的修订应在我国《民法典》连带之债规定的基础上对商事连带责任进行体系化贯通,谨慎设定法定连带责任,厘清连带责任与无限责任的关系,对有限连带责任与无限连带责任、连带清偿责任与补充清偿责任进行细化区分。     

不动产登记机构错误登记赔偿责任的性质与形态

不动产登记机构对登记申请的审查、登记行为是物权变动行为的组成部分,是不动产物权变动的公示方法和生效要件。它是对当事人的合意与申请登记的基础法律行为起辅助作用的补助行为,尽管其中有一定的行政因素和管理成分,但就物权登记行为的整体构造、主要功用、基本性质而言,应属私法上的行为。登记机构错误登记的赔偿责任因此应定性为民事责任。惟此方能妥善解决在登记机构与登记申请人承担共同责任时的责任形态及诉讼程序问题。登记机构与登记申请人的行为如构成共同侵权,二者应承担连带赔偿责任;如构成混合侵权,登记机构的责任宜确定为补充责任。登记机构追偿权的行使,也因其责任形态的不同而有所差异。     

民事诉讼法律责任论

为了调整民事诉讼法律关系、维护民事诉讼法律秩序 ,对违反民事诉讼法的行为 ,除道德谴责和纪律处分外 ,在法律责任方面 ,也应该有一个以程序法律责任为主体、实体法律责任为保障的综合性法律责任体系予以制裁、调整。     

Orphan drugs: the question of products liability

Orphan drugs, essential for the treatment of persons with rare diseases, generally are unprofitable for manufacturers to develop and market. While congressional and administrative efforts to promote the development of orphan drugs have met with modest success, application of products liability doctrine to orphan drug sponsors could subvert those efforts. This Note describes the provisions of the Orphan Drug Act and analyzes products liability law with respect to orphan drug litigation. It argues that the goals of tort law support the imposition of liability for design defect, failure to warn and negligence in testing. Finally, the Note acknowledges that liability costs create disincentives for orphan drug development and suggests mechanisms for reducing manufacturers' liability concerns.     

Issues in Coverage for Preexisting Pollution Conditions under Pollution Liability Insurance Policies

Pollution liability insurance policies provide coverage for claims and costs associated with pollution conditions that develop and commence during the policy period. Coverage under such policies for claims arising from pollution conditions that existed before the policy incepted, however, varies significantly under different policy forms. This article addresses the two principal means that insurers have utilized to limit the risks associated with preexisting pollution conditions under pollution policies: the known conditions exclusion and retroactive date provisions. The article explains that these provisions have received mixed treatment in the courts and are likely to continue to be a focus of future coverage litigation involving environmental impairment liability and pollution legal liability policies.     

公司人格机理与公司救济体制之重构

基于"共同行为"的法理,公司法律责任制度在责任的宗旨、责任的特质、责任的追究机制等诸方面均与传统的民事责任存有本质上的区别。受"民商合一"体制的制约,我国现行公司立法不存在独立的公司法律责任及公司诉讼制度。为更好地保护公司的利益,我国应构建区别于传统的民事责任之外的、独立的公司法律责任与公司诉讼     

Tort Liability Litigation Costs for Commercial Claims

This article analyzes tort liability litigation costs usingthe Texas Department of Insurance Commercial Liability InsuranceClosed Claim database for the years 1988–2004. Insurercosts to defend claims in which a suit was filed average $35,000per claim in 2004$, which corresponds to a share of 0.18 oftotal expenditures. Claims with higher stakes and complexitylead to greater reliance on outside counsel and less relianceon in-house counsel. Total transactions costs for each dollarreceived by claimants average $0.75 for all claims and $0.83for claims in which the claimant retained an attorney and asuit was filed.     

Women in Prison as Litigants:

ABSTRACT

Current rules of evidence restrict the use of sexual history evidence in civil sexualharassment cases. This paper argues for an extension of those restrictions to civil product liability litigation. The discussion focuses on the use of questions regarding sexual history during discovery and at trial in medically-related mass tort litigation and the potential repercussions this has on women and their cases.     

论药害侵权及其民事救济理论与制度

药害侵权是一种特殊的产品侵权。严格责任作为一种特殊产品侵权的归责原则已经发展成为药害侵权的基本归责原则。药害事故的频繁发生带来了民事诉讼方面的变化，因果关系推定、举证责任倒置以及集团诉讼地位的提升成为药害侵权诉讼的主要特征。当前，我国药害侵权民事救济立法与司法过程中还存在一些问题,需要采取相应措施逐步加以完善。     

Medical malpractice litigation: do the British have a better remedy?

Medical malpractice claims are filed nearly ten times more frequently in America than they are in Great Britain. British patients generally adopt a less adversarial stance toward medical malpractice than do American patients. This Article examines the British malpractice system, as compared with the American system, and explores the differences between the two, in terms of costs and fees, liability rules, statutory provisions, and judicial attitudes toward malpractice litigation. The Article also discusses British social and institutional factors, such as the "taint" of litigation and the National Health Service, and evaluates how these factors affect British malpractice litigation. The Article presents the alternative forums available to British patients in seeking satisfaction for their medical service complaints. The Article concludes with an evaluation of how these factors achieve the three societal objectives of malpractice litigation: reparation, emotional vindication and deterrence.     

行政诉讼证明责任研究

对行政诉讼中的证明责任不能简单的做一归而统之的划分,而应该具体的分析诉讼中各角色的不同证明责任。在行政诉讼中被告的证明责任应分为客观的证明责任和提供证明责任,前者是在行政实体法中就已预先设定好划归行政机关承担,并在行政诉讼中当案件真伪不明时作为法官判案的实体法依据。后者则仅仅只在诉讼过程中才有其存在的意义。而原告在诉讼前的证明行为实质上是证明的义务,其在诉讼中则享有证明的权利,法官在行政诉讼过程中则具有证明的权力。     

The expert witness. Neither Frye nor Daubert solved the problem: what can be done?

Flawed expert scientific testimony has compromised truth finding in American litigation, including in medical malpractice and in product liability cases. The Federal Rules of Evidence and the Supreme Court in Daubert and other cases have established standards for testimony that include reliability and relevance, and established judges as gatekeepers. However, because of lack of understanding of scientific issues, judges have problems with this role, and juries have difficulties with scientific evidence. Professionals and the judiciary have made some advances, but a better system involving the court's use of neutral experts and a mechanism to hold experts accountable for improprieties is needed.     

内幕交易民事责任的价值平衡与规则互补——以美国为研究范本

内幕交易的民事赔偿责任不同于普通的侵权责任。如何应对内幕交易的民事诉讼、是否应对该类诉讼进行适当限制是各国制度建构所面对的共同问题,在此方面,美国的经验具有重要的借鉴意义。在内幕交易民事责任的追究中,存在着远非单一的多元价值,补偿投资者利益只是要实现的若干目标之一。制度构建的重要任务是要对相互冲突的价值目标进行恰当的协调和平衡,其中包括:威慑、监控内幕交易行为、保护投资者信心与防止滥诉、保护公司利益之间的平衡;补偿投资者损失与防止民事责任成为投资者保险之间的平衡;保护受害者诉讼权利与抑制过度诉讼之间的平衡等。同时,为实现法律的目标,内幕交易民事赔偿的各种法律规则之间需要功能的互补和相互的配合,包括刑事、行政、民事责任的互补配合,程序法和实体法的互补配合等。