Performance-based credit trading

It is well established that - in the absence of market distortions - permit trading provides a cost efficient implementation mechanism for a range of different environmental policy issues where objectives can be set - either explicitly, or implicitly - in absolute terms (e.g. tonnes of carbon). However in many policy areas, objectives are formulated in relative terms (i.e. as rates). For example, objectives may be set for energy efficiency rates in certain industrial sectors (i.e. energy consumption per unit output), or for the mix of secondary and primary materials used in the manufacture of certain products. Furthermore, in a second-best setting with distortionary taxes, there may be significant social cost advantages to using rate-based instruments, even when the underlying policy objective is expressed in absolute terms. This paper extends the analysis of the cost efficiency of trading schemes to encompass a broader range regulatory rules. It is demonstrated that for a generic form of trading - performance-based credit trading (PBCT) - a market equilibrium will always exist, and that it will achieve the cost efficient outcome for any policy objective that can be expressed in the form of a linear perform-ance rule. The general formulation of this rule is very flexible, and it can incorporate both absolute performance targets, and rate-based targets. In the case of an absolute performance target, it is shown that while PBCT is functionally equivalent to permit (i.e. allowance) trading, it has different implications for property rights. In relation to rate-based regulation, an application of PBCT to an energy efficiency target for a particular sector is used to demonstrate how performance adjustment factors can be used to different-iate individual firm targets while ensuring that the overall sector constraint is satisfied

Best practices for managing burnout in attorneys

Attorneys in the United States suffer from higher-than-average rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation. Although these facts are widely accepted, at the time of the study, there was no consensus in the legal or research communities as to the cause of these alarming statistics. The combination of behavioral and psychological distress experienced by attorneys may suggest that burnout is a contributing factor. This study examined the relationship between workplace stressors and professional burnout. The literature review summarized recent and landmark studies in the field, as well as explored characteristics unique to the legal profession that were putting attorneys at risk. In an effort to understand the best practices that reduced instances of burnout in practicing attorneys, the phenomenological study asked participants about their experiences as an attorney, as well as the practices they employed to mitigate professional stress. The research findings supported the literature review and resulted in important implications for law firms, bar associations, law schools, and practitioners

Dishonest assistance and accessory liability

Dishonest Assistance and Accessory Liability, Paul S. Davies, Accessory Liability, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2015, 294 pp, hb £54.99 In this essay review of Paul Davies' Accessory Liability, it is questioned whether dishonest assistance can be accommodated with other forms of third party liability in private law. It is argued that dishonest assistance does not involve the same conduct element as other forms of third party liability which are included in Davies’ book. Liability can arise for ‘weak’ causal links in dishonest assistance claims such as where a third party fails to intervene. It is also the case that liability can arise for involvement which arises ‘after the event’, which undermines Davies’ suggestion that there must be a causal link between a third party’s conduct and a primary wrong