Comment: Judicial Selection and Decisional Independence

To protect the decisional independence of judges without disturbing the proper balance of control on the exercise of judicial power, substantive reforms to the selection processes should include adjustments in judicial term length, responsible campaign finance reform and efforts to assure public understanding of the role of the judiciary in the government structure of the US

The Judiciary and Dispute Resolution in Japan: A Survey

An overly brief and misleadingly simple history of the evolution of Japanese legal institutions would begin with the proposition that a century and a quarter ago Japan was a feudal society. By opening to the West, Japan was forced to modernize (Westernize) its laws. As a code system is easier than a common law system to impose wholesale on a society, the continental European civil law countries served as a model for Japan, which patterned its codes primarily on the civil code of Germany and the criminal code of France. After defeat in the Second World War and subsequent occupation by United States forces, both an independent judiciary and an adversary system were superimposed on Japan\u27s code system. This article surveys the changes in the Japanese judiciary in their social context

An Alternative to the Contingent Fee

The most frequent attack on the contingent fee is that it is unprofessional. Support for the contingent fee has been based on the argument that it encourages the lawyer to work harder because the lawyer\u27s own compensation depends on the outcome of the case and on the argument that it enables a poor person with a valid claim to secure representation. The attorney-client relationship is built on a foundation that assumes certain incentives operate on the parties. The Code of Professional Responsibility attempts to assure that the incentives for attorneys are consistent with the interests of the client and that undesirable incentives operating on the attorney are counteracted. The success of the adversary system is premised on the attorney\u27s wholehearted representation of his client. Inherent in a typical contingent fee arrangement, however, are tensions that frequently result in a conflict of interest between attorney and client. This article examines that conflict from an economic and fairness perspective and suggests the risk adjusted hourly fee as a means of more equitably aligning client and attorney interests

Copyright Ownership of Joint Works and Terminations of Transfers

Under the terms of section 24 of the Copyright Act of 1909, the death of Oscar Hammerstein in 1960 resulted in the partnership of Richard Rogers and (Mrs.) Oscar Hammerstein (and James and William Hammerstein, and Alice Hammerstein Mathias, his children-the latter two by a previous marriage), in the ownership of such works as Oklahoma, Carousel, and South Pacific. Oscar Hammerstein may have wanted it that way, but want it or not, he was powerless under the Copyright Act to change the arrangement. Numerous works are the product of the combined efforts of more than one author. Such joint authorship raises problems of ownership and control that can plague joint authors and their estates. The Copyright Act of 1976 replaces the Copyright Act of 1909, and unintentionally allows contemporary Oscar Hammersteins to provide for the control of certain ownership interests, the termination of transfer interests, to vest in a joint author. This Article is not intended as a general treatment of all aspects of the new termination of transfer provisions under the 1976 Copyright Act, since there are already at least four such treatments. Rather, it examines one particular aspect of the form of copyright ownership among joint authors: the effect of joint tenancy or tenancy in common on the termination of transfer provision

Punitive Damages: A Supporting Theory

Scholarly opinion overwhelmingly opposes the trend toward truly punitive damages. If Lord Keynes\u27s observation is correct, then damages intended to punish are, after only a brief maturity, condemned to pass away. The winds of the popular and judicial summer will carry them off because there is no hedgerow of theory to break that wind and hold them fast

Punitive Damages: Introduction and Synopsis

An introduction and synopsis of the 1989 symposium on punitive damages sponsored by the University of Alabama School of Law and the Alabama Law Review

Criteria for the Evaluation of Law School Examination Papers

It is a generally accepted proposition that grades should be determined in a systematic manner based on individual performance. It is hardly more controversial that the criteria by which student performance is judged should be known in advance by the students. Economic analysis of law teaches us that if students behave rationally, their performances will reflect the criteria by which they understand their performances will be evaluated. Analysis of a set of examination papers should reveal the criteria those students believed were to be applied to them. Weighted frequency of occurrence obviously determines the respective weights students believe are assigned to those criteria. And, if the system is to be fair, the weights will determine how professors should grade the examinations

The Meaning of the Constitution and the Selection of Judges

In the ongoing debate over the best method for choosing judges, the focus has been on the perceived drawbacks of judicial election without commensurate consideration of either the advantages of popular elections or the disadvantages of the commission system-usually styled the Missouri plan or merit selection. One such consideration is the means of defining the judicial power

The Separation of Powers and the Public Policy Role of the State Court in a Routine Case

Grand questions like those of tyranny and anarchy rarely present themselves in royal attire, but, instead, appear in humble garb. I wish to address the constitutional issue of the separation and balance of powers in our tripartite structure of government, but I will address it in humble dress

Limit Pricing and Predation in the Antitrust Laws: Economic and Legal Aspects

The overwhelming view in the economic literature is that limit pricing, the practice of establishing a non-profit-maximizing price with the intention of deterring entry of others into the market, either does not make economic sense or, in any event, does not have anticompetitive effects. This article will take a systematic look at the legal status of the limit price doctrine and propose its proper role