Constitutional law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

What good is sitting alone in your room without catching up on your video watching? This newly released panel discussion from the 1991 (!) Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention tackles the then-afoot trend to diminish the domain of traditional principles of contract in favor of prescribed duties under tort law, a trend I had discussed in my book The Litigation Explosion in that year. That particular trend, like some of the others I criticized, was to turn around in later years; contract did not die and in fact came back strong as it remains today.

It was quite a line-up that day:

Featuring:

Walter Olson, Manhattan Institute
Hon. Joseph R. Grodin, University of California Hastings College of Law and former Associate Justice, California Supreme Court
Prof. Randy E. Barnett, Chicago-Kent College of Law
Prof. E. Allan Farnsworth, Columbia Law School
Moderator: Hon. Robert Bork, American Enterprise Institute and former Supreme Court nominee

A direct YouTube link is here.

From the FedSoc archives: “The Death of Contract and the Rise of Tort” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Bans on Independent-Contractor Status Hurt Workers (Again) is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

June 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Typical medical malpractice reform efforts are aimed at lowering costs for physicians, but what if many problems associated with medical malpractice could be handled via contract?” In a new Cato Podcast with interviewer Caleb Brown, I discuss that subject and go on to talk about issues in malpractice reform, including arbitration and the “nod to federalism” in this year’s Republican medical liability proposal in Congress. Related: reasons why Cato adjunct scholar Jeffrey Singer is skeptical of federal reform.

Medical liability: reviving the case for contract is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Wisconsin is among 16 states with minimum markup laws that have price protections for retailers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“This is a bit peculiar for us, we are not accustomed to regulations that limit our customers’ ability to save money when they shop with us,” Guglielmi said.

More: K. William Watson, Cato (“While state laws like Wisconsin’s Unfair Sales Act are relatively rare, the federal government relies on the same bad economics to justify the U.S. antidumping law, which imposes punitive tariffs on imports sold below ‘fair value.'”).

Wisconsin investigates grocery for pricing too low is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

To the extent America has made progress in recent years in rolling back the extreme litigiousness of earlier years, one main reason has been the courts’ increased willingness to respect the libertarian and classical liberal principle of freedom of contract. Most legal disputes arise between parties with prior dealings, and if they have been left free in those dealings to specify who bears the risks when things go wrong, the result will often be to cut off the need for expensive and open-ended litigation afterward.

More on the Delaware bylaw controversy: D & O Diary (scroll), Andrew Trask on state of the merger class action, WSJ Law Blog first and second, Daniel Fisher, and ABA Journal in June, Alison Frankel/Reuters (forum selection bylaws).

For real liability reform, try freedom of contract is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Arbitration Three Years After Concepcion” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 23 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Libertarians and medical malpractice is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system