Litigation and settlement under the English and American rules: theory and evidence

Article Abstract:

The English, or loser pays, rule in litigation appears to promote settlement and improve the likelihood that, if the claim proceeds, the plaintiff will prevail. Medical malpractice claims in Florida are subject to the rule that the losing party in litigation bear the reasonable costs of both sides, known as the English rule. Under these rules, more claims are dropped, more are settled and jury awards are larger. It is assumed that these changes reflect the quality of the claims that proceed to trial.

United Kingdom, Florida, Justice, Administration of, Administration of justice, Comparative analysis

---

Are fines and prison terms used efficiently? Evidence on federal fraud offenders

Article Abstract:

Review of empirical studies on fines and imprisonment used to punish federal fraud offenders reveals that existing systems of punishment are broadly consistent with optimal penalty theory. Fines are favored under optimal penalty theory and should be used to the extent possible because imprisonment possesses far higher societal costs. The effectiveness, and efficiency of fines, varies positively with ability to pay. The imposition of prison terms appears to be based on the harm done.

Interpretation and construction, Sentences (Criminal procedure), Fraud, Alternatives to imprisonment, Alternative sentencing

---

Enforcement costs and the optimal magnitude and probability of fines

Article Abstract:

The enforcement costs that governments incur for fines affect both the amounts of fines and efforts put into detection of violations. A mathematical model of optimal enforcement costs includes fixed costs which are independent of the number of violators and variable costs which depend on the total of violations. The result of the model is that the optimal fine is the variable costs plus the inflated harm of violation.

Models, Law and economics, Law and economics (Jurisprudence), Fines (Penalties)

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Law and the shaping of American foreign policy: from the Gilded Age to the New Era. Are the Woolf reforms an antidote for the cost disease? The problem of the increasing cost of litigation and English attempts at a solution
• Abstracts: Protectionism versus free trade: implementing the GATT antidumping agreement in the United States. Binding the states: a survey of state law conformance with the standards of the GATT Procurement Code
• Abstracts: The arbitration of human rights complaints: the New York experience
• Abstracts: Separate and equal: in a racially divided America, minorities have to empower their own futures
• Abstracts: An outline of Mexican labor law. North American Free Trade Agreement: implications for Mexican-American workers

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.