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• The purpose of this analysis is to provide systematic and up-to-date data on the frequency of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2012) court decisions on a state-by-state basis, not only overall, but in relation to special education enrollments. • This empirical analysis revealed notable differences among state rankings in the frequencies of court decisions under the IDEA on overall and per capita bases for the period of 1979-2013. • The findings reveal that on an overall basis, 10 jurisdictions, led by New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, accounted for almost two thirds of the IDEA court decisions, while the 10 jurisdictions with the fewest number of decisions, led by North Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah, accounted for less than 3% of decisions. • The findings fill an existing gap in the research and provide special education administrators and policy makers the most comprehensive available data on the frequency of the judicial decisions, which is the most costly level of dispute resolution under the IDEA. • The primary policy recommendation is to put a concerted priority on the limited number of jurisdictions in the high frequency per capita group rather than investing efforts on revising the adjudicative procedures in the next IDEA reauthorization. • The primary research recommendation is for follow-up studies to identify the factors that contribute to the wide variation in frequency of judicial litigation rates among and within the states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the increased use of administrative proceedings and enforcement powers by the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and outlined some of the challenge and criticism faced by the SEC's along with its history, benefits and the growth. SEC claims that Administrative Law Courts (ALCs) offer benefits over traditional district courts and provides less protections than the federal courts for defendants and due to this it suffers a number of losses in court.

The article argues that the U.S. Fourth Circuit court should have jurisdiction to review the vessel's owner's constitutional claims in its "Angelex Ltd. v. United States" case. Topics discussed include abuse of discretion by federal agencies; jurisdiction of district court over the agencies' actions; and the constitutional claims of the firm owner in the case.

The article presents an essay that discusses the career of Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Topics discussed include his views on the use of class actions to deal with mass torts; his use of tactics described by writer Walter Murphy to attain influence for his opinions; and presentation of the Edward J. Devitt Award to Weinstein's achievements.

The article discusses the decision of Jack B. Weinstein, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in the case 'In re Agent Orange'. Topics discussed include his contribution in the construction of the tort laws in the U.S.; judicial responsibility concerning tort laws; and implications of the Agent Orange litigation on the U.S. tort laws.

The article discusses America's civil and criminal jury systems in relation to Internet use and the claim that the Internet is becoming inseparable from the lives of current and prospective jurors in the U.S. as of 2015. Potential judicial responses to the Internet's role in the American jury system are addressed, along with efforts to limit juror bias. The ways in which U.S. lawyers use the Internet to select and sway jurors are examined, along with juror good faith and U.S. district courts.

Gossip about judges is an essential source of information to civil litigators. Hearing third-party assessments of a judge's personality, demeanor, intelligence, curiosity, and openness to new interpretations of the law can substantially affect a lawyer's strategic decisions during the course of litigation, and sometimes whether litigation occurs at all. Yet gossip about judges rarely merits mention and has evaded serious study. This Article brings attorney gossip about judges out into the open, identifying its strategic benefits and drawbacks and explaining how attorneys use gossip (and other secondhand information on judges) to anticipate the likely outcome of judicial decisions. It further explains how common attorney practices in modern civil litigation unintentionally compromise the accuracy and reliability of gossip about judges and offers some thoughts on restoring the full value of this little-discussed resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the decision of the Illinois Third District Court in case Kalkman v. Nedved related to the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act in which court dismissed the claim made by plaintiff. Topics discussed include information on the Residential Real Property Disclosure Act that mandates the seller to disclose any defects in materials, information on the seller-friendly caveat emptor doctrine and consequences of the Kalkman ruling.

This Article is part of the University of Miami Law Review's Leading from Below Symposium. It canvasses prisoners' lawyers' strategies prompted by the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA"). The strategies comply with the statute's limits yet also allow U.S. district courts to remain a forum for the vindication of the constitutional rights of at least some of the nation's millions of prisoners. After Part I's introduction, Part II summarizes in several charts the PLRA's sharp impact on the prevalence and outcomes of prison litigation, but demonstrates that there are still many cases and situations in which courts continue to play a role. Part III looks at three methods by which plaintiffs and defendants can jointly obtain injunctive-type relief in prison cases--by crafting stipulations that comply with the PLRA's constraints, by structuring the relief as a conditional dismissal, or by setting up the possibility of state-court enforcement. Part IV examines plaintiffs' coping methods for the PLRA's provisions that ease the path to termination of decrees, whether litigated or by consent. Two types of preparation for a termination motion have emerged: First, the parties sometimes agree to stretch out the remediation period more than the PLRA's default two years. Second, plaintiffs have worked to ensure that they are collecting sufficient information to inform their potentially hurried response to a termination motion. It is my hope that the examples presented below can help counsel and judges in prisoners' rights cases thread the needle that the PLRA presents. More theoretically, the examples demonstrate that litigation tactics and procedures are dynamic--that rule changes affect the parties' bargaining positions but rarely eliminate bargaining altogether. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What factors explain when federal trial court judges will be influenced and constrained by their direct superiors in the judicial hierarchy? To empirically test this hierarchical relationship, this study utilizes an original database of cases terminated in 29 federal district courts from 2000 to 2004 and a research design that naturally incorporates hierarchical interactions through a focus on cases that were appealed to the U.S. courts of appeal and later reversed and remanded. After controlling for litigant, judge, political, and case characteristics, the results indicate that the likelihood of a district court case having an altered outcome after circuit court intervention is greatly affected by the content and context of the supervising circuit panel's opinion. These results have implications for the function and constraining ability of the judicial hierarchy and provide new insight into how judging significantly differs by court level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study of Lee v. Macon County Board of Education demonstrates that a federal district court in Alabama, enforcing Brown v. Board of Education, brought about significant social change despite constraints on the courts. The court's application of Brown played a decisive role in ending the racial caste system in this Alabama Black Belt county. The court, by adding the U. S. Department of Justice as a party, overcame constraints that had precluded the executive branch from pursuing school desegregation. Change came through the courts before Congress legislated against school segregation. Seekers of social change must evaluate the constraints on the courts relative to the constraints on the other branches and levels of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a report related to a legal counsel symposium related to the essential factors for the Tennessee district court justices. Details to the development and success of the Tennessee law firm Orr Brown law firm which aims to provide legal services to poor communities in Tennessee is presented. An overview on the legal system in the county is also noted.