Yesterday the Manhattan Institute unveiled a new study by my colleague there, Senior Fellow Marie Gryphon, entitled “Greater Justice, Lower Cost: How a ‘Loser Pays’ Rule Would Improve the American Legal System” (podcast; Pajamas TV video). It’s got an introduction by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose endorsement of the idea all by itself counts as a welcome news story, I think. I was part of the panel discussion held to welcome the paper, along with Philip Howard of Common Good, Ted Frank of AEI (and this site), and NYU law professor Mark Geistfeld. Some coverage of and reactions to the study: ABA Journal, AmLaw Litigation Daily, Quin Hillyer @ Washington Examiner, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Legal NewsLine, Jane Genova, and Jim Copland and Michael Krauss at Point of Law.
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Actually, while it was you and Ted promoting the idea, I was seriously considering changing my personal opinion. Now that Rudy’s involved, I’m out of here.
Considering the unjust verdicts, and settlements coerced by the possibility of unjust verdicts, posted here on a regular basis, I question whether loser-pays wouldn’t just make things worse, in the absence of jury reform, clearer laws, or other such pie-in-the-sky fantasies.
In other words, I think the systemic flaws run far deeper.