Federal Courts

Qualified Immunity: A Shield Too Big?
by Kyle Hawkins, Clark Neily, Fred Smith Jr. and Jay Schweikert
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchJudicial doctrine is rarely the subject of public conversation. So it was once for qualified immunity, which rested for many centuries in a kind of lawyerly tomb ā largely the […]

The Innovation and Limitations of Arbitral Courts
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchIn recent years, governments from the state of Delaware to the Emirate of Dubai have created institutions specially designed to adjudicate transnational commercial disputes. These institutions are hybrids between courts […]

The ‘Duke’ of the Federal Court: Celebrating Gerald B. Tjoflatās 50 Years as a Federal Judge
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchAs a card-carrying member of āthe Union,ā those of us fortunate to have served as law clerks to the Hon. Gerald Bard Tjoflat, I receive an annual letter from His […]

The Zooming of Federal Civil Litigation
by Lee Rosenthal, Scott Dodson and Christopher L. Dodson
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchTwo great forces are upon us. One is COVID-19, a highly infectious disease that has disrupted society around the globe.1 The other is the constant push of technological advancement, which […]

Modernizing Security Measures to Protect Federal Judges and Their Families
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchOn the evening of July 19, 2020, United States District Judge Esther Salas was enjoying a playful moment with her son Daniel, who had just celebrated his 20th birthday. As […]

Jury Trials in a Pandemic Age
Vol. 104 No. 3 (2020-21) | Judges on the MarchThe foundation of our justice system is the jury trial. In criminal cases, the Sixth Amendment provides that āthe accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, […]

Bold and Persistent Reform: The 2015 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the 2017 Pilot Projects
by Jeffrey S. Sutton and Derek A. Webb
Vol. 101 No. 3 (2017) | Bold and Persistent ReformAt 6 p.m. on New Yearās Eve, 2016, as most Americans were settling in to watch college football games or preparing to go to a New Yearās Eve party, Chief […]

The Conservative Case for Class Actions
by Brian Fitzpatrick and John H. Beisner
Vol. 104 No. 2 (2020) | Coping with COVIDShould conservatives embrace class actions as the alternative to government regulation for policing corporate misconduct? Affection for the class-action lawsuit has typically split along political lines, with conservatives traditionally balking […]

Civic Education: The Key to Preserving Judicial Independence
Vol. 104 No. 2 (2020) | Coping with COVIDAt a time when the branches of government are making daily headlines, how do we educate the public about a fair and impartial judiciary and its vital role in our […]

Judicial Independence: Tweak the Guiding Paradigm
by Charles Geyh
Vol. 104 No. 2 (2020) | Coping with COVIDOver time, the public has simply ceased to believe judges when they say that they follow the law, and nothing but. If judges impose their ideological policy preferences, the argument […]