Arbitration is not ideal, but it is almost always preferable to the alternative: going to court. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on December 28, 2023 (here). Many Americans are understandably troubled by the scale and influence of global companies, especially in Big Tech. Soci…
Civil Justice
The Lawyers’ War on Law
This essay originally appeared in the pre-digital magazine The American Enterprise (published by the American Enterprise Institute) in March 2001. Written over 21 years ago in the wake of the 2000 election dispute in Florida, which was resolved in Bush v. Gore, I think my take has held up pretty …
Dirty John 2: The Betty Broderick Story
Season 2 of this true crime series airs the San Diego legal community’s dirty laundry. Betty Broderick was raging against a corrupt ruling class as well as an adulterous, disloyal husband. I confess that I enjoyed season 1 of Dirty John, the Netflix series based on L.A. Times reporter Christoph…
America’s Ruling Class
This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty, on September 8, 2020 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Instapundit (here), and Real Clear Policy! Some excellent books have been written on the separate—and seemingly unrelated–issues of taming the administrative state, reforming our civil justi…
Litigation Nation?
If America is defined by its legal system, why are lawyers so unpopular? This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on April 10, 2020 (here) as “A Paean to the Great American…Lawsuit?” Thanks to Power Line, and Overlawyered! Americans have always been litigious. Tocqueville …
The Nonsense Factory
The Silicon Valley nouveau riche are different from the rest of us; they are more grandiose An abridged version of this essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on July 29, 2019 as Lost in Nonsense (here). Thank you, Power Line! And Overlawyered.com (here) Silicon Valley venture capitalist …
Robbing Beyoncé Blind
A slightly condensed version of this article first appeared in City Journal on January 10, 2019 (here). Thank you, Instapundit (here) and The Science Advice Goddess (here). And Overlawyered.com (here). and Real Clear Policy. The ADA litigation monster continues to run amok Is it Beyoncé’s faul…
Union Time, Taxpayer Dime: An Update
Stung by Janus, public-employee unions resort to thuggish tactics to discourage taxpayer challenges An abridged version of this piece appeared in City Journal on November 20, 2018. The wheels of justice grind slowly. Here is a news story from the Austin American-Statesman, reporting on a court he…
The Historical Origins of “Loser Pays”
In this two-part series for Law and Liberty, I explore the historical origins of the so-called “American rule” (each side bears its attorneys’ fees in litigation), and its rest-of-the-world counterpart , the so-called “English rule” (loser pays). Part one is …
A Triumph of Textual Analysis: The Texas Supreme Court Tackles the Issue of “Same-Sex” Sexual Harassment
This article also appeared in the Federalist Society’s State Court Docket Watch blog, and again in the 2018 Annual Summary. Texas’s employment discrimination statute (the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, codified in the Texas Labor Code at section 21.001 et seq.), like its federal co…