General Litigation
| Jury Consultants |
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| The jury serves a vital function in the American legal system. The jury is the trier of fact in a civil jury trial. The jury's role is to weigh the evidence presented by both sides and reach a verdict. The United States Constitution guarantees a right to trial by jury in civil and criminal cases. The jury must be fair or impartial. The jury pool, the group of individuals from which a particular jury is selected, has to be representative of the community. Voir dire is the process of interviewing potential jurors to determine who will sit on the jury. The purpose of voir dire is to identify and remove individuals who cannot be fair and impartial. It is becoming more and more common for attorneys to hire jury consultants to assist in the selection of jurors, especially for high-profile cases. More... |
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| Unbundled Legal Services |
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| In October 2000, a national conference was held on unbundled legal services. A website, www.unbundledlaw.org, was created by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network as a result of the conference. Unbundled legal services, also called limited scope legal assistance, provide a new model for legal representation for low and moderate income individuals. A client (usually a pro se or self-representing client) hires an attorney to perform a specific task or tasks for the client. The client represents himself/herself in all other aspects of the case. More... |
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| Reviewability of Federal Administrative Agency Decisions |
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| Federal administrative agencies make adjudicatory decisions in regulatory cases. Agency cases include Social Security benefit claims, Federal Communication Commission licensing matters, and Food and Drug Administration proceedings to enforce provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. If the person or company affected by the decision is dissatisfied with the agency's ruling, the decision can be appealed to a court. This article discusses the requirements that must be met before an agency's decision can be appealed to the court. More... |
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| Judicial Conflicts of Interest |
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| Our legal system requires a fair and independent judiciary. In order to maintain public trust in our system of justice, judges must conduct themselves in an ethical manner. There are codes of conduct, which set standards of behavior for state and federal judges. These standards are aimed at assuring the impartiality of judges and reducing the possibility of conflicts of interest. More... |
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| Domestic Violence, Firearms, and the Courts |
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| Domestic violence against women is increasingly common in the United States. The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, estimates that at least one million violent crimes are committed against former spouses or intimate partners each year. The vast majority of these victims are women. Prior domestic violence and the abuser's access to a firearm greatly increase the likelihood that a female intimate partner will become a homicide victim. More... |
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