This dissertation explores the history of women and litigation in the Spanish-Mediterranean city of Valencia between 1550 and 1600 through the examination of 114 civil suits filed in the appellate court of the Real Audiencia (Royal Supreme Court of the kingdom of Valencia). During this time, one-third of all legal cases reviewed by the Royal Supreme Court involved a female litigant as either the primary supplicant or defendant, and in some cases, women were both. Widows, wives, and daughters of Valencian artisans and merchants, farmers, and the elite initiated litigation over various socio-economic issues including disputed inheritances, dowries, yearly incomes, and urban and agricultural property. As good Valencian citizens, female litigants utilized the judicial system, particularly civil law courts, in order to negotiate their financial welfare during a time of economic prosperity in the city. In so doing, they demonstrated an understanding of local legal customs as well as their socio-economic rights, which they confidently defended. Historians have characterized early modern Spain as a litigious society, but there are few studies of Spanish litigation that focus primarily on the legal pursuits of women in civil court. Instead, scholarship has addressed Spanish women's involvement in criminal trials, an emphasis which tends to portray women as marginal to Spanish society. Civil litigation, however, presents women as individuals actively making daily decisions that impacted others from throughout their community. Moreover, the subject of women and litigation in Valencia reveals the degree to which local courts and the urban community, including men, supported women's legal and economic interests during the sixteenth century. Such local support further illustrates that women were central as opposed to marginal in early modern Spanish society.

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Marriage equality exists in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Activists are waiting on the Supreme Court to issue a ruling and bring the movement to its conclusion. Critics of litigation claim that its effects are limited at best, and that the movement's desired result could be achieved without stepping foot in a courtroom. This Article seeks to examine the marriage equality movement's strategy for getting to this point, particularly the role of courts, and argues that litigation was an effective and necessary means of expanding the freedom to marry.

Using 629 observations of U.S. publicly listed firms with internal control related frauds from 2000 to 2006; this study investigates the change in auditor litigations in the Post- Sarbanes Oxley, Section 404 period. To the extent the conditions of the internal control in place are inadequate or non-existent, the possibility of the occurrence of internal control related fraud heightens. Thus, the inability of auditors to detect a financial statement misstatement due to internal control fraud in a timely manner exposes auditors to litigation (Barra, 2010; Heninger, 2001; Caplan, 1999). This situation was prevalent in the recent notable corporate failures that resulted in auditors being named as potential defendants. The present research finding indicates during the Post-SOX 404 period, the probability of auditor litigation due to internal control fraud increases. However, no support was shown for further increases in the likelihood of auditor litigation when both types of fraud occur in the Post-SOX 404 period. These results suggest an increase in the enforcement of accountability by the SEC, and should motivate auditors towards reassessing their audit procedures. Furthermore, the results indicate the probability of auditor litigation due to internal control fraud decreases for accelerated filers, and similarly, the probability of auditor litigation decreases for firms with management voluntary disclosures reflecting effective internal control. The overall result of this study indicates the likelihood of auditors being litigated increased in the Post-SOX 404 period, and auditors are more likely to be litigated when both types of fraud occurs simultaneously. This result further supports the argument for meritorious claims and the procedural justice theory.

Notre travail, qui s’inscrit en droite ligne des recherches du CERCRID sur les marc consistait a étudier cette question, dans un secteur particulier. Il s’est agi d’aller au-delà du discours général sur les modes alternatifs de règlement des conflits, pour voir précisément ce qu’il en est en matière bancaire. La recherche du GIP droit et justice confiée au CERCRID, et portant sur la baisse générale du contentieux de l’impayé depuis le début des années 1990, a constitué un élément supplémentaire de notre champ d’investigation. A la conjonction de ces deux préoccupations principales, s’est greffée une grave crise économique mondiale née du crédit hypothécaire aux États-Unis d’Amérique. Tous ces facteurs nous ont conduit a nous intéresser à la prévention et au règlement du contentieux bancaire. Le travail a donc consiste en une large recherche sur le contentieux bancaire, le mot traitement ayant été choisi pour englober a la fois la prévention et le règlement. On comprend ainsi que le sens contextuel du mot traitement va au-delà de l’acception habituelle de ce terme. Trois principaux constats se dégagent de l’étude du contentieux bancaire : il s’agit d’une matière éminemment marquée du sceau de la prévention, d’une matière limitativement marquée du sceau de la médiation et de l’adjudication, d’une matière rarement marquée du sceau de l’arbitrage. La prévention du contentieux bancaire repose sur deux axes majeurs : la réduction des occasions de contentieux, ainsi que la limitation des espaces de discussion. La négociation précontentieuse apparait comme le mécanisme prééminent permettant d’éviter le litige et de régler les différends. En cas de litige, les parties peuvent saisir le médiateur bancaire. Il est également possible de recourir au juge. En cette matière, c’est essentiellement le juge étatique que les parties saisissent. Il va sans dire que l’arbitrage est rare, notamment du fait de l’absence d’imperium de l’arbitre. / Our work was done in the framework of CERCRID research on ADR (alternative dispute resolution). the goal was to study this question in a specific sector. we had to go beyond general knowledges on ADR, in order to discover precisely what it was about in the bank sector. the research of the Center « droit et justice », on the falling of the unpaid litigation since the beginning of 1990, which was assigned to the CERCRID, constituted an additional element for our investigations. furthermore, we had to take the sup-primes crises in the USA into consideration. all these factors lead us to work on the prevention and the settling of banking conflicts. the job therefore consisted to do a large research on banking litigation. the word treatment was chosen to include both the prevention and the settling. this is to say that the sense of the word treatment hier goes beyond the common meaning of this word. three main conclusions can be made about the research on banking litigation : it is a matter in which the prevention of conflicts plays a very important role. the mediation and the settling by the judicial court are less important hier. the arbitration is rare.the prevention of conflicts lies on two majors axis : the reduction of conflicts occasions, and the limitation of space for discussions. the negotiation appears to be the most important mechanism to settle disagreements, the banks trying to avoid judicial proceedings. in case of failure, the conflict can be solved by mediation, or by the court. the judicial court is usually the one chosen by the parties at this stage.

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Le contentieux de l’impayé occupe une place importante dans les rapports personnels de l’individu, civils ou commerciaux. Son omniprésence devant l’ensemble des juridictions, est de nature à perturber non pas seulement la santé de l’économie, mais également celle des mécanismes juridiques. D’emblée, l’analyse du contentieux de l’impayé en France et au Maroc nous renvoie à observer une décrue et un accroissement respectifs, de ce type de contentieux devant les juridictions compétentes ces dernières années. En effet, ce type de contentieux ne cesse de s’accroitre devant l’ensemble des juridictions Marocaine, de plus en plus encombrées par ce contentieux et qui subissent avec résignation un phénomène d’impayé explosif. Cette hausse des affaires liées à l’impayé n’est pas un phénomène de circonstances, et n’est pas lié à la crise économique actuelle. Elle résulte d’un accroissement sans précèdent de l’impayé, et un mode de recouvrement qui s’appuie inconditionnellement sur la justice étatique. En France, La situation est bien différente. En effet, la baisse du contentieux de l’impayé devant les juridictions civiles et commerciales, ne résulte point d’un hasard, ou de causes purement accidentelles. Elle résulte vraisemblablement d’une relation synergique d’un ensemble de facteurs. Il s’agit d’une conjonction de plusieurs dispositions législatives, de procédés et de techniques qui ont contribué à cette baisse. Par ailleurs, L’exploration de l’évolution positive ou négative du contentieux de l’impayé ne constitue pas uniquement un moyen idoine pour appréhender la genèse et le fondement de l’impayé, elle constitue également un indicateur fiable de l’approche systémique adoptée en matière de recouvrement de créances dans les deux pays. / Litigation of outstanding plays an important role in personal relationships of the individual, whether civil or commercial. It’s omnipresence in all courts, is likely to affect not only the health of the economy, but also the legal mechanisms. From the outset, the analysis of the outstanding litigation in France and Morocco refers us to observe a recession and a respective increase of this type of litigation in the courts the past few years. Indeed, this type of litigation keeps getting increased in front of all Moroccan courts that are more and more crowded by the litigation and that knows an explosive outstanding phenomenon. The increase related to the unpaid cases is not a phenomenon of circumstances, and is not related to the current economic crisis. It results from an unprecedented increase in the outstanding and a recovery mode that unconditionally supports the justice. In France, the situation is quite different. Indeed, the decline of the outstanding litigation in civil and commercial courts is not the result of chance or purely accidental causes but it’s likely the result of a synergistic combination of different factors. It is a combination of several laws, processes and techniques that have contributed to this decline. In addition, the exploration of the positive or negative trends in litigation is not only a suitable way to understand the origin and foundation of the unpaid but also a reliable indicator to the systemic approach adopted for the recovery of claims in both countries.

Couples who divorce are likely to experience increased levels of psychological distress, decreased levels of happiness, and increased levels of depression. To reduce these negative effects, litigators use mediation to resolve disagreements including child custody disputes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare divorcing parents' depression and satisfaction with the process after the use of mediation or litigation. Wexler's theory of therapeutic jurisprudence provided the theoretical framework. Data was collected from 170 participants who were recruited using convenience sampling through Facebook. Participants voluntarily completed a survey which included a researcher developed questionnaire, the Acrimony Scale, the Nonacceptance of Marital Termination, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression. Results from MANOVA and ANOVA analyses showed that participants who used mediation reported significantly higher levels of fairness and control than parents who used litigation. Findings could be used to inform divorcing parents that mediation may provide them with higher levels of fairness and control. Divorcing couples could be offered mediation services that are more effective and will more likely meet their needs. Court systems could offer mediation as a mandatory first step. This may reduce the number of cases that litigate. Since mediation is generally free, parents would not be forced to pay money for the services and they may end feeling that they had more control within their dispute. If more families experience more fairness and control within their dispute, their overall psychological wellbeing may be improved, thereby positively impacting social change.

PhD / Access to justice is an important human right that ensures adequate redress for harm, and which consequently helps deter future wrongdoing. Without access to justice citizens are precluded from the full enjoyment of their economic and social entitlements. The cost of litigation is a significant impediment to access to justice. Although the courts have attempted to increase access to justice by broadening the range of available dispute resolution options and by improving productivity through the implementation of case flow management systems, the cost of prosecuting claims remains disproportionately high and unaffordable for most small to medium sized claimholders. Legal claim assignment to parties able to aggregate claims and to apply their expertise as litigation entrepreneurs to deal with claim prosecution efficiently is one means of redressing the imbalance between the cost of claim prosecution to individual claimholders compared to the value of their claims. However, the well-entrenched doctrines of maintenance and champerty prohibit legal claim assignment. The continued resort to the doctrines of maintenance and champerty despite a strong and independent modern judiciary reflects distaste for claim commodification. However, the advent of litigation funding and its acceptance by the High Court of Australia in Campbell’s Cash and Carry v Fostif Pty Ltd (and to some extent United Kingdom and United States courts) on access to justice grounds has challenged conventional maintenance and champerty dogma. Together with other measures such as the introduction of conditional fee agreements that shift the cost of funding access to justice from the public to the private purse, the resistance to full claim alienability has been significantly weakened. The thesis argues that full claim alienability is favoured on normative and efficiency grounds and examines developments in Australia, England and the United States, which portend toward claim commodification. In addition, the thesis examines regulatory instruments required to ensure that the present partial claim market and the potential full claim market operates fairly and efficiently. It also considers how claim commodification may affect the relationship between legal practitioners and claim holders. [Please note: For any information on access to the full text please conact the author.]

This dissertation examines the development of litigation and legal mobilization as constructive, participatory, strategic processes that have the potential to promote democratization and institution building in fragile democracies. Using Argentina and Bolivia as case studies, I show that the innovative use of strategic litigation and legal mobilization taking place in Latin America today holds significant promise for promoting social and institutional development in countries struggling with competing democratic and authoritarian impulses. A close examination of how local and regional permutations of strategic litigation play out at the intersection of law and politics in fragile democracies generates a more accurate, richer account of the relationship between law and democracy writ large, a relationship that has yet to be fully or properly theorized. / text