Litigation and the Market: Restoring the Balance Between Individual and Employer Rights

Litigation has become an expensive and prominent component of our economy. There are too many excessive damage awards and too few controls on the length and expense of court proceedings. The author examines product liability and employment contract law and recommends ten specific reforms. 5 pages.

Contents

• I. Introduction
• II. Litigation and Litigiousness
  • A. The Theory and Purpose of Litigation
  • B. The Growth of Litigation
• III. The Market and Product Liability
  • A. The Growth of Product Liability Litigation
  • B. The Market Consequences of Product Liability Litigation
• IV. Litigation and Employment Rights
  • A. Michigan and the Expansion of Employee Rights
  • B. The Destruction of a Traditional Common Law Balance
  • C. The Revolution in Employment Contract Law
  • D. Limitations on Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
  • E. Destroying Traditional Exclusive Remedy Balance
  • F. Opening the Employment Relationship to New Tort Actions
• V. Restoring the Balance Between Individual and Employer Rights
  • 1. Encourage alternate dispute resolution mechanisms
  • 2. Channel individual and employer behavior in order to avoid dispute (i.e., encourage contract)
  • 3. Restore traditional legal system balances or craft new balances for individual and employer rights
  • 4. Restore the requirement of causation
  • 5. Make the plaintiff more responsible for his own behavior
  • 6. Establish rules and procedures for early termination of questionable cases
  • 7. Clarify rights by statute wherever practicable
  • 8. Avoid putting the employer in untenable, no-win litigation situations
  • 9. Avoid new causes of action (particularly in the field of tort law)
  • 10. Limit non-real damages
  • Conclusion
• Endnotes
• About the Author