Week One of the Economics Institute for Judges addressed fundamental issues that often are at the heart of legal disputes. Over a full week of intensive classroom lectures and discussions, judges were given a solid grounding in economics, finance, and statistics. The practical relevance of these disciplines was emphasized through the analysis of numerous cases. Agenda
Program Description: Data Collection by public and private entities is ubiquitous. The increasing collection and use of these data holds great promise, but also raises important issues related to privacy and data security regulation. Several authors will present original work on privacy and data security policy, focusing on such topics as the proper reach of … Continue reading “LEC Public Policy Conference on “The Future of Privacy and Data Security Regulation””
Program Description: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandated that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) conduct a study on the use of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer financial markets. In December 2013, the CFPB released preliminary results suggesting that few consumers opt to arbitrate their claims. The CFPB is empowered to enact … Continue reading “Arbitration & the CFPB”
Program Description: The Workshop for Law Professors on Empirical Methods is designed to teach law professors the conceptual and practical skills required to (1) understand and evaluate others’ empirical studies, and (2) design and implement their own empirical studies. Participants are not expected to have background in statistical knowledge or empirical skills prior to enrollment. … Continue reading “LEC Workshop on Empirical Methods for Law Professors”
The papers discussed at the Roundtable were later presented at the LEC Public Policy Conference on Administration Unbound? Delegation, Deference, and Discretion. Papers Seminole Rock and the Interpretive Dimension of Deference Kevin M. Stack, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research, Vanderbilt Law School Digging Underneath Seminole Rock Amy Wildermuth, Professor of Law … Continue reading “LEC Research Roundtable on Extreme Deference to Agency Interpretations of Vague and Ambiguous Regulations”
Program Description: “Competition” is a fact of life and a foundational idea for much of modern science, from biology to economics to political science. In its most elementary sense, it means rivalry with respect to scarce resources—territory, sexual partners, private goods, voters, political power, football championships. We associate competition with important virtues: industry and effort, discovery and innovation, efficient resource allocation. … Continue reading “Seventh Annual Transatlantic Law Forum: Competition”
Program Description: Within the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will decide whether the cornerstone of securities class action litigation embraced in the1988 case of Basic v. Levinson should remain in intact or be turned on its head as critics have proposed. The Basic decision allowed the “fraud on the market” theory, which assumes that public … Continue reading “Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund: The End of Securities Fraud Litigation?”
Prerequisite: The Economics Institute is carefully designed for those who possess little or no previous formal economics education. It covers basic price theory, with emphasis on the allocative effects of alternative property rights regimes, transaction cost economics, and the application of basic economic theory to a variety of legal issues. As such, there is no … Continue reading “Thirtieth Economics Institute for Law Professors”
Through its flagship two week Economics Institute for Judges, the Mason Judicial Education Program focused on fundamental issues that often are at the heart of legal disputes. Over two weeks of intensive classroom lectures and discussion, judges were given a solid grounding in economics, finance and scientific method. Prerequisite: Prior completion of an Economics Institute for Judges … Continue reading “Economics Institute for Judges, Week Two”
Program Description: Every year the United States Supreme Court makes many decisions that broadly influence our society and our way of life. Similarly broad impacts often affect the business community, particularly when the Court’s decisions involve energy and the environment. At this event, leading legal and economic scholars, as well as experienced advocates, reviewed cases heard … Continue reading “Supreme Court Wrap-Up: Energy and Environmental Issues in the 2013-2014 Term”
