The Erie doctrine is usually understood as a limitation on federal courts’ power. The Article concerns the unexplored role that the Erie doctrine has in limiting the power of state courts. According to Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, a federal court must follow state supreme court decisions when interpreting state law. But at the time [...]

The Article is the first to systematically consider the Constitution’s identification, definition, and integration of the physical spaces in which it applies. Knowing how the Constitution addresses a particular problem often requires knowing where the problem arises. Yet despite the importance and pervasiveness of spatial references in the Constitution, commentators have not analyzed these references [...]

Third-party litigation funding, or litigation finance, is a new industry composed of institutional investors who invest in litigation by providing finance in return for an ownership stake in a legal claim and a contingency in the recovery. Its emergence has been recognized as one of the most significant developments in civil litigation today. It will [...]

In the absence of a single authoritative mechanism to interpret humanitarian law, a number of treaty bodies, national courts, regional human rights courts/commissions, international tribunals, and thematic mechanisms have been called upon to address humanitarian law issues. Prime among these institutions is the U.S. Supreme Court. Though only in a small number of cases, the [...]

Due process protections for defendants vary greatly between the numerous federal agencies vested with civil enforcement powers. Many of these agencies fail to provide defendants with basic safeguards, including the protections available in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. As federal administrative agencies continue to increase both the scope of their enforcement authority and the [...]

The sentencing of Bernard Madoff in 2008 closed a chapter in the saga of one of the most extensive and destructive Ponzi schemes in American history. But the fallout from the fraud is just beginning. While every investor in a Ponzi scheme suffers financially once the fraud is exposed, media scrutiny surrounding the Madoff catastrophe [...]

Trade preference programs lower trade barriers for developing countries and open opportunities in consumer-driven markets which, in turn, increases their trade and economic growth. One example of a trade preference program in the United States is the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program that provides duty-free treatment for about 4800 products from 131 countries. Though [...]