THE 19TH ANNUAL
CLIFFORD SYMPOSIUM ON
TORT LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY

A BRAVE NEW WORLD: THE CHANGING FACE OF LITIGATION AND LAW FIRM FINANCE

The winds of change are blowing in the world of legal practice.  The business of law is, to all appearances, undergoing a dramatic change.  As is so often the case, money is a key change agent.  This year’s Clifford Symposium seeks to examine the financing of litigation.  We will focus on an array of questions arising out of the economics of the practice of law from lawyer lending to frivolous litigation.  We will consider the challenge of seeking class relief in the United States and elsewhere as well as real alternatives to the class action device.  We will pursue normative and ethical questions associated with the alienation of claims and third party funding of cases.  Finally, we will turn our attention to the future of the legal profession in light of what is happening on the financial front.  Our speakers will include some of the most distinguished legal academics, social scientists and economists in the United States and Canada.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013

9:00  Registration and Continental Breakfast

10:15 Opening Remarks

• Gregory Mark, Dean, DePaul University College of Law

• Stephan Landsman, Robert A. Clifford Professor of Tort Law and Social Policy

10:30  SESSION I: THE BUSINESS OF LAW

Presenters:

• Michael Abramowicz - Litigation Finance, Law Firm Finance and the Problem of Frivolous Litigation

• Michele DeStefano - Claim Finders and Commercial Claim Holders:  A Common Interest or a Common Problem

• Nora Engstrom - Law Lending:  Costs and Consequences

• Bradley Wendel - Litigation and Commodification

Discussant: Gregory Mark

12:30  LUNCH

2:00   SESSION II: THE FINANCIAL CHALLENGE OF CLASS RELIEF

Presenters:

• Deborah Hensler - Third Party Finance of Class Actions:  Contrasts Between Australia and the United States

• Myriam Gilles and Anthony Sebok - Reinventing the Claims Agent:  Using Technology to Enable Small-Claims Litigation and Arbitration

• Samuel Issacharoff - Funding and Governing Mass Litigation

• Morris Ratner and William Rubenstein - Alternative Litigation Funding in the Aggregate Litigation (Class Action) Context

Discussant: Stephan Landsman

4:00    CONCLUDING REMARKS
 
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013

9:00    Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:30    SESSION III: NORMATIVE AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE FINANCING OF LITIGATION

 Presenters:

• Ronen Avraham and Abraham Wickelgren - Why and How Third Party Litigation Funding Contracts Should Be Admissible in Court

• Lynn Baker  - Positive and Normative Issues Surrounding the Alienation of Modern Mass Tort Claims

• Keith Hylton - Third Party Funding of Litigation and the Transfer of Legal Rights

• Charles Silver - Professional Responsibility and Third Party Litigation Finance:  What’s a Lawyer to Do?

 Discussant: Andrew Gold

 
11:30   BREAK

12:00   SESSION IV: THE FUTURE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION

Presenters:

• David Hyman - How Does Tort Reform Affect Access to Justice?

• Rebecca Sandefur - Can Lawyers Afford to Do Public Justice?

• Albert Yoon - Competition and the Evolution of Law Firms

Discussant: Marc Galanter

1:15    CONCLUDING REMARKS   - Stephan Landsman

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SYMPOSIUM FACULTY
 

• Michael Abramowicz, George Washington University Law School
• Ronen Avraham, University of Texas School of Law
• Lynn Baker, University of Texas School of Law
• Michele DeStefano, University of Miami School of Law
• Nora Engstrom, Stanford Law School
• Marc Galanter, University of Wisconsin Law School
• Myriam Gilles, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
• Andrew Gold, DePaul University College of Law
• Deborah Hensler, Stanford Law School
• Keith Hylton, Boston University School of Law
• David Hyman, University of Illinois College of Law
• Samuel Issacharoff, New York University School of Law
• Stephan Landsman, DePaul University College of Law
• Gregory Mark, DePaul University College of Law
• Morris Ratner, University of California Hastings College of Law
• William Rubenstein, Harvard Law School
• Rebecca Sandefur, University of Illinois
• Anthony Sebok, Benjamin Cardozo School of Law
• Charles Silver, University of Texas School of Law
• Bradley Wendel, Cornell Law School
• Abraham Wickelgren, University of Texas School of Law
• Albert Yoon, University of Toronto Faculty of Law