The Selection of Disputes for Litigation

George L. Priest, Burton H. Klein

ResearchPublished 1984

This study addresses the relationship between litigated disputes and disputes settled before or during litigation by presenting a model of the litigation process in which the determinants of settlement and litigation are solely economic, including the expected costs to parties of favorable or adverse decisions, the information that parties possess about the likelihood of success at trial, and the direct costs of litigation and settlement. The most important assumption of the model is that potential litigants form rational estimates of the likely decision, whether it is based on applicable legal precedent or judicial or jury bias. From this proposition, the model shows that the disputes selected for litigation (as opposed to settlement) constitute neither a random nor a representative sample of the set of all disputes.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 1984
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 73
  • Paperback Price: $20.00
  • Document Number: R-3032-ICJ

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Priest, George L. and Burton H. Klein, The Selection of Disputes for Litigation, RAND Corporation, R-3032-ICJ, 1984. As of September 23, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3032.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Priest, George L. and Burton H. Klein, The Selection of Disputes for Litigation. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1984. https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3032.html. Also available in print form.
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