We discuss a central question in the study of courts: What do judges want? We suggest three different domains that might serve as the basic preferences of a judge: case dispositions and rules, caseloads and case mixes, and social consequences. We emphasize preferences over dispositions on the...

We review the basic building blocks of the case-space approach to modeling courts, particularly cases, dispositions, and rules. We provide numerous examples of case spaces. We clarify the policy-making actions of courts, distinguishing statutory interpretation, review of agency rule-making on...

We explore the properties of voting rules and procedures employed by appellate courts in the US. Our model features: (1) a two-stage decision-making process (first over case disposition, then over majority opinion content), (2) dispositional consistency (the new rule must yield the Court's...

This article develops a theory on the legal profession's participation in providing services to indigent clients. Our theory is based on two factors: whether lawyers have successful practices, and whether the legal aid delivered to indigent clients is free or below market price. Pro bono signals...

This essay reviews Epstein, Landes, and Posner's The Behavior of Federal Judges: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Rational Choice. Their book systematically asks how the role of ideology varies across the tiers of the federal judicial hierarchy. A major finding is that the impact of ideology...

This paper points out an intrinsic inefficiency in contemporary courts: courts adjudicate publicly, leading to deadweight loss in the form of reputational damages. I build a model to show that arbitration can circumvent this inefficiency by affording disputants a renegotiation opportunity...