Mainstream international trade law scholars have commented positively on the work of World Trade Organization (WTO) adjudicators. This favorable view is both echoed and challenged by empirical scholarship that shows a high disparity between Complainant and Respondent success rates (Complainants...

The positive theory of litigation predicts that under certain conditions plaintiffs and defendants achieve an unremarkable and roughly equivalent share of litigation success. This article, grounded in an empirical analysis of WTO adjudication from 1995 through 2007, reveals a high disparity...