We solve for the settlement mechanism and fee-shifting rule that minimize the likelihood of litigation yet maintain optimal deterrence under the assumption that the main dispute between the parties is about the defendant's liability. The solution turns out to be surprisingly simple: let the...

This article translates and extends Becker (1968) from public law enforcement to private litigation by examining optimal legal system design in a model with private suits, signals of case strength, court error, and two types of primary behavior: harmful acts that may be deterred and benign acts...

Two risk-averse litigants with different subjective beliefs negotiate in the shadow of a pending trial. Through contingent contracts, the litigants can mitigate risk and/or speculate on the trial outcome. The opportunity for contingent contracting decreases the settlement rate and increases the...

Many settlement agreements in lawsuits involving either multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants include so-called "most-favored-nation" clauses. If a defendant facing multiple claims, for example, settles with some plaintiffs early and settles with additional plaintiffs later for a greater...

In this article, we ask the basic question: Is it necessarily the case that allowing or promoting settlement of lawsuits enhances social welfare? Our answer is not necessarily; there are circumstances where actually prohibiting settlement generates more social welfare than allowing it....

We formally analyze the effects of legal presumptions in patent litigation. We set up a novel contest model to study litigation outcomes, judgement errors, and resource dissipation under three alternative presumption criteria: a presumption that the patent is valid; a presumption that the patent...

The previous literature on comparative and contributory negligence points out that administrative costs are higher under comparative negligence because the courts must decide on the degree of negligence by both parties and not just whether the parties were negligent. In this article, I show that...