”Litigation Realities Redux”
By Kevin M. Clermont

Abstract: Summarizing recent empirical work and presenting new observations on each of the six phases of a civil lawsuit (forum, pretrial, settlement, trial, judgment, and appeal), the article stresses the needs for and benefits from understanding and using empirical methods in the study of the adjudicatory system's operation.

”Reversal, Dissent, and Variability in State Supreme Courts: The Centrality of Jurisdictional Source”
By Theodore Eisenberg and Geoffrey P. Miller

Abstract: State Supreme Courts (SSCs) exercise two major sources of authority: mandatory and discretionary jurisdiction. This article assesses 7,055 SSC cases decided with written opinions in 2003, providing the first comprehensive study of the relation between jurisdictional source and SSC performance. The data indicates that striking interstate variation overlays the mandatory-discretionary distinction and that studies of SSC outcomes, dissent patterns, judicial policy preferences, and other characteristics should take account of jurisdictional source.

”Plaintiphobia in State Courts? An Empirical Study of State Court Trials on Appeal”
Journal of Legal Studies, forthcoming
By Theodore Eisenberg and Michael Heise

Abstract: Analyzing prior empirical studies of federal civil appeals, this study presents the first statistical models of the appeals process for a comprehensive set of state court civil trials, finding that state court appellate reversal rates for jury trials and appeals by defendants exceed the reversal rates for bench trials and appeals by plaintiffs. Both descriptive analyses of the data and selection models indicate that appellate judges’ attitudes toward trial-level adjudicators is an important explanation for these asymmetric outcomes.

“An Overview of Brazilian Corporate Governance”
By Erica Gorga, Bernard S. Black, and Antionio Gledson De Carvalho

Abstract: An overview of the corporate governance practices of Brazilian public companies, based primarily on an extensive 2005 survey of 116 companies. Focusing on 88 private Brazilian firms responding to the survey, the authors identify areas of strength and weakness in Brazilian corporate governance. Weaknesses in the area of board independence and financial disclosure and accountability are explored, as are alternative approaches used by Brazilian firms to ensure financial statement accuracy, e.g., establishing a fiscal board.

”Science in the Jury Box: Jurors' Views and Understanding of Mitochondrial DNA Evidence”
By Valerie P. Hans, David H. Kaye, Erin J. Farley, B. Michael Dann, and Stephanie Albertson

Abstract: Policy makers, pundits, and scholars have all raised questions about how jurors understand and apply scientific evidence. In the current study, 480 jury pool members observed a mock trial that included expert testimony about mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evidence purportedly linking a defendant to a crime. As a group, the jurors showed moderately good command of the biological facts relating to mtDNA evidence, although some jurors made errors in defining mtDNA and in making inferences about its relevance to the trial.