Tag: Legal Theory

The Surprising Virtues of Treating Trade Secrets as IP Rights

Mark A. Lemley - Stanford Law School

Trade secret law is a puzzle. No one can seem to agree where trade secret law comes from or how to fit it into the broader framework of legal doctrine. Courts, lawyers, scholars, and treatise writers argue over whether trade secrets are a creature of contract, of tort, of property,… Read More »

Pitfalls of Empirical Studies That Attempt to Understand the Factors Affecting Appellate Decisionmaking

Hon. Harry T. Edwards - Senior Circuit Judge, D.C. Circuit Court

I recently read a paper in which a prominent legal scholar argued that empirical evidence conclusively demonstrates that decisionmaking in the federal courts of appeals is highly politicized. No body of empirical evidence supports this claim.
When federal appellate judges decide a case, we focus on the relevant legal materials,… Read More »