A recent paper by Leandra Lederman (IU-Bloomington) and Warren Hrung (Fed. Reserve-NY) exploits unique aspects of the U.S. Tax Court to explore the possible effects of attorneys on case outcomes. In the U.S. Tax Court, evidently, a substantial number of private litigants proceed pro se. The Tax Court is also unique in that it retains records of settled cases (as well as, of course, tried cases). Thus, armed with "a unique data set consisting of a random sample of settled and tried cases" the authors set out to empirically assess the influence of legal counsel on various case outcomes, including financial and disposition time (through settlement or trial). Lederman and Hrung find, in part, that the presence of attorneys correlates with more favorable financial outcomes in tried but not settled cases. The presence of attorneys does not influence disposition time.
Louis J. Esbin founded his law firm and has been practicing in Valencia,
California since 1993, where he provides Bankruptcy, Corporate Formation,
Transactional, Merger & Acquisition, and Commercial Law services to clients
throughout California and other states. Mr. Esbin currently represents a
diverse group of corporate and individual clients including small emerging
businesses,corporations and individuals, as debtors and creditors, as well as
clients who operate in the restaurant, construction, entertainment, retail,
casino,realestate,and manufacturing industries, distresseddebttraders, and
mortgage bankers.
Posted by: Esbin | 24 January 2010 at 06:09 AM