Pleading and Cooperation in Private-Law Litigation

Comparing Germany and the United States
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-3-428-19263-2
Verlag: Duncker & Humblot

Buch, Englisch, 213 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 233 mm, Gewicht: 330 g

Reihe: Studien zum vergleichenden Privatrecht

This book compares how civil courts in the United States and Germany balance the burdens on plaintiffs and defendants during pleading and information disclosure. It focuses on pleading requirements, accommodations for plaintiffs due to information asymmetry, and testimonial privileges.

At the start of a civil case, courts address key threshold issues before gathering and evaluating evidence. In the U.S., discovery rules provide much broader access to evidence than in Germany. U.S. federal pleading standards were raised after criticism that discovery was too costly and intrusive. However, stricter pleading standards also increase the burden on plaintiffs.The extent to which civil procedure demands cooperation from defendants—such as document and testimony disclosure—reflects deeper value judgments about fair burdens in litigation.

The author uses the ideal types of legal formalism and legal realism to analyze the jurisprudential foundations of German and U.S. approaches to pleading and information disclosure. The book concludes that key procedural principles and long-standing practices explain major differences between the two systems. In Germany, pleading and cooperation rules tend to favor defendants, while in the United States, they generally favor plaintiffs.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roy, Philippe Matthew

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsvergleichung
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Common Law (UK, USA, Australien u.a.)
• Rechtswissenschaften Allgemeines Verfahrens-, Zivilprozess- und Insolvenzrecht Zivilprozessrecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Bürgerliches Recht

Inhaltsverzeichnis

I. The Significance of Civil Private Law Adjudication
Holmes and the Courts – The American Preference for Judges and Litigation

II. Attacking Formalism
Legal Realism and Related Theories – German Theories of Adjudication – German Legal Science and Methods – Legal Dogmatics and Foundational Research – The Influence of Critical Theories of Adjudication

III. Comparative Method
Why Compare? – What is Comparative Law?

IV. Private-Law Litigation – Values and Attitudes
Comparing the Parties’ Burdens – Civil Pleading Burdens – Shifting the Parties’ Burdens – Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Studium der Germanistik und Politikwissenschaft an der Temple University (Philadelphia) sowie an der Universität Hamburg. Studium der Rechtswissenschaften an der Duquesne University School of Law (mit Auszeichnung). Referendariat am regionalen Gerichtshof in Pittsburgh und am Justiziariat des Gouverneurs des Bundestaates Pennsylvania. Research Fellow an der Brooklyn Law School. Rechtsanwalt in New York und Connecticut mit den Schwerpunkten Zivilprozessrecht, Discovery und Steuerrecht des Bundes. Promotion an der Universität zu Köln.

Bachelors of Arts in German and Political Science at Temple University in Philadelphia, including studies at the University of Hamburg. Juris doctor at Duquesne University School of Law (with honors). Legal clerkships at the Governor’s Office of General Counsel of Pennsylvania and the Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh. Research fellow at Brooklyn Law School. Practicing attorney in New York and Connecticut in the areas of civil litigation, discovery and tax law. Doctorate of laws degree obtained at the University of Cologne.