SOSC 2350 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Social Change, Product Liability, Billable Hours
7 Jan 2016
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Slide 2: two areas we want to examine this morning: better understand the legal profession, examine the relationship btw conflicts, disputes and the law. Note we are using the term dispute processing, not dispute resolution . Not surprisingly, the legal profession has experienced exponential growth. Slide 4: litigiousness: may be defined as the propensity (preference) to settle disputes through the judicial process, america is said to be a very litigious society. Great propensity to use the courts rather than attempt to settle conflict through other means: propensity is thought to be a significant cultural factor. Rates of litigation vary significantly for different jurisdictions. Much higher in north america than they are in places like japan or india. This might have something to do with scarcity of resources (i. e. lawyers and judges) rather than a cultural artefact. Can"t automatically assume it"s because these societies are more harmonious or less adversarial.
