The Yale Law Journal

John H. Langbein

Article

The Disappearance of Civil Trial in the United States

John H. Langbein


122 Yale L.J. 522 (2012).

Since the 1930s, the proportion of civil cases concluded at trial has declined from about 20% to below 2% in the federal courts and below 1% in state courts. This Article looks to the history of the civil trial to explain why the trial endured so long and then vanished so ra…

Article

Questioning the Trust Law Duty of Loyalty: Sole Interest or Best Interest?

John H. Langbein

114 Yale L.J. 929 (2005)

The duty of loyalty requires a trustee to administer the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries. Any transaction in which the trustee has an actual or potential interest violates the sole interest rule, no matter how beneficial the transaction to the beneficiaries.…