The Rationale for Motions in the Design of Adjudication

The conduct of adjudication is often influenced by motions––requests made by litigants to modify the course of adjudication. The question studied in this article is why adjudication should be designed so as to permit the use of motions. The answer developed is that litigants will naturally know a great deal about their specific matter, whereas a court will ordinarily know little except to the degree that the court has already invested effort to appreciate it. By giving litigants the right to bring motions, the judicial system leads litigants to efficiently provide information to courts that is relevant to the adjudicative process.

Keywords: Civil Procedure, Motions, Economic Analysis

JEL Classification: D02, D8, K15, K40, K41

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Shavell, Steven, The Rationale for Motions in the Design of Adjudication (May 24, 2018). Forthcoming, American Law and Economics Review, Harvard John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business, Discussion Paper No. 955, May 2018, Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 18-31, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3184522 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3184522