Selling and Abandoning Legal Rights
28 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2022
There are 2 versions of this paper
Selling and Abandoning Legal Rights
Date Written: March 28, 2022
Abstract
Legal rights impose concomitant legal burdens. This paper considers the valuation and disposition of legal rights, and legal burdens, when courts cannot be relied upon to perfectly enforce rights. Because courts do not perfectly enforce rights, victims suffer some loss in the value of their rights depending on the degree of underenforcement. The welfare implications of trading away and abandoning rights are examined. Victims do not necessarily trade away rights when and only when such trade is socially desirable. Relatively pessimistic victims (who believe their rights are weaker than injurers do) trade away rights too cheaply. Extremely pessimistic victims abandon their rights. Implications for the enforceability of waivers, discrimination in courts, and legal ethics are discussed.
Keywords: legal rights, legal burdens, waiver, discrimination, lawyer conflicts of interest, optimal precaution, optimal enforcement of rights, strength of legal rights, abandonment of rights, damages multiplier
JEL Classification: : K10, K11, K12, K13, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation