How Legal Representation Affects Case Outcomes: An Empirical Perspective from Taiwan

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, interdisciplinary scholars have conducted several empirical studies to examine to what extent legal representation affects case outcomes. Yet most of these empirical endeavors concentrate on legal representation in informal proceedings. This article revisits this question and reports the result of an independent empirical study using the official data on more than 100,000 civil cases terminated in Taiwan from 2000 to 2006. This study shows that cases are most unlikely to be settled when both parties are represented, while parties are most likely to settle a case when neither is represented. This study also shows that legal representation has no significant bearing on the case outcomes when the parties go to trial. A representation selection effect is proposed to explain these empirical results. This article argues that parties are quite apt to make deliberate and reasonable decisions on whether to seek legal representation in Taiwan and that the continental judge's active role in the adjudication process helps to explain why pro se litigants fare reasonably well in formal litigation. This study suggests that the influence of lawyers on how a case is disposed of in Taiwan may not be as strong as their colleagues' influence in the United States.

Do Rich and Poor Behave Similarly in Seeking Legal Advice? Lessons from Taiwan in Comparative Perspective

“…To be sure, as Kritzer (2008) cautioned, not all civil justice problems demand a lawyer's assistance, and the decision to seek legal advice involves a cost-benefit calculation. Prior empirical studies that weigh the impact of legal representation on litigation outcomes in Taiwan (Huang 2008) also support his points. Many people with sufficient financial resources simply choose not to retain an attorney when facing important legal disputes.…”

“…Moreover, after 1999, Taiwan established an independent judicial system, with major reforms both in civil litigations (Huang ) and in the criminal justice system (Huang, Chen, & Lin ). Taiwan has become a legalized society, its judicial system having reached the levels of leading Western countries, at least from a lawyer's perspective (Eisenberg & Huang ; Huang , ; Huang, Chen, & Lin ).…”

“…The basic structure of Taiwan's modern legal system was transplanted from Germany through the influence of Japan, while many elements of the U.S. legal systems have been gradually incorporated into its legal order (Huang 2009). While it is difficult to characterize Taiwan's legal culture due to the absence of systematic empirical evidence, some assumptions exist.…”

“…The concept of the rule of law has grown deeply rooted in the minds of Taiwanese people, as have the standards by which the law determines rights and obligations. Moreover, after 1999, Taiwan established an independent judicial system, with major reforms both in civil litigations (Huang 2009) and in the criminal justice system (Huang, Chen, & Lin 2010). Taiwan has become a legalized society, its judicial system having reached the levels of leading Western countries, at least from a lawyer's perspective (Eisenberg & Huang 2012;Huang 2008Huang , 2009Huang, Chen, & Lin 2010).…”

Inside post-socialist courts: the determinants of adjudicatory outcomes in Slovenian commercial disputes

“…Empirically ascertaining the ceteris paribus effect of legal representation on adjudicatory outcomes in the absence of a true randomized experiment is difficult (see, e.g., Monsma and Lempert 1992, Huang 2008, Huang et al 2010b). The reason is that the parties' choice of legal representation may be driven by unobservable factors which might at the same time influence adjudicatory outcomes.…”