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Welcome to Waco! The impact of judge shopping on litigation

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Helmers
  • Brian J Love

Abstract

We analyze the effect of judge shopping in patent litigation following the appointment of a former patent litigator as the sole district judge assigned to the Waco Division of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDTX). We find that patent enforcers’ ability to select, with certainty, a judge widely regarded as patentee-friendly increased the number of cases filed, especially by non-practicing entities. We show that the increase in litigation was driven by both an influx of cases that would not have been filed but for the judge’s appointment and a geographic reallocation of cases that would have been filed regardless. Overall, judge shopping in the WDTX induced over a 33-month period an increase of around 460 patent cases that otherwise would not have been filed. (JEL: K41, O34).

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Helmers & Brian J Love, 2025. "Welcome to Waco! The impact of judge shopping on litigation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 294-315.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:41:y:2025:i:1:p:294-315.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jleo/ewad019
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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