Description
Book SynopsisThe legal system is awash with excessive and incomprehensible information. Yet many of us assume that the unrelenting torrent of information pouring into various legal programs is both inevitable and unstoppable. We have become complacent; but it does not have to be this way. Incomprehensible! argues that surrendering to incomprehensibility is a bad mistake. Drawing together evidence from diverse fields such as consumer protection, financial regulation, patents, chemical control, and administrative and legislative processes, this book identifies a number of important legal programs that are built on the foundational assumption that ''more information is better''. Each of these legal processes have been designed in ways that ignore the imperative of meaningful communication. To rectify this systemic problem, the law must be re-designed to pay careful attention to the problem of incomprehensibility.
Trade Review'Using a wide variety of legal fields, Wagner and Walker unpack how asymmetrical comprehension or information dictates a price point at which people will stop seeking to understand but instead pay a cost to have someone else understand for them.' Ashley Pearson, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law
'I found this book well researched and meticulously referenced … I would recommend it for academic and government audiences, particularly those interested in regulatory reform.' David H. Michels, Canadian Law Library Review
'This is a valuable read for students, academics, and practitioners.' F. E. Knowles, Choice
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Part I. The Concept: 1. Introduction; 2. Modeling comprehension asymmetries; 3. The implications of comprehension asymmetries for the law; Part II. Application: 4. Comprehension asymmetries and consumer protection law; 5A. Comprehension asymmetries in financial regulation; 5B. Comprehension asymmetries in the law of patents; 5C. Comprehension asymmetries in chemical regulation; 6. Comprehension asymmetries in administrative process; 7. Comprehension asymmetries in legislative processes; Part III. System-Wide Reform: 8. A blueprint for reform; Bibliography.
