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Retailers and other business owners may invoke the civil recovery statute to recoup losses arising from shoplifting and other crimes. Civil recovery programs allow businesses to initiate civil proceedings against criminals to demand monetary damages. However, it is important for parties planning to use the statute to follow the appropriate legal procedures to avoid litigation and a tarnished reputation. The key is to understand the basic framework of civil recovery programs and develop policies that comport with existing laws., In early 1998, a sixteen-year-old boy entered a major department store chain carrying an empty shopping bag. Security implemented surveillance immediately, assigning two agents to watch the customer via CCTV [...]

The declining role of civil juries in Canada is discussed, along with the use and expense of civil juries in Ontario Province. Judicial restrictions on civil juries are outlined and arguments for and against their abolition are assessed.

The powers and responsibilities of civil juries in the US are discussed. Topics include the historic role of juries in the American system and their use today, the jury size and selection, jury consultants, trial procedures, jury instructions, unanimous versus non-unanimous verdicts, and court review of jury decisions.

The greater discretion given to judges under the 1993 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure combined with an entrenched conservative judiciary will make increased antitrust enforcement difficult. Revisions to the Federal Rules were devised to limit litigation costs by giving judges greater control. The federal judiciary, largely appointed by Presidents Bush and Reagan, has become less diverse and more accepting of conservative antitrust theories. For antitrust enforcement to be revitalized, these constraints on antitrust plaintiffs will have to be addressed.