Margaret Ryznar

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1805/11718

In a gray universe such as family law, where discretionary standards govern factually diverse cases, little can be measured to give people answers. In fact, the two major inquiries at divorce are: what division of property between the divorcing spouses is fair, and what custody arrangement is in the best interests of the children involved? Scholars and lawmakers have recognized that litigating under these open-ended, amorphous standards in family law is unpredictable. This makes it difficult for courts, policymakers, lawmakers, and litigants to know what to do in a particular divorce case.

Professor Ryznar’s project attempts to offer objective measurement in the family law field, using Indiana as a case study. The project looks at judicial outcomes in Indianapolis divorce cases. There may be a significant divergence between them and what the Indiana statutes require, and empirical research would measure it. Family law is state-specific, so there are as many sets of family laws as there are states, but this project focuses on the family laws and practice of Indiana.

Professor Ryznar’s work to define objective measurements in the field of family law is another example of how IUPUI faculty are TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Alimony's Job Lock
    (2015) Ryznar, Margaret; Robert H. McKinley School of Law
    In family law, courts often prevent people who owe alimony from changing jobs. If a job change is accompanied by a salary decrease, the court will not necessarily readjust the alimony obligation and instead impute the higher income to the obligor. This Article introduces the term “job lock” to describe this situation, borrowing the term from the health care context, wherein job immobility due to health insurance concerns has received significant scrutiny. This Article draws similar attention to the alimony context, proposing a balancing test to assist courts interested in alleviating job lock under certain circumstances.
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    The Law and Economics of Insider Trading
    (2015-05) Sensenbrenner, Frank J.; Ryznar, Margaret; Robert H. McKinley School of Law
    Several recent high-profile insider trading losses have not stopped the federal government from aggressively prosecuting insider trading cases. The first of its kind, this law review article offers both a legal analysis and an empirical analysis that would aid the government in detecting and prosecuting insider trading. Specifically, this article finds that insider traders move prices more than non-insider trades of similar characteristics and insiders trade on high-volume days based on a dataset generated from SEC litigation releases.
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    The Obligations of High-Income Parents
    (2014) Ryznar, Margaret; Robert H. McKinney School of Law
    The Child Support Guidelines, incentivized by federal law, provide rebuttable guidance for setting child support awards, except in low- and high-income cases. This article focuses on the latter, as states continue to grapple with the question of whether the child should receive a proportion of the noncustodial parent’s income regardless of its amount, or whether there should be another limit. This article traces the narrative of child support obligations in high-income cases by considering the development of the economic aspect to the parent-child relationship, as well as the purpose and nature of the child support system. The resulting insights are especially useful for states seeking consistency in child support award decisions.
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    A Framework on Mandating Versus Incentivizing Corporate Social Responsibility
    (2015) Ryznar, Margaret; Woody, Karen E.; Robert H. McKinney School of Law
    There are two primary but different methods of controlling behavior, whether it is the behavior of individuals or corporations: to incentivize it or to regulate it. Governments are in a unique position to employ either or both options because of their ability to pass regulatory schemes and to extend tax incentives. This article analyzes the two methods of shaping corporate behavior, examining the regulation issue through the case of the conflict minerals provision of the Dodd Frank Act and examining the taxation issue through several examples of corporate tax incentives. This article contributes to this field of literature by setting out a framework for analyzing the efficacy of regulations and incentives directed at shaping corporate behavior and corporate social responsibility.
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    Au Revoir, Will Contests: Comparative Lessons for Preventing Will Contests
    (2013) Ryznar, Margaret; Devaux, Angelique
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    The Trust as More Than A Common Law Creature
    (2014) Devaux, Angelique; Beckner, DeAnna; Ryznar, Margaret