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The Eastern District Of Virginia: A Working Solution For Civil Justice Reform, Heather Russell Koenig

University of Richmond Law Review

It has been referred to as "the fastest, fairest, federal court in the country," "the most efficient, professional federal court in the nation," the court "known for moving things along quickly" and where "cases zoom through the system faster than at any other federal court in the nation." Where is this court that is "so efficient that it could be used as a model for the rest of the country?" It is the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Antitrust And Trade Regulation, Michael F. Urbanski, Francis H. Casola

University of Richmond Law Review

Group boycott and antitrust conspiracy claims met with little success in Virginia this year. Both federal and state courts are increasingly wary of allowing cases to proceed where the essential elements of antitrust claims are not established or where no impact on competition is proven. Moreover, procedural and evidentiary difficulties have plagued antitrust plaintiffs this year. In short, the cases reflect judicial analysis that is both sophisticated and resistant to allowing meritless antitrust claims to get to a jury.

The Evolution Of Quasi-Judicial Activism In The Legislative Branch: Canadian Commercial Corp./Heroux, Inc., John M. Holloway Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

During the First Congress' debate over the bill to establish the Treasury Department, James Madison described the principal responsibility of the Comptroller of the Treasury as "deciding upon the lawfulness and justice of claims and accounts subsisting between the United States and particular citizens: this partakes strongly of the judicial character, and there may be strong reasons why an officer of this kind should not hold his office at the pleasure of the Executive Branch of Government." With the passage of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the General Accounting Office (GAO) was created and the responsibility to settle …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Antitrust And Trade Regulation, Michael F. Urbanski, Francis H. Casola

University of Richmond Law Review

Once again this past year, the Fourth Circuit and the federal courts in Virginia proved inhospitable to antitrust plaintiffs. Plaintiffs consistently lost on summary judgment and only one plaintiff survived a motion to dismiss. The only major development in the law in the Fourth Circuit came from the Western District of Virginia where Judge James C. Turk refused to recognize the theory of monopoly leveraging under Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Antitrust And Trade Regulation, Michael F. Urbanski, Francis H. Casola

University of Richmond Law Review

During the past year, Virginia's federal courts published surprisingly few antitrust opinions. These few opinions indicate fact-specific analysis and little significant development to the law. However, the decisions reflect the continued difficulties faced by private antitrust plaintiffs alleging conspiracy claims and criminal antitrust defendants prosecuted for conduct which is illegal per se. Antitrust plaintiffs, however, have enjoyed measured, if only temporary, success. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment against a durable medical equipment company alleging monopolization claims against a hospital and its affiliated medical equipment company. In another …

Tobacco Suits Today: Are Cigarette Plaintiffs Just Blowing Smoke?, Milby Amott Mccarthy

University of Richmond Law Review

The Surgeon General has stated that cigarette smoking is the "chief, single, avoidable cause of death in our society and the most important public health issue of our time." Over 200,000 people die each year in the United States as a result of cigarette smoking. Consequently, numerous products liability suits have been filed against tobacco companies. However, until the 1988 decision in CipoIlone v. Liggett Group, Inc., no plaintiff had won a products liability suit against a tobacco company.

A Love Of Excellence, Harry L. Carrico

University of Richmond Law Review

This is an address delivered by Harry L. Carrico, Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, at the T. C. Williams School of Law annual banquet honoring merit scholarship sponsors and recipients. At this banquet, Dean Joseph D. Harbaughpresented Justice Carricowith a plaque honoringhim for his unique and extensive contributions both to the legal profession in Virginia and to the T. C. Williams Law School.

The Federal Trade Commission's Evolving Deception Policy, Jack E. Karns

University of Richmond Law Review

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has regulated competitive business activities since its inception in 1915. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) empowers the Commission to enjoin certain unfair -and deceptive business practices. As is the case with other regulatory statutes, Congress chose not to define certain terms in the FTCA, such as "deceptive," leaving this task to the FTC and the federal courts. The result has been a steady flow of federal case law clarifying the definition of a deceptive business act or practice.

Enforcement Of Arbitration Clauses Against Deceived Franchisees, William H. Daughtrey Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

Resolving the issue of fraud in the inducement of franchise agreements is an area that merits refinement. To save time and expense, arbitration-which bars both parties from the court system to resolve disputes-is a significant contemporary development. The reliance on arbitrators, who are not bound by precedent, is especially serious when their authority to resolve a particular controversy comes from a franchise agreement. Such agreements have been the subject of legislative inquiry, administrative action and litigation largely because of the informational imbalance between franchisors and franchisees during the course of negotiating their agreements. This article argues that, because franchisees generally …

Virginia's Lemon Law: The Best Treatment For Car Owner's Canker?, Carol S. Nance

University of Richmond Law Review

The consumer advocacy movement of the late 1970's induced the Congress and the state legislatures to enact numerous consumer protection statutes. Unfortunately, several years elapsed before the public and the legislatures realized that those statutes did not protect the consumer in what is frequently the consumer's most significant personal purchase-the automobile.

Provider-Sponsored Alternative Health Care Delivery Systems: Reducing Antitrust Liability After Maricopa, James H. Walsh, Howard Feller

University of Richmond Law Review

The phenomenal rate of inflation experienced by the health care industry in the past several years has been a substantial cause of concern for everyone affected-physicians, hospitals, insurers, employers and consumers. Public reaction to the tremendous increase in health care costs has created pressure on health care providers to compete on the basis of price and to deliver services more efficiently. The recent growth of alternative health care delivery systems (ADSs) has been a direct response to a number of problems created by increasing health care costs including increased competition in health care delivery, resistance by payors and consumers to …

Agency "Capture": The "Revolving Door" Between Regulated Industries And Their Regulating Agencies, Edna Earle Vass Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

Public confidence in the integrity of our public officials is necessary for effective government. The independence of the federal regulatory process is a crucial element of that confidence. When this independence is examined, however, a major concern arises about the inherent appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest in the "revolving door" practice of federal agencies.

Ex Parte Communication In Informal Rulemaking: Judicial Intervention In Administrative Procedures, Michael E. Ornoff

University of Richmond Law Review

Over the past several years, a controversy has arisen, particularly among different panels of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, regarding the use of ex parte communications in informal administrative rulemaking. Numerous theories for extending such a prohibition beyond the express language of the Administrative Procedures Act have been advanced in recent judicial opinions.

Purchase Of Consumer Paper And Subjection To Collateral Forces, Benjamin Geva

University of Richmond Law Review

The purchase of commercial paper issued in return for consumer goods [hereinafter referred to as consumer paper] is a common and wide-spread sales financing practice. Various judicial techniques and legislative schemes have been employed to disqualify purchasers of consumer paper from becoming holders in due course [hereinafter referred to as HDC], thus rendering these purchasers subject to defenses to the instrument based upon consumer dissatisfaction with the goods. Underlying the denial of HDC sttus to purchasers of consumer paper are the following premises: (1) the sale of consumer goods is not a commercial transaction and should not be governed by …

A Guide To Federal Warranty Legislation-The Magnuson-Moss Act, Richard H. Matthews

University of Richmond Law Review

One of the primary causes of concern in the recent movement toward greater consumer protection has been in the area of product warranties. Limited express warranties, liability disclaimers and ambiguous remedy

procedures often have been used by manufacturers and merchants to strip the consumer of all but a bare minimum of protection against defective products. Finding state laws incapable of adequately solving this problem, Congress preempted the field by enacting the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.' This Act makes major changes in the law of warranties and places much heavier legal burdens upon manufacturers and other warrantors. This comment will attempt to …

Some Reflections On Free Entry And The Rate Ceilings Under The Uniform Consumer Credit Code, Frank W. Smith Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

"Consumer protection" in recent years has become one of the great populist concerns, particularly in the area of consumer credit. As one should expect, however, there has been no unanimity as to who should be protected from what, or from whom, nor as to the means of providing such protection. Some feel that consumer protection still means "self-protection" in the existing system-let the buyer beware-and view consumer education in a broad sense as perhaps the most important aspect of providing protection. Others view consumer protection as a matter outlawing or regulating abusive practices and giving the consumer more rights. Some …

Self-Regulation-Panacea Or Pitfall?, William D. Dixon

University of Richmond Law Review

Several recently announced Federal Trade Commission advisory opinions have revived anew the controversy surrounding what a businessman can and cannot do in the area of self-regulation. The reasons for the existence of the controversy can be readily understood, for on the one hand businessmen are being constantly urged by those within the federal government to clean their own houses before the Government is forced to do the job for them, and yet on the other they are faced with the specter of an antitrust prosecution if they do anything toward that end which they feel will be in any way …