Law Commons^™

Concepcion's Pro-Defendant Biasing Of The Arbitration Process: The Class Counsel Solution, David Korn, David Rosenberg

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

By mandating that numerous plaintiffs litigate their common question claims separately in individual arbitrations rather than jointly in class action arbitrations, the Supreme Court in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion entrenched a potent structural and systemic bias in favor of defendants. The bias arises from the parties' divergent stakes in the outcome of the common question litigation in individual arbitrations: each plaintiff will only invest to maximize the value of his or her own claim, but the defendant has an incentive to protect its entire exposure and thus will have a classwide incentive to invest more in contesting common questions. …

Fiduciary Duties And Exculpatory Clauses: Clash Of The Titans Or Cozy Bedfellows, Louise Lark Hill

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Centuries ago, when land represented the majority of wealth, the trust was used primarily for holding and transferring real property. As the dominant form of wealth moved away from family land, the trust evolved into a device for managing financial assets. With this transformation came the use of exculpatory clauses by both amateur and professional trustees, providing an avenue for these fiduciaries to escape liability for designated acts. With the use of exculpatory provisions, discussion abounded about whether fiduciary duties were mandatory or subject to modification. The latter view eventually prevailed, with the majority of jurisdictions viewing fiduciary duties as …

Stock Market Volatility And 401 (K) Plans, Colleen E. Medill

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Many workers today depend on their 401(k) plan to provide them with an adequate income during retirement. For these workers to achieve retirement income security, their 401(k) plan investments must perform well over their working lifetime. Employers' selection of investment options for the 401(k) plan, a fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), plays a critical role in determining investment performance. In this Article, Professor Medill uses a series of hypothetical litigation scenarios to illustrate how interpretation of the employer's duty of prudence and duty of loyalty under ERISA present different policy choices for the …

The New "Pick-Your-Own" Statutes: Delineating Limited Immunity From Tort Liability, Terence J. Centner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Over the past several years, state legislatures have been asked to provide immunity from liability for members of certain interest groups including providers of horses, risky sport activities, and "pick-your-own" produce. This Article reports on statutory provisions providing tort immunity for producers who allow the public to come onto their property to harvest crops. Provisions allowing profit-making businesses to qualify for tort immunity are not new, but the expansion to cover pick-your-own operators signifies a significant policy change regarding personal liability. The pick-your-own provisions may indicate a policy shift imposing greater responsibility for persons engaging in activities to use care …

Nlra Preemption Of State Law Actions For Wrongful Discharge In Violation Of Public Policy, Thomas Bean

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note considers the circumstances under which the NLRA should preempt state law tort suits for discharge in contravention of public policy by employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and by at-will employees. Part I discusses the rationale behind the preemption doctrine and outlines the tests the Supreme Court has adopted for determining when the NLRA preempts state laws. Part II argues that the specific rationale behind the Court's preemption tests are inapplicable to the typical public policy wrongful discharge action. Part III identifies the ways in which public policy wrongful discharge actions might infringe on the NLRA. It …

Erisa-The First Decade: Was The Legislation Consistent With Other National Goals?, Alicia H. Munnell

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Although ERISA explicitly sanctioned defined contribution plans as a legitimate form of retirement saving, this Article focuses almost exclusively on defined benefit plans. ERISA aimed at changing the basic provisions of defined benefit plans, not at modifying the nature of defined contribution plans. Therefore, although a study of the consistency of pension plan provisions with national economic goals would necessarily include an analysis of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, a study of the impact of ERISA seems appropriately limited to defined benefit plans.

Erisa Enforcement: Mandate For A Single Agency, Beverly M. Klimkowsky, Ian D. Lanoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In Part I, this Article reviews the aspects of pensions that justify the attention of Congress during consideration of budgets and the federal deficit. Part II documents the initial administrative problems created by the congressional compromise that divided administrative responsibility between the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. Although Reorganization Plan No. 4 solved some of the initial problems, the remaining problems are not amenable to resolution within a system of responsibility divided between separate agencies. The specific problems associated with enforcement are discussed in Part III, which identifies the total failure of enforcement as a major threat …

A National Retirement Income Policy: Problems And Policy Options, Phyllis C. Borzi

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article examines the need for a national retirement income policy, identifies the major components of such a policy, and briefly discusses some of the policy options for private pension plans. This Article is an overview of several critical policy areas. It is not an exhaustive policy analysis, nor does it provide a definitive series of options for achievement of a particular policy. Its focus will be on the private pension system, rather than on federally provided benefits such as social security or Medicare, or employer-provided pensions for state, local, or federal employees. The issues discussed are a starting point …

Women's Pension Reform: Congress Inches Toward Equity, Anne Moss

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the workplace and in the home, women suffer economic injustices. The inequities of our private and governmental pension systems compound their financial problems, leading to inadequate retirement income for many older women. For example, only ten percent of women age sixty-five and over received private pensions or annuities in 1982, as compared to twenty-nine percent of men age sixty-five and over. Women receiving pensions likewise get much less than men, averaging $1,520 in 1982. The average for men in 1982 was $2,980.

Gradually, policymakers are recognizing the shortcomings of pension systems. In the past few years, federal legislation has …

Employment-At-Will Doctrine: Providing A Public Policy Exception To Improve Worker Safety, Daniel T. Schibley

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Occupational safety would be greatly enhanced if employees had a viable option of refusing to work under unsafe conditions without risking their jobs. This Note proposes a public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine that would give a cause of action to an employee discharged for refusing to work under unsafe conditions. Part I examines the employment-at-will rule and its recognized exceptions. Part II analyzes the inadequacies of existing statutory remedies for a discharged employee who refused to work under unsafe conditions. Finally, Part III proposes an alternative remedy: providing a common-law exception to the employment-at-will rule that will give …

Decriminalizing The Marijuana User: A Drafter's Guide, Richard J. Bonnie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The article does not discuss the arguments in favor of decriminalization, a matter which the author' and others have covered elsewhere. Nor does the article consider the even more difficult questions involved in a legislative decision to legalize the drug and authorize its distribution for nonmedical uses. International obligations, federal law, and current political realities preclude enactment of a regulatory approach toward the availability of marijuana, including any variant of the so-called alcohol model. Although a state conceivably could repeal its laws against cultivation and distribution of marijuana, including only the federal prohibitions in effect, such an overt departure from …