Law Commons^™

One Step Forward And Two Steps Backward - Goodwill As A Distributable Asset Of A Law Partnership, Jean Hoffman

Akron Law Review

The Ohio Supreme Court examined both the traditional and modern views of goodwill as an asset in a law partnership and held that it was not against public policy to include measurable goodwill as an asset upon the dissolution of a law partnership. The court also concluded that ethical considerations did not preclude finding goodwill in a law partnership. However, the court held that goodwill could be distributed upon the dissolution of the partnership only when it was specifically provided for in the partnership agreement. This paper will examine the Spayd v. Turner, Granzow and Hollenkamp court's findings and the …

Prince V. St. Francis-St. George Hospital, Inc., Michael Christie

Akron Law Review

This note considers the possible impact on Ohio law of the Prince holding. A review of Ohio's prior position on invasion of privacy suggests that the holding of Prince represents a substantial departure from past decisions in two respects: first, the plaintiffs alleged that their privacy was invaded when information was communicated to only one other person, and second, the invasion of the privacy of one spouse served as the basis for a claim of the other spouse. This apparent departure of Prince from prior decisions is discussed in the context of a physician's duty of confidentiality and defendant's breach …

United States Trust Co. V. I.R.S., Scott D. Brackett

Akron Law Review

During the course of its administration, an estate may receive income that is subject to federal income tax. When, and if, an estate receives such income the executor is faced with the task of filing the estate's income tax return along with a number of related considerations. One of the more important considerations is the allocation of the burden of such tax between the beneficiaries of the estate and the estate itself.

Subchapter J of the Internal Revenue Code provides the mechanism to allocate that burden between the beneficiaries and the estate. Generally, Subchapter J attempts to allocate the tax …

Bad News: Privacy Ruling To Increase Press Litigation, The Florida Star V. B.J.F., Mary Ellen Hockwalt

Akron Law Review

This note analyzes the history and precedent upon which the Court relied in reaching Florida Star's "harsh outcome." Next, the note discusses how the Court, by refusing to extend its holding beyond the facts of the case and give broad Constitutional protection to publications of truth, failed to provide lower courts with any guidance in deciding future invasion of privacy actions. Finally, the note examines the Court's balancing test: weighing the privacy interests of a crime victim against the newspaper's freedom to print truthful information.

Procuring Trial Testimony From Corporate Officers And Employees: Alternative Methods And Suggestions For Reform, Richard J. Oparil

Akron Law Review

This article discusses the situation under the current Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including some alternative methods of obtaining testimony at trial. The article then discusses various ways the problem could be solved through rule changes to help ensure live trial testimony by corporate officials.

The Constutionality Of Punitive Damages: Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company V. Cleopatra Haslip, Thomas P. Mannion

Akron Law Review

This Note examines the history of the constitutional challenges to the doctrine of punitive damages. Next, this Note explores the Supreme Court's decision in Haslip. Finally, this Note examines the ramifications of the Haslip decision.

The Supreme Court's Impact On Litigation, Stephen L. Wasby

Akron Law Review

The focus of this article is on that segment of the litigation cycle in which lawyers' attention to the Court's rulings affects the cases they bring and how they bring them. To indicate the Court's importance for litigating organizations' existence and functioning, we first explore a set of cases involving the NAACP. These cases, involving the organization's survival, show how the need for organizational maintenance affects an organization's ability to litigate as it would like to do. Drawing on the law of procedure, we next examine cases affecting organizations' ability to bring cases. Then we turn to see how Supreme …

The American Inns Of Court: Preparing Our Students For Ethical Practice, Joryn Jenkins

Akron Law Review

Despite the recognition of the merit and effectiveness of the American Inns of Court concept, and despite the rapid growth of this burgeoning movement, and despite the intrinsic involvement of over one thousand law students and of nearly one hundred law schools affiliated with Inns across the country, many legal educators are unaware of the Inns' existence, purpose, possibilities, and successes. Why should this ignorance be remedied?

Mcintyre V. Ohio Elections Comm'n: "A Whole New Boutique Of Wonderful First Amendment Litigation Opens Its Doors", Mark A. Whitt

Akron Law Review

This Note analyzes the Court's decision in McIntyre. Part II defines the issue presented in the case and provides a general background on disclosure statutes, with particular attention drawn to the Supreme Court's decision in Talley v. California. A brief discussion of various state court decisions post-Talley is also provided. The Statement of the Case in Part III presents the facts, procedural history and holding of the case. Part IV analyzes the Court's holding.

This Note disagrees with the Court's holding for three reasons. First, it argues that the Court misinterpreted the history of anonymous political speech and engaged in …

Ethical Responsibility And Legal Liability Of Lawyers For Failure To Institute Or Monitor Litigation Holds, Nathan M. Crystal

Akron Law Review

The ethical and legal basis for subjecting counsel to discipline or liability for failing to initiate or implement litigation holds in connection with ESI exists. Recent important cases, while not imposing discipline or liability on counsel, have continued to lay the ground work for such liability. ...Cases in which counsel are held liable for damages to their clients or subject to discipline for failing to comply with well established ESI discovery obligations will not be long in coming as the new approach to winning litigation through discovery continues to develop.

Interlocutory Review Of Litigation-Avoidance Claims: Insights From Appeals Under The Federal Arbitration Act, Roger J. Perlstadt

Akron Law Review

Part I of this article outlines and critiques current law on stays pending appeal of refusals to enforce purported arbitration agreements. Part II proposes a simple analysis of expected error costs to determine whether to stay litigation pending interlocutory appeal of rejections of litigationavoidance claims. This analysis looks to (1) potential harm to plaintiffs of erroneously staying litigation pending appeal, (2) potential harm to defendants of erroneously refusing to stay litigation pending appeal, and (3) the likelihood of each of those types of harms arising, which is based on the likelihood that the district court’s denial of the litigation avoidance …

Is Meaningful Peer Review Headed Back To Florida?, Brendan A. Sorg

Akron Law Review

This comment lays the foundation to evaluate the sustainability of Amendment 7 post-PSQIA in Part II by first examining medical peer review, its origin, its evolution and why peer review remains important to patient safety. Although many physicians dislike peer review, Congress has acknowledged its importance by making peer review mandatory and by providing the statutory protections to ensure peer review remains meaningful.7 States have followed suit, passing their own laws that provide for the protection of peer review materials. Part II also addresses how Amendment 7 reversed Florida’s historical approach providing broad peer review protection and how this erosion …

What Are Lawyers For?, Daniel Markovits

Akron Law Review

What are lawyers for? What social purposes do lawyers serve? What functions underwrite the special obligations and entitlements that accompany the lawyer’s professional role? I shall try to sketch an answer to these questions, at least with respect to lawyers who function as litigators, in adjudication. The answer will surprise many. Lawyers, I shall argue, do not serve truth or justice, and should not seek them. Instead, lawyers serve to legitimate

Bellwether Trial Selection In Multi-District Litigation: Empirical Evidence In Favor Of Random Selection, Loren H. Brown, Matthew A. Holian, Arindam Ghosh

Akron Law Review

For decades, courts overseeing mass tort litigation have struggled with how to identify the right plaintiffs for early trials. These initial trials, often called “bellwether” trials, are intended to help the parties evaluate the merits of other cases in the same litigation. But a successful bellwether process depends heavily on the method by which the trials are selected. A process that all litigants regard as fair and that results in the selection of plaintiffs who are representative of the claims of other plaintiffs can help to facilitate the resolution of an entire mass tort docket, whereas a process that is …