Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Science and Technology Law

PDF

University of Michigan Law School

Michigan Law Review

Liability

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Law

Torts And Innovation, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein Nov 2008

Torts And Innovation, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein

Michigan Law Review

This Essay exposes and analyzes a hitherto overlooked cost of tort law: its adverse effect on innovation. Tort liability for negligence, defective products, and medical malpractice is determined by reference to custom. We demonstrate that courts' reliance on custom and conventional technologies as the benchmark of liability chills innovation and distorts its path. Specifically, recourse to custom taxes innovators and subsidizes replicators of conventional technologies. We explore the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and propose two possible ways to modify tort law in order to make it more welcoming to innovation.


Zoning Speech On The Internet: A Legal And Technical Model, Lawrence Lessig, Paul Resnick Nov 1999

Zoning Speech On The Internet: A Legal And Technical Model, Lawrence Lessig, Paul Resnick

Michigan Law Review

Speech, it is said, divides into three sorts - (1) speech that everyone has a right to (political speech, speech about public affairs); (2) speech that no one has a right to (obscene speech, child porn); and (3) speech that some have a right to but others do not (in the United States, Ginsberg speech, or speech that is "harmful to minors," to which adults have a right but kids do not). Speech-protective regimes, on this view, are those where category (1) speech predominates; speech-repressive regimes are those where categories (2) and (3) prevail. This divide has meaning for speech …


Radiation Injuries: Statute Of Limitations Inadequacies In Tort Cases, Samuel D. Estep, Thomas W. Van Dyke Mar 1964

Radiation Injuries: Statute Of Limitations Inadequacies In Tort Cases, Samuel D. Estep, Thomas W. Van Dyke

Michigan Law Review

Some injuries from overexposure to radiation may manifest themselves within existing statutory limitations periods, at least under some liberal ( or loose) judicial interpretations. Many injurious manifestations, however, will not arise for a great many years after exposure; it is the thesis of this article that some new legislative solutions must be adopted. Limiting the right to sue to the existing time periods as construed by many courts will be manifestly unfair to plaintiffs. A blanket, unconditional extension of the time period to as much as thirty years for all cases regardless of the local rule as to when the …


Radiation Injuries And Time Limitations In Workmen's Compensation Cases, Samuel D. Estep, Walter R. Allan Dec 1963

Radiation Injuries And Time Limitations In Workmen's Compensation Cases, Samuel D. Estep, Walter R. Allan

Michigan Law Review

The increasing use of radioactive materials and radiation-producing devices in industry and elsewhere makes it clear that injuries from exposure to radiation must be anticipated. It becomes relevant, therefore, to inquire into the extent to which the present workmen's compensation statutes will be able to cope with the injuries which may arise from the use of this new source of energy.


Stason, Estep And Pierce: Atoms And The Law, Harry Kalven, Jr. Jan 1961

Stason, Estep And Pierce: Atoms And The Law, Harry Kalven, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Atoms and the Law. By E. Blythe Stason, Samuel D. Estep and William J. Pierce. [Parts I and II* Pp. 1-846]


Radiation Injuries And Statistics: The Need For A New Approach To Injury Litigation, Samuel D. Estep Dec 1960

Radiation Injuries And Statistics: The Need For A New Approach To Injury Litigation, Samuel D. Estep

Michigan Law Review

The emphasis given by the mass media of communication to some of the dramatic problems arising from the use of nuclear energy unfortunately has diverted attention from some of the matters about which something can be done by lawyers, administrators, and legislators without the necessity of complicated international negotiations between various parties to the "Cold War." The headlines leave the uninformed, and perhaps often also the informed, public with the impression that even for radiation injuries the important problems all deal with such questions as: (1) Will only a few or many millions of people survive an all-out nuclear war? …


International Control Of The Safety Of Nuclear-Powered Merchant Ships, William H. Berman, Lee M. Hydeman Dec 1960

International Control Of The Safety Of Nuclear-Powered Merchant Ships, William H. Berman, Lee M. Hydeman

Michigan Law Review

In recent years we have witnessed the transition of nuclear-powered ships from an imaginative dream to an engineering reality. This vast step from the drawing board to successful operation on the high-seas has taken place in a remarkably short span of time. Nevertheless, in the :flush of enthusiasm over the technological achievement, we must not lose sight of the fact that the promise of nuclear power for the propulsion of ships will not have been fulfilled until nuclear vessels are operating safely and economically over the maritime trade routes of the world. It would be unrealistic to assume that further …


Atomic Energy - Indemnity Legislation - Anderson Amendments To The Atomic Energy Act Of 1954, Dudley H. Chapman S.Ed. Mar 1958

Atomic Energy - Indemnity Legislation - Anderson Amendments To The Atomic Energy Act Of 1954, Dudley H. Chapman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Anderson Amendments were enacted to encourage private industry to enter the atomic energy field by removing the risk of excessive liability for a major nuclear reactor disaster. Such a disaster could result in liability far in excess of available insurance coverage. The solution provided by the new legislation has three aspects: (1) After private financial protection, geared to the amount of available insurance, is obtained by a person licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, (2) the Commission will execute an agreement to indemnify (not insure) the licensee and "any other person who may be liable for public liability" to …