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Full-Text Articles in Law
"Crimtorts" As Corporate Just Deserts, Thomas Koenig, Michael Rustad
"Crimtorts" As Corporate Just Deserts, Thomas Koenig, Michael Rustad
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Just as Grant Gilmore described "contorts" that lie on the borderline between contract and tort law, the authors coin the term "crimtort" to identify the expanding common ground between criminal and tort law. Although the concept of crimtort can be broadly applied to many areas of the law, this Article focuses on the primary crimtort remedy - punitive damages. The deterrent power of punitive damages lies in the wealth-calibration of the defendant's punishment. For corporations this means that punitive damages will reflect the firm's net income or net worth. The theoretical danger is that juries will abuse wealth by redistributing …
Outrageous Fortune And The Criminalization Of Mass Torts, Richard A. Nagareda
Outrageous Fortune And The Criminalization Of Mass Torts, Richard A. Nagareda
Michigan Law Review
The case of the blameworthy-but-fortunate defendant has emerged as one of the most perplexing scenarios in mass tort litigation today. One need look no further than the front page of the newspaper to find examples of mass tort defendants said to have engaged in irresponsible conduct - even conduct that one might regard as morally outrageous in character - but that nonetheless advance eminently plausible contentions that they have not caused harm to others. This issue is not merely a matter for abstract speculation. A now-familiar mass tort scenario involves a defendant that markets a product without informing consumers about …