Law Commons^™

Torts, Deron R. Hicks, Jacob E. Daly

Mercer Law Review

• Dog Bite
• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
• Premises Liability
• Carriers
• Products Liability
• Bovine Jurisprudence

Food Lion As Reform Or Revolution: "Publication Damages" And First Amendment Scrutiny, Susan M. Gilles

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fundamental Protection Of A Fundamental Right: Full Recovery Of Child-Rearing Damages For Wrongful Pregnancy, Patricia Baugher

Washington Law Review

The U. S. Constitution and Washington statutes protect the right to choose not to have a child as a fundamental right. When a healthy child is born after contraceptive methods fail due to physician negligence, parents can sue on a "wrongful pregnancy" cause of action. In all jurisdictions recognizing wrongful pregnancy, parents may recover damages for medical expenses associated with pregnancy and childbirth. A controversy exists, however, concerning whether parents may recover the ordinary expenses of child rearing. While some states allow full recovery of these expenses, and other states allow recovery of the economic expense offset by the emotional …

Regulating Corporate Human Rights Abuses: Is Unocal The Answer?, Pia Zara Thadhani

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sexual Harassment, Prostitution, And The Tort Of Abusive Discharge: An Analysis And Evaluation Of Recent Legal Developments, John A. Gray

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fostering Mutual Respect And Cooperation Between State Courts And State Legislatures: A Sound Alternative To A Tort Tug Of War, Victor E. Schwartz, Mark A. Behrens, Monica G. Parham

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recovery Of Medical Monitoring Costs: An Argument For The Fund Mechanism In The Wake Of Bower V. Westinghouse, Shannon L. Smith Wolfe

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mail-Order Gun Kits And Fingerprint-Resistant Pistols: Why Washington Courts Should Impose A Duty On Gun Manufacturers To Market Firearms Responsibly, Amy Edwards

Washington Law Review

Plaintiffs have historically been unsuccessful in suing gun manufacturers for injuries inflicted by the criminal acts of third parties. Until recently, with one exception, courts uniformly found no basis for liability under either strict liability or general negligence claims. In three recent cases, however, courts have imposed a duty under negligent-marketing theories. These theories have yet to be tested in Washington. This Comment examines the potential viability of a lawsuit by victims of gun violence against gun manufacturers for negligent marketing in Washington. It ultimately concludes that Washington courts can and should impose a duty on gun manufacturers to refrain …

Plotting The Return Of An Ancient Tort To Cyberspace: Towards A New Federal Standard Of Responsibility For Defamation For Internet Service Providers, Christopher Butler

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Though the rapid development of the Internet has created a fertile ground for legal innovation, more often than not legislators and courts have sought to address this relatively new medium by attempting to squeeze it into precedents and paradigms better suited to older forms of communication, technology, and media. Part I of this article looks back at the courts' initial efforts at addressing defamation via the Internet. From the start the courts attempted to fit the role of the ISP into the common law's categorizing of print media as either "publishers" or "distributors" of information. One court's misstep in overextending …

Limiting Tort Liability For Online Third-Party Content Under Section 230 Of The Communications Act, Jonathan A. Friedman, Francis M. Buono

Federal Communications Law Journal

Section 230 of the Communications Act provides online service providers (OSPs) with immunity from liability for harms arising from third-party content that is made available through an OSP's services. Some courts have recently held that section 230 immunity covers not only defamation but any tort claim that would make an OSP liable for information originating from the OSP's users or commercial partners. This Article argues that section 230 has been properly interpreted by the courts and that, contrary to the claims of critics, those decisions have not created a disincentive for OSPs aggressively to monitor their sites for defamatory or …

When Is A Teacher Or School Liable In Negligence?, Helen Newnham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The law is increasing affecting the practice of education. The most likely reason a teacher or school will face legal action is in negligence where a student has been injured while under the school’s protection. This may occur in a variety of settings. To satisfy the elements of the tort of negligence the student who becomes in law the plaintiff must prove that a duty of care was owed, that the duty was breached, by not maintaining the appropriate standard and that the injury was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that breach of duty. It would be rare for a …

Brownfields Of Dreams In The Old Dominion: Redeveloping Brownfields In Virginia, Philip Carter Strother

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Need For A Third Conflicts Restatement (And A Proposal For Tort Conflicts), Symeon C. Symeonides

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Preparing for the Next Century-A New Restatement of Conflicts?

"Are We There Yet?": Towards A New Rule For Choice Of Law In Tort, Janet Walker

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Supreme Court's effort to establish certainty in this area by basing a firm rule on a clear theory has failed. The intention was laudable but the proposed theory bore little relation to the courts' adjudicative concerns; and the rule sometimes produced injustice, prompting courts to circumvent it. This article considers the brief history of choice of law in tort and recent developments in common law and civil law jurisdictions, and suggests a new theory and a new rule (based on principles of tort law rather than public international law) which are likely to increase certainty by promoting fairness.

To Have And Not Hold: Applying The Discovery Rule To Loss Of Consortium Claims Stemming From Premarital, Latent Injuries, Paul D. Fancher

Vanderbilt Law Review

Joel Friedman had a slow growing tumor on his thoracic spine. Unfortunately, his doctors negligently failed to diagnose or treat it. Joel then married his wife, Jihane, with whom he initially had a fulfilling physical relationship.! As his illness progressed, however, Joel began experiencing erectile dysfunction.' Ultimately, he became completely impotent. When later testing disclosed Joel's undiagnosed tumor, the Friedmans became aware of their cause of action for medical malpractice.

Fortunately, our legal system provides some redress to Joel. The discovery rule protects his claim from the statute of limitations.8 Joel, however, is not the only victim in this case. …

A Psychological Approach To Understanding The Legal Basis Of The No Duty To Rescue Rule, David N. Kelley

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Three Arguments Against Mt. Healthy: Tort Theory, Constitutional Torts, And Freedom Of Speech, Michael Wells

Mercer Law Review

Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle is among the most important, and least discussed, cases in constitutional tort law. It stands for the abstract principle that the "but-for" rule of causation, which is the usual test in common-law torts, applies in constitutional tort suits as well. To understand the principle and its implications, it is helpful to have in mind a concrete example of its application, and Mt. Healthy provides as good an illustration as any other case. Doyle, a nontenured school teacher, quarreled with another teacher, with school employees, and with students. Two specific incidents …

An Essay On Texas V. Lesage, Christina B. Whitman

Mercer Law Review

When I was invited to participate in this symposium, I was asked to discuss whether the causation defense developed in Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle applied to cases challenging state action under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. As I argue below, it seems clear that Mt. Healthy does apply to equal protection cases. The Supreme Court explicitly so held last November in Texas v. Lesage. But the implications of Lesage go beyond questions of causation. The opinion suggests that the Court may be rethinking (or ignoring) its promise in Carey v. …

Mt. Healthy And Causation-In-Fact: The Court Still Doesn't Get It!, Sheldon Nahmod

Mercer Law Review

Over fifteen years ago, I argued in a prior edition of my section 1983 treatise that the second burden-shift part of the Mt. Healthy test, articulated by the Supreme Court in 1977, should go only to damages and not to liability. I also argued that this causation-in-fact rule should not be limited to Mt. Healthy-type First Amendment employment cases, but should apply to constitutional damages actions generally and equal protection cases in particular. I remain convinced that both aspects of this position are normatively sound, even if no longer good law, in light of the Court's end-of-the-millennium decision in …

Mt. Healthy, Causation And Affirmative Defenses, Joseph Z. Fleming

Mercer Law Review

In Mt. Healthy City School District Board of Education v. Doyle, the Supreme Court established a rule of causation to distinguish between a result caused by a constitutional violation and one not so caused by establishing "the proper test ... which likewise protects against invasion of constitutional rights without commanding undesirable consequences not necessary to the assurance of those rights." Reconciling such inconsistencies is similar to the type of situation that has confounded physicists trying to achieve a unified field theory-a theory capable of describing nature's forces within a single, all-encompassing, coherent framework. Physicists since Einstein have sought such …

Seay V. Cleveland: Resolution Of The Ministerial Discretionary Dichotomy, Franklin D. Guerrero Jr.

Mercer Law Review

In 1992 the Georgia State Legislature passed the Georgia State Tort Claims Act ("GTCA") which waived the state's sovereign immunity. The GTCA defines "state" as the "State of Georgia and any of its offices, agencies, authorities, departments, commissions, boards, divisions, instrumentalities, and institutions" but the statute specifically excludes "counties, municipalities, school districts, other units of local government, hospital authorities, or housing and other local authorities." Under the GTCA a discretionary function or duty is specifically defined by statue. However, the common law distinction between ministerial and discretionary functions still applies to all entities exempted from the GTCA.

Fishing For The Smoking Gun, Y. Daphne Coelho-Adam

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Industry-wide tort litigation, such as tobacco and gun litigation, poses a new problem for extraterritorial discovery. These suits allege conspiracies on the part of the tobacco and gun industries to conceal the dangers of their products from the public. Much of the evidence needed to prove the industries' knowledge is in their possession. These industries are international with companies located in the United Kingdom. Under U.S. discovery law the evidence is discoverable, but such is not the case under British discovery law. Therefore, the evidence and witnesses located in the United Kingdom are outside the grasp of U.S. plaintiffs. The …

"Waive" Goodbye To Tort Liability: A Proposal To Remove Paternalism From Product Sales Transactions, Richard C. Ausness

San Diego Law Review

This Article argues that waivers of tort liability should be permitted in connection with product sales. Currently, sellers cannot limit their liability under tort law for personal injuries caused by defective products even though such waivers are allowed, albeit reluctantly, under principles of negligence and warranty law.

Florida's Tort Reform Act: Keeping The Faith With The Promise Of Hoffman V. Jones, George N. Meros, Jr., Chanta Hundley

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Phantom Menace Or New Hope: Member State Public Tort Liability After The Double-Bladed Light Saber Duel Between The European Court Of Justice And The German Bundesgerichtshof In Brasserie Du Pecheur, Markus G. Puder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article examines the interactions between European Community and national law, in the context of Member State public tort liability. Specifically, the Article analyzes Brasserie du Pecheur v. Federal Republic of Germany, a case that pitted German beer purity legislation against requirements of Community law. In that case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that acts or omissions of the national legislator may, under certain conditions, give rise to Member State public tort liability, which is adjudicated in the national court systems. The German Federal Court of Justice dismissed the case after finding that the conditions of state liability …

Alternative Liability In Litigation Malpractice Actions: Eradicating The Last Resort Of Scoundrels, Lawrence W. Kessler

San Diego Law Review

The legal malpractice tort, however, has managed to withstand the winds of legal change. Particularly crucial has been the refusal to apply alternative causation doctrines. The refusal to apply causation doctrines that have been embraced in other areas has significant social effects. As a result, the consumers of legal services receive less protection from the courts than do the consumers of products or medical services.

Tort Liability, Religious Entities, And The Decline Of Constitutional Protection, Scott C. Idleman

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: Religious Liberty at the Dawn of a New Millennium held at Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington on April 9, 1999.

Cigar Warnings: Proceed With Caution, 33 J. Marshall L. Rev. 521 (2000), Patricia A. Davidson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Reform 1999: A Building Without A Foundation, Robert S. Peck, Richard Marshall, Kenneth D. Kranz

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Suits For Injuries Sustained During Illegal Abortions: The Effects Of Judicial Bias, Gail D. Hollister

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.