Law Commons^™

"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 …

Torts, Deron R. Hicks

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Deterrent Effect Of Punitive Damages, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Professor Viscusi's article differs from the dominant mode of law and economics scholarship on punitive damages. The usual punitive damages article contains purely theoretical considerations about when punitive damages are appropriate and about their optimal level; no effort is made to ascertain whether the existing pattern of punitive awards corresponds with the theory. This is part of a larger problem: the dearth of empirical evidence in law and economics scholarship. Viscusi, on the other hand, provides empirical tests of whether punitive damages accomplish their goals, and he makes creative use of publicly available data sources. For the goal of his …

Using Public Nuisance Law To Protect Wildlife, Siobhan O'Keeffe

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Mad Cows, Offended Emus, And Old Eggs: Perishable Product Disparagement Laws And Free Speech, Lisa Dobson Gould

Washington Law Review

In the wake of the 1989 controversy over Alar use on apples, several states enacted laws providing a civil cause of action to producers damaged by false statements disparaging the safety of their perishable food products. Commentators have suggested that these laws are unconstitutional and contrary to the First Amendment's free speech protections. This Comment argues that the majority of state laws either meet or exceed the constitutional protections established by the U.S. Supreme Court's defamation cases. However, these laws are unlikely to be used widely in the future because of their stringent proof requirements and because such suits often …

Circuit Over Troubled Waters: Ninth Circuit Comparative Fault Principles In Seaman's Personal Injury Actions, Orland S. Seballos

Washington Law Review

Maritime personal injury actions employ the comparative fault doctrine, under which damages are allocated between mutually negligent parties according to their proportionate fault. This Comment focuses on recurring issues Ninth Circuit courts have faced in this area: apportioning liability in cases of violations by seamen's employers of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations, and determining whether to include both causation and fault in making the apportionment. This Comment argues that the Ninth Circuit should adopt rules consistent with the pronounced congressional and U.S. Supreme Court policies of achieving uniformity in domestic and international admiralty and providing liberal recovery for …

The Political Power Of Nuisance Law: Labor Picketing And The Courts In Modern England, 1871-Present, Rachel Vorspan

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cooling The Hot Pursuit: Toward A Categorical Approach, Travis N. Jensen

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Acts Of God Or Toxic Torts? Applying Tort Principles To The Problem Of Climate Change, Eduardo M. Peñalver

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The problem of climate change continues to be an intractable one for policymakers. Uncertainties over the likely costs of climate change as well as over the costs of proposed remedies have hampered the formation of a consensus regarding the best course of action. The principles of tort law provide a useful means of analyzing the problem of climate change, particularly the issue of who should bear the costs associated with its effects. The two major goals of tort law (reducing the costs of accidents and corrective justice) both point towards the appropriateness of placing the costs of climate change on …

Planned Parenthood Of The Columbia/Willamette, Inc. V. American Coalition Of Life Activists (23 F. Supp. 2d 1182 (1998)), Debbie Karet

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of People Of The State Of New York, Buffalo Gyn Womenservices, Planned Parenthood Of Rochester/Syracuse Region, Et. Al. V. Operation Rescue National, Et. Al., Lucinda Finley

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Restatement Third, Torts: Products Liability: Progress Or A Radical Departure For West Virginia, J. Zachary Zatezalo

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Remedies, Section 1983 And The Common Law, Michael L. Wells

Scholarly Works

Constitutional tort law marries the substantive rights granted by the Constitution to the remedial mechanism of tort law. The sweeping language of 42 U.S.C. 1983 provides that "[e]very person who, under color of any [state law] subjects, or causes to be subjected, any [person] to the deprivation of any [constitutional rights] shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress." Constitutional tort suits raise, in a new context, many tort-like remedial questions relating to causation, immunity, and damages--and therein lies a problem. The usual source of answers to …

Torts—Dramshop Liability In Arkansas—Illegal Sales Of Liquor To Minors May Expose Alcohol Vendors To Expensive Liability. Shannon V. Wilson, 329 Ark. 143, 947 S.W.2d 349 (1997)., Dustin Blake Mcdaniel

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cigarette Law, Daniel Givelber

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Drudge Case: A Look At Issues In Cyberspace Defamation, Robert M. O'Neil

Washington Law Review

In the days following Newsweek's January 1998 decision to defer publication of an exposé of President Clinton's alleged affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, attention focused on the medium where the story first appeared: Matt Drudge's online gossip column, The Drudge Report. Though his postings on this issue seem to have been substantially accurate, Mr. Drudge has recently been sued for defamation because an earlier Report carried a story of a quite different sort, in which even he conceded there were some flaws. That lawsuit provides a vehicle through which to explore a fascinating array of legal …

Négligence, Victimes Indirectes Et Préjudice Moral En Common Law: Les Limites A La Réparation Se Justifient-Elles?, Louise Belanger-Hardy

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Common law courts have traditionally been reluctant to award damages for emotional harm. This is particularly true in cases of secondary victims of negligence. Preoccupied by the fear of fraudulent claims or the danger of opening the floodgates, courts strive to limit the scope of liability in these circumstances. But how legitimate is the reasoning that has served to support such a restrictive analysis of the decision to award damages for emotional harm? The author explores the limitations of the Canadian courts' current approach and analyzes the basis of their concern. She concludes that not only do the beliefs espoused …

Replacing Strict Liability With A Contract-Based Products Liability Regime, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

When strict products liability first appeared on the scene some thirty-five years ago, it was heralded as a boon to consumers whose claims to compensation had hitherto been frustrated by the law of sales. Warranty law, it was said, worked fairly well in purely "commercial" transactions, but tort law did a better job in cases where ordinary consumers suffered personal injuries or property damage from defective products. To be sure, defenders of warranty law pointed out that the newly-drafted Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code" or "U.C.C.") was much more consumer friendly than the old Uniform Sales Act. Nevertheless, the proponents …

Tort Claims Against The State: Georgia's Compensation System, R. Perry Sentell Jr.

Scholarly Works

The State's immunity from liability for the torts of its officers and employees claims legendary status in American law. Indeed, immunity's history now looms as daunting as the doctrine itself. As with most epochal accounts, this history varies according to version--versions, assuredly, for many tastes. In sum, nevertheless, the offerings attest to a legal principle persisting as (at least) the point of departure in most jurisdictions. Anchored in both history and rationale, therefore, state tort immunity long dominated the law of the United States. Over time, indeed, the doctrine's durability proved unequal only to that of its critics. Those critics …

Tort Law, Robin Jean Davis, Louis J. Palmer Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Alcaraz V. Vece: If You Mow Or Water Your Next-Door-Neighbor's Yard, You Might Be Liable To Anyone Injured There, Thomas D. Jex

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Achieving Consensus On Defective Product Design, James A. Henderson Jr., Aaron Twerski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of The Products Liability Restatement, James A. Henderson Jr., Aaron Twerski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of The Products Liability Restatement, Aaron Twerski, J. A. Henderson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Civil (Tort) Litigation: The Search For Data Continues, Thomas A. Eaton

Scholarly Works

What do we "know" about tort litigation in Georgia? How many tort suits are filed? What kinds of cases are filed? How many settle and how many go to trial? Do jurors tend to rule in favor of one party or the other? What are the typical damages awarded in cases in which the plaintiff prevails? How often are punitive damages awarded?

Employer Liability For Supervisors' Intentional Torts: The Uncertain Scope Of The "Alter Ego" Exception, Michael Hayes, Quinn Broverman

All Faculty Scholarship

When Illinois employees are the victims of intentional torts by supervisors, can they bring common law tort suits against their employers for these injuries, or are they limited to bringing a claim under the workers' compensation system? This question, which arises with unfortunate reguIarity, lacks a clear answer because both state and federal courts in Illinois are divided over the scope of the "alter ego" exception to the exclusivity of workers' compensation as the remedy for intentionally inflicted workplace injuries.

The Illinois Workers' Compensation Act ("IWCA") contains exclusivity provisions that mandate that workers' compensation is the sole remedy available to …

Identifying And Valuing The Injury In Lost Chance Cases, Todd S. Aagaard

Michigan Law Review

Any plaintiff seeking to recover in tort must prove that the defendant has breached the duty of care. Even after the plaintiff has established the defendant's breach of duty, however, issues of causation and damages remain. These two issues are frequently vexing, both conceptually and in terms of evidentiary demonstration. For example, if a plaintiff proves that a defendant acted negligently, it still may be unclear whether the plaintiff would have been injured even ip the absence of the defendant's negligence. Similarly, in assessing damages, factfinders often :find it difficult to attach a monetary value to a plaintiff's nonpecuniary losses …

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 …

Interjurisdictional Preclusion, Howard M. Erichson

Michigan Law Review

Res judicata is hard enough already. Consider it at the interjurisdictional level, and we are asking for headaches. But consider it at that level we must, because litigation trends make interjurisdictional preclusion more important than ever. Lawyers, judges, litigants, and other litigation participants increasingly must contemplate the possibility that a lawsuit will have claim-preclusive or issue-preclusive effect in a subsequent suit in another jurisdiction. With great frequency, multiple lawsuits arise out of single or related transactions or events. Mass tort litigation and complex commercial litigation provide the most emphatic examples, but the phenomenon of multiple related lawsuits extends to every …

Achieving Consensus On Defective Product Design, Aaron Twerski, J. A. Henderson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.