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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Search For A Grand Unified Theory Of Tort Law., Scott Hershovitz
The Search For A Grand Unified Theory Of Tort Law., Scott Hershovitz
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Theorists like to do a lot with a little. And not just because simple theories seem more elegant: we deepen our understanding when we learn that disparate phenomena are linked together. In physics, for example, the theory of thermodynamics showed us the relationship between mechanics and heat. In economics, the theory of the firm showed us that, across industries that look nothing alike, a simple principle helps explain the organization of economic activity. Of course, there is no guarantee that the disparate phenomena we suspect are linked actually are. Particle physicists continue to search for a Grand Unified Theory, which …
Encouraging Insurers To Regulate: The Role (If Any) For Tort Law, Kyle D. Logue
Encouraging Insurers To Regulate: The Role (If Any) For Tort Law, Kyle D. Logue
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Insurance companies are financially responsible for a substantial portion of the losses associated with risky activities in the economy. The more insurers can lower the risks posed by their insureds, the more competitively they can price their policies, and the more customers they can attract. Thus, competition forces insurers to be private regulators of risk. To that end, insurers deploy a range of techniques to encourage their insureds to reduce the risks of their insured activities, from charging experience-rated premiums to discounting premium rates for insureds who make specific behavioral changes designed to reduce risk. Somewhat paradoxically, however, tort law …
The Multiple Common Law Roots Of Charitable Immunity: An Essay In Honor Of Richard Epstein's Contributions To Tort Law, Jill R. Horwitz
The Multiple Common Law Roots Of Charitable Immunity: An Essay In Honor Of Richard Epstein's Contributions To Tort Law, Jill R. Horwitz
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Professor Epstein has long promoted replacing tort-based malpractice law with a new regime based on contracts. In Mortal Peril, he grounded his normative arguments in favor of such a shift in the positive, doctrinal history of charitable immunity law. In this essay, in three parts, I critique Professor Epstein’s suggestion that a faulty set of interpretations in charitable immunity law led to our current reliance on tort for malpractice claims. First, I offer an alternative interpretation to Professor Epstein’s claim that one group of 19th and early 20th century cases demonstrates a misguided effort to protect donor wishes. Rather, I …
Private Liability For Reckless Consumer Lending, John A. E. Pottow
Private Liability For Reckless Consumer Lending, John A. E. Pottow
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Congress recently enacted amendments to the Bankruptcy Code that possess the overarching theme of cracking down on debtors due to the increasing rate at which individuals have been filing for bankruptcy. Taking into account the correlation between the overall rise in consumer credit card debt and the rate of individual bankruptcy filings, the author nevertheless hypothesizes that not all credit card debt is troubling. Instead, the author proposes that the catalyst driving individual bankruptcy rates higher than ever is the level of "bad credit"-or credit extended to individuals even though there is a reasonable likelihood that the individual will be …
Landowner's Duty To Strangers On His Premises - As Developed In The Iowa Decisions, Herbert F. Goodrich
Landowner's Duty To Strangers On His Premises - As Developed In The Iowa Decisions, Herbert F. Goodrich
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It is one thing to know a general rule of common law. It is another to know the application of the general rule, its variations and-exceptions, in a particular state. Both are important. Without the first, the lawyer becomes the mere tradesman. Worse than that for him, he is often helpless, for with all the gray mule and spotted cow cases to which a benevolent digester directs him he does not sense the legally significant facts so that he can recognize an authority when he sees it. Without the second, even the lawyer with a grasp of fundamentals is at …
Privity Of Contract And Tort Liability, Herbert F. Goodrich
Privity Of Contract And Tort Liability, Herbert F. Goodrich
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Two parties, A and B, make a contract whereby B undertakes to perform certain services for A. He performs his task in a negligent manner, and as a consequence C, a third party, suffers injury. Has C rights against B?
The Degree Of Care Required In The Operation Of A Scenic Railway, Ralph W. Aigler
The Degree Of Care Required In The Operation Of A Scenic Railway, Ralph W. Aigler
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The case of O'Callaghan v. Dellwood Park Co., - Ill. -, 89 N. E. 1005. decided by the supreme court of Illinois, October 26, 1909, is of interest because of the holding of owners and operators of scenic railways to the same high degree of care required of railroads and common carriers of passengers in general. The action was in case for the recovery of damages for injuries suffered by the plaintiff by reason of having been thrown out of a car on defendant's scenic railway. The plaintiff had paid the usual charge for the ride and was, at the …
Liability Of Public Officers To Private Actions For Neglect Of Official Duty, Thomas M. Cooley
Liability Of Public Officers To Private Actions For Neglect Of Official Duty, Thomas M. Cooley
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A public office is a public trust.The incumbent has a property right in it, but the office is conferred, not for his benefit, but for the benefit of the political society. The duties imposed upon the officer are supposed to be capable of classification under one of three heads: the legislative, executive, or judicial; and to pertain, accordingly, to one of the three departments of the government designated by these names. But the classification cannot be very exact, and there are numerous officers who cannot be classified at all under these heads. The reason will be apparent if we name …