Law Commons^™

The Faulty Law And Economics Of The “Baseball Rule”, Nathaniel Grow, Zachary Flagel

William & Mary Law Review

This Article examines the so-called “Baseball Rule,” the legal doctrine generally immunizing professional baseball teams from liability when spectators are hit by errant balls or bats leaving the field of play. Following a recent series of high-profile fan injuries at Major League Baseball (MLB) games, this century-old legal doctrine has come under increased scrutiny, with both academic and media commentators calling for its abolition. Nevertheless, despite these criticisms, courts have almost uniformly continued to apply the Baseball Rule to spectator-injury lawsuits.

This Article offers two contributions to the ongoing debate surrounding the Baseball Rule. First, it provides new empirical evidence …

A 2016 Copa America Bump For Major League Soccer? Strengthening The Case For Legal Action Arising From The Corrupted 2022 World Cup Bid, Jeff Todd, R. Todd Jewell

William & Mary Business Law Review

Governmental and private investigations have generated evidence of corruption in the bidding process to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which went to Qatar rather than the United States. One economic study has shown an increase in professional soccer attendance in European countries that host the World Cup and the European Championships. Accordingly, Major League Soccer and its investor-operators could pursue tort and unfair competition claims to argue that denial of a 2022 World Cup USA will result in lowered attendance, and thus lost profits and diminished business value. Key differences in American and European soccer leagues and sports markets …

Mutuals: An Area Of Legal Climate Change, Karl T. Muth, Andrew Leventhal

William & Mary Business Law Review

Underappreciated in its importance and often-misunderstood in its implications, the choice between a company limited by shares and a company organized as a mutual is an important decision in sectors ranging from agriculture to banking to insurance. Adding gravity to this particular decision is the difficulty and enormous cost of corporate metamorphosis between company types later in the company’s life. The authors examine the history of the mutual form, its popularity’s rise and fall during the twentieth century, and its advantages and disadvantages in today’s environment.

Friendly Precedent, Anthony Niblett, Albert H. Yoon

William & Mary Law Review

This Article explores which legal precedents judges choose to support their decisions.When describing the legal landscape in a written opinion, which precedent do judges gravitate toward? We examine the idea that judges are more likely to cite “friendly” precedent. A friendly precedent, here, is one that was delivered by Supreme Court Justices who have similar political preferences to the lower court judges delivering the opinion. In this Article, we test whether a federal Court of Appeals panel is more likely to engage with binding Supreme Court precedent when the political flavor of that precedent is aligned with the political composition …

Community Versus Market Values Of Life, Robert Cooter, David Depianto

William & Mary Law Review

Individuals and communities make choices affecting the risk of accidental death. Individuals balance risk and cost in market choices, for example, by purchasing costly safety products or taking a dangerous job for higher pay. Communities balance risk and cost through social norms of precaution, which prescribe how much risk people may impose on others and on themselves. For example, social norms dictate that bicyclists should wear helmets and automobile passengers should wear seat belts. In both cases, the balance between the fatality risk and the cost of reducing it reveals an implicit value of a statistical life, or “VSL”— an …

Delaware’S Familiarity, Brian J. Broughman, Darian M. Ibrahim

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Up Close And Personal With Delaware, Darian M. Ibrahim, Brian J. Broughman

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

When Should Bankruptcy Be An Option (For People, Places, Or Things)?, David A. Skeel Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

When many people think about bankruptcy, they have a simple left-to-right spectrum of possibilities in mind. The spectrum starts with personal bankruptcy, moves next to corporations and other businesses, and then to municipalities, states, and finally countries. We assume that bankruptcy makes the most sense for individuals; that it makes a great deal of sense for corporations; that it is plausible but a little more suspect for cities; that it would be quite odd for states; and that bankruptcy is unimaginable for a country.

In this Article, I argue that the left-to-right spectrum is sensible but mistaken. After defining “bankruptcy,” …

Foreword: Property Rights And Economic Development, Eric Kades

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Economic Ambiguity (And Possible Irrelevance) Of Tax Transition Rules, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Living Commerce Clause: Federalism In Progressive Political Theory And The Commerce Clause After Lopez And Morrison, Eric R. Claeys

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

"Living Constitution " ideas are most often associated with individual-rights guarantees like equal protection and due process, but they were originally developed in the early twentieth century to revolutionize the law of the structural Constitution - including the Commerce Clause. In this Article, Professor Claeys interprets Progressive political theory, which played a crucial role in legitimating the expansion of the national government. As applied to federalism, Progressive living-Constitution theory required that the Commerce Clause be interpreted as a constitutional transmitter letting the national government regulate whatever the American people deem to be a national problem. He suggests that this notion …

The Stumbling Block: Freedom, Rationality, And Legal Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Predicting Defection, Elmer J. Schaefer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Team Production Theory Of Corporate Law: A Critical Assessment, Alan J. Meese

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Southeastern Water Compact, Panacea Or Pandora's Box? A Law And Economics Analysis Of The Viability Of Interstate Water Compacts, David Copas

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Duty To Disclose And The Prisoner's Dilemma: Laidlaw V. Organ, Robert L. Birmingham

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.