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Full-Text Articles in Law
Manifest Disregard In International Commercial Arbitration: Whether Manifest Disregard Holds, However Good, Bad, Or Ugly, Chad R. Yates
Manifest Disregard In International Commercial Arbitration: Whether Manifest Disregard Holds, However Good, Bad, Or Ugly, Chad R. Yates
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Manifest disregard is a common law reason for not enforcing an arbitration award. This principle applies when the arbitrator knew and understood the law, but the arbitrator disregarded the applicable law. Presently, the United States Supreme Court has not made a definite decision on whether manifest disregard is still a valid reason for vacating the award (known as “vacatur”), and the Court is highly deferential to arbitrator decisions. Consequently, the lower courts are split on the issue. For international commercial arbitration awards, manifest disregard can only apply to a foreign award that is decided under United States law or in …
Aaron's Law: Reactionary Legislation In The Guise Of Justice, Matthew Aaron Viana
Aaron's Law: Reactionary Legislation In The Guise Of Justice, Matthew Aaron Viana
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Note argues that the proposed amendment to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act dubbed “Aaron’s Law,” created in the wake of the prosecution and subsequent suicide of hacktivist Aaron Swartz, should not be enacted as it is overly reactionary legislation which would have unfortunate and unjust repercussions in the realm of civil litigation. This Note first describes the circumstances under which Mr. Swartz found himself prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, namely his intrusion into, and downloading massive amounts of data from, large internet databases like PACER and JSTOR. This Note also explores the disputed interpretation of …
Dual Rationality Of Same-Sex Marriage: Creation Of New Rights In The Shadow Of Incomplete Contract Paradigm, Saby Ghoshray
Dual Rationality Of Same-Sex Marriage: Creation Of New Rights In The Shadow Of Incomplete Contract Paradigm, Saby Ghoshray
University of Massachusetts Law Review
In an effort to reconcile the inconsistency between liberal ideals and inequitable adjudication of marriage rights amongst our citizens, this article will seek answers to these issues. By straddling the contractual confines of marriage via law and economic analysis, Part II of the article explores the contractual paradigm of marriage to examine whether the framework is independent of sexual orientation and it the deliberately incomplete nature of marriage can provide consistencies for all types of marriages. Part III examines whether the private aspiration of marriage should necessarily be linked with public consequences by evaluating the impact of marriage’s social cost …
Resolving The Double Liability Problem: A Critique Of California's Mechanics Lien Statute, Terrence Nguyen
Resolving The Double Liability Problem: A Critique Of California's Mechanics Lien Statute, Terrence Nguyen
University of Massachusetts Law Review
California’s mechanics lien statute allows a sub-contractor to file a lien on a homeowner’s property when a direct contractor, for whom the sub-contractor worked, has failed to pay the sub-contractor. The statute compels the homeowner to pay the sub-contractor even when the homeowner has paid the direct contractor in full. This Note argues that California’s mechanics lien statute is too broad, because the statute does not provide any exception for a homeowner who has paid the direct contractor in full. Specifically, this Note argues that California’s mechanics lien statute violates public policy, as well as constitutional, and contract principles. This …
Tax Naked Credit Default Swaps For What They Are: Legalized Gambling, James Blakey
Tax Naked Credit Default Swaps For What They Are: Legalized Gambling, James Blakey
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Credit default swaps (CDSs) gained notoriety for their role in the global financial crisis. In late 2011, the IRS proposed new regulations that would classify CDSs bought by someone who does not own the credit, known as "naked" CDSs, as "financial instruments" and thereby qualify them for the highly beneficial capital gains tax treatment. This classification is incorrect. Naked CDSs, which constitute about 80% or more of all CDSs, are not financial instruments at all. Rather, this article argues, they are gambling wagers -- the winnings on which are taxable at the ordinary income tax rate. This is not the …
Penumbral Academic Freedom: Interpreting The Tenure Contract In A Time Of Constitutional Impotence, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
Penumbral Academic Freedom: Interpreting The Tenure Contract In A Time Of Constitutional Impotence, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
Faculty Publications
This article recounts the deficiencies of constitutional law and common tenure contract language - the latter based on the 1940 Statement of Principles of the American Association of University Professors - in protecting the academic freedom of faculty on the modern university campus. The article proposes an Interpretation of that common language, accompanied by Illustrations, aiming to describe the penumbras of academic freedom - faculty rights and responsibilities that surround and emanate from the three traditional pillars of teaching, research, and service - that are within the scope of the tenure contract but not explicitly described by it, and therefore …
Intellectual Property Rights In An Attorney’S Work Product, Ralph D. Clifford
Intellectual Property Rights In An Attorney’S Work Product, Ralph D. Clifford
Faculty Publications
This paper addresses the main intellectual property consequences of practicing law and whether attorneys can prevent others from using their work-product. The article does not assume that the reader is an expert in intellectual property law; instead, it is designed to answer the types of questions practitioners have about their rights.
What's Love Got To Do With It?: The Corporations Model Of Marriage In The Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Jeremiah A. Ho
What's Love Got To Do With It?: The Corporations Model Of Marriage In The Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Jeremiah A. Ho
Faculty Publications
The time may come, far in the future, when contracts and arrangements between persons of the same sex who abide together will be recognized and enforced under state law. When that time comes, property rights and perhaps even mutual obligations of support may well be held to flow from such relationships. But in my opinion, even such a substantial change in the prevailing mores would not reach the point where such relationships would be characterized as "marriages". At most, they would become personal relationships having some, but not all, of the legal attributes of marriage. And even when and if …
Waiver Or Modification: That Is The Question, Michael G. Hillinger
Waiver Or Modification: That Is The Question, Michael G. Hillinger
Faculty Publications
The elusive distinction between waiver and contract modification has reared its head in Massachusetts. What's the difference? A party who "waives" a contract term can retract the waiver in the absence of the other party's detrimental reliance, whereas a party cannot unilaterally retract a contract modification. Stating the legal consequences that flow from each event is easy. Figuring out which event has occurred is not.
Section 365 In The Consumer Context: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Michael G. Hillinger, Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger
Section 365 In The Consumer Context: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Michael G. Hillinger, Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger
Faculty Publications
The § 365 consumer debtor case law has a further complication. Much of it arises in the context of the last great bankruptcy frontier, Chapter 13. Until recently, Chapter 11 has occupied the minds and hearts of courts and attorneys. Not any more. And, as attorneys and courts take a closer, harder look at Chapter 13, it is no longer possible to describe it as a “streamlined creditors-can’t-vote Chapter 11”. Chapter 13 is unique, presenting its very own quandaries, not the least of which is how its provisions and § 365 interact. We live in interesting times.