Law Commons^™

Choice Of Law And Time, Part Ii: Choice Of Law Clauses And Changing Law, Jeffrey L. Rensberger

Georgia State University Law Review

Modern choice of law analysis usually honors the parties’ contractual choice of governing law. But what happens when the law selected by the parties changes between the time of their contracting and the time of litigation? Or what if the law of the state whose law would otherwise apply changes so that its policy is now offended by the choice of law clause although its policy was not violated when the parties contracted? These questions raise the often-overlooked temporal aspect of choice of law analysis. Should courts regard the law to be applied as fixed to the time of the …

A Negotiated Instrument: Proposing A Safer Contract For Consumers (And Not Just A Smarter One), Michael S. Lewis

Georgia State University Law Review

In this Article, I propose a new standard for determining what constitutes assent, as a matter of contract formation, within the domain of electronic consumer contracting. The threshold test should reject the “take-it-or-leave-it” arrangement dominant in the marketplace and reified by recent proposals before the American Law Institute (“ALI”) under the moniker “blanket assent.” The new standard should reject blanket assent in favor of a default rule that would require any electronic form proposing contract terms to permit at least a minimal amount of negotiation around terms seeking waiver of rights from consumers. I propose this rule as a more …

Whose Sperm Is It Anyways In The Wild, Wild West Of The Fertility Industry?, Tatiana E. Posada

Georgia State University Law Review

Imagine a couple that is unable to conceive a child naturally. Luckily, they had the money and resources available to them to conceive a child through assisted reproductive technology (ART), so they decided to start their family through the use of intrauterine insemination. They selected a sperm bank and began the arduous process of selecting a sperm donor who fit the desired traits and characteristics for their child. The sperm bank matched them with an anonymous donor, Donor 9623, and assured the couple that the donor was “a healthy male with an IQ of 160, a bachelor’s of science in …

A (Thigh) Gap In The Law: Addressing Egregious Digital Manipulation Of Celebrity Images, Jessica L. Williams-Vickery

Georgia State University Law Review

In 2012, world-renowned supermodel Coco Rocha agreed to be photographed for the cover of one of Elle’s magazine publications, Elle Brazil. Rocha posed for the pictures in a dress with significant cutouts, covered only by a sheer layer of skin-toned fabric. In keeping with her firm policy of no full or partial nudity, Rocha wore a bodysuit underneath the dress to limit her exposure. When Elle published the magazine, the final product shocked Rocha; the magazine had altered the image to remove her bodysuit, giving the impression Rocha had shown more skin than she in fact had. Rocha took to …

Don’T Let The Bed Bugs Bill: Landlord Liability For Bed Bug Infestations In Georgia, Megan M. Harrison

Georgia State University Law Review

Although the historical relationship between bed bugs and humans dates back to ancient Egypt, the common bed bug, or Cimex lectularius, vanished from the beds of Americans around World War II. In the late 1990s, however, our bloodsucking bedfellows returned. Bed bug infestations are a growing public health issue. Bed bugs are now found in all fifty states, with populations in five states reaching epidemic levels. Both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) consider bed bugs a “pest of significant public health importance."

Despite their name, bed bugs are not limited to …

Not So Good: The Classification Of “Smart Goods” Under Ucc Article 2, Chadwick L. Williams

Georgia State University Law Review

Refrigerators can now tweet. Today, almost sixty years after the states widely adopted the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the line between goods and services is more blurred than ever. When the UCC was drafted, a good was the simple opposite of a service. A good was something “movable” and tangible, and a service was not. Article 2 of the UCC, which governs sales, limits its scope to goods.

However, because Article 2 was drafted long before the proliferation of so-called “smart goods,” courts continuously struggle to determine when a smart good falls within Article 2’s scope. Courts have developed different …

Tax Compliance In A Decentralizing Economy, Manoj Viswanathan

Georgia State University Law Review

Tax compliance in the United States has long relied on information from centralized intermediaries—the financial institutions,employers, and brokers that help ensure income is reported and taxes are paid. Yet while the IRS remains tied to these centralized entities,consumers and businesses are not. New technologies, such as sharing economy platforms (companies such as Airbnb, Uber, and Instacart)and the blockchain (the platform on which various cryptocurrencies are based) are providing new, decentralized options for exchanging goods and services.

Without legislative and agency intervention, these technologies pose a critical threat to the reporting system underlying domestic and international tax compliance. Until now, legal …

Hb 1 - Space Flight, Malissa Caroline Barger, Ethan L. Smith

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act limits the civil and criminal liability of a space flight entity for injuries sustained by space flight participants arising from ordinary negligence. The Act defines new terms and provides a statutory waiver form that participants with informed consent must sign. The Act mandates space flight participants sign the waiver before participating in any space flight activity. The Act does not limit the liability of space flight entities for gross negligence or intentional acts, nor does it prevent suits from anyone other than the space flight participant.

Forty-Eight States Are Probably Not Wrong: An Argument For Modernizing Georgia’S Legal Malpractice Statute Of Limitations, Ben Rosichan

Georgia State University Law Review

The legal profession is largely self-regulated, and each state has a bar association charged with creating and enforcing basic standards of professionalism and competence for attorneys. Unfortunately, attorneys do not always adhere to these standards. In Georgia, the State Bar can address attorney misconduct through remedial measures up to and including disbarment. The State Bar cannot, however, compensate wronged clients through monetary damages.Thus, some wronged clients must resort to a lawsuit for legal malpractice where a financial recovery is necessary to make the client whole again.

The statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims should not be so restrictive that …

Foreclosure Diversion And Mediation In The States, Alan M. White

Georgia State University Law Review

The recent mortgage foreclosure crisis, whose economic effects are well known, transformed state legal structures governing the mortgage foreclosure process. What had been a relatively routine system of default judgments and auction sales has evolved into a negotiation and workout practice in which homeowners contest foreclosures, demand loan modifications and short sales, and propose other alternatives to foreclosures.

A profusion of state laws and court orders were adopted between 2008 and 2014 with the aim of promoting negotiated foreclosure alternatives. These laws have produced a variety of experiments in the “laboratories of democracy.” The defaults—whether home loans are renegotiated, defaults …

Fulton County Business Court: A Specialized Solution For The Modern Business Community, Megan K. Johnson

Georgia State University Law Review

Business courts or complex commercial divisions are growing in popularity as an effective tool to channel the most complex civil cases into one place before experienced judges with the background and training necessary to resolve the sophisticated issues often presented in those cases. According to North Carolina Business Court Judge Ben F. Tennille, one of the first judicial advocates of the business court model, the evolution of specialty business courts is a necessary response to “‘the rapidly increasing complexity, rate of change and globalization of business.’”

In 2005, Fulton County Superior Court launched a Business Case Division (“Fulton Business Court”) …

Bareboat Charters: Can A Shipowner Limit Liability To Third Parties? Answers For Owners Attempting To Navigate The Unsettled Waters In The Eleventh Circuit, John W. Chitty

Georgia State University Law Review

A bareboat charter is a contractual agreement akin to the lease of a vessel whereby most of the “customary liabilities” of the owner are shifted to the charterer. Some courts have raised concerns over bareboat charters—also referred to as a demise charter—regarding the ability of owners to use the bareboat device as a means to limit liability to injured third parties.

In Baker v. Raymond International, Inc. the Fifth Circuit brought force to this concern; the court held a bareboat charter would no longer shield owners from personal liability for third party injuries caused by the unseaworthiness of a vessel, …