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Full-Text Articles in Law
Apologies In The Healthcare System: From Clinical Medicine To Public Health, Michal Alberstein, Nadav Davidovitch
Apologies In The Healthcare System: From Clinical Medicine To Public Health, Michal Alberstein, Nadav Davidovitch
Law and Contemporary Problems
Alberstein and Davidovitch explore the role of apologies in healthcare systems from a broader perspective. The significance of apology in terms of social solidarity is addressed and the ways in which each apology situation entails a clash between cultural identities are demonstrated. The debate on apology is explored by presenting a public health perspective of apologies following collective traumatic events such as the application of sterilization laws or flawed human experimentations in various settings.
Escaping The Shadow Of Malpractice Law, Orna Rabinovich-Einy
Escaping The Shadow Of Malpractice Law, Orna Rabinovich-Einy
Law and Contemporary Problems
Abinovich-Einy addresses several constituencies operating at the meeting point of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), communication theory, healthcare policy, and medical-malpractice doctrine. From an ADR perspective, the need for, and barriers to, addressing non-litigable disputes, for which the "alternative" route is the only one, is explored. It is shown that ADR mechanisms may not take root when introduced into an environment that is resistant to collaborative and open discourse without additional incentives and measures being adopted.
Law For The Common Man: An Individual-Level Theory Of Values, Expanded Rationality, And The Law , Amir N. Licht
Law For The Common Man: An Individual-Level Theory Of Values, Expanded Rationality, And The Law , Amir N. Licht
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article makes an admittedly bold attempt at outlining an analytical framework for addressing this question. Instead of looking at the legal implications of bounded rationality -- an exercise highly worthy in its own right -- this article advances a theory of expanded rationality. This theory retains the element of rationality in that people respond to incentives in an attempt to attain utility, and it does not question the observation that decision-making is often bounded due to various factors.
Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack
Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack
Law and Contemporary Problems
There haven't always been scientific witnesses: in fact, there haven't always been witnesses. In early medieval times, courts relied on tests by oath, ordeal, and sometimes by combat. Here, Haack provides a brief historical background to the use of scientific experts in law and then proceeds to discuss in greater detail the values underlying scientific inquiry, the uncertainty in the quest of knowledge and understanding, and the methods by which consensus is reached, even if that consensus is always tentative. She then contrasts scientific inquiry with the law's quest for "truth" in the courtroom and, particularly, the normative and temporal …
How Does Science Come To Speak In The Courts? Citations Intertexts, Expert Witnesses, Consequential Facts, And Reasoning, Charles Bazerman
How Does Science Come To Speak In The Courts? Citations Intertexts, Expert Witnesses, Consequential Facts, And Reasoning, Charles Bazerman
Law and Contemporary Problems
Citations, in their highly conventionalized forms, visibly indicate each texts explicit use of the prior literature that embodies the knowledge and contentions of its field. This relation to prior texts has been called intertextuality in literary and literacy studies. Here, Bazerman discusses the citation practices and intertextuality in science and the law in theoretical and historical perspective, and considers the intersection of science and law by identifying the judicial rules that limit and shape the role of scientific literature in court proceedings. He emphasizes that from the historical and theoretical analysis, it is clear that, in the US, judicial reasoning …
Practice Style And Successful Legal Mobilization, Anne Bloom
Practice Style And Successful Legal Mobilization, Anne Bloom
Law and Contemporary Problems
Bloom talks about the making of a great cause lawyer. Perhaps not surprisingly, dedication, strong political ties, and superb legal skills all play a role in the making of a great cause lawyer, but so does a somewhat less obvious quality, which Marc Galanter described several years ago as practice "style." However, in these case studies, it suggests that the making of a great cause lawyer depends, in part, on practice style. Put differently, how a lawyer approaches legal practice seems to matter for purposes of legal mobilization. In these cases, cause lawyers were more effective at using the law …
When Do Facts Persuade? Some Thoughts On The Market For “Empirical Legal Studies”, Elizabeth Chambliss
When Do Facts Persuade? Some Thoughts On The Market For “Empirical Legal Studies”, Elizabeth Chambliss
Law and Contemporary Problems
Chambliss talks about how Marc Galanter has devoted himself to combating the "jaundiced view" of the civil-justice system. Armed initially with great faith in the power of social science, Galanter and other socio-legal scholars of his generation, as well as many who have followed, have tried to combat misinformation in law and policy with the findings from systematic research--as if the facts would speak for themselves.
Odious Debt In Retrospect, Daniel K. Tarullo
Odious Debt In Retrospect, Daniel K. Tarullo
Law and Contemporary Problems
In the eighty years since Alexander Sack coined the phrase "odious debt," academics and activists have periodically rediscovered Sack's idea, often arguing for its application or extension-to this point, in vain. Here, Tarullo reveals the degree to which current interest in the problem of odious debt is intertwined with other problems that strike more critically at the well-being of developing-and emerging-market countries. He reasons that the necessarily complex effort needed to institutionalize a doctrine of odious debt is a potentially effective organizing principle for generating the political will to address these other persistent, debilitating problems.
Partially Odious Debts?, Omri Ben-Shahar, Mitu Gulati
Partially Odious Debts?, Omri Ben-Shahar, Mitu Gulati
Law and Contemporary Problems
Ben-Shahar borrows from a rich private-law tradition to explore the treatment of odious debt as a problem analogous to allocation of liability in private law. Drawing on the economic analysis of private law, it develops insights as to the structure of an optimal liability scheme. Under this approach, liability is imposed not on the basis of some intrinsic judgment as to the parties' relative blameworthiness, but rather in a forward-looking fashion, on parties who are best suited to take actions to prevent the loss. In addition, liability is imposed on a magnitude tailored to induce an optimal level of precautionary …
Misinformation, Misrepresentation, And Misuse Of Human Behavioral Genetics Research, Jonathan Kaplan
Misinformation, Misrepresentation, And Misuse Of Human Behavioral Genetics Research, Jonathan Kaplan
Law and Contemporary Problems
Kaplan discusses the limitations of human behavioral genetics studies, highlighting the research limitations inherent in studying humans and the narrow policy and legal applicability of results arising from behavioral genetics studies.
The Proceedings Of The European Ombudsman, Simone Cadeddu
The Proceedings Of The European Ombudsman, Simone Cadeddu
Law and Contemporary Problems
Given the severe institutional shortcomings of the European Ombudsman and the poor understanding of his duties among European citizens, the Ombudsman's information strategy does not appear to have been very effective so far. With dedication and activism, the Ombudsman continues to travel tirelessly year after year, participating in conferences, seminars, meetings, and visits with officials of Community and national institutions in all of the 25 Member States.
European Principles Governing National Administrative Proceedings, Claudio Franchini
European Principles Governing National Administrative Proceedings, Claudio Franchini
Law and Contemporary Problems
It is critical that the process of developing general principles of Community administrative law continue, notwithstanding the marked diversity of supranational administrative proceedings. Because Community law has traditionally been focused on activities relevant to the common market, an asymmetry between the regulation of market-related administrative proceedings and other types of administrative proceedings has developed.
Forms Of European Administrative Action, Mario P. Chiti
Forms Of European Administrative Action, Mario P. Chiti
Law and Contemporary Problems
Chiti examines the various forms of European administration and their associated administrative law systems. Chiti recounts the history of administration and of administrative law in the European Community, examines the main types of administrative action in the Community, and highlights the novel elements and the shortcomings of European administrative law today.
Should Noncommercial Associations Have An Absolute Right To Discriminate?, Andrew Koppelman
Should Noncommercial Associations Have An Absolute Right To Discriminate?, Andrew Koppelman
Law and Contemporary Problems
An association is more likely to win immunity from an antidiscrimination law, the more clearly its message is a discriminatory one. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale is in some tension with this rule, but the opinion is so muddled that it establishes no new rule to displace the old one.
Corporate Law Or The Law Of Business?: Stakeholders And Corporate Governance At The End Of History, Adam Winkler
Corporate Law Or The Law Of Business?: Stakeholders And Corporate Governance At The End Of History, Adam Winkler
Law and Contemporary Problems
Surely, corporate managers themselves, who must operate within the broader law of business, are aware of the legally imposed duties to protect workders, consumers, and larger communities. Perhaps it is time corporate lawyers caught up to this reality.
Capitalism And Freedom — For Whom?: Feminist Legal Theory And Progressive Corporate Law, Kellye Y. Testy
Capitalism And Freedom — For Whom?: Feminist Legal Theory And Progressive Corporate Law, Kellye Y. Testy
Law and Contemporary Problems
Progressive corporate law has the potential to realign corporate activity and market economies with human benefit. The present state of disruption in the economy is a key moment: with disruption comes the opportunity for change.
Muss Es Sein? Not Necessarily, Says Tort Law, Anita Bernstein
Muss Es Sein? Not Necessarily, Says Tort Law, Anita Bernstein
Law and Contemporary Problems
The rule of law helps to check tendencies to excess, aligns remedies with what happened to similarly situated persons in the past, and give both power and accountability to public officials. Asserting its perpetual demand of Muss es sein? in reaction to oppressions, tort law jolts stais into change.
Democracy And The Dominance Of Delaware In Corporate Law, Kent Greenfield
Democracy And The Dominance Of Delaware In Corporate Law, Kent Greenfield
Law and Contemporary Problems
Delaware has a population less than one-third of one percent of the nation, but it is the state of incorporation for more than fifty percent of US public companies and more than sixty percent of the Fortune 500. Delaware's resulting dominance over the terms of corporate governance in the US has been the subject of one of the grandest debates within corporate law scholarship.
Law And Engineering: In Search Of The Law-Science Problem, Jerry L. Mashaw
Law And Engineering: In Search Of The Law-Science Problem, Jerry L. Mashaw
Law and Contemporary Problems
Lawyers and scientists both have the intellectual conceit that a well-defined problem is not only a necessary, but almost a sufficient, condition for a successful solution. Mashaw examines the applied science of engineering in the context of health and safety regulation, focusing on the law-science interface at the NHTSA.
Deliberation Disconnected: What It Takes To Improve Civic Competence, Arthur Lupia
Deliberation Disconnected: What It Takes To Improve Civic Competence, Arthur Lupia
Law and Contemporary Problems
Lupia argues that the suggestions of those who advocate deliberative democracy to incorporate more and more law-like precepts into politics will not achieve the ultimate ambition of deliberative theory, which is to have the resolution of disputes turn on nothing but the force of the better argument. Lupia discusses mechanisms to build civic competence by creating conditions in which the better argument has an improved change of winning the battle.
The Admissibility Of Differential Diagnosis Testimony To Prove Causation In Toxic Tort Cases: The Interplay Of Adjective And Substantive Law, Joseph Sanders, Julie Machal-Fulks
The Admissibility Of Differential Diagnosis Testimony To Prove Causation In Toxic Tort Cases: The Interplay Of Adjective And Substantive Law, Joseph Sanders, Julie Machal-Fulks
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article uses the differential diagnosis opinions to explore a pair of interrelationships. The basic causal framework employed by most courts in toxic tort cases is presented. A key to understanding the developing case law in this area is to appreciate the degree to which the courts have adopted the interpretive conventions of science in assessing admissibility.
Too Many Probabilities: Statistical Evidence Of Tort Causation, David W. Barnes
Too Many Probabilities: Statistical Evidence Of Tort Causation, David W. Barnes
Law and Contemporary Problems
Medical scientific testimony is often expressed in terms of two different probabilities: 1. The increased probability of harm if a person is exposed, for example, to a toxin. 2. The observed relationship is an artifact of the experimental method. This article demonstrates that neither probability, taken alone or together, measures whether the "preponderance of the evidence" test is met.
Scientific Models Of Human Health Risk Analysis In Legal And Policy Decisions, Douglas Crawford-Brown
Scientific Models Of Human Health Risk Analysis In Legal And Policy Decisions, Douglas Crawford-Brown
Law and Contemporary Problems
The quality of scientific predictions of risk in the courtroom and policy arena rests in large measure on how the two differences between normal practice and the legal/policy practice of science are reconciled. This article considers a variety of issues that arise in reconciling these differences, and the problems that remain with scientific estimates of risk when these are used in decisions.
The Swine Flu Vaccine And Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Case Study In Relative Risk And Specific Causation, David A. Freedman, Philip B. Stark
The Swine Flu Vaccine And Guillain-Barré Syndrome: A Case Study In Relative Risk And Specific Causation, David A. Freedman, Philip B. Stark
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article discusses the role of epidemiologic evidence in toxic tort cases, focusing on relative risk. Whether specific causation can be inferred if a relative risk is above 2.0 is discussed. The object is to explore the scientific logic behind intuitions of relative risk.
Scientific Ignorance And Reliable Patterns Of Evidence In Toxic Tort Causation: Is There A Need For Liability Reform?, Carl F. Cranor, David A. Eastmond
Scientific Ignorance And Reliable Patterns Of Evidence In Toxic Tort Causation: Is There A Need For Liability Reform?, Carl F. Cranor, David A. Eastmond
Law and Contemporary Problems
As a first step to preserving the central aims of tort law, courts will need to recognize the wide variety of respectable, reliable patterns of evidence on which scientists themselves rely for drawing inferences about the toxicity of substances. Courts may also need to take further steps to address the woeful ignorance about the chemical universe. This may necessitate changes in the liability rules.
Causation And The Law: Preemption, Lawful Sufficiency, And Causal Sufficiency, Richard Fumerton, Ken Kress
Causation And The Law: Preemption, Lawful Sufficiency, And Causal Sufficiency, Richard Fumerton, Ken Kress
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article briefly describes the normative/nonnormative distinction, and how one might invoke this distinction to locate a nonnormative dimension of actual causation. After briefly introducing Richard Wright's concept of a necessary element in a set of conditions for an effect, the article notes ambiguities in the critical concepts of necessity and sufficiency that he deploys. The article suggests the most plausible interpretation of Wright's use of different modal concepts.
Causation, Contribution, And Legal Liability: An Empirical Study, Lawrence M. Solan, John M. Darley
Causation, Contribution, And Legal Liability: An Empirical Study, Lawrence M. Solan, John M. Darley
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article presents empirical evidence of the ways people compare judgments of liability with judgments of causation and contribution. Specifically, the article reports the results of experiments designed to show whether people regard causation and enablement as necessary elements of liability.
Public Service Law: Privatization’S Unexpected Offspring, Tony Prosser
Public Service Law: Privatization’S Unexpected Offspring, Tony Prosser
Law and Contemporary Problems
What has occurred in the United Kingdom is a move toward the development of a body of legal doctrine closer to the concept of public service enshrined in other European legal systems. Prosser asserts that it has been largely due to the creation of regulators independent of government and enterprise, thus making some legal framework to structure relations inevitable.
Summary Of Roundtable Discussions Regarding The Future Content Of The U.S. Securities Laws, James D. Cox, Edward F. Greene
Summary Of Roundtable Discussions Regarding The Future Content Of The U.S. Securities Laws, James D. Cox, Edward F. Greene
Law and Contemporary Problems
On Apr 8-9, 1999, more than sixty securities lawyers, regulators and academics participated in a roundtable discussion in Washington DC on what should be the future content of the US securities laws. A summary of the discussions is presented.
Freedom Of Speech, Cyberspace, Harassment Law, And The Clinton Administration, Eugene Volokh
Freedom Of Speech, Cyberspace, Harassment Law, And The Clinton Administration, Eugene Volokh
Law and Contemporary Problems
Volokh presents four cyberspace speech controversies that involve an interesting modern body of speech restrictions: hostile environment harassment law. These examples illustrate three things--in most of the controversies, the result should be driven not by the medium, but by the underlying free speech principles; that the Clinton Administration's role in these areas has been comparatively slight; and that each of the controversies shows that there is considerable truth to the much-maligned concept of the slippery slope.