Law Commons^™

Responding To Nuisance Flooding Of Coastal Highways: Options For Massachusetts Municipalities, Melissa Chalek

Marine Affairs Institute Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Maintenance Of Water And Sewer Infrastructure In Response To Sea Level Rise In Massachusetts, Melissa Chalek

Marine Affairs Institute Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Revival Of Respondeat Superior And Evolution Of Gatekeeper Liability, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

In an era of servants and masters, respondeat superior emerged to hold the powerful accountable for the acts of those they control. That doctrine’s significance has only grown in an economy driven by large corporations that rely heavily on legions of subsidiaries and independent contractors, such as banks deploying independent call centers, oil companies using drilling contractors, and tech platforms connecting consumers to app developers. It is widely believed that firms can avoid third- party liability for many laws by outsourcing or creating subsidiaries.

This Article shows that common narratives of the demise of third-party liability are incomplete. Respondeat superior …

Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturers: Applying A Common Carrier Liability Scheme To Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturers—And Why Elon Musk Will Be Haunted By His Words, Alejandro Monarrez

Seattle University Law Review SUpra

The modes and levels of vehicle automation have advanced over the years with the goal of making driving safer. Features like self-steering, lane assist, and blind-spot warning are designed to assist drivers in operating their vehicles. However, the emergence of autonomous vehicle technology self-driving capabilities raises new questions about tort liability.

Since 2016, there have been numerous fatalities involving autonomous vehicles. In this Note, Alejandro Monarrez explores how we should assess liability in autonomous vehicle-related accidents when vehicles are in full automation mode. Monarrez similarly argues the common carrier liability scheme first conceptualized by Dylan LeValley in Autonomous Vehicle Liability—Application …

Hearing On The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Coronavirus, And Addressing China’S Culpability Before The Senate Committee On The Judiciary, Russell A. Miller

Scholarly Articles

There are a number of theories about the Chinese government’s acts or omissions concerning the emergence and world-wide spread of the coronavirus that may be the proximate cause of actionable transboundary harm. All of these theories start with the incontestable fact that the coronavirus outbreak originated in China. One theory is concerned with the conduct of the Chinese government after the health crisis emerged. This “ex post” theory alleges a broad range of acts and omissions that helped transform a local outbreak into a global pandemic. There is room for this theory under the Transboundary Harm Principle. But the “ex …

Loss & Damage From Climate Change: A Maturing Concept In Climate Law?, Meinhard Doelle, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article we examine legal perspectives on recovery for harm caused by climate related loss and damage. We start by discussing the meaning of loss and damage, and its relationship to climate mitigation and adaptation. We then consider, at a conceptual level, how those harmed by loss and damage from human induced climate change may pursue remedies against those who have contributed to the harm suffered.

Restructuring Copyright Infringement, Gideon Parchomovsky, Abraham Bell

All Faculty Scholarship

Copyright law employs a one-size-fits-all strict liability regime against all unauthorized users of copyrighted works. The current regime takes no account of the blameworthiness of the unauthorized user or of the information costs she faces. Nor does it consider ways in which the rightsholders may have contributed to potential infringements, or ways in which they could have cheaply avoided them. A non-consensual use of a copyrighted work entitles copyright owners to the full panoply of remedies available under the Copyright Act, including supra-compensatory damage awards, disgorgement of profits and injunctive relief. This liability regime is unjust, as it largely fails …

Hernández V. Mesa And Police Liability For Youth Homicides Before And After The Death Of Michael Brown, Delores Jones-Brown, Joshua Ruffin, Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill, Akiv Dawson, Cicely J. Cottrell

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In a five-to-four decision announced in February of 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the parents of an unarmed fifteen-year-old Mexican national killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a cross-border shooting, cannot sue for damages in U.S. civil court. Here, we critique the majority and dissenting opinions and attempt to reconcile the strikingly different approach each used to resolve the case. Using a publicly available data set, we examine the homicide in Hernández v. Mesa, against the circumstances and context in which underage youth were killed by police within the United States over a five year …