Law Commons^™

Retaliatory Firings: The Remedy Under The Texas Workers' Compensation Act, J. Thomas Sullivan

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Cigarette Company Liability: Preemption, Public Policy And Alternative Compensation Systems, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article speculates that some courts may have used the preemption doctrine to mask their misgivings about the ability of tort litigation to provide fair compensation to injured consumers without bankrupting the tobacco industry. Consequently, the author suggests that it may be necessary to streamline the litigation process for mass torts or perhaps even to replace it with an alternative compensation system for the purpose of adjudicating smoking-related claims.

With this in mind, Part I briefly examines the health risks of smoking and the nature of the common law duty to warn. It also reviews a number of recent cigarette …

Architectural Malpractice: Toward An Equitable Rule For Determining When The Statute Of Limitations Begins To Run, Jeffrey R. Cruz

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In the past thirty years, the architectural profession has been characterized by dramatic changes in both its legal liabilities and in its relationship with other members of the construction industry. With the recent abrogation of the privity doctrine, strangers to architectural contracts may now sue in tort and architects inevitably find themselves in a multitude of lawsuits. This Note discusses the contractual nature of the owner/architect relationship and the judicial attempts to analogize to relationships in other professions, and then considers the prevailing judicial theories as to when a cause of action accrues against architects and against professionals in general. …

Accountable Accountants: Is Third-Party Liability Necessary?, Victor P. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

Should accountants be liable to third parties if they conduct an audit in negligent manner? A half century ago, in Ultramares Corporation v. Touche, Niven & Co., Cardozo argued that they should not, unless their performance could be characterized as fraud. In recent years, courts in a minority of jurisdictions have concluded that Cardozo's argument is no longer compelling and they have found that "foreseeable" third parties could bring a tort action for ordinary negligence against the accountants. In addition to being subject to tort actions, accountants may also be liable under federal and state securities laws.

Suits against …

The Tort Crisis: Causes, Solutions, And The Constitution, Wallace M. Rudolph

Seattle University Law Review

The thesis of the Article is that the expansion of tort liability based on strict liability or enterprise liability without regard to the proper measurement of damages in such cases is at the root of the insurance crisis rather than the awarding of excessive damages in ordinary fault cases. Stated another way, the expansion of tort liability was based upon the appropriateness of internalizing the cost of economic activity by spreading the risk among the beneficiaries of such activity, but the damages were measured under full compensation theories rather than a more appropriate insurance approach. This divergence between basing liability …