Law Commons^™

Aplicación De La Ley De Defensa Del Consumidor Para La Restitución Colectiva De Sumas Indebidamente Percibidas De Los Consumidores, Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Gabriel Martinez Medrano

No abstract provided.

Leegin, The Rule Of Reason, And Vertical Agreement, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s Leegin decision overturned the longstanding rule of per se illegality for resale price maintenance and applied a rule of reason. One might think that the question whether a vertical “agreement” exists between a manufacturer and a dealer should not be affected by the mode of analysis to be applied after an agreement is found. First one asks whether an agreement exists, and determines whether the per se rule or rule of reason applies only after receiving an affirmative answer. Nevertheless, ever since Colgate the Supreme Court has generally taken a more restrictive approach on the agreement issue …

Vertical Restraints, Dealers With Power, And Antitrust Policy, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s Leegin decision has now brought the rule of reason to all purely vertical intrabrand distribution restraints. But the rule of reason does not mean per se legality and occasions for anticompetitive vertically imposed restraints may still arise. Of all those that have been suggested the most plausible are vertical restraints imposed at the behest of a powerful dealer or group (cartel) of dealers.

Although a vertical distribution restraint resembles a dealer cartel in that both limit intraband competition, a manufacturer restraining the distribution of its product shuns the excess dealer profits a dealer cartel would seek. Accordingly, …

A "New" Fiduciary Duty For Stockbrokers? Keeping The Dodd-Frank Rule Debate In Perspective, Robert N. Rapp

Robert N Rapp

No abstract provided.

Combating Cyberbullying: Emphasizing Education Over Criminalization, Jessica P. Meredith

Federal Communications Law Journal

The advent of new technologies such as social media websites like MySpace and Facebook have increased the methods through which bullying takes form and causes harm to children and teenagers. As the public has become more aware of the dangers of this new form of bullying, cyberbullying, legislators have responded by proposing legislation to criminalize this type of behavior with varying degrees of success. This Note explains the problem of cyberbullying and evaluates state and federal legislative efforts to combat the issue through criminalization, then argues that prevention through education will be the most effective solution. Unlike criminalization, educational initiatives …

From One [Expletive] Policy To The Next: The Fcc's Regulation Of "Fleeting Expletives" And The Supreme Court's Response, Brandon J. Almas

Federal Communications Law Journal

After the broadcast of the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, during which the lead singer from U2 uttered an expletive on national television, the FCC revisited its prior policy on the use of expletives on the airwaves and declared, for the first time, that "fleeting expletives" are offensive according to community standards and are therefore finable. In a lawsuit filed in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Fox Television Stations, Inc. along with a number of other broadcasters argued that the FCC's new policy was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Second …

Examining The Fcc's Indecency Regulations In Light Of Today's Technology, Elizabeth H. Steele

Federal Communications Law Journal

Indecency regulations promulgated by the FCC used to be effective, but today's technological advances call those regulations into question. With the prevalence of digital video recorders and the availability of television shows on the Internet, children have unprecedented access to material broadcast at all times of day. As a result, the "safe harbor" rationale restricting the broadcast of indecent material no longer makes sense. A move toward deregulation is the most logical step to take, as it would prevent any First Amendment violations and would allow the networks freedom to broadcast material that the public may be interested in without …

The Unjustified Judicial Creation Of Class Certification Merits Trials In Securities, Michael J. Kaufman, John M. Wunderlich

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The class action device is vital to deterring securities fraud and remedying its victims, who almost never suffer losses sufficient to justify an individual suit. Nonetheless, the federal courts have begun to convert the class certification process into a premature trial on the merits, thereby precluding victims of securities fraud from pursuing otherwise valid claims of financial wrongdoing. In particular, in a series of important decisions, the federal courts have required plaintiffs to prove the essential elements of their securities fraud claims at the preliminary class certification stage.

This Article demonstrates why this trend should end. The judicial creation of …

Appellate Practice And Procedure, Roland F.L. Hall

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys decisions addressing appellate law and procedure handed down by the Georgia Court of Appeals between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. The cases discussed fall into the following categories: (1) appellate jurisdiction; (2) preserving the record; and (3) miscellaneous cases of interest.

Trial Practice And Procedure, Kate S. Cook, Alan J. Hamilton, Brandon L. Peak, John C. Morrison Iii, Mary K. Weeks

Mercer Law Review

This Article addresses significant judicial and legislative developments of interest to the Georgia trial practitioner occurring during the survey period of this publication.

Uso Social Del Suelo Ejidal Y Comunal Para El Desarrollo Equilibrado De Las Áreas Urbanas Del Estado De Puebla, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

De origen, difundir los diversos esquemas permitidos por la Ley para posibilitar la realización de proyectos con fines inmobiliarios, a efecto de que los núcleos agrarios y sus integrantes se beneficien equitativamente de la urbanización de sus tierras, coadyuvando con ello al desarrollo urbano planificado y ordenado de los centros de población del Estado de Puebla; como consecuencia, impulsar el desarrollo habitacional equilibrado de éste. Eliminar el circulo.- “necesidad de tierra – asentamiento irregular – solución de conflicto”, mediante la planeación socioeconómico de los núcleos agrarios ejidales y comunales, a fin de diseñar un mecanismo eficaz que satisfaga las necesidades …

Resolving The Dilemma Of Non-Justiciable Causation In Failure To Warn Litigation, Aaron D. Twerski, Neil B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Right Issue, The Wrong Branch: Arguments Against Adjudicating Climate Change Nuisance Claims, Matthew Edwin Miller

Michigan Law Review

Climate change is probably today's greatest global environmental threat, posing dire ecological, economic, and humanitarian consequences. In the absence of a comprehensive regulatory scheme to address the problem, some aggrieved Americans have sought relief from climate-related injuries by suing significant emitters of greenhouse gases under a public nuisance theory. Federal district courts have dismissed four such claims, with each court relying at least in part on the political question doctrine of nonjusticiability. However, one circuit court of appeals has reversed to date, finding that the common law cognizes such claims and that the judiciary is competent and compelled to adjudicate …

Reaching Equilibrium In Tobacco Litigation, Aaron D. Twerski, James A. Henderson, Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reinventing The Eeoc, Nancy M. Modesitt

All Faculty Scholarship

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has struggled to be a meaningful force in eradicating employment discrimination since its inception. The primary reasons for this are structural in nature. The EEOC was designed to react to discrimination complaints by investigating and conciliating all of the thousands of complaints filed annually. The EEOC has never been able to investigate all these complaints despite using the vast majority of its resources attempting to do so. The devotion of resources to managing and investigating the huge volume of complaints prevents the EEOC from taking more effective steps to eliminate discrimination. This article proposes …

Leviathan Menacing The Gulf Coast: Catastrophic Consequences May Imperil The Rule Of Law, Beau James Brock

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Civil Judicial Subsidy, The, Brendan Maher

Faculty Articles and Papers

American society does not require civil litigants to bear the actual cost of using the court; those costs are borne almost entirely by the taxpayer (i.e., the “civil judicial subsidy”). In this Article I ask: is that right? Or is there a more desirable way to apportion court usage costs between the state and litigants? I develop an evaluative framework that facilitates analysis of the purpose, contours, and cost of the current judicial subsidy. We subsidize court use because, in theory, there are certain “social positives” associated with public adjudication. To date the unspoken assumption has been that these social …

The Gross Beast Of Burden Of Proof: Experimental Evidence On How The Burden Of Proof Influences Employment Discrimination Case Outcomes, David Sherwyn, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Scholarly and public attention to the burden of proof and jury instructions has increased dramatically since the Supreme Court's 2009 decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. Gross holds that the so-called mixed-motive jury instruction, which we call the motivating factor instruction, is not available in age, and possibly disability and retaliation cases. The decision prompted an outcry from the plaintiffs' bar and Congress has proposed legislation to overturn Gross. Despite the outcry, a simple question persists: Does the motivating factor jury instruction influence case outcomes? Results from our experimental mock jury study suggest that such jury instructions …

The Decision To Award Punitive Damages: An Empirical Study, Theodore Eisenberg, Michael Heise, Nicole L. Waters, Martin T. Wells

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Empirical studies have consistently shown that punitive damages are rarely awarded, with rates of about 3 to 5 percent of plaintiff trial wins. Using the 2005 data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Civil Justice Survey, this article shows that knowing in which cases plaintiffs sought punitive damages transforms the picture of punitive damages. Not accounting for whether punitive damages were sought obscures the meaningful punitive damages rate, the rate of awards in cases in which they were sought, by a factor of nearly 10, and obfuscates a more explicable pattern of awards than has been reported. Punitive damages were …

Framing Change: Cause Lawyering, Constitutional Decisions, And Social Change, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

This article contends that current critics of change-oriented litigation assume a particular model of the relationship between law and social change: law is argued to mirror popular mores, and judicial decisions are thought at most to suppress unusual or outlying laws. This model is incomplete, because judicial decisions may help to change how a social cause is defined and labeled. In presenting a supplementary model, I argue that judicial decisions reframe debates, privileging some arguments, marginalizing others, altering the coalitions on either side and influencing the types of legal reform those coalitions are able to pursue.

A series of state …

Drafting Mediated Agreements In Summary Process, Alan Minuskin

Alan D. Minuskin

Mediating landlord-tenant disputes is challenging work, but because of the inherent complexity of the law, particularly procedural requirements, the drafting of a mediated agreement demands both legal and verbal agility. The consequence of mistakes is the unraveling of a carefully constructed accord. Technique that takes into consideration both legal requirements and human behavior is necessary to prevent further disputes.

Taxing Punitive Damages, Gregg D. Polsky, Dan Markel

Scholarly Works

There is a curious anomaly in the law of punitive damages. Jurors assess punitive damages in the amount that they believe will best “punish” the defendant. But, in fact, defendants are not always punished to the degree that the jury intends. Under the Internal Revenue Code, punitive damages paid by business defendants are tax deductible and, as a result, these defendants often pay (in real dollars) far less than the jury believes they deserve to pay.

To solve this problem of under-punishment, many scholars and policymakers, including President Obama, have proposed making punitive damages nondeductible in all cases. In our …

Climate Change And The Public Law Model Of Torts: Reinvigorating Judicial Restraint Doctrines, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

The Article traces the origins of climate change litigation back to earlier forms of “public interest tort litigation,” including government actions against the manufacturers of cigarettes, handguns and lead pigment. Public interest tort litigation is different in kind from traditional tort actions, even asbestos and other mass products litigation. These new lawsuits address society-wide or even worldwide problems and seek judicially imposed regulatory regimes. As such, they more closely resemble civil rights litigation and what Abram Chayes deemed “the public law model” than they do earlier tort actions. I conclude that the public law model of tort litigation is the …

Rape Victims As Mockingbirds: A Law And Linguistics Analysis Of Cross-Examination Of Rape Complainants, Sara D. Schotland

Buffalo Journal of Gender, Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Basic Housing Law In Massachusetts, Alan Minuskin

Alan D. Minuskin

No abstract provided.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Potential Insurance Coverage Implications, Lynn K. Neuner, W. Nicholson Price

Articles

More than 300 lawsuits have already been filed in Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama against BP and other corporations involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including Transocean, Halliburton, and Cameron, with thousands more anticipated. This article briefly addresses the contours of the coverage lawsuit already filed against BP and other coverage disputes we may see in the future.

Breves Comentários Sobre A Reforma Da Lei De Locações De Imóveis Urbanos., Nelson Rodrigues Netto

Nelson Rodrigues Netto

No abstract provided.

The French Huissier As A Model For U.S. Civil Procedure Reform, Robert W. Emerson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Huissiers de justice serve multiple roles in the French legal system. One is that of a court officer who compiles dossiers (reports). In that role, the huissier is d'audiencier (literally translated as "hearing" or "assisting") and works directly for the court system itself.

The huissier's report remains alien to the American lawyer, who is steeped in notions of procedure and "testimonialism" and in principles of fairness which appear ancient, but are rather modern dissimulations of law and equity's rich history in the American tradition. An important aspect of most legal processes, the collection of data in preparation for litigation is …

Delimitación Téorica Del Delito Penal Fiscal, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

Anális de los elementos constitutivos del delito fiscal, la acción delictiva, los grados de ejecución, la consumación y los responsables.

Pretende distinguir el delito penal común del delito penal fiscal con base en sus elementos y pretende aportar una reflexión de la criminalización del delito fiscal en nuestros tiempos, usado por la Autoridad Hacendaria como un medio de represíón y de opresión de los derechos del contribuyente.

Limites A La Vigencia Del Principio Contradictorio En Los Juicios De Familia / Limits To The Adversarial Ideal In The Family Courts, Claudio Fuentes Maureira

Claudio Fuentes Maureira

The relevance of the adversarial ideal in the design of judicial proceedings is due to two major ideas: the right to a proper defence for the parties and the important role that the parties perform during the questioning and the control of the other party’s case. Once the relevance of the adversarial ideal is acknowledged, one could ask if this ideal is properly welcomed under the family procedure stated in the law. I propose that in order to answer this question properly, it is pertinent to use some sort of instrument to measure the amount of the adversarialness that the …