Law Commons^™

The Faulty Law And Economics Of The “Baseball Rule”, Nathaniel Grow, Zachary Flagel

William & Mary Law Review

This Article examines the so-called “Baseball Rule,” the legal doctrine generally immunizing professional baseball teams from liability when spectators are hit by errant balls or bats leaving the field of play. Following a recent series of high-profile fan injuries at Major League Baseball (MLB) games, this century-old legal doctrine has come under increased scrutiny, with both academic and media commentators calling for its abolition. Nevertheless, despite these criticisms, courts have almost uniformly continued to apply the Baseball Rule to spectator-injury lawsuits.

This Article offers two contributions to the ongoing debate surrounding the Baseball Rule. First, it provides new empirical evidence …

Dignity Takings, Dignity Restoration: A Tort Law Perspective, Valerie P. Hans

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Community Versus Market Values Of Life, Robert Cooter, David Depianto

William & Mary Law Review

Individuals and communities make choices affecting the risk of accidental death. Individuals balance risk and cost in market choices, for example, by purchasing costly safety products or taking a dangerous job for higher pay. Communities balance risk and cost through social norms of precaution, which prescribe how much risk people may impose on others and on themselves. For example, social norms dictate that bicyclists should wear helmets and automobile passengers should wear seat belts. In both cases, the balance between the fatality risk and the cost of reducing it reveals an implicit value of a statistical life, or “VSL”— an …

Gandhi’S Prophecy: Corporate Violence And A Mindful Law For Bhopal, Nehal A. Patel

Nehal A. Patel

AbstractOver thirty years have passed since the Bhopal chemical disaster began,and in that time scholars of corporate social responsibility (CSR) havediscussed and debated several frameworks for improving corporate responseto social and environmental problems. However, CSR discourse rarelydelves into the fundamental architecture of legal thought that oftenbuttresses corporate dominance in the global economy. Moreover, CSRdiscourse does little to challenge the ontological and epistemologicalassumptions that form the foundation for modern economics and the role ofcorporations in the world.I explore methods of transforming CSR by employing the thought ofMohandas Gandhi. I pay particular attention to Gandhi’s critique ofindustrialization and principle of swadeshi (self-sufficiency) …

Neither Savior Nor Bogeyman: What Waits Behind The Door Of Third-Party Litigation Financing?, Jeremy Kidd

Jeremy Kidd

The arguments for and against third-party litigation financing are based on incorrect assumptions regarding the impacts on total litigation. A formal model incorporating the choices of plaintiff, lawyer, and financier shows only minimal impact on total litigation, largely positive. However, after addressing the potential for long-term, strategic behavior by financiers, it is obvious that some dangers remain. Divorced from the dramatic claims of proponents and opponents, litigation financing is merely a tool that can be used for good or bad, and differentiating by types of claims and the incentives of the parties allows that tool to be appropriately used.

The High Price Of Poverty: A Study Of How The Majority Of Current Court System Procedures For Collecting Court Costs And Fees, As Well As Fines, Have Failed To Adhere To Established Precedent And The Constitutional Guarantees They Advocate., Trevor J. Calligan

Trevor J Calligan

No abstract provided.

An Approach To The Regulation Of Spanish Banking Foundations, Miguel Martínez

Miguel Martínez

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the legal framework governing banking foundations as they have been regulated by Spanish Act 26/2013, of December 27th, on savings banks and banking foundations. Title 2 of this regulation addresses a construct that is groundbreaking for the Spanish legal system, still of paramount importance for the entire financial system insofar as these foundations become the leading players behind certain banking institutions given the high interest that foundations hold in the share capital of such institutions.

Las Externalidades Y El Criterio De Imputación En La Responsabilidad Extracontractual: Estrategia De Precios Vs. Estrategia De Sanciones (Primera Parte), Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Opportunism As Crucible: Rethinking Equity In View Of Reliance Interests And Legal Evolution, John Ehrett

John Ehrett

This Article offers and defends a nuanced definition of opportunism in the context of legal decision-making by differentiating between opportunism in the broad sense and the particularized phenomenon of cognizably malignant opportunism. It subsequently proceeds by developing a normative critique of the case for broader invocation of counter opportunistic equitable remedies, alongside a defense of the reliance and gap-filling functions performed by opportunistic actors. Centrally, I challenge the suggestion that the existence of opportunism in private law warrants a revival of the doctrines of ex post equity. I argue instead that opportunism serves an important structural purpose where the evolution …

La Diferencia Ius-Económica Entre Precios Y Sanciones: Relevancia Para El Criterio De Imputación, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

No abstract provided.

Corporate Social Responsibility In A Remedy-Seeking Society: A Public Choice Perspective, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Written for the Chapman Law Review Symposium on “What Can Law & Economics Teach Us About the Corporate Social Responsibility Debate?,” this Article applies the lessons of public choice theory to examine corporate social responsibility. The Article adopts a broad definition of corporate social responsibility activism to include both (1) those efforts that seek to convince corporations to voluntarily take into account corporate social responsibility in their own decision-making, and (2) the efforts to alter the legal landscape and expand legal obligations of corporations beyond traditional notions of harm and duty so as to force corporations to invest in interests …

The Market In Unmatured Tort Claims: Twenty-Five Years Later, Stephen G. Marks

Stephen G Marks

Twenty-five years ago, in 1989, Professor Robert Cooter, writing in the Virginia Law Review, proposed changes in the law that would facilitate the development of a market in unmatured tort claims. On this twenty-fifth anniversary of this groundbreaking paper, it is fitting to reexamine this proposal, speculate on why it has not been adopted, and to explore whether revisions in the proposal might lead to greater legislative acceptance. In this paper I reexamine the proposal as to its likely intended and unintended effects. This article argues that, for such a market in unmatured tort claims to work, three modifications must …

Rescuing Access To Patented Essential Medicines: Pharmaceutical Companies As Tortfeasors Under The Prevented Rescue Tort Theory, Richard Cameron Gower

Richard Cameron Gower

Despite some difficulties, state tort law can be argued to create a unique exception to patent law. Specifically, the prevented rescue doctrine suggests that charities and others can circumvent patents on certain critical medications when such actions are necessary to save individuals from death or serious harm. Although this Article finds that the prevented rescue tort doctrines is preempted by federal patent law, all hope is not lost. A federal substantive due process claim may be brought that uses the common law to demonstrate a fundamental right that has long been protected by our Nation’s legal traditions. Moreover, this Article …

Debating Law's Irrelevance: Legal Scholarship And The Coase Theorem In The 1960s, Steven G. Medema

Steven G Medema

The paper examines the treatment of the Coase theorem by legal scholars during the 1960s. The analysis demonstrates that it was legal scholars, rather than economists, who took the lead in applying Coase's negotiation result in the legal realm and that the early diffusion of Coase's result in the legal literature is anything but a "Chicago" story. We also observe that legal scholars were interesting in examining the applicability of Coase's result across a wide range of legal issues and, in contrast to economists, who were preoccupied with the efficiency predication of Coase's result, tended to focus on Coase's invariance …

Coase V. Pigou: A Still Difficult Debate, Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

This paper examines the positions of Coase and Pigou about the problem of the externalities. From the reading of their most two important works it appears that Coase has a more relevant preference for a evaluation of efficiency at the total, while Pigou, with some exception, is convinced that is possible to reach marginal efficiency through taxes or responsibility. It’s interesting that Coase, who has elaborated the famous theorem, is convinced that is not possible to reach the efficiency at the margin every time and that sometimes is necessary a valuation at the total, that tells us which solution is …

Toward A New Paradigm For Multiple-Victim Torts: The Problem Of Victims' Heterogeneity, Yoed Halbersberg

Yoed Halbersberg

Conventional wisdom in tort law holds that an injurer’s negligence, a product design defect, and a victim’s contributory negligence should all be decided by weighing the costs and benefits of the relevant activity. In multiple-victim accidents, the current paradigm maintains that liability should be determined by comparing aggregate costs with aggregate benefits.

However, this aggregate liability paradigm—adopted by courts, scholars and the Restatement (Third) of Torts—fails to account for the natural differences that exist between tort victims. When victims are heterogeneous with regard to their expected harm or costs of precaution—as they typically are in real life—basing liability on aggregate …

El Homo Economicus Y La Libertad De Contratación, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Se compartió la mesa con el profesor Juan José Martínez, en la presentación se debatió acerco del rol que cumple el presupuesto de racionalidad en el modelo standard del análisis económico del Derecho y las acotaciones del Behavioral Law and Economics.

Si Algo Puede Salir Mal... Saldrá Mal (Y En El Peor Momento Posible): Una Rápida Revisión Ius-Económica A La Imposibilidad Contractual, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota se desea subrayar algunas características económicas y jurídicas de figuras que sirven como justificación para el incumplimiento contractual, tales como la imposibilidad y la excesiva onerosidad.

Fomentando Más Visitas A La Catedral: El Aporte De Calabresi En El Debate Sobre Titularidades Y Nuevos Caminos, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota procuro exponer algunos de los principales méritos de la propuesta efectuada por Guido Calabresi y Douglas Melamed en 1972. Tal esfuerzo se inserta en un reconocimiento al impacto que tal teoría tuvo para la comprensión de los sistemas jurídicos, relevancia que merece ser subrayada y revisitada sobre todo cuando, como sucede en estas fechas, se cumplen cuarenta años desde su divulgación.

Aplicaciones Prácticas Del Behavioral Law And Economics: ¿Superando Sesgos Cognitivos?, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En las últimas décadas los postulados del Law and Economics tradicional han venido sufriendo una serie de acotaciones por parte de los académicos de las denominadas ciencias conductuales. A pesar de las pruebas empíricas que se ofrecen para sustentar las objeciones elevadas, un sector tradicionalista se empeña, una y otra vez, en alegar la poca utilidad de esta visión alternativa. Es por esta razón que se reseñarán algunas de sus posibles aplicaciones.

Debate - Incumplir, O No Incumplir, He Allí El Dilema: Análisis De La Teoría Del Incumplimiento Eficiente, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Se compartió la mesa con el profesor Christian Chávez, en nuestra presentación se expusieron algunos de los defectos en los que incurre la citada teoría y sobre todo las inconsistencias que tiene dentro de los sistemas del civil law, sin evitar presentar los problemas que ella enfrenta aún dentro de su propio sistema jurídico de origen.

Obstaculos Juridicos Y Economicos A La Aplicacion De La Teoria Del Incumplimiento Eficiente: ¿Un Irritante Juridico O Una Figura De Aplicacion Imposible?, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Bailment Or Lease: A Legal And Economic Analysis, Wei Zhang

Wei Zhang

When customers temporarily deposit their personal properties with a business which collects a fee, either directly or by incorporating the charge into the price of its goods or services (such as a locker at the supermarket, a parking garage, or a bank safe deposit box), it has long been disputed whether a bailment or a lease contract arises between the two parties. In this paper, I tried to approach this problem from a law and economics perspective. Efficiency-oriented judges should establish rules motivating parties to take optimal precautions to minimize the social costs associated with the loss of the property. …

Are All ‘Legal Dollars’ Created Equal?, Doron Teichman, Yuval Feldman

ExpressO

For several decades law and economic scholars have employed the tools of price theory in order to evaluate an array of legal questions ranging from criminal sanctions to contract remedies. This vast body of literature implicitly assumed that all payments made through the legal system are fungible. In other words, just as a dollar paid for a tomato is identical to a dollar paid for a cucumber, so are a dollar paid as a pollution tax to the government and a dollar paid as compensation to the party injured by the pollution. In this study we challenge this assumption, and …

New Differences Between Negligence And Strict Liability And Their Implications On Medical Malpractice Reform, Noam Sher

ExpressO

The present article seeks to explore previously undiscussed differences between the negligence and strict liability rules and thereby examine the required medical liability reform, if such reform is indeed required. Our main thesis is that negligence as a basis for liability entails a unique mechanism, which is essentially different than the strict liability mechanism, and is more efficient for several reasons, related to the legal function of resolving partial information problems which cause partial failure in the healthcare market. Among other things, the negligence mechanism (1) motivates the parties to a potential damages claim to invest in information gathering; (2) …

The Problem Of Social Cost In A Genetically Modified Age, Paul J. Heald, James C. Smith

Scholarly Works

In Part I of this Article, we apply the Coase Theorem and its most useful corollary to the problem of pollen drift. We conclude that the liability of pollen polluters should be governed by balancing rules against nuisance law, to be applied on a case-by-case basis, rather than by a blanket liability or immunity rule. We also conclude that truly bystanding non-GMO farmers should have a viable defense to patent infringement because liability would result in the application of a reverse Pigovian tax that cannot be justified under accepted economic theory. Only a contextual approach can account for the wide …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Reassessing Damages In Securities Fraud Class Actions, Elizabeth C. Burch

ExpressO

No coherent doctrinal statement exists for calculating open-market damages for securities fraud class actions. Instead, courts have tried in vain to fashion common-law deceit and misrepresentation remedies to fit open-market fraud. The result is a relatively ineffective system with a hallmark feature: unpredictable damage awards. This poses a significant fraud deterrence problem from both a practical and a theoretical standpoint.

In 2005, the Supreme Court had the opportunity to clarify open-market damage principles and to facilitate earlier dismissal of cases without compensable economic losses. Instead, in Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo, it further confused the damage issue by (1) perpetuating the …

The Missing Theory Of Variable Selection In The Economic Analysis Of Tort Law, James M. Anderson

ExpressO

The Article argues that the economic analysis of tort law has yet to satisfactorily answer a critical threshold question: which of the many inputs that lead to an accident should be included in a court’s liability analysis? As a result of this missing theory, the economic analysis of tort law provides indeterminate prescriptions. The Article shows how three separate areas of the literature can be seen as being about the general problem of which variables to include in the liability test and the tension between short- and long-run optima. The Article proposes an analytical framework—a continuum from short to long …

Public Services Meet Private Law, Michael I. Krauss

ExpressO

Public services are provided at various levels, and for various reasons, by governments to corporate and private citizens. Recently, an important movement in tort theory has sought to allow governments to recoup the cost of public services as tort damages from wrongdoers, especially from wrongdoers of the corporate variety. Much of the latest thrust in tort law, which consists of attorneys-general's suits against corporations, relies implicitly on a challenge to the common law's "free public services doctrine."

Recently, scholarship emanating largely from plaintiff-oriented sources has sought to appeal to free-market and law-and-economics scholars (who are often defense-oriented) by emphasizing the …