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Full-Text Articles in Evidence

Torts And Innovation, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein Nov 2008

Torts And Innovation, Gideon Parchomovsky, Alex Stein

Michigan Law Review

This Essay exposes and analyzes a hitherto overlooked cost of tort law: its adverse effect on innovation. Tort liability for negligence, defective products, and medical malpractice is determined by reference to custom. We demonstrate that courts' reliance on custom and conventional technologies as the benchmark of liability chills innovation and distorts its path. Specifically, recourse to custom taxes innovators and subsidizes replicators of conventional technologies. We explore the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and propose two possible ways to modify tort law in order to make it more welcoming to innovation.


Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore Feb 2001

Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore

Michigan Law Review

This Article begins with the puzzle of why the law avoids the issue of conjunctive probability. Mathematically inclined observers might, for example, employ the "product rule," multiplying the probabilities associated with several events or requirements in order to assess a combined likelihood, but judges and lawyers seem otherwise inclined. Courts and statutes might be explicit about the manner in which multiple requirements should be combined, but they are not. Thus, it is often unclear whether a factfinder should assess if condition A was more likely than not to be present - and then go on to see whether condition B …


Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur - Doctine Applied Although Damage Causing Instrumentality Within The Exclusive Control Of Defendant At The Time Of The Damage, Kenneth Laing Jr. Nov 1960

Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur - Doctine Applied Although Damage Causing Instrumentality Within The Exclusive Control Of Defendant At The Time Of The Damage, Kenneth Laing Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Seven months after defendant had installed a washbowl in a bathroom in plaintiff's house, the house was damaged by water when one of the pipes became disconnected from a faucet. During the two weeks immediately prior to the damage the house was unoccupied, but inspections were made every two or three days by plaintiff's employee. Plaintiff sued defendant to recover for the damage caused by defendant's alleged negligence in connecting the water pipe to the washbowl. In a trial to the court, the evidence tended to eliminate other possible causes of the disconnection, such as rough use or manufacturing fault. …


Workmen's Compensation - Federal Employers' Liability Act - Basis Of Liability Not Common Law Negligence, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed. Nov 1957

Workmen's Compensation - Federal Employers' Liability Act - Basis Of Liability Not Common Law Negligence, Robert L. Knauss S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a laborer in a railroad section gang, was assigned to burn weeds near a railroad track. He was injured when he fell into a culvert as he was trying to escape from smoke and flames which had been fanned by a passing train. A jury in the Circuit Court of St. Louis awarded damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA). The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed upon the ground that the evidence was not sufficient to support a finding of the railroad's liability, and the case should not have been allowed to go to a jury. On certiorari …


Negligence - Proving Inviter's Breach Of Duty By Circumstantial Evidence, Charles E. Oldfather S.Ed. Nov 1953

Negligence - Proving Inviter's Breach Of Duty By Circumstantial Evidence, Charles E. Oldfather S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for personal injuries suffered when she slipped on a spot of grease in the driveway of defendant's railroad station. The evidence showed that the spot was at least one foot square and was covered with dust and dirt so that it resembled in color and texture the rest of the pavement. The evidence also indicated that vehicles often drove through and parked in the drive, and that there were no marks on the spot other than a deep skid mark left by plaintiff's heel. The trial court allowed the jury to determine from this evidence …


Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer Oct 1943

Abstracts, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.


Witnesses - Privilege Of Communications Between Physician And Patient Applicable To Nonjudicial Proceedings, Alfred I. Rothman May 1941

Witnesses - Privilege Of Communications Between Physician And Patient Applicable To Nonjudicial Proceedings, Alfred I. Rothman

Michigan Law Review

Pursuant to section 43 of the city charter, the City Council of New York appointed a special committee to investigate charges of negligence and maladministration in the treatment of patients at Lincoln Hospital. Subpoenas duces tecum were served upon the commissioner of hospitals and upon the medical superintendent of Lincoln Hospital requiring the production of hospital records, including case records relating to certain named patients. The commissioner refused to produce any of the case cards or records, justifying his position on the ground that the physician-patient privilege was applicable to legislative investigations. The New York Civil Practice Act, section 354, …


Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review Jun 1922

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

No abstract provided.


Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review May 1922

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Assignments- Assignment of an Expectancy - Joseph and James were two of six children. A contract witnessed "that Joseph Snyder has sold to James Snyder one undivided sixth of the real estate owned by the mother, Susan Snyder; to secure said interest to James after her death, the mother unites in the conveyance of said interest The said Joseph warrants and defends the interest from all claims." The contract was signed by Joseph and by the mother. Held, Joseph had no estate which he could convey, and the contract, though made with the consent of the mother, was unenforceable either …


Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review Apr 1922

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Admiralty - Workmen's Compensation - Is a Hydroplane a Vessel? - Claimant was employed in the care and management of a hydroplane which was moored in navigable waters. The hydroplane began to drag anchor and drift toward the beach, where it was in danger of being wrecked. Claimant waded into the water and was struck by the propeller. Held, claimant is not entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law, since a hydroplane while on navigable waters is a vessel, and therefore the jurisdiction of the admiralty excludes that of the State Industrial Commission. Reinhardt v. Newport Flying Service Corp. …