Torts Commons^™

Hb 1150: Freedom To Farm Act, Wyatt Bazrod, Sarah Page

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act protects agricultural facilities, agricultural operations, and forest landowners from nuisance lawsuits after two years of operation. If a facility converts to a confined animal feeding operation, the two-year time period restarts.

Whose Sperm Is It Anyways In The Wild, Wild West Of The Fertility Industry?, Tatiana E. Posada

Georgia State University Law Review

Imagine a couple that is unable to conceive a child naturally. Luckily, they had the money and resources available to them to conceive a child through assisted reproductive technology (ART), so they decided to start their family through the use of intrauterine insemination. They selected a sperm bank and began the arduous process of selecting a sperm donor who fit the desired traits and characteristics for their child. The sperm bank matched them with an anonymous donor, Donor 9623, and assured the couple that the donor was “a healthy male with an IQ of 160, a bachelor’s of science in …

A (Thigh) Gap In The Law: Addressing Egregious Digital Manipulation Of Celebrity Images, Jessica L. Williams-Vickery

Georgia State University Law Review

In 2012, world-renowned supermodel Coco Rocha agreed to be photographed for the cover of one of Elle’s magazine publications, Elle Brazil. Rocha posed for the pictures in a dress with significant cutouts, covered only by a sheer layer of skin-toned fabric. In keeping with her firm policy of no full or partial nudity, Rocha wore a bodysuit underneath the dress to limit her exposure. When Elle published the magazine, the final product shocked Rocha; the magazine had altered the image to remove her bodysuit, giving the impression Rocha had shown more skin than she in fact had. Rocha took to …

Don’T Let The Bed Bugs Bill: Landlord Liability For Bed Bug Infestations In Georgia, Megan M. Harrison

Georgia State University Law Review

Although the historical relationship between bed bugs and humans dates back to ancient Egypt, the common bed bug, or Cimex lectularius, vanished from the beds of Americans around World War II. In the late 1990s, however, our bloodsucking bedfellows returned. Bed bug infestations are a growing public health issue. Bed bugs are now found in all fifty states, with populations in five states reaching epidemic levels. Both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) consider bed bugs a “pest of significant public health importance."

Despite their name, bed bugs are not limited to …

Individual Accountability For Corporate Crime, Gregory Gilchrist

Georgia State University Law Review

Corporate crime is too often addressed by fining the corporation, leaving the real people who committed the crime facing no consequence at all. This failure to hold individuals accountable in cases of corporate malfeasance generates an accountability gap that undermines deterrence and introduces expressive costs. Facing heightened criticism of this trend, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a policy designed to generate prosecutions of real people in cases of corporate wrongdoing. The policy reflects a strong and continuing demand for more prosecutions of individuals in the corporate context.

This Article contends that the effort to introduce accountability by increasing prosecutions …

Sb 219 - Autonomous Vehicles, W. Perry Hicks, Alan J. Ponce

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends Georgia’s Motor Vehicles and Traffic Code to create a legal framework for autonomous vehicles to operate in Georgia. Persons responsible for operating fully autonomous vehicles are exempted from holding a driver’s license. In the event of an accident involving an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle must remain at the scene and the operator of the autonomous vehicle must provide necessary information to law enforcement. Minimum liability insurance requirements for autonomous vehicles will be the same as minimum coverages required for the taxi and limousine industry after January 1, 2020. Minimum coverages are set at 250 percent of those …

Hb 1 - Space Flight, Malissa Caroline Barger, Ethan L. Smith

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act limits the civil and criminal liability of a space flight entity for injuries sustained by space flight participants arising from ordinary negligence. The Act defines new terms and provides a statutory waiver form that participants with informed consent must sign. The Act mandates space flight participants sign the waiver before participating in any space flight activity. The Act does not limit the liability of space flight entities for gross negligence or intentional acts, nor does it prevent suits from anyone other than the space flight participant.

Forty-Eight States Are Probably Not Wrong: An Argument For Modernizing Georgia’S Legal Malpractice Statute Of Limitations, Ben Rosichan

Georgia State University Law Review

The legal profession is largely self-regulated, and each state has a bar association charged with creating and enforcing basic standards of professionalism and competence for attorneys. Unfortunately, attorneys do not always adhere to these standards. In Georgia, the State Bar can address attorney misconduct through remedial measures up to and including disbarment. The State Bar cannot, however, compensate wronged clients through monetary damages.Thus, some wronged clients must resort to a lawsuit for legal malpractice where a financial recovery is necessary to make the client whole again.

The statute of limitations for legal malpractice claims should not be so restrictive that …

Keep Out! The Efficacy Of Trespass, Nuisance And Privacy Torts As Applied To Drones, Hillary B. Farber

Georgia State University Law Review

A few years ago one might have seen a small object flying overhead without any idea what it could be. Today, it is fairly commonplace to see drones flying around our neighborhood skies. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts there will be seven million drones populating our skies by 2020. In 2015 hobbyists, recreational users, and commercial businesses purchased unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, in record-breaking numbers. Estimates reveal that over 4.3 million drones were sold worldwide in 2015. Trade industry experts predicted that more than 2.8 million drones would be sold in the U.S. in 2016 …

Having An Affair May Shorten Your Life: The Ashley Madison Suicides, Sakinah N. Jones

Georgia State University Law Review

Ashley Madison is an online dating service originally designed for people in committed relationships who want to cheat on their partners. In 2015, the website claimed to be “100% discreet.” Ashley Madison’s FAQs promised that its users would never compromise their “safety, privacy or security” and would never have to reveal their identities unless they chose to.

Ashley Madison’s concept attracted over forty million ostensibly anonymous members to its site. In July 2015, a group calling itself The Impact Team (Impact) hacked into Ashley Madison’s parent company, Avid Life Media, Inc. (Avid Life), breaching its security walls and reaching directly …

Disability Rights In The Age Of Uber: Applying The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 To Transportation Network Companies, Rachel Reed

Georgia State University Law Review

Within the past year, individual plaintiffs and disability rights organizations have initiated a number of lawsuits against Uber, and similar companies like Lyft, alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title III). In each of these cases, the plaintiffs’ success turns on affirmatively answering one significant threshold question: Whether Uber, or a similar entity, falls within the scope of Title III. Traditional taxi companies fall squarely within the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990’s (ADA) coverage under 42 U.S.C. § 12184 (§ 12184), which governs private companies that provide transportation services. Given the similarities …

Institutional Failure, Campus Sexual Assault And Danger In The Dorms: Regulatory Limits And The Promise Of Tort Law, Andrea A. Curcio

Faculty Publications By Year

Data demonstrates the majority of on-campus sexual assaults occur in dorm rooms. At many colleges, this fact receives little, if any, attention. This article discusses how schools' failure to raise awareness about, and develop risk reduction programs for, dorm-based assaults is another example of long-standing institutional failures when it comes to addressing campus sexual assault. Ignoring where most on-campus assaults occur provides students with a false sense of security in their dorms, limits the efficacy of bystander intervention programs, and results in scant attention and research directed at the efficacy of dorm-based awareness and risk-reduction efforts. This article suggests that …

Qualified Immunity For “Private” § 1983 Defendants After Filarsky V. Delia, Andrew W. Weis

Georgia State University Law Review

In 2012, the Supreme Court addressed private party qualified immunity in the case of Filarsky v. Delia. There, the Court found that both the historical and policy bases for immunity under § 1983 supported extending qualified immunity to outside counsel retained by a municipality. The Court noted that full-time government employees can always seek qualified immunity, so not extending it to individuals employed on some other basis would create “significant line-drawing problems . . . [which could] deprive state actors of the ability to ‘reasonably anticipate when their conduct may give rise to liability . . . .’”

This …

Bareboat Charters: Can A Shipowner Limit Liability To Third Parties? Answers For Owners Attempting To Navigate The Unsettled Waters In The Eleventh Circuit, John W. Chitty

Georgia State University Law Review

A bareboat charter is a contractual agreement akin to the lease of a vessel whereby most of the “customary liabilities” of the owner are shifted to the charterer. Some courts have raised concerns over bareboat charters—also referred to as a demise charter—regarding the ability of owners to use the bareboat device as a means to limit liability to injured third parties.

In Baker v. Raymond International, Inc. the Fifth Circuit brought force to this concern; the court held a bareboat charter would no longer shield owners from personal liability for third party injuries caused by the unseaworthiness of a vessel, …

Clergy Sexual Abuse Litigation: The Policymaking Role Of Tort Law, Timothy D. Lytton

Faculty Publications By Year

By all accounts, the prevalence of clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up by Church officials represents a massive institutional failure. Obscured by all of this attention to the Church's failure is the largely untold story of the tort system's remarkable success in bringing the scandal to light in the first place, focusing attention on the need for institutional reform, and spurring Church leaders and public officials into action. Tort litigation framed the problem of clergy sexual abuse as one of institutional failure, and it placed that problem on the policy agendas of the Catholic Church, law enforcement, and state governments. …

Toward Healing And Restoration For All: Reframing Medical Malpractice Reform, Jonathan Todres

Faculty Publications By Year

The medical malpractice liability system is blamed for everything from the high cost of health care to quality assurance issues. This Article suggests that that one of the problems with the current approach to medical malpractice is that legal remedies for medical error are not viewed as part of the continuum of care. Thus, a new model - driven by the principle of care and the goal of healing - is needed to address medical errors more effectively. Building from these core principles of care and healing, the author develops a new healing-centered framework which provides a better assessment of …

Should Government Be Allowed To Recover The Costs Of Public Services From Tortfeasors?: Tort Subsidies, The Limits Of Loss Spreading, And The Free Public Services Doctrine, Timothy D. Lytton

Faculty Publications By Year

The free public services doctrine (also known as the municipal cost recovery rule) states that a government entity may not recover from a tortfeasor the costs of public services occasioned by the tortfeasor's wrongdoing. This article traces the history of the doctrine and argues for its elimination. The article criticizes case law supporting the doctrine and raises objections based on fairness, efficiency, and institutional concerns about the proper limits of judicial policy making. The article discusses the implications of eliminating the doctrine for tobacco litigation, gun litigation, and tort reform.

Tortious Interference And The Law Of Contract: The Case For Specific Performance Revisited, Deepa Varadarajan

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Lawsuits Against The Gun Industry: A Comparative Institutional Analysis, Timothy D. Lytton

Faculty Publications By Year

I argue that the tort system can complement the efforts of either institutions such as markets, legislatures and administrative agencies to make public policy. Solving complex social problems typically requires the cooperation of several policymaking institutions, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. My examination of lawsuits against the gun industry reveals that the tort system can and should play an active policymaking role in reducing gun violence.

Schlemmer V. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.: A Case For Rethinking Arkansas' Choice-Of-Law Rule For Interstate Torts, L. Lynn Hogue

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Arkansas' New Choice-Of-Law Rule Of Interstate Torts: A Critique Of Wallis, Williams And The "Better Rule Of Law", L. Lynn Hogue

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.