Digital Commons Network^™

The Tax Lives Of Uber Drivers: Evidence From Internet Discussion Forums, Shu-Yi Oei, Diane M. Ring

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, we investigate the tax issues and challenges facing Uber and Lyfi drivers by studying their online interactions in three internet discussion forums: Reddit.com, Uberpeople.net, and Intuit TurboTax AnswerXchange. Using descriptive statistics and content analysis, we examine (1) the substantive tax concerns facing forum participants, (2) how taxes affect their driving and profitability decisions, and (3) the degree of user sophistication, accuracy of legal advising, and other cultural features of the forums.

We find that while forum participants displayed generally accurate understandings of tax filing and income inclusion obligations, their approaches to expenses and deductions were less accurate …

The Role Of Social Enterprise And Hybrid Organizations, Ofer Eldar

Faculty Scholarship

Recent years have brought remarkable growth in hybrid organizations that combine profit-seeking and social missions. Despite popular enthusiasm for such organizations, legal reforms to facilitate their formation and growth—particularly, legal forms for hybrid firms—have largely been ineffective. This shortcoming stems in large part from the lack of a theory that identifies the structural and functional elements that make some types of hybrid organizations more effective than others. In pursuit of such a theory, this Article focuses on a large class of hybrid organizations that has been effective in addressing development problems, such as increasing access to capital and improving employment …

Coordinating Access To Justice For Low And Moderate Income People, Ian Weinstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Symposium: Confronting New Market Realities: Implications For Stockholders Rights To Vote, Sell And Sue: Objections To Disclosure Settlements: A “How To” Guide”, Sean J. Griffith, Anthony A. Rickey

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The State Towards The Grey Zone Of Employment: Eyes On Canada And The United States, Susan Bisom-Rapp, Urwana Coiquaud

Faculty Scholarship

In most countries, precarious working is on the rise and nonstandard forms of work are proliferating. What we call the “grey zone” of employment is generated by transformations at and with respect to work both in standard and nonstandard forms of working. Focusing on legal and policy regulation, and on the role of the state in the creation and perception of the grey zone, our contribution explains the way the government acts or fails to act, and the consequences of that activity or inactivity on the standard employment relationship. Examining and juxtaposing conditions in our two countries, Canada and the …

Human Rights From The Ground Up: Building The First Law School Legal Aid Clinic In Haiti, Kate Bloch, Roxanne Edmond-Dimanche

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Under International Law, Must A Ship On The High Seas Fly The Flag Of A State In Order To A Void Being A Stateless Vessel? Is A Flag Painted On Either Side Of The Ship Sufficient To Identify It?, Barry Hart Dubner, Mary Carmen Arias

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Negative Retrospective Of Rule 23, Scott Dodson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Introduction: The Post-Carbon World: Advances In Legal And Social Theory, Gregg P. Macey

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Financing The Benefit Corporation, Steven A. Dean, Dana Brakman Reiser

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contemplating Masterpiece Cakeshop, Terri R. Day

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mother. Orator. Woman Suffrage Leader: The Feminist Legacy Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Paula A. Monopoli

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Politics-Reinforcing Political Question Doctrine, Harlan G. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

The modern political question doctrine has long been criticized for shielding the political branches from proper judicial scrutiny and allowing the courts to abdicate their responsibilities. Critics of the doctrine thus cheered when the Supreme Court, in Zivotofsky I, announced a narrowing of the doctrine. Their joy though may have been short-lived. Almost immediately, Zivotofsky II demonstrated the dark side of judicial review of the separation of powers between Congress and the President: deciding separations of powers cases may permanently cut one of the political branches out of certain debates. Judicial scrutiny in a particular case could eliminate political scrutiny …

Whoosh - Declining Law School Applications And Entering Credentials: Responding With Pivot Pedagogy, Laura M. Padilla

Faculty Scholarship

The number of law school applications and entering law students and the credentials of those students, declined all at once. This trend has continued for many years, however, given the cyclical nature of law school applications, it will likely reverse eventually and credentials will improve, but not overnight. The first part of the article briefly discusses the decline in law school applicants and applications, including the confluence of perfect storm factors that resulted in more of the crash landing we experienced than a gradual drop. It also details the corresponding drop in entering credentials which accompanied that decline. The article …

The Myth Of Uniformity In Ip Laws, Sharon Sandeen

Faculty Scholarship

When Congress enacts federal laws, it is often because of the asserted benefits of a “uniform” law and the, often unspoken, assumption that federal laws are somehow more uniform than uniform state laws. In fact, the uniformity argument was a primary justification for the enactment of both the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 and the EU Trade Secret Directive.

The quest for uniformity, particularly with respect to laws that relate to intellectual property rights, is an old story in the United States. During the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, the existence of inconsistent state laws was a central reason …

Debating Employee Non-Competes And Trade Secrets, Sharon Sandeen, Elizabeth A. Rowe

Faculty Scholarship

Recently, a cacophony of concerns have been raised about the propriety of noncompetition agreements (NCAs) entered into between employers and employees, fueled by media reports of agreements which attempt to restrain low-wage and low-skilled workers, such as sandwich makers and dog walkers. In the lead-up to the passage of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of2016 (DTSA), public policy arguments in favor of employee mobility were strongly advocated by those representing the "California view" on the enforceability of NCAs, leading to a special provision of the DTSA that limits injunctive relief with respect to employee NCAs. Through our lens as …

Don’T Dabble In Delaware, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

When a litigator argues for a particular choice of law, the litigator seeks retrospectively the law most favorable to a particular claim or claims. When a business lawyer chooses a state of formation for a business entity, the lawyer seeks prospectively the governing law whose characteristics most favor the client’s interests.

Although in particular situations one characteristic may dominate, in general the business lawyer should look for governing law that is clear, comprehensive, coherent, accessible, and stable (or at least predictable). With these five metrics in mind, this column explains why lawyers forming limited liability companies should not dabble in …

Delineating The Implied Covenant And Providing For “Good Faith”, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

This column considers whether an operating or partnership agreement can delineate the implied contractual obligation, comparing ULLCA and the Delaware Act, and then warns of the dangers of carelessly imposing by contract an express requirement of "good faith."

Lymphoma Therapy And Adverse Events: Nursing Strategies For Thinking Critically And Acting Decisively, Amy Goodrich, Nina Wagner-Johnston, Dana Delibovi

Faculty Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Multiple treatment options, combined with disease heterogeneity, have created nursing challenges in the management of adverse events (AEs) during antilymphoma therapy. Testing has revealed that less than half of participating nurses correctly graded peripheral neuropathy and neutropenia related to antilymphoma regimens.

OBJECTIVES: This article identifies nursing challenges in the management of AEs associated with therapy for lymphomas and describes how strategies in critical thinking can help meet those challenges.

METHODS: A comprehensive literature search in oncology nursing, nursing education, and critical thinking was conducted; participant responses to pre- and post-tests at nursing education programs were evaluated; and a roundtable …

Generating Rembrandt: Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, And Accountability In The 3a Era--The Human-Like Authors Are Already Here- A New Model, Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are creative, unpredictable, independent, autonomous, rational, evolving, capable of data collection, communicative, efficient, accurate, and have free choice among alternatives. Similar to humans, AI systems can autonomously create and generate creative works. The use of AI systems in the production of works, either for personal or manufacturing purposes, has become common in the 3A era of automated, autonomous, and advanced technology. Despite this progress, there is a deep and common concern in modern society that AI technology will become uncontrollable. There is therefore a call for social and legal tools for controlling AI systems’ functions and …

Objections To Disclosure Settlements: A How-To Guide, Sean J. Griffith, Anthony A. Rickey

Faculty Scholarship

Stockholder litigation remains in crisis, with over seventy percent of major mergers and acquisitions subject to litigation. A contributing factor is the breakdown of the adversary process at settlement, when former opponents join hands in favor of a compromise that too often expends corporate resources for no real recovery to the plaintiff class. One obvious corrective is the shareholder’s objection to settlement, which restores adversarial character to the settlement process. Shareholders, however, face substantial difficulties in making such objections. In this article, the authors detail the problem and share their experiences in addressing these obstacles, providing a how-to manual for …

Deadly Dust: Occupational Health And Safety As A Driving Force In Workers’ Compensation Law And The Development Of Tort Doctrine And Practice, George Conk

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Revising Racial Patents In An Era Of Precision Medicine, Jonathan Kahn

Faculty Scholarship

In 2006, I published an article examining the rising use of racial categories in biomedical patents in the aftermath of the successful completion of the Human Genome Project and the production of the first draft of a complete human genome. Ten years on, it now seems time to revisit the issue and consider it in light of the current era of “Precision Medicine” so prominently promoted by President Obama in his 2015 State of the Union address where he announced a $215 million proposal for the Precision Medicine Initiative as “a bold new research effort to revolutionize how we improve …

Toward A Federal Jurisprudence Of Trade Secret Law, Sharon Sandeen, Christopher B. Seaman

Faculty Scholarship

The May 2016 enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), which created a new federal civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation, raises a host of issues that federal courts will have to consider under their original subject matter jurisdiction, rather than applying state law through the courts’ diversity jurisdiction. This means that for the first time, an extensive body of federal jurisprudence will be developed to govern the civil protection and enforcement of trade secrets in the United States. In addition, due to the DTSA’s changes to the existing federal criminal law governing trade secrets, …

Unbefriended And Unrepresented: Better Medical Decision Making For Incapacitated Patients Without Healthcare Surrogates, Thaddeus Pope

Faculty Scholarship

How should we make medical decisions for incapacitated patients who have no available legally-authorized surrogate decision maker? Because these patients lack decision making capacity, they cannot authorize treatment themselves. Because they lack a surrogate, nobody else can authorize treatment either. Clinicians and researchers have referred to these individuals as “adult orphans” or as “unbefriended,” “isolated,” or “unrepresented” patients. Clinicians and researchers have also described them as “unimaginably helpless,” “highly vulnerable,” and as the “most vulnerable,” because “no one cares deeply if they live or die.”

The persistent challenges involved in obtaining consent for medical treatment on behalf of these individuals …

The Commodification Of Trademarks: Some Final Thoughts On Trademark Dilution, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

This article is an explication of the trend toward commodification of famous or putatively famous trademarks and the resultant urging that the FTDA be repealed. This article starts with a literature review showing that the vast majority of commentators have been severely critical of the FTDA. This has been ignored by Congress. The article next pursues Congress's blind support of the FTDA and suggests that more thought and analysis from Congress is still required. The article next explains the data regarding FTDA claims. All reported cases from 1996 through 2015 are coded and examined. The conclusion, looking at the data, …

Like Great Britain, A Limited Liability Company May Have An Unwritten Constitution, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Dismissals As Justice, Anna Roberts

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Questioning Marks: Plurality Decisions And Precedential Constraint, Ryan Williams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Assessing Law Students As Reflective Practitioners, Jodi Balsam, Susan L. Brooks, Margaret Reuter

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.