Law Commons^™

Products Liability--Functionally Imposed Strict Liability, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

Many manufacturers and insurance companies claim that a products liability crisis exists. This is evidenced by soaring products liability insurance rates. They express the fear that as insurance becomes unavailable or prohibitively expensive, useful products will be withheld from the market and some manufacturers may even be forced out of business. Such critics of the tort system are calling for modifications of the common law in order to give greater protection to manufacturers. A more drastic approach, vigorously championed by Professor Jeffrey O'Connell, calls for total or partial abolition of the tort system and substitution with various forms of no-fault …

European Analogues To The Class Action: Group Action In France And Germany, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

For the civil proceduralist in the United States the most perplexing problems of recent years have been presented by claims of large numbers of persons against large economic interests. A single error in manufacturing design can cause a relatively small injury to each of a large number of consumers; a misrepresentation in national advertising for such goods can have similar consequences; the polluting effects of a single enterprise can be dispersed among a large neighboring population. The result is that the stake of each potential claimant in the outcome of the litigation can be greatly outweighed by the magnitude of …

Problems Of Federalism In The Regulation Of Consumer Financial Services Offered By Commercial Banks, Part I, Ralph J. Rohner

Scholarly Articles

In this first half of a two-part article, the author reviews the complex structures through which federal and state consumerprotection laws are enacted and enforced with respect to commercial banks. Problems arisefrom the multiolicity of law-making bodies, the dual banking system, unclear preemption standards, and expandingfederal domination of the consumer creditfleld The secondpart of the article, which will appear in the next issue of this Review, analyzes the actual enforcement activities of the federal and state banking agencies. It concludes with a series of recommendationsfor improving the combined federal-state consumer protection programs affecting commercial banks.

A Functional Analysis Of Truth In Lending, Ralph J. Rohner, Jonathan M. Landers

Scholarly Articles

The purpose of this Article is to take a hard look at the possible objectives of a disclosure statute such as Truth In Lending, and ask the basic question whether these objectives are attainable, and if so, what type of a statute can best effectuate the legislative policies. Given the lawmakers' fascination with disclosure-type legislation in the scheme for protecting consumers, and the myths that accompany such legislation, this undertaking should prove useful.

New Directions In The Enforcement Of Consumer Credit Laws: From Public To Private And Back Again, Ralph J. Rohner

Scholarly Articles

The response of sympathetic lawmakers to perceived abuses in the consumer credit field is almost totally predictable. One group will urge the enactment of disclosure rules so that well-informed consumers will be able to look out for themselves in the marketplace. Another group will urge the passage of laws directly prohibiting the distasteful practice, or mandating a corrective mechanism. Both groups will then engage in endless rhetorical debate over the costs and benefits of either approach, the infringements on competition and marketplace freedom, and the burdens on small business.

All of these responses take for granted that the disappearance of …

For Lack Of A National Policy On Consumer Credit: Preliminary Thoughts On The Need For Unified Federal Agency Rulemaking, Ralph J. Rohner

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.