Law Commons^™

A New Methodology For The Analysis Of Visuals In Legal Works, Michael D. Murray

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The goal of this Article is to introduce a comprehensive methodology for the analysis of visuals used for communication in legal works, by which I mean transactional and litigation documents, legal instruments, primary and secondary sources of law, and legal informational materials. To date, the scholarship on visuals in legal communications has been heavily descriptive, with some forays into the ethical and practical considerations of the use of “visualized” legal works. No one has yet devised a comprehensive analytical methodology that draws upon the disciplines of visual literacy, visual cultural studies, visual rhetoric, and mise en scène analysis to evaluate …

Cartoon Contracts And The Proactive Visualization Of Law, Michael D. Murray

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Contracts have always relied on text first, foremost, and usually exclusively. Yet, this approach leaves many users of contracts in the dark as to the actual meaning of the transactional documents and instruments they enter into. The average contract routinely uses language that only lawyers, law-trained readers, and highly literate persons can truly understand.

There is a movement in the law in the United States and many other nations called the visualization of law movement that attempts to bridge these gaps in contractual communication by using highly visual instruments. In appropriate circumstances, even cartoons and comic book forms of sequential …

Artworks As Business Entities: Sculpting Property Rights By Private Agreement, Christopher G. Bradley

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Modern business entities, such as LLCs, are increasingly created and deployed to accomplish customized transactions and evade legal restrictions. Rather than acting as traditional business enterprises, entities serve as tools to facilitate complex commercial transactions and surmount limitations presented by existing bodies of law. One limitation constrains the ways that private parties can agree to divide property rights—a doctrinal limitation sometimes referred to as numerus clausus. This Article shows that such limitations on the customizing of property rights by private agreement now can be surmounted by virtue of modern business entity law. After describing the key features of modern …

Art In The Age Of Contractual Negotiation, Christopher G. Bradley, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This paper explores the function and purpose of the Artist’s Contrast as a legal document—but not from the perspective of legal enforceability, which is how legal effectiveness is traditionally measured. Rather this paper tells the story of a document that relies upon hallmarks of law (legal language, formality, specificity, and so on) in order to express and attempt to consolidate particular views on artists, artworks, the collectors to whom they sell, and the markets in which they sell. This powerful connection inevitably continues past the moment of sale, and the Artist’s Contract can be read as an attempt to rearrange …

Subcontracting And The Survival Of Plants In The Road Construction Industry: A Panel Quantile Regression Analysis, Dakshina G. De Silva, Georgia Kosmopoulou, Carlos Lamarche

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper investigates how subcontracting parts of contracted work shapes entrants’ success and survival. We find that newly developed quantile regression approaches can be adapted to study survival of firms competing for government contracts in road construction. The method is applied on a data set that includes patterns of firm entry, exit and auction related information. We find an apparent increase in the business life of firms who subcontract out part of their projects. In Texas, these subcontracting effects appear to be more pronounced for firms with few or no options outside the industry, and among firms who contract out …

4th Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 4th Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute held by UK/CLE in November 2002.

Trade Secrets, Non-Competes, And Unfair Competition, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the conference on Trade Secrets, Non-Competes, and Unfair Competition held by UK/CLE in October 2001.

3rd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 3rd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute held by UK/CLE in March 2001.

Reconsidering The Reliance Interest, Christopher W. Frost

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This essay discusses the place of Fuller and Perdue's The Reliance Interest in Contract Damages in the contracts classroom. After first describing my use of The Reliance Interest, I will set out what I consider to be the pedagogical benefits of beginning the course with remedies and the attractiveness of Fuller and Perdue's analytical model in conveying an understanding of the remedial structure. Next, I will discuss the views of critics Craswell, Kelly and Barnes. Finally, I will revisit the place of Fuller and Perdue's work in the contracts course in light of these criticisms.

20th Annual Conference On Legal Issues For Financial Institutions, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Program and materials from the 20th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE in April of 2000.

2nd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Carlyle C. Ring, Holly K. Towle, Timothy E. Nielander, John G. Hundley, J. Mark Grundy, Matthew M. Clark, David E. Fleenor, William L. Montague Jr., Jack E. Toliver, Joel T. Beres, Cynthia L. Stewart, Kenneth J. Tuggle, Kenneth R. Sagan, Stephen E. Gillen

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 2nd Annual Computer & Technology Law Institute held by UK/CLE in March 2000.

Replacing Strict Liability With A Contract-Based Products Liability Regime, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

When strict products liability first appeared on the scene some thirty-five years ago, it was heralded as a boon to consumers whose claims to compensation had hitherto been frustrated by the law of sales. Warranty law, it was said, worked fairly well in purely "commercial" transactions, but tort law did a better job in cases where ordinary consumers suffered personal injuries or property damage from defective products. To be sure, defenders of warranty law pointed out that the newly-drafted Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code" or "U.C.C.") was much more consumer friendly than the old Uniform Sales Act. Nevertheless, the proponents …

The Past And Future Of Kentucky's Fraudulent Transfer And Preference Laws, Douglas C. Michael

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

An important part of the law of creditors' remedies is the ability of creditors to recover property formerly held by the debtor, but transferred to others under circumstances that are considered to be unfair or inequitable. There are two principal ways a creditor can seek to have a debtor's transfer characterized as unfair in order to recover it. First, a transfer to another creditor or a third party can be fraudulent as to one or all of the remaining creditors, or may be deemed to be fraudulent because of the circumstances surrounding the transfer, such as a transfer made by …

15th Annual Legal Issues For Financial Institutions Conference, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Walter R. Byrne Jr, Mark F. Sommer, Lisa Koch Bryant, Leonard A. Watkins, Thomas W. Grundy, Joann B. Heppermann, James C. Seiffert, William H. Haden Jr., T. Richard Riney, Marcus P. Mcgraw, W. Bradford Boone, John T. Mcgarvey, James F. Rose, J. Rick Jones, M. Thurman Senn, M. Brooks Senn

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Program and materials from the 15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE on March 10-11, 1995.

They Came From "Beyond The Pale": Security Interests In Tort Claims, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

"[B]eyond the pale" is how the drafters of Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code regarded tort claims. They considered tort claims to be noncommercial assets inappropriate for inclusion as collateral within the scope of a commercial financing statute. Tort claims may not be out-of-bounds much longer. The Article Nine Study Committee of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code recommends expansion of the Article's scope to encompass security interests in claims arising out of tort. This recommendation is significant. Tort causes of action comprise an ever-expanding universe of civil wrongs for which courts afford redress. The owners …

Article Two Warranties In Commercial Transactions: An Update, Kathryn L. Moore, Debra L. Goetz, Douglas E. Perry, David S. Rabb

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1978 the Cornell Law Review published a Special Project devoted to Article Two commercial warranties. Nine years have since elapsed, and we have decided to update and reassess this important area of the law. We have discovered that although judicial treatment of many aspects of Article Two warranty law has remained stable, in some instances the courts' treatment has progressed and in other instances it has become unclear. This Special Project is our attempt to assemble these changes, interpret the progress, and suggest new lines of analysis to clarify areas of conflict.

Strict Liability For Chattel Leasing, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Leasing has become an increasingly popular substitute for outright purchases as a means of acquiring products for use. Few courts and commentators, however, have addressed the question of whether the principles of strict products liability which apply to sellers also apply to lessors. In this Article, Professor Ausness reviews the historical basis for imposing strict liability in tort on sellers and applies these rationales to five basic kinds of lease transactions. He concludes that strict liability should not apply when a product defect arises after the leased product is placed in the hands of the lessee (as contrasted with the …

Modernizing Kentucky's Uniform Commercial Code, Harold R. Weinberg, Louise Everett Graham, Thomas J. Stipanowich

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In 1958 Kentucky became the third state to enact the Uniform Commercial Code promulgated by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The General Assembly stated that this legislation was intended to modernize, clarify and simplify the law of commercial transactions. Enactment of the Code also evidenced the legislature's intent to make Kentucky commercial law uniform with that of the other states. Subsequent General Assemblies further implemented these policies by enacting substantially all of the uniform amendments to the Code proposed by the ALI and NCCUSL through 1964.

Unfortunately, these enactments represent our …

Corporations And Corporate Agents: Liability On Commercial Paper Contracts And Attainment Of Holder Status, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This article focuses on two classes of commercial paper issues. Section I considers the Uniform Commercial Code rules relevant to determining whether a corporation or its agents are bound by contracts made upon a negotiable instrument. Application of these rules continues to be an important and recurrent source of legal disputes. Section II considers the rights of corporations or their agents to obtain holder status prerequisite to enforcing commercial paper contracts. Problems relating to the attainment of this status can result from corporate engagement in joint-enterprise with artificial or natural persons and from the linkage of corporations through common ownership …

Surrogate Gestation And The Protection Of Choice, Louise E. Graham

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Proponents of surrogate gestation contracts base their case on both the constitutional privacy rights of persons involved in the contract and the notion that contractual agreements are capable of sufficiently protecting all interests involved. This article first speculates on how courts might handle surrogate gestation contracts under existing laws and offers arguments for and against such contracts. Although some commentary on the contractual aspect of the agreement exists, little attention has been given to the privacy arguments of the parties. The major focus of this article, therefore, is upon the nature of the privacy claims asserted by the prospective parents …

Markets Overt, Voidable Titles, And Feckless Agents: Judges And Efficiency In The Antebellum Doctrine Of Good Faith Purchase, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In considering American common law doctrines shaped during the nineteenth century, commentators have advanced differing theories on the primary judicial criteria employed by judges. Recent studies have argued that these doctrines reflect a criterion of economic efficiency. This work has been criticized for its failure to explain why there seems to be a correlation between efficiency and these decision rules or why judges might have preferred efficiency over other decisional criteria. Other studies have proposed that many judicial doctrines announced before the Civil War were intended to facilitate or ratify major shifts in the distribution of social wealth. This article …

Secured Party's Right To Sue Third Persons For Damage To Or Defects In Collateral, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The proverb “there is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip” might have been written with the secured creditor in mind. Many tragedies may befall him to defeat his expectations. He takes his security interest hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst—nonperformance of the obligation secured. If he does not carefully comply with the Article Nine provisions concerning the enforceability and perfection of a security interest, he may ultimately be unsecured. If his security interest is enforceable and perfected, it may turn out that some other party has priority to the collateral. Even if the secured …