Law Commons^™

Blood On The Tracks, Thomas D. Russell

Seattle University Law Review

Streetcars were the greatest American tortfeasors of the early twentieth century, injuring approximately one in 331 urban Americans in 1907. This empirical study presents never-before-assembled data concerning litigation involving streetcar companies in California during the early twentieth century.

This Article demonstrates the methodological folly of relying upon appellate cases to describe the world of trial court litigation. Few cases went to trial. Plaintiffs lost about half their lawsuits. When plaintiffs did win, they won very little money. Regarding the bite taken out of the street railway company, the Superior Court was a flea.

Professor Gary Schwartz and Judge Richard Posner …

The "Art" Of Future Life: Rethinking Personal Injury Law For The Negligent Deprivation Of A Patient's Right To Procreation In The Age Of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Erika N. Auger

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nevor V. Moneypenny Holdings, Llc: Availability Of Prejudgment Interest For Mixed Maritime Law And Jones Act Claims, Adam S. Bohanan

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In maritime personal injury cases, courts have traditionally seen prejudgment interest as part of the compensation due to a prevailing plaintiff. The goal of ensuring the fullest compensation possible has long been recognized as a basic principle of admiralty law. However, federal appellate courts are split over whether to award prejudgment interest on a mixed claim under general maritime law and the Jones Act. This Note explores this issue in Nevor v. Moneypenny Holdings, LLC, which was the first time the question had been raised in the First Circuit. The Fifth and Sixth Circuits have held that because prejudgment interest …

Managed Care, Utilization Review, And Financial Risk Shifting: Compensating Patients For Health Care Cost Containment Injuries, Vernellia R. Randall

Vernellia R. Randall

This Article examines current tort remedies for personal injury claims and explores the problems that arise when these remedies are applied to physicians' actions that are directed by third-party payers. Part II of this Article explores the organization and historical development of managed health care products. Part III considers the past and present uses of the utilization review process and financial risk shifting. Part IV explores the applicability of traditional theories of tort liability to third-party payers, including direct liability of third-party payers who market managed care products. Part V considers the barriers that ERISA presents to compensating patients for …

X-Factoring: Why The Texas Supreme Court Should Revisit Its Examination Of Paid Or Incurred Medical Expenses, Zachary J. Lee

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Reforming Federal Personal Injury Litigation By Incorporation Of The Procedural Innovations Of Scotland And Ireland: An Analysis And Proposal, Daniel H. Erskine

Daniel H. Erskine

Federal procedure has embraced the referral of civil cases outside the court system to alternative dispute resolution. This article argues that by utilizing courts to settle cases through civil procedure, courts realize their central role in ensuring the quality of settlements produced through the judicial administration of justice. The purpose of this article is to provide litigants an optional procedure to expeditiously resolve federal personal injury cases. The system proposed in this article incorporates Scottish and Irish civil procedural reforms into a coherent method for judicial officers to declare the settlement value of a personal injury action without referring the …

How The Spider Catches The Fly: Referral Networks In The Plaintiffs’ Personal Injury Bar, Sara Parikh

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Soldiers Of Semipalatinsk: Seeking A Theory And Forum For Legal Remedy, Anne Miers Kammer

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment will address the unique dilemma of individuals in Kazakhstan whose health has been compromised by the former Soviet Union's 40-year period of nuclear testing on what is now Kazakhstan soil. The principal legal analysis of this Comment will focus on the availability of remedies (in the form of monetary damages available through legal resolution) to the citizens and/or state of Kazakhstan, and potential judicial forums in which to seek those remedies. Particular attention will be paid to the comparative likelihood of successful remedial legal action if pursued by a private class of Kazakhstan citizens versus action pursued by …

Fashionable Genetic Explanations In The Courtroom: Litigating Personal Injuries Based On Genetic Risk, Jennifer Wriggins

Faculty Publications

New developments in molecular genetics hold much promise for society. Gene therapy research is underway with the aim of helping to fight, and perhaps even eliminate some diseases. DNA data can be used as evidence to help free innocent people and put guilty ones in jail. Agricultural biotechnology can make crops and pesticides more productive. And cloning may offer exciting potential. There is little doubt that further· developments in the areas of genetics and biotechnology will change our lives in unanticipated ways.

Despite the potential benefits to society, there exist valid and serious I concerns about the potential for misuse …

The Constitutionality Of Taxing Compensatory Damages For Mental Distress When There Was No Accompanying Physical Injury, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

Since 1919, statutory tax law has excluded from gross income compensatory damages received on account of a personal injury or sickness.1 The current version of that exclusion is set forth in section 104 (a) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.2 The construction of that exclusion, both by the courts and by the Commissioner, underwent significant alterations over the 80-year period that the provision has existed.3 The statute itself was amended several times, most recently in 1996.4 It is the 1996 amendment that has raised a constitutional issue concerning the validity of a portion of the statute.5

Taxation Of Damages After Schleier - Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

This article will examine the reasoning of the Schleier decision and speculate as to how taxation of pre-1996 damages will likely apply in light of Schleier. First, the article will set forth a very brief history of the judicial and administrative constructions of the statutory exclusion, and explore tax policy justifications for providing an exclusion from gross income for certain damages. These latter two items (set forth in Parts II and III of this article) are areas that have been extensively addressed previously by several commentators, including the author of this article.' The reason for exploring tax policy issues is …

Managed Care, Utilization Review, And Financial Risk Shifting: Compensating Patients For Health Care Cost Containment Injuries, Vernellia R. Randall

Seattle University Law Review

This Article examines current tort remedies for personal injury claims and explores the problems that arise when these remedies are applied to physicians' actions that are directed by third-party payers. Part II of this Article explores the organization and historical development of managed health care products. Part III considers the past and present uses of the utilization review process and financial risk shifting. Part IV explores the applicability of traditional theories of tort liability to third-party payers, including direct liability of third-party payers who market managed care products. Part V considers the barriers that ERISA presents to compensating patients for …

Compensatory And Punitive Damages For A Personal Injury: To Tax Or Not To Tax, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

Since the adoption in 1919 of the Revenue Act of 1918, damages received on account of personal injuries or sickness have been excluded by statute from gross income.1 This exclusion, which does not apply to reimbursements for medical expenses for which the taxpayer was previously allowed a tax deduction,2 is presently set forth in section 104(a)(2). One might expect that a provision having recently attained the ripe age of 75 years without change in its basic language would have a settled meaning. However, recent litigation under section 104(a)(2) bristles with unsettled issues. Does the exclusion apply to punitive damages? To …

The Upward Trend In Personal Injury Verdicts, Louis A. Ginocchio

Cleveland State Law Review

In preparing this note, the author has drawn on his personal court room experiences and has attempted to provide some insight into what he feels to be the reasons why jury verdicts in personal injury cases have been, and for the foreseeable future will be, increasing in dollar amounts. Only indirectly will it treat the area of a plaintiff's increased opportunities for a verdict in his favor.

Damages-Pain And Suffering-Use Of A Mathematical Formula, Thomas D. Heekin S .Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Measurement of damages for pain and suffering is, in a sense, an attempt to measure the unmeasurable; yet as long as our law recognizes a right to recover for pain and suffering, the jury or judge must arrive at some concrete figure. The traditional approach of simply instructing the jury that they should arrive at a reasonable amount provides little, if any, guidance. The question is whether this approach, nevertheless, remains the best of a bad lot of alternatives. If more guidance is desirable, what can be accomplished within the framework of our present system? The mathematical formula discussed in …

Workermen's Compensation-Third-Party Actions-Employer's Recovery On An Implied Warranty, Philip Sotiroff

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff seeks to recover the amount of a workmen's compensation award paid to his employee as a result of injuries received when an exhaust valve malfunctioned causing a press which the employee was operating to double-trip. Defendant, an independent parts supplier who had sold plaintiff the valve, moved to dismiss the complaint because of insufficiency of evidence to sustain the verdict and plaintiff's legal incapacity to sue. On appeal from an order denying the motion to dismiss, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. Plaintiff has two independent causes of action, one against the manufacturer on an assigned negligence theory, and …

Recent Burn Damage Awards, Frederick F. Waugh

Cleveland State Law Review

In ascertaining damages for thermal injuries, the usual elements present in other types of personal injuries must be considered, such as loss of wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of future earnings, loss of consortium, etc. Presentation of the evidence to the jury is a paramount factor, which can make every difference in the award granted. Photographs, expert testimony, and the display of the evidence on the victim's body, such as scars, discolorations, lesions and physical impairment, can be used in a dramatic manner.

Recent Spine Damage Awards, Sheldon E. Baskin

Cleveland State Law Review

Spinal injuries generally include trauma to the vertebrae, the intervertebral discs and the ligaments which serve to hold the spinal column together. For the purpose of avoiding duplication this paper will confine itself to the subjects of fractures and dislocations of the vertebrae, injuries to the discs and direct injuries to the spinal cord, excluding discussion of soft tissue back injuries and injuries of the cervical or neck area generally referred to as whiplash injuries.

Recent Leg Damage Awards, Doris Hauth

Cleveland State Law Review

Injuries to the leg include fractures of the various bones of the leg (tibia, femur and fibula), fractures of the foot, ankle, knee or hip, and amputation of one, both, or a part of the leg. This article includes a digest of cases arising in the last five years involving leg injuries. The facts in each case are briefly stated and the damage award specified.

Recent Head Damage Awards, Eileen Kelley

Cleveland State Law Review

Head trauma is responsible for more litigation than any other single bodily mechanical damage. Belli ranks brain injuries second only to the back and spine in producing permanent and crippling disabilities.

Recent Eye Damage Awards, Margaret Mazza

Cleveland State Law Review

Impairment of vision may be either temporary or permanent and may be caused by direct trauma, burns, or any other injury to the face near the area of the eyes. Vision may be impaired or completely lost due to injury to the brain or associated nerves. The list of cases below gives descriptions and awards in some recent eye injury suits.

Recent Back Damage Awards, Carl H. Miller

Cleveland State Law Review

Injuries to the human back have long perplexed the legal world. This is especially true of the soft tissue area of the back, where objective medical tests give way to the vagueness of a "sprained" muscle, and the court finds itself torn between the desire to adequately compensate an injured plaintiff and the caution that must prevail where objective tests are inadequate. Generally speaking, we will be concerned with that portion of the back that is not skeletal in nature,and though the interaction of the spine with the muscular structure permits little latitude in separating them, we will do so …

Recent Arm And Hand Damage Awards, Robert M. Hisnay

Cleveland State Law Review

The ever-present question to be answered in personal injury cases, other than liability of course, is the measure of damages to which the plaintiff is entitled. Where the plaintiff has been left with a permanent total, or permanent partial disability, such disability must be properly evaluated and transformed into an element of a money award for damages in order that adequate compensation will be received by the injured party. The problem of evaluating a permanent disability of the arm or hand is as medically complex as the multiplicity of functions which the member performs.

Recent Hearing Damage Awards, Denis M. Burgoon

Cleveland State Law Review

Acoustic trauma and direct injury to the mechanism of hearing are the compensable personal injuries delineated here. As hearing loss has, in all but a few cases, been a minor part of the injury sustained, it is not possible to determine the value of loss of hearing alone. It would appear that partial loss of hearing, either permanent or temporary, is not considered very disabling. $56,000 seems to be the highest award for total loss of hearing with no other injury reported, while $3,500 is the lowest award found for partial loss of hearing. As the cases generally involve various …

Recent Whiplash Damage Awards, Esther Weissman

Cleveland State Law Review

In viewing more than 100 recent appellate cases concerning whiplash, one is struck by the lack of any definite standard or pattern of awards.

Sales - Implied Warranty - Privity Of Contract As A Prerequisite To Recovery From Manufacturer, John L. Peschel S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained injuries in the course of his employment when a defective abrasive wheel, while being used in its intended manner, exploded in his face. The abrasive wheel was purchased by plaintiff's employer directly from the manufacturer. Plaintiff sought recovery from the manufacturer on two grounds: negligence in the manufacture of the abrasive wheel and breach of implied warranty for fitness of purpose. The negligence issue was submitted to the jury, which returned a verdict adverse to the plaintiff. The manufacturer's demurrer to the cause of action based upon implied warranty was sustained by the trial court. On appeal from …

The Inadequate Award In West Virginia, C. H. B. Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Limitations Of Action - Applicable Statute - Third-Party Injury Provision Agreed To By Contractor Subject To Contract Limitation Only, Walter L. Adams

Michigan Law Review

More than two years following an accident in which they sustained personal injuries when their car fell into defendant's excavation, plaintiffs filed a diversity action in a federal court stating inter alia a cause of action based upon a third-party beneficiary contract entered into by defendant street contractor and the City of Philadelphia for which he was working. The contract provided in essence that defendant alone would be liable for damage sustained by any third party "irrespective of whether or not such injuries ... be due to negligence or the inherent nature of the work." The district court dismissed the …