Law Commons^™

An Introduction To Personal Growth Bets: Using Contract Law To Lose Weight And Quit Smoking, Max Raskin, Jack Millman

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

Self-improvement is hard. Whether losing weight or quitting smoking, individuals have a difficult time honoring their commitments, especially if the only person they are disappointing is themselves. In this Article, we introduce a new legal mechanism for incentivizing personal growth. We describe this mechanism as a personal growth contract, which allows an individual to make an enforceable agreement with either a counterparty or himself with the aim of self-improvement. We propose the use of smart contracts to help execute unilateral personal growth contracts. Our conclusion is that personal growth contracts should be presumptively legal, provided they do not violate some …

The High Cost Of Pharmaceutical Acquisitions: Increasing Social Welfare Or Furthering Inequality?, Timothy J. Haltermann

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This note will argue that government and regulatory authorities should focus on easing access to downstream innovation by broadening research exemptions to patent infringement. Part I of this note will focus on the current state of patent protection and exclusivity afforded to pharmaceutical companies. Part II will discuss incentives created that lead rational actors to engage in M&A instead of through internal R&D. Part III will address the development of innovation as a standalone theory of harm in merger review, and the fallacies associated with labeling certain transactions as “killer acquisitions.” Finally, Part IV of the note will look at …

The Price Of Competition: Analyzing Anticompetitive Tactics In Pharmaceutical Markets During The Hatch-Waxman Era, William Ulrich

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

Pharmaceutical manufacturers can delay the generic entry for a blockbuster drug. In order to keep the generic system on track, it is critical to expose the various avenues of generic delay. Part I of this Note briefly describes the generic entry process as prescribed by the Hatch-Waxman Act. Part II details four well-known tactics used by brand-name manufacturers to block or delay the entry of generic competition, highlighting how the tactics are successful. Part III concludes by examining the nature of the various problems and arguing that the first step towards ending the different forms of anticompetitive behavior is through …

Note: Structured Psychometrics In Biglaw Talent Acquisition: Ai-Driven Quantitative Fit, Joseph J. Kim

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This Note combines a number of perspectives and disciplines to proffer a unique suggestion toward recognizing better talent and acquiring a new intraindustry competitive edge.

Breakfast With Q-A-Mom: Understanding & Combatting The Stealth Threat Of Women Engaged With Digital Domestic Terrorist Organizations, Leah A. Plunkett

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This essay proceeds in three parts. It provides (1) a high-level description of what QAnon is and who the Q-A-Moms are; (2) an analysis of how and why women join QAnon, importing the general “quest for personal significance” framework (characterized by “need[s], network, and narrative”) from researchers in psychology to legal scholarship for this specific query into Q-A-Moms; and (3) an initial thought challenge to building the solution space for combatting the threat Q-A-Moms pose. This approach takes the core of the Facebook Supreme Court model (creating new quasi-judicial and law enforcement structures within the private digital sector to address …

Covid-19 Sewage Testing As A Police Surveillance Infrastructure, Elizabeth E. Joh

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This essay argues that sewage testing will outlive the pandemic and become a part of a general policing surveillance infrastructure. We risk adopting this surveillance method without taking care to assess the legal and policy questions raised by its use. Wastewater can provide early clues not just for COVID-19 outbreaks, but also for the presence (and assumed use) of opioids, methamphetamines, and other illegal drugs. Sewage testing at the University of California, San Diego, recently led to an alert that an infected person was “someone who used a restroom [at a specified residence hall] from 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. …

The New Editors: Refining First Amendment Protections For Internet Platforms, Mailyn Fidler

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This Article envisions what it would look like to tailor the First Amendment editorial privilege to the multifaceted nature of the internet, just as courts have done with media in the offline world. It reviews the law of editorial judgment offline, where protections for editorial judgment are strong but not absolute, and its nascent application online. It then analyzes whether the diversity of internet platforms and their functions alter how the Constitution should be applied in this new setting. First Amendment editorial privilege, as applied to internet platforms, is often treated by courts and platforms themselves as monolithic and equally …

The Third Wave Of Electrification: A Normative Tool Against Climate Change​, Elizabeth L. Adams

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This article posits that the United States is now entering a third wave of electrification, one where we understand electricity not only as a universal service, but also as a mechanism for positive societal outcomes, namely the transition to a lower carbon future.

Part I evaluates the first two waves of electrification, starting with the introduction of electricity as a consumer product and transitioning to electrification as a basic right. Part II discusses the American regulatory framework which provides for government oversight of areas deemed to be “of the public interest.” Electric public utilities have participated in and been shaped …

The New Nuclear? Small Modular Reactors And The Future Of Nuclear, Bruce R. Huber

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

This article explores Small Modular Reactors, SMRs. It begins by explaining the regulatory and economic structure of the electricity sector in the United States. It then describes the current state of nuclear power before examining SMRs in particular—how they differ from conventional nuclear reactors, what regulatory issues they will confront, and what factors will most directly shape their long-term potential.

The (Unfilled) Fintech Potential, Aluma Zernik

Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies

Part I explores the idea that technology has the utopian potential to significantly improve the way individuals make financial decisions. Part II discusses some existing market failures, while presenting the potential of technological innovation in resolving such failures. Part III presents the realized potential of such innovative products, analyzing the design of credit card comparison websites, financial management tools, and mobile wallets. I will demonstrate the significant benefits of such products, and yet the limited realization of the potential advantages of such services. Part IV presents several explanations for why such potential is not being fully realized. These explanations may …