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If A Tree Falls In A Roadway, Is Anyone Liable?: Proposing The Duty Of Reasonable Care For Virginia’S Road-Maintaining Entities, Ian J. Mcelhaney
If A Tree Falls In A Roadway, Is Anyone Liable?: Proposing The Duty Of Reasonable Care For Virginia’S Road-Maintaining Entities, Ian J. Mcelhaney
Washington and Lee Law Review
This Note considers whether a duty for road-maintaining entities is tenable under Virginia law. It also explores the rationale for imposing differing liabilities between landowners and road-maintaining entities. Part III reviews the various duties other states use with respect to dangerous roadside trees and concludes that the duty of reasonable care is most appropriate for Virginia. Sovereign immunity is a companion issue and is addressed in Part IV. The Part provides a brief overview of the policy arguments for sovereign immunity, before reviewing immunity’s impact at the state, county, and municipal levels. The Part also addresses a government employee’s entitlement …
In Search Of A Unified Theory Of The Duties Flowing From Property Ownership In Virginia: A Response To Mcelhaney’S If A Tree Falls, E. Kyle Mcnew
In Search Of A Unified Theory Of The Duties Flowing From Property Ownership In Virginia: A Response To Mcelhaney’S If A Tree Falls, E. Kyle Mcnew
Washington and Lee Law Review
In his Note, Ian McElhaney concludes that the Court got it right in Cline v. Dunlora South, LLC—that the landowner owes no duty to protect travelers on adjoining roadways from natural conditions on the landowner’s property—because the Court also got it right in Cline v. Commonwealth when it held that the Commonwealth of Virginia may have that duty instead. In the narrowest view, that is certainly a defensible position. If the case is just about natural conditions and roads, then there is intuitive appeal in saying that they are the Commonwealth’s roads; so, it is the Commonwealth’s job to make …
A Few Thoughts On “If A Tree Falls In A Roadway . . . .”, David Eggert
A Few Thoughts On “If A Tree Falls In A Roadway . . . .”, David Eggert
Washington and Lee Law Review
This Response to Ian McElhaney’s note examines (1) the background legal context that got us to where we are on falling-tree liability; (2) how this peculiar issue fits into Virginia’s general approach to the law; and (3) presents some thoughts on Mr. McElhaney’s reasoning and ultimate conclusions in urging liability for road maintainers.