Law Commons^™

Brown V. State Of New York: Judge Simons Says New York State Can Be Held Liable For Money Damages, Eric J. Stockel

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

A National Product Liability Statute Of Repose - Let's Not, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Despite the failure of the 104th Congress to override President Clinton's veto and enact the Common Sense Product Liability Legal Reform Act, there is little doubt that such an Act will be passed by the 105th Congress. Uniform national laws concerning product liability are necessary, can be enacted consistent with Congressional authority, and should be enacted at the earliest possible time. A balanced Act, recognizing the need to protect injured consumers while providing necessary protection to product manufacturers and distributors, can be drafted. Such an Act could include provisions that abolish the consumer expectancy test for design defect litigation, reject …

Ohio Tort Reform In 1998: The War Continues, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

For more than a decade a war has been waged between forces seeking legislative reform of tort law, with emphasis on product liability, and the Ohio Supreme Court. The battleground has been the legislative enactments of the Ohio General Assembly. This legislation has faced consistent challenge before the court as a proper exercise of its power of judicial review. Time and time again the court's philosophical approach, predicated on a need to protect injured parties and guarantee compensation for harm, has led to determinations that given legislation fails constitutional scrutiny. In a real sense, the Court has become a super …

Lovewell V. Physicians Insurance Co.: Personal Liability For Prejudgment Interest, Karin M. Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article looks at the Supreme Court of Ohio's decision in Lovewell v. Physicians Insurance Co. and the variety of issues and unanswered questions the decision presents relating to insurance law. First, it may no longer be assumed that the insurer acts in tandem with the insured when the insurer is defending a suit brought against the covered individual. Secondly, the Lovewell decision seems to be contrary to one of the basic tenets of insurance law – that an insurance contract must be construed liberally in favor of the insured and strictly against the insurer. Third, the decision gives insureds …

Causation And The Discretionary Function Exception To The Federal Tort Claims Act, Richard Henry Seamon

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Franchising Dilemma Continues: Update On Franchisor Liability For Wrongful Acts By Local Franchisees, Randall K. Hanson

Campbell Law Review

The purpose of this update is to review recent franchisor liability cases to determine the direction of franchisor liability cases. The three most common theories used to invoke franchisor liability will be discussed, and North Carolina's approach to this area of the law will also be examined.

Medicine Goes Madison Avenue: An Evaluation Of The Effect Of Direct-To-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising On The Learned Intermediary Doctrine, Michael C. Allen

Campbell Law Review

This comment will attempt to examine and evaluate the learned intermediary doctrine in light of the recent explosion in direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceutical products, focusing on an analysis of product liability principles, including comments from the proposed Restatement (Third) of Torts, as they apply to this subject. This comment will examine the potential ramification of FDA consumer advertising requirements, especially as they relate to potential additional exceptions to the learned intermediary doctrine. This analysis will support the conclusion that the learned intermediary doctrine remains functional and provides the consumer with the best available alternative to ensure the most appropriate use …

Spoliation Of Evidence In Illinois: The Law After Boyd V. Traveler's Insurance Co., Margaret O'Mara Frossard Hon., Neal S. Gainsberg

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Torts: Kirkpatrick V. Chrysler Corp.--Are YouSatisfied--Oklahoma's Rigid Application Of The One Satisfaction Rule Is Not So Rigid Anymore, Christopher T. Moore

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transferred Intent: Should Its "Curious Survival" Continue?, Osborne M. Reynolds Jr.

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Employment Law: Report A Crime, Lose Your Job: The Oklahoma Supreme Court Reins In The Public Policy Exception In Hayes V. Eateries, Inc., M. Derek Zolner

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Reform In Mississippi: An Appraisal Of The New Law Of Products Liability, Part Ii, Phillip L. Mcintosh

Journal Articles

In 1993, the Mississippi legislature enacted the Mississippi Products Liability Act, the substantive portions of which became effective on July 1, 1994. Part I of this Article, previously published, discussed the purpose of the new Act; the definitions of basic terms of art used in the Act - such as "product," including whether used products are covered by the Act, "manufacturer," "seller," and "unreasonably dangerous"; and the interests protected by the Act. Part II of this article addresses the categories of defects forming the bases of claims for damages created by the Act, the liability of sellers and manufacturers, defenses …

The Strict Application Of The Restatement, Ohio Law And The Rules Of Civil Procedure: Estates Of Morgan V. Fairfield Family Counseling Center, Geoffrey M. Wardle, Jeffrey L. Mallon

Cleveland State Law Review

Considered by some in the mental health profession as the imposition of an onerous duty, the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Estates of Morgan v. Fairfield Family Counseling Center represents an extension of the recognized legal duty imposed upon mental health practitioners who treat inpatients to those who treat outpatients. This created a uniform standard. The article begins in Part II by describing the story of a psychiatric patient, Matt Morgan. Part III then discusses the duty to control in the outpatient setting by going through traditional tort analysis, stare decisis, strict statutory application, and civil procedure. Part IV concludes …

Class Action Chaos? The Theory Of The Core And An Analysis Of Opt-Out Rights In Mass Tort Class Actions, Michael A. Perino

Faculty Publications

From breast implants to cigarettes, mass tort class actions are a prominent and controversial part of the contemporary litigation landscape. A critical component of these actions is the ability of class members to “opt out” and thereby exclude themselves from the effect of any class judgment. The tension between individual autonomy and the desire for global resolution of mass controversies has led to an intense debate concerning the circumstances under which opt-out rights should be constrained, if at all.

This Article makes five distinct contributions to the class action literature. First, the Article applies the game theoretic concept of the …

Tis Better To Give Than To Receive: Charitable Donations Of Medical Malpractice Punitive Damages, Nicholas M. Miller

Journal of Law and Health

The purpose of this Note is not to answer the question of how excessive medical malpractice and punitive damage awards are. Many highly respected scholars on different sides of the issue have spent large portions of their careers trying to resolve that issue without finding a common ground. This author does not boldly claim to provide an answer in this limited forum. This Note does, however, address a possible source of public frustration with the state of medical malpractice and punitive damages: the lack of a principled basis for the awards that juries give to the victims. The perception among …

Malpractice And Other Legal Issues Preventing The Development Of Telemedicine , Christopher Caryl

Journal of Law and Health

Even though most Americans have not heard of telemedicine, the federal government is already actively involved in "developing a national telemedicine strategy." This note attempts to accomplish the following: demonstrate the urgent need of rural communities to gain access to adequate health care; clarify how telemedicine can provide enhanced health care to rural communities; and analyze the legal obstacles that have prevented, thus far, the most beneficial utilization of telemedicine. In particular, this note will examine how malpractice claims arising from telemedicine consultations might be resolved. An important issue to recognize at the outset, and one that consistently reappears throughout …

Illinois Tort Law: A Rich History Of Cooperation And Respect Between The Courts And The Legislature, Victor E. Schwartz, Mark A. Behrens, Mark D. Taylor

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

How U.S. Procedure Skews Tort Law Incentives, Jonathan T. Molot

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Behind The Battle Lines: A Comparative Analysis Of The Necessity To Enact Comprehensive Federal Products Liability Reforms, Gregory T. Miller

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Paying For Suffering: The Problem Of Human Experimentation, Larry I. Palmer

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Insurance-Based Compensation System For Product-Related Injuries, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In recent years, an increasing number of commentators have begun to express doubts about the effectiveness of the tort system. According to these critics, tort law does not deter accidents, nor does it spread accident costs efficiently. Worst of all, the tort system is extremely expensive to operate. Some of this criticism has spilled over into the products liability area. Products liability law has been condemned as expensive, ineffective, and regressive; in addition, it has been blamed for higher product prices, foreign competition, problems within the liability insurance industry, corporate bankruptcies, lack of product development, and the removal of useful …

Paying For Suffering: The Problem Of Human Experimentation, Larry I. Palmer

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Arriving At Reasonable Alternative Design: The Reporters' Travelogue, James A. Henderson Jr., Aaron Twerski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Substantial commentary and controversy have been generated by the requirement in the new Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability that plaintiffs in most (but not all) cases involving claims of defective product design show that a reasonable alternative design was available and that failure to adopt the alternative rendered the defendant's design not reasonably safe. Henderson and Twerski explain the origins of that requirement and show that it is not only the majority position but also comports with widely shared views regarding the proper objectives of our liability system. Although consumer expectations cannot serve as a workable, stand-alone test for …

Conflicts And Defense Lawyers: From Triangles To Tetrahedrons, Tom Baker

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Pink Elephants In The Rape Trial: The Problem Of Tort-Type Defenses In The Criminal Law Of Rape, Aya Gruber

Publications

No abstract provided.

Limits On Preemption And Punitive Damages: Can They Be Related?, Peter Zablotsky

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Beyond Formalism And False Dichotomies: The Need For Institutionalizing A Flexible Concept Of The Mediator's Role, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Related to the problem of the false dichotomy is the formalist application of the either/or construct. If, for example, one adopts as a first premise the view that mediation is by definition non-evaluative, and then rigidly applies this premise to issues of appropriate mediator behavior, the result is a formalist system that permits mediators little or no leeway to depart from the non-evaluative style. This sort of regulatory regimen may satisfy the non-evaluative ethos of some mediation scholars, but it does so at the risk of becoming a rigid system that prevents mediators from taking practical actions most appropriate to …

Limits On Preemption And Punitive Damages: Can They Be Related?, Peter Zablotsky

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Better Off Dead Than Disabled?: Should Courts Recognize A "Wrongful Living" Cause Of Action When Doctors Fail To Honor Patients' Advance Directives?, Adam A. Milani

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Jurisdiction In Products Liability Cases (Analysis Of Asahi And Post-Asahi Cases), Tsutomu Kuribayashi

LLM Theses and Essays

With the increase of foreign trade, there has also been an increase in the number of foreign manufacturers and distributors involved in product liability litigation in the United States. In many cases, the products from these foreign manufacturers and distributors reach the forum states through the stream of commerce, and are distributed to the customers by regional distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. Therefore, in many product liability cases where defective products from these foreign manufacturers and distributors cause injuries to people in the United States, those foreign companies do not have a direct relationship with the forum states. In these cases, …