Law Commons^™

Opting Out Of Liability: The Forthcoming, Near-Total Demise Of The Modern Class Action, Myriam Gilles

Michigan Law Review

It is reasonable to expect that courts will demonstrate great solicitude for the recent innovation that I term "collective action waivers" - i.e., contractual provisions contained within arbitration agreements whereby consumers and others waive their rights to participate in any form of collective litigation or class arbitration. The history of mass tort class actions and the hegemonic expansion of pro-arbitration jurisprudence compel this conclusion. And, as the now-dominant economic model of contract law has moved the focus of courts from the value of consent to the value of efficiency, arbitration agreements found in all manner of shrink-wrap, scroll-text and bill-stuffer …

Small Hope Floats: How The Lower Courts Have Sunk The Right Of Privacy, Stephanie D. Taylor

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Torts, Deron R. Hicks

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Product Liability Law, Gary J. Spahn, Brent M. Timberlake

University of Richmond Law Review

While Virginia is not typically seen as "progressive" in the field of product liability law, the Commonwealth is nonetheless a forum in which these product liability battles take place. This article summarizes selected decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, federal district courts in Virginia, and courts of the Commonwealth issued between July 1, 2004 and May 15, 2005. This article also includes a discussion of the most relevant legislative changes made by the Virginia General Assembly over the same time period. While a complete analysis of every decision and statute affecting product liability is …

Uncertainty And Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski

Michigan Law Review

This Article will first examine why it is that plaintiffs have been unable to prove causation under the Daubert guidelines in toxic tort litigation. Second, it will look at the two existing models for informed choice litigation medical malpractice and products liability-and demonstrate why neither of these models gives toxic tort plaintiffs a fair opportunity to recover for the deprivation of patient autonomy against drug manufacturers who have breached their duty to warn of known or knowable risks. Finally, this Article will explore the elements of a causation-free informed choice cause of action. It will suggest the appropriate standard for …

The Promise Of Internet Intermediary Liability, Ronald J. Mann, Seth R. Belzley

William & Mary Law Review

The Internet has transformed the economics of communication, creating a spirited debate about the proper role of federal, state, and international governments in regulating conduct related to the Internet. Many argue that Internet communications should be entirely self-regulated because such communications cannot or should not be the subject of government regulation. The advocates of that approach would prefer a no-regulation zone around Internet communications, based largely on the unexamined view that Internet activity is fundamentally different in a way that justifies broad regulatory exemption. At the same time, some kinds of activity that the Internet facilitates undisputedly violate widely shared …

Neither Innocent Nor Proven Guilty: The Aviall Services V. Cooper Industries Dilemma, Jeannette Paull

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Validity And Enforceability Of Liability Waivers On Ski Lift Tickets, C. Connor Crook

Campbell Law Review

This article attempts to highlight some of the important differences in the legal enforceability of waivers. Currently, there is no uniform national standard for what are the "inherent risks" of skiing. Because the variance in liability rules can affect injured skiers so acutely, attorneys representing both ski resorts and injured skiers need to be aware of real differences in the enforceability of waivers in a sport not unfamiliar with serious injuries.

Punitive Damages After Campbell: The Role Of Out-Of-State Conduct, Steven R. Hamlin

Campbell Law Review

This article examines the scope of out-of-state conduct that may be used after Campbell.

The Kindynamic Theory Of Tort, Christopher P. Guzelian

Indiana Law Journal

Commentators complain of two major deficiencies in modern tort law: (1) that liability concepts such as "negligence" or "duty " are so vacuously defined as to permit inadvertent subjectivity and error to hinder proper case adjudication, and (2) that tort is too slow in recognizing newly discovered risks and properly compensating nascent classes of injury. We accordingly report on the Kindynamic Theory, an emerging philosophy that overcomes these twin deficiencies and sharpens understanding of poorly articulated tort intuitions

Kindynamics contends that causation is the cornerstone of tort, and that all risks are, at core, causal propositions. Contrary to its many …

Hormone Replacement Therapy In The Wake Of The Women's Health Initiative Study: An Opportunity To Reexamine The Learned Intermediary Doctrine, Kate Miller

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Challenge To The Individual Causation Requirement In Mass Products Torts, Donald G. Gifford

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rebooting Cybertort Law, Michael L. Rustad, Thomas H. Koenig

Washington Law Review

Cyberspace provides an ideal legal environment for tortfeasors and online criminals because Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have no duty to mitigate harms caused by ongoing torts, crimes, and infringing acts. Courts have stretched Congress's express language in § 230 of the Communications Decency Act from the narrow purpose of immunizing ISPs as publishers to the expanded purpose of shielding them from all tort liability. This Article proposes imposing a limited duty of care on ISPs to remove or block ongoing tortious activities on their services when they have been given actual notice. This reform will harmonize American ISP liability law …

Sosa V. Alvarez-Machain And Abu Ghraib--Civil Remedies For Victims Of Extraterritorial Torts By U.S. Military Personnel And Civilian Contractors, Scott J. Borrowman

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Judicial Immunization Of Passive Sellers In Sanns V. Butterfield Ford And A Proposal For The Shifting Nature Of Fault, Jason R. Burt

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Purging Foreseeability, Ricardo J. Bascuas

Vanderbilt Law Review

For those responsible for understanding tort doctrine, the concept of foreseeability is a scourge, and its role in negligence cases is a vexing, crisscrossed morass. Indeed, one torts professor teaches that foreseeability might as well be called "strawberry shortcake," having been bent, muddled, and co-opted to such a degree that it has lost any real meaning.

Foreseeability's role in the element of "duty" in negligence is especially problematic. Courts have long tied the existence of a duty- that is, whether an allegedly negligent defendant owed an obligation of care under the circumstances-to foreseeability. The more foreseeable the risk, the resulting …

Tort Liability After The Dust Settles: An Economic Analysis Of The Airline Defendants' Duty To Ground Victims In The September 11 Litigation, David Y. Stevens

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Air Travel, Accidents And Injuries: Why The New Montreal Convention Is Already Outdated, Andrew Field

Dalhousie Law Journal

The 1999 Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (the "Montreal Convention") came into force in 2003. It is the latest in a series of attempts to replace a number of variations on the 1929 Warsaw Convention with a single agreement which regulates the rights and liabilities of international air carriers, their passengers and shippers. At the time, the Montreal Convention was hailed as providing better protection and compensation for victims of air accidents. However despite its recent adoption, in relation to claims for death and personal injuries the Montreal Convention is still firmly planted …

Purging Foreseeability, W. Jonathan Cardi

Vanderbilt Law Review

For those responsible for understanding tort doctrine, the concept of foreseeability is a scourge, and its role in negligence cases is a vexing, crisscrossed morass. Indeed, one torts professor teaches that foreseeability might as well be called "strawberry shortcake," having been bent, muddled, and co-opted to such a degree that it has lost any real meaning.

Foreseeability's role in the element of "duty" in negligence is especially problematic. Courts have long tied the existence of a duty- that is, whether an allegedly negligent defendant owed an obligation of care under the circumstances-to foreseeability. The more foreseeable the risk, the resulting …

Respondeat Superior, Intentional Torts, And Clergy Sexual Misconduct: The Implications Of Fearing V. Bucher, Michael J. Sartor

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Optimality In Tort Litigation: The Promis Of Reverse Cost-Shifting, Jonathan Fischbach, Michael Fischbach

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

Limiting The Vicarious Liability Of Franchisors For The Torts Of Their Franchisees, Joseph H. King, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Strictly Speaking About Ephedra: A Baseball Tragedy Helping To Define The Dynamic Between Warning Defect And Design Defect, Michael Kane

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction Of Guido Calabresi, Oscar S. Gray

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Suing Amy: A Love Story, Cameron Stracher

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Automobile Accidents Associated With Cell Phone Use: Can Cell Phone Service Providers And Manufacturers Be Held Liable Under A Theory Of Negligence?, Jordan B. Michael

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Cell phone related car accidents have received a lot of attention in the press and academic journals over the past few years.1 Articles have discussed the impact of driving while using a hand-held or hands-free cell phone, and in some instances have identified liability on the part of employers. A number of cases have gone to the jury on employer liability based on respondeat superior, where the employer is held responsible for the actions of an employee acting within the scope of employment.

Patients Beware: Preemption Of Common Law Claims Under The Medical Device Amendments, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 75 (2005), Michael P. Dinatale

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Note: A Painful Catch-22: Why Tort Liability For Inadequate Pain Management Will Make For Bad Medicine, James R. Blaufuss

William Mitchell Law Review

Part I of this note reviews current issues relating to pain treatment. Part II examines theoretical justifications of proposed tort liability for inadequate pain management. Part III examines how pain mismanagement does not fit within traditional notions of medical malpractice. Part IV studies the issues relating to a physician’s role as “gate-keeper” for opioids and suggests why tort liability could compromise this legislatively imposed role. Part V examines the issue of pain management in the context of end-of-life care. Part VI discusses current shifts in pain management philosophies and explains how these movements will effectuate the changes suggested by advocates …

Defective Products And Product Warranty Claims In Minnesota, J. David Prince

William Mitchell Law Review

Warranty law is an important supplement to tort law principles governing liability for defective products. Warranties arise from promises or assertions associated with either the sale of a product or some other transfer of a product for value. Such promises or assertions about a product may be express, made in the form of the seller’s statements about the qualities or attributes of the product, or they may simply be implied as a matter of policy. Although warranty law is generally regarded today as part of the body of contract law, the origins of warranty lie in tort. Important developments in …

Tort Au Canadien: A Proposal For Canadian Tort Legislation On Gross Violations Of International Human Rights And Humanitarian Law, Caroline Davidson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Despite Canada's strong rhetoric on the protection of human rights, Canada lacks a meaningful tort scheme for gross human rights violations akin to that of the United States. This Article argues that legislation to facilitate tort suits for gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law can be consistent with, and in fact supports, Canada's commitments to human rights, the rule of law and multilateralism. In particular, provincial tort legislation should be one of a panoply of mechanisms in place to punish and deter violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. This Article proposes the shape of the …