Law Commons^™

What Courts Can Do In The Face Of The Never-Ending Asbestos Crisis, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this article is not to argue that claimants suffering from serious asbestos-related diseases should not be compensated. To the contrary, one of the points of this article is that absent some change in the way asbestos claims are resolved, claimants who become truly sick in the future may not receive adequate compensation. Changing the current asbestos compensation system would be pro-claimant. Also, the purpose of this article is not to ascribe blame. Rather, it is to fix a problem. The judges cannot be blamed for their good intentions. Neither can the plaintiffs' attorneys be blamed for zealously …

Torts Teaching: From Basic Training To Legal-Process Theory: Dominick Vetri, "Tort Law And Practice", Joseph A. Page

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It was in the course of my meanderings through the torts-casebook landscape that I came upon Professor Dominick Vetri's entry in the field. The quality that first attracted me was the way it fashioned a user-friendly introduction to the study of law, to the uniqueness of the common law, and to the centrality of process. The book demonstrated an unusual sensitivity to the bewilderment of beginners and made a special effort to anticipate their needs and concerns. Yet what made Vetri's approach particularly intriguing was that it managed to play not only to nervous neophytes, but also to students in …

Tortious Toxics, Lisa Heinzerling, Cameron Powers Hoffman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this Article we offer one small idea with potentially large implications. We propose the recognition arid development of a special tort for toxic exposures, where the exposures have not yet led to a physical illness such as cancer. We argue, in brief, that this new tort would, in one simple step, accomplish three things: it would address many of the problems with the courts' current handling of toxic torts; it would consolidate the many overlapping causes of action now pressed in toxic tort cases into one single claim; and it would give expression to the real injury motivating these …

Toward Supranational Copyright Law? The Wto Panel Decision And The "Three-Step Test" For Copyright Exceptions, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

A dispute resolution panel of the World Trade Organization in June 2000 held the United States in contravention of its obligation under art. 13 of the TRIPs accord to "confine limitations or exceptions to exclusive rights to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the right holder." In the dispute resolution proceeding, initiated by the European Union at the behest of the Irish performing rights organization, the contested exception, enacted in the 1998 "Digital Millennium Copyright Act," exempted a broad range of retail and …

Berne Without Borders: Geographic Indiscretion And Digital Communications, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

This lecture examines the role of borders in the Berne Convention at the time of the treaty's first passage in 1886, and today. The later 19th century was an era of increasing commerce and communication among countries whose domestic production and reproduction of works of authorship had vastly increased, thanks in part to new technologies, such as photography, lithography, and high-speed printing. But at that time, the frontiers between nations often frustrated authors' hopes for control over, or at least compensation for, the international exploitation of their works. Authors' rights ceased at their national boundaries; the world beyond foreboded not …

Coverage For Unfair Competition Torts Under General Liability Policies: Will The "Intellectual Property" Tail Wag The Coverage Dog?, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

The scope of "advertising injury" coverage in general liability policies has been shrinking in response to the proliferation of liabilities caused by the growth of the cyber-economy. In response to this shrinking coverage under general liability policies, insurers have been quick to develop new endorsements and specialized products to fill the gaps in coverage. The author argues that significant commercial risks relating to unfair competition claims have been eliminated from coverage under general liability policies, but that there also appears to be no corresponding development of specific endorsements or stand-alone products to deal with this gap in coverage. Specifically, claims …

Causation In Toxic Tort Litigation: Which Way Do We Go, Judge, Laurie Alberts

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

How Will You Know I Love You, Randy Lee

Randy Lee

No abstract provided.

Keeping Feminism In Its Place: Sex Segregation And The Domestication Of Female Academics, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

The thesis of Keeping Feminism in Its Place is that women are being "domesticated" in the legal academy. This occurs in two ways, one theoretical and one very practical: denigration of feminism on the theoretical level and sex segregation of men and women on the experiential level intertwine to disadvantage women in academia in complex and subtle ways.

The article examines occupational sex segregation and role differentiation between male and female law professors, demonstrating statistically that in legal academia, women are congregated in lower-ranking, lower-paying, lower-prestige positions. It also traces how segregation by sex persists in substantive course teaching assignments. …

Kiss And Tell: Making The Case For The Tortious Transmission Of Herpes And Human Papillomavirus, Michele L. Mekel

Michele L Mekel

Recognizing theories of recovery for a tort committed an estimated 6 million times per year in the United States alone at an annual cost in excess of $4 billion is logical--if not imperative. Not all jurisdictions, however, recognize theories of recovery when the tort in question is the wrongful transmission of herpes and/or human papillomavirus ("HPV"), two of the most common, incurable sexually transmitted diseases ("STDs") in America. Nevertheless, in Deuschle v. Jobe, the Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri took a significant step by acknowledging an unmarried sexual partner's right to bring negligence and intentional tort …

Child Witnesses Of Domestic Violence: Third Party Recovery For Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress, Mary Kate Kearney

Mary Kate Kearney

No abstract provided.