Law Commons^™

When Should We Prefer Tort Law To Environmental Regulation?, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

There are two broad models of regulation: statutory schemes carried out by administrative agencies with the help of public enforcement agents, and highly discretionary common law rules developed over time through litigation. Environmental regulation is dominated by the first model, with relatively little of it done through litigation of tort claims. The reason may be largely historical: tort law has always been viewed as local in design and impact, while environmental law has always had a global aim. But it need not be this way. More than anything, tort law has been flexible, and thus capable of responding to new …

Intential Infliction Of Mental Distress In Nevada, Carl Tobias

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rising Seas And Disappearing Islands: Can Island Inhabitants Seek Redress Under The Alient Tort Claims Act?, Rosemary Reed

Washington International Law Journal

Sea levels are rising as a result of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and global warming. The rising seas threaten to submerge many Pacific Island nations within the next century. The island inhabitants have sought help from the global community, but thus far have been denied assistance. However, the island inhabitants could seek redress in U.S. District Courts against major greenhouse gas emitters under the Alien Tort Claims Act. To satisfy the ATCA's requirement that tort claims must be in violation of international law, the islanders could claim that they are victims of environmental human rights violations and possibly genocide. While …

The New Federalism Jurisprudence And National Tort Reform, Betsy J. Grey

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Locating Inevitable Disclosure's Place In Trade Secret Analysis, Jennifer L. Saulino

Michigan Law Review

For ten years, William Redmond, Jr., worked for PepsiCo, the maker of the sports drink All-Sport. Redmond's status as General Manager gave him access to trade secrets. PepsiCo protected those trade secrets by contract, and, as is typical, PepsiCo required Redmond to sign a confidentiality agreement covering all "confidential information relating to the business of [PepsiCo]." This confidentiality agreement, like most of its kind, protected the company from the danger that an employee who knew secret information would change jobs and disclose that information. In late 1994, Redmond accepted a position with Quaker's Gatorade division, a major competitor of PepsiCo's …

Outlaws And Outlier Doctrines: The Serious Misconduct Bar In Tort Law, Joseph H. King Jr.

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insurance Causation Issues: The Legacy Of Bird V. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

In all of Anglo-American law, there is no concept that has been as been so pervasive - and yet so elusive - as the causation requirement; and even today this causation requirement in American law has resisted all efforts to reduce it to a useful, understandable, and comprehensive formula regarding its underlying nature, content, scope, and significance. Indeed, no less an authority than William Lloyd Prosser has stated that there "is perhaps nothing in the entire field of the law which has called forth more disagreement, or upon which the opinions are in such a welter of confusion" than legal …

Torts—Wrongful Death—The Birth Of Fetal Rights Under Arkansas's Wrongful Death Statute: The Arkansas Supreme Court Recognizes A Fetus As A "Person." Aka V. Jefferson Hospital Ass'n, 344 Ark. 627, 42 S.W.3d 508 (2001)., Raina Weaver

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Vitality Of Joint And Several Liability: Brief Amici Curiae Of American Law Professors In Support Of Respondents, Richard W. Wright

All Faculty Scholarship

Tort reform advocates hoped to use a recent case, Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Ayers, 123 S. Ct. 1210 (2003), as a vehicle for obtaining a Supreme Court opinion critical of the traditional doctrine of joint and several liability. Under this doctrine, each of the multiple responsible causes of an injury is potentially fully liable for that injury. The specific issue in Ayers was the availability of joint-and-several liability under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), which employs common-law tort doctrines while excluding some of the traditional defenses. The defendant claimed that the traditional common law used fractional apportionment …

The Purge Of Mortgage In Japanese Civil Law, Wei Zhang

Wei Zhang

The purge of mortgage is believed to be one of the few French remnants in the otherwise largely German style Japanese Civil Code. Since the breakdown of Japanese asset price bubble in early 1990s, it has been blamed as one major obstacle to clearing up nonperforming loans held by Japanese banks, and a central target subject to abolishment. In this paper, I analyzed the structural problems existing in the Japanese purge system and also probed the history and social background behind the debates about its abolishment. I proposed that, instead of total abolition, a restructured purge system, in particular getting …

Theorizing The Connections Among Systems Of Subordination, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

Theorizing the Connections Among Systems of Subordination introduces a symposium that addresses issues on the leading edge of identity theory, race theory, and critical social theory. It explains the concepts of anti-essentialism, intersectionality, multiple consciousness, multi-dimensionality, and post-intersectionality. It investigates the ways specific types of oppression - such as racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia - support and feed off of one another. It explores the dynamics of subordination that make different forms of subordination connected to each other - the mechanisms by which subordinating systems buttress each other. Where one sees sexism, one frequently can find racism; where classism exists, …

Establishing Constitutional Malice For Defamation And Privacy/False Light Claims When Hidden Cameras And Deception Are Used By The Newsgatherer, David A. Elder, Neville L. Johnson, Brian A. Rishwain

David A. Elder

In the last two decades network television newsmagazines in an endless search for ratings, which translates into revenues, have declared war on the right of privacy we all enjoy as Americans. The hidden camera is “infotainment” masquerading as journalism, pandering to the most base emotions, including voyeurism, with eavesdropping used to obtain the salacious footage. A hidden camera story is essentially a “grainy little morality play,” edited to heighten the entertainment value, where journalists go undercover to mythologize their work by becoming protagonists, modern “folk heroes” who ferret out wrongdoing as the superheroes of pop culture. Undoubtedly, the most insidious …

Teoría General De La Prueba Judicial, Edward Ivan Cueva

Edward Ivan Cueva

No abstract provided.

The Continuing Expansion Of Cyberspace Trespass To Chattels, Laura Quilter

Laura Quilter

No abstract provided.

Are You My Parent? Are You My Child? The Role Of Genetics And Race In Defining Relationships After Reproductive Technological Mistakes, 5 Depaul J. Health Care L. 15 (2002), Raizel Liebler

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Imagine that you are a married woman who wants to have a genetically related child with your husband. Your doctor tells you that you are infertile, and therefore you and your husband go to XYZ fertility clinic to receive in vitro treatment. You have your eggs harvested, your husband supplies sperm, and ten embryos are created. Five embryos are implanted in your uterus and five are frozen and kept by the fertility clinic for your later use. You successfully conceive and give birth to twins. You notice that the children you give birth to are of a different race than …

Modern Tort Law Demystified, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Peter Bell & Jeffery O'Connell, Accidental Justice: The Dilemmas of Tory Law (1997).

Intentional Infliction Of Mental Distress In Nevada, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The independent cause of action for the intentional infliction of mental distress (IIMD) is the only modern intentional tort for physical injury to persons. State court judges in the United States initially recognized the freestanding cause of action during the mid-twentieth century. Nevertheless, considerable confusion has attended the judicial recognition, articulation, and application of this tort in a substantial number of American jurisdictions. The jurisprudence of IIMD that members of the Nevada Supreme Court as well as attorneys and litigants in Nevada have developed has remained rather clear, although the justices have decided comparatively few cases in which they have …

Accounting For The Slow Growth Of American Privacy Law, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Look What They've Done To My Tort, Ma: The Unfortunate Demise Of "Abuse Of Process" In Maryland, Jeffrey J. Utermohle

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should Government Be Allowed To Recover The Costs Of Public Services From Tortfeasors?: Tort Subsidies, The Limits Of Loss Spreading, And The Free Public Services Doctrine, Timothy D. Lytton

Faculty Publications By Year

The free public services doctrine (also known as the municipal cost recovery rule) states that a government entity may not recover from a tortfeasor the costs of public services occasioned by the tortfeasor's wrongdoing. This article traces the history of the doctrine and argues for its elimination. The article criticizes case law supporting the doctrine and raises objections based on fairness, efficiency, and institutional concerns about the proper limits of judicial policy making. The article discusses the implications of eliminating the doctrine for tobacco litigation, gun litigation, and tort reform.

An Analysis Of Brown V. National Football League, Darryll M. Halcomb Lewis

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal

No abstract provided.

E.R.I.S.A. Subrogation As Interpreted Within The Seventh Circuit - A Roadmap For Managing First Dollar Recovery, 35 J. Marshall L. Rev. 765 (2002), Gregory Pitts

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Man's Best Friend: Property Or Family Member - An Examination Of The Legal Classification Of Companion Animals And Its Impact On Damages Recoverable For Their Wrongful Death Or Injury, William C. Root

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Determining Punitive Damages: Empirical Insights And Implications For Reform, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Can The Government’S Misrepresentations Give Rise To A Constitutional Tort?, Antonio F. Perez

Scholarly Articles

Can allegations that senior State Department and National Security Council officials failed to inform a U.S. citizen that her foreign citizen husband was in foreign custody suffice to allege a denial of access to the courts in violation of the Fifth Amendment so as to give rise to a constitutional tort even absent any allegation that the plaintiff tried to file a lawsuit or was actually hindered in doing so?

If so, was that right clearly established as of the time of the government officials' conduct so as to defeat a defense of qualified immunity?

Brandeis & Warren's 'The Right To Privacy And The Birth Of The Right To Privacy', Ben Bratman

Articles

Privacy law and conceptions of a right to privacy have, of course, evolved considerably since 1890 when future Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Boston attorney Samuel Warren penned their now ageless article, The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193, in which they argued the law should recognize such a right and impose liability in tort for intrusions on it. But quite apart from any argument about how attenuated the link might be between Brandeis and Warren's specific proposals and the current state of privacy law, is it fair to say, as so many scholars and judges repeatedly …

Tort, Contract And The Allocation Of Risk, Joost Blom

All Faculty Publications

Tort and contract, although both descended from a common ancestor in the forms of action at common law, are generally regarded as distinct species of civil liability. A tort is an act or omission that is marked by fault - either intention or negligence. There are also a few strict liability torts - where fault is not required - but they are rare. The damage for which tort provides a remedy is usually physical - either personal injury or property damages - albeit with consequential financial losses included. Pure economic loss remains an exception. Contract is not fault-based. Liability rests …

Employer Beware? Enforcing Transnational Labor Standards In The United States Under The Alien Tort Claims Act, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen

Scholarly Works

The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) arguably allows non-U.S. citizens to bring claims for violations of customary international law (CIL). Although CIL litigation typically embraces only egregious human rights violations, the scope of CIL actually encompasses all universally recognized rights, including some labor rights. This Comment explores the possibility that the ATCA may be used to litigate claims by non-U.S. citizens alleging violations of international labor rights. It concludes that the Act likely provides a vehicle for aggrieved employees to bring suit in U.S. court for violations of international labor standards. Finally, this Comment recognizes that the impact of ATCA …

Novel Approach To Mass Tort Class Actions: The Billion Dollar Settlement In The Sulzer Artificial Hip And Knee Litigation: A Symposium, Susan J. Becker, R. Eric Kennedy, Kathleen Mcdonald O'Malley The Honorable, Sidney A. Backstrom

Journal of Law and Health

This is a transcript of a two hour symposium which deals with the Sulzer knee and hip replacement class action. A copy of the settlement is included as an appendix. The settlement in the U.S. District Court for the N.D. Ohio was unique and creative approach to resolving a mass tort class action. In a novel move, Sulzer agreed to open its books to an independent review firm to determine how much the firm could pay without going bankrupt. The number was $1 billion. As negotiated by the parties and approved by the court, the final settlement provides compensation for …

Medical Errors: Causes, Cures, And Capitalism, Keith Myers

Journal of Law and Health

This article explores the causes of medical error, the medical profession's responses to errors, and how the legal system responds to medical error through litigation and legislation. Part II discusses the definition of "medical error," the frequency and pervasiveness of the problem, and the causes at the individual and system level. Part III considers how the culture of medicine has largely failed to address medical errors as a systems-based problem, and how the legal culture discourages admitting errors due to the threat of litigation. Focusing on systems, data must be collected and analyzed, and legal guidelines developed to encourage error …