Law Commons^™

Hand, Posner, And The Myth Of The "Hand Formula", In Symposium, Negligence In The Law, Richard W. Wright

All Faculty Scholarship

There is a striking incongruence between the discussions of negligence in the legal literature, including the American Law Institute's Restatement of Torts, and the understandings of ordinary people and the actual practice of the courts. The legal literature generally assumes that an aggregate-risk-utility test is employed to determine whether conduct was reasonable or negligent. This test was invented by legal academics and inserted in the first Restatement during the first part of the twentieth century, although, as recent studies all conclude, it had almost no support in the cases prior to its adoption in the Restatement and for several decades …

The Grounds And Extent Of Legal Responsibility, In Symposium, What Do Compensatory Damages Compensate?, Richard W. Wright

All Faculty Scholarship

This article identifies and discusses the three principal limitations on the extent of legal responsibility for tortiously caused harm and explains and justifies them by reference to the principle of interactive justice, which holds one legally responsible for causing (or being imminently about to cause) harm to another's person or property as a result of conduct that is inconsistent with others' right to equal freedom. The three principal limitations prevent liability for a tortiously caused harm when (1) the harm almost certainly would have occurred anyway in the absence of any tortious conduct or condition (the "no worse off" limitation), …

Tort Law, Leighton Moore

Mercer Law Review

During the period covered by this Article, developments in Georgia tort law were mainly attributable to the appellate courts. Full-scale legislative tort reform was not accomplished in the 2003 session, although it is likely to occur next year. The general assembly passed reforms to civil practice that had some impact on tort law, but these did not go into effect until July 2003, and thus fall outside the scope of this Article. In contrast, both the supreme court and the court of appeals rendered important, even controversial, decisions in tort law. By its nature, a survey article cannot probe at …

Developing Internationally Uniform Liability Principles For Harms From Genetically Modified Organisms , Ryan C. Hansen

ExpressO

This paper analyzes the current legal principles regarding liabillity for harms from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the U.S. and E.U., as well as the various international policies and mechanisms affecting GMOs

Consumer Expectations' Last Hope: A Response To Professor Kysar, James A. Henderson Jr., Aaron Twerski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The authors agree with Professor Kysar that the current version of the consumer expectations test for design defectiveness is an amorphous, unprincipled misreading of section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. And they agree that most courts apply risk-utility balancing in determining design defectiveness. But they disagree with Kysar's proposal to supplement risk-utility balancing with a reinvigorated consumer expectations test based on expert testimony regarding what consumers actually expect in the way of design safety. Judicial reliance on such testimony would be susceptible to result-oriented manipulation by litigants, would not guide manufacturers in making sensible design choices, would pressure …

The Expectations Of Consumers, Douglas A. Kysar

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In the few years following promulgation of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, several courts have reaffirmed their allegiance to the consumer expectations test for product design defect liability, while rejecting the Restatement's contrary recommendation to adopt a design defect test that focuses primarily on technical features regarding the risk and utility of alternative product designs. In this Article, Professor Kysar reviews the post-Third Restatement decisions, identifying within them a common failure to articulate a coherent, independent doctrinal role for the consumer expectations test, despite the courts' clearly expressed desire to do so. In Kysar's view, courts adhering to …

Makes Sense To Me: How Moderate, Targeted Federal Tort Reform Legislation Could Solve The Nation's Asbestos Litigation Crisis, Mark H. Reeves

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the three decades he spent working as a machinist for the United States Navy, Henry Plummer suffered continuous exposure to the asbestos used in the insulation, gaskets and pipe coverings of warships. In late 1999, a biopsy confirmed that he had developed mesothelioma, a gruesome type of cancer that kills all those who contract it and is caused only by asbestos. In an effort to combat his cancer, Mr. Plummer embarked on a long, painful course of treatments that included chemotherapy and the removal of his left lung in April 2000. In early 2001, however, Mr. Plummer's doctor informed …

The Brownfields Act: Providing Relief For The Innocent Or New Hurdles To Avoid Cercla Liability?, Spencer M. Wiegard

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Mass Toxic Tort Litigation And Class Action Rule Reform In The United States, Jason L. Betts

ExpressO

The paper advances the proposition that mass toxic tort litigation has been the predominant driver of class action rule reform in the Unites States. Through three distinct phases of proposals to reform Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the judicial and academic attitude to the certification of mass toxic torts has influenced the reform debate in radically different ways – initially by providing the catalyst for efforts to reform Rule 23; then as a dampener against significant reforms to Rule 23 in the wake of mass toxic tort “settlement-only” classes; and ultimately as an explanation for the …

A Family Affair: Sharing Information About Genetic Diseases, Lyria K. Bennett Moses

ExpressO

Genetic test results provide information relevant to the future health of the person tested as well as parents, siblings, children and more distant relatives. This Article examines the legal consequences that might follow a decision to share or withhold genetic information. It argues that the obstacles to liability might not be justified in situations where either disclosure of genetic information or silence will cause significant harm.

Legal Protection For Conversational And Communication Privacy In Family, Marriage And Domestic Disputes: An Examination Federal And State Wiretap And Stored Communications Acts And The Common Law Privacy Intrusion Tort, Richard C. Turkington

Working Paper Series

In the article I examine the legality of the not uncommon practice of surreptitiously recording telephone conversations, videotaping activities and accessing e-mail or voicemail communications by parties in domestic disputes. First, I examine the important values that are implicated by such activities. These values include conversation, communication and physical privacy. Conversation (and communication) privacy are valued on both intrinsic and instrumentalist grounds. These values run into countervailing values in domestic conflict cases. These include parental autonomy in child rearing and the best interests of the child. I argue that the pervasiveness of electronic surveillance and the emerging tradition in our …

Real Options In Law: (Possibly, Frivolous) Litigation And Other Applications, Peter H. Huang

ExpressO

This Article advances the thesis that real options are not only ubiquitous in law, but also provide novel insights about legal decision making, doctrines and rules. An introduction provides a brief a primer about financial options, real options, and real options in law. Part I of this Article develops implications of the fact that every lawsuit contains a sequence of real options for the plaintiff to unilaterally abandon that lawsuit. Part II of this Article appraises the limitations of game-theoretic analysis of the abandonment options embedded in litigation and some responses to such limitations. Part III of this Article illustrates …

Direito Da Concorrência: A Vez Do Poder Judiciário, Carlos Emmanuel Joppert Ragazzo

carlos ragazzo

No abstract provided.

Satellite Digital Audio Radio Searching For Novel Theories Of Action, Daniel H. Erskine

Daniel H. Erskine

Satellite radio may be becoming increasingly popular, but there is a little known drawback to the technology: it interferes with many existing wireless networks in place, such as cellular telephone service. This article looks at the legal implications that this interference causes and what kind of liability satellite operators like Sirius and XM Radio may face. Erskine includes a detailed description of how satellite radio operates and in turn describes how this operation causes the disruption. He then moves into a discussion of the current law surrounding the technology and different theories of liability, including tort theories. His approach is …

Duty Of Care To The Intoxicated: The Irish Approach, Mary Drennan

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article examines whether the relationship between publican and patron should or should not produce such an obligation. It also addresses the possible defenses to such a claim in the tort of negligence. Finally, as the matter is not a settled point of Irish law, this Article also attempts to assess the potential approach of its courts, in view of the approach taken by the English courts to the issue and the flurry of academic comment in the wake of a recent Irish settlement. These issues are certain to surface in litigation again. Regardless of the approach taken by the …

Comparative Fault To The Limits, Ellen M. Bublick

Vanderbilt Law Review

Comparative-fault defenses rarely attract much public attention. However, a recent lawsuit highlighted the subject. In a suit filed against the archdiocese of Boston stemming from an ongoing sexual abuse scandal, Cardinal Bernard Law asserted that a boy who had been abused by a priest from the time that he was six years old to the time that he was thirteen years old was himself guilty of comparative fault. The defense became the subject of immediate public scrutiny. Commentators described the defense with adjectives ranging from "reprehensible," "appalling," and "not sensitive," to "legalese," "boilerplate," "standard," and even "necessary.'"

The Cardinal's defense, …

The New Privacy, Paul M. Schwartz, William M. Treanor

Michigan Law Review

In 1964, as the welfare state emerged in full force in the United States, Charles Reich published The New Property, one of the most influential articles ever to appear in a law review. Reich argued that in order to protect individual autonomy in an "age of governmental largess," a new property right in governmental benefits had to be recognized. He called this form of property the "new property." In retrospect, Reich, rather than anticipating trends, was swimming against the tide of history. In the past forty years, formal claims to government benefits have become more tenuous rather than more secure. …

Snake-Oil Security Claims The Systematic Misrepresentation Of Product Security In The E-Commerce Arena, John R. Michener, Steven D. Mohan, James B. Astrachan, David R. Hale

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The modern commercial systems and software industry in the United States have grown up in a snake-oil salesman's paradise. The largest sector of this industry by far is composed of standard commercial systems that are marketed to provide specified functionality (e.g. Internet web server, firewall, router, etc.) Such products are generally provided with a blanket disclaimer stating that the purchaser must evaluate the suitability of the product for use, and that the user assumes all liability for product behavior. In general, users cannot evaluate and cannot be expected to evaluate the security claims of a product. The ability to analyze …

A Chilly Reception At The Court, David J. Bederman

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Rule 9(J) - Is Requiring A Plaintiff In A Medical Malpractice Action To Certify His Or Her Claim Before Filing Unconstitutional? - The Issue In Anderson V. Assimos, Levonda Wood

Campbell Law Review

This note will examine the North Carolina Court of Appeals' decision in Anderson v. Assimos. Part II of the note presents the factual background, the issue raised, and the holding in the Anderson decision. Part III analyzes the decision and discusses why the court's holding is correct. This note concludes that the North Carolina Supreme Court should hold that Rule 9(j) unconstitutionally infringes upon rights guaranteed by both the federal and state constitutions if asked to addresses the issue in the future.

Public Nuisance As A Mass Products Liability Tort, Donald G. Gifford

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The End Of Trial On Damages? Intangible Losses And Comparability Review, Joellen Lind

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reform Of The Choice Of Law Rule Relating To Torts: Report Of The Law Reform Committee Of The Singapore Academy Of Law, Jimmy Yim, Suresh Divyyanathan, Woon Yin Liew, Yock Lin Tan, Joel Tye Beng Lee, Tiong Min Yeo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

An act done abroad is actionable as a tort in Singapore if it is both actionable as a tort according to the law of Singapore and the law where the act was done. This double actionability rule which requires actionability by the law of Singapore even though the act in question was done abroad, was first enunciated in the 19th century when proof of foreign law was difficult and unfamiliarity with and perhaps suspicion of foreign law was inevitable. The UK, Australia, and Canada have replaced the rule with a more ‘international’ choice of law rule which reflects changes in …

Advisory Juries And Their Use And Misuse In Federal Tort Claims Act Cases, Matthew L. Zabel

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Manual De Derecho Procesal Civil, Edward Ivan Cueva

Edward Ivan Cueva

No abstract provided.

So The Army Hired An Ax-Murderer: The Assault And Battery Exception To The Federal Tort Claims Act Does Not Bar Suits For Negligent Hiring, Retention And Supervision, Rebecca L. Andrews

Washington Law Review

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) waives the federal government's sovereign immunity as to claims for injuries caused by an act or omission of a government employee within his or her scope of duty. However, this waiver is not absolute and the government has retained immunity for many claims, including those arising out of an assault or battery. The federal circuit courts are split regarding whether this exception applies to claims for the negligent hiring, retention and supervision of federal employees who commit an assault or battery. While the U.S. Supreme Court has left the question unanswered, the Ninth Circuit …

Panel Remarks On Liability: Liability For Farming?, Rachel G. Lattimore

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Good afternoon. To begin, I’d like to thank Ed Wallis and the Richmond Journal of Law & Tech- nology for inviting me to speak on such a distinguished panel. And I’d like to tell you one thing about myself that is not in my fancy lawyer biography. I grew up on a small family farm down in North Caro- lina, so I learned from an early age about the different types of genetic manipulations that go on a farm, from breeding cattle to grafting apple trees, which if you’re fourteen years old, consists of spending your entire Spring Break taking …

Panel Remarks On Liability: Liability Issues: Lessons From Starlink, Donald Uchtmann

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I have an enormous opportunity and challenge. Here I am, the final speaker, on this final panel, on this beautiful Friday afternoon, on this beautiful campus. Stay “tuned” for just a few more minutes to hear my remarks regarding liability issues and then we will adjourn to the great outdoors.

Procedural Provisions In Nevada Medical Malpractice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

In late July 2002, a special session of the Nevada Legislature passed medical malpractice reform legislation. The expressly-stated purpose of this statute is remedying, or at least ameliorating, the "serious threat to the health, welfare and safety of [Nevada] residents" which is posed by the state's "extreme difficulties attracting and maintaining a sufficient network of physicians to meet [residents'] needs." Moreover, the measure emphasizes substantive reforms that are primarily intended to limit the potential liability of certain health care providers for negligent actions. However, the legislation encompasses numerous "procedural" provisions, which may be equally important as the substantive reforms that …

Holding Liability Insurers Accountable For Bad Faith Litigation Tactics With The Tort Of Abuse Of Process, Francis J. Mootz Iii

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.