Law Commons^™

Summary Of Fanders V. Riverside Resort & Casino, 126 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 50, Bracken Longhurst

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal of an Eighth Judicial District Court’s summary judgment in a tort action against a former employer and co-employees based on the exclusivity provisions of the workers’ compensation statutes that arose around the time of employment termination.

Hiv And Aids In Africa: Compulsory Licensing Under Trips And Doha Declaration, Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire

Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire

In today’s world, there is a lot of focus on issues such as militancy, global warming, terrorism, racism and even politics. Unfortunately, there is a problem that has killed and is still killing far more people than any of the above issues. That problem is HIV/AIDS.

AIDS is a serious medical condition that predisposes patients towards opportunistic infecting tumors, dementia and death. HIV is the viral agent associated with AIDS. Africa is without doubt more heavily affected by HIV/AIDS than any other region of the world. Although Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is still relatively low compared to some countries in …

Obstaculos Juridicos Y Economicos A La Aplicacion De La Teoria Del Incumplimiento Eficiente: ¿Un Irritante Juridico O Una Figura De Aplicacion Imposible?, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Winner's Curse (La Maldición Del Ganador): Un Análisis De La Toma De Decisiones En Subastas De Valor Común, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota se analiza la denominada maldición del ganador que importa que el ganador de una subasta puede ser quien sufra las más altas pérdidas, en lugar de los participaron que no lograron adjudicarse el bien o el derecho materia de la subasta. Este resultado se produce por una conjunción de fuerzas en contraposición: la lógica que le indica pujar con cuidado; y, el deseo de lograr la adjudicación que se exacerba en atención a la cantidad de proponentes. Ante ello, muchas veces el ganador termina por ofrecer una suma por encima de su propia valuación subjetiva y …

The "Enlightened Barbarity" Of Inclusive Fitness And Wrongful Death: Biological Justifications For An Investment Theory Of Loss In Wycko V. Gnodtke, Ryan Shannon

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Wrongful death laws should permit and encourage courts and juries to consider the survivors' investment in decedents when determining wrongful death damages, given new biological justifications for this theory of loss. The investment theory of damages, which permits an award of damages based on the investment of financial resources relatives make in one another, originated in Michigan's courts in the early 1 960s, but as of present day has been largely abrogated. In the context of modern understandings of evolutionary biology, including kin selection theory and sociobiology, the investment theory of recovery accords with the goals of corrective justice as …

Mainstreaming Privacy Torts, Danielle K. Citron

Faculty Scholarship

In 1890, Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis proposed a privacy tort and seventy years later, William Prosser conceived it as four wrongs. In both eras, privacy invasions primarily caused psychic and reputational wounds of a particular sort. Courts insisted upon significant proof due to those injuries’ alleged ethereal nature. Digital networks alter this calculus by exacerbating the injuries inflicted. Because humiliating personal information posted online has no expiration date, neither does individual suffering. Leaking databases of personal information and postings that encourage assaults invade privacy in ways that exact significant financial and physical harm. This dispels concerns that plaintiffs might …

Product Liability, Franklin P. Brannen Jr., Jacob E. Daly

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys developments in Georgia product liability law between June 1, 2009 through May 31, 2010. It covers noteworthy cases decided during this period by the Georgia appellate courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States district courts located in Georgia.

Torts, Deron R. Hicks, Travis C. Hargrove

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys recent developments in Georgia tort law between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010.

• PREMISES LIABILITY
• LIABILITY FOR ANIMAL ATTACKS
• DRAM SHOP ACT
• RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR LIABILITY
• DEFAMATION
• MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
• EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
• NEGLIGENCE

¿Interpretamos La Voluntad Del Testador O Sólo Lo Literalmente Expresado En El Testamento?: Consideraciones Desde La Óptica De La Comparación Jurídica, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Uso Social Del Suelo Ejidal Y Comunal Para El Desarrollo Equilibrado De Las Áreas Urbanas Del Estado De Puebla, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

De origen, difundir los diversos esquemas permitidos por la Ley para posibilitar la realización de proyectos con fines inmobiliarios, a efecto de que los núcleos agrarios y sus integrantes se beneficien equitativamente de la urbanización de sus tierras, coadyuvando con ello al desarrollo urbano planificado y ordenado de los centros de población del Estado de Puebla; como consecuencia, impulsar el desarrollo habitacional equilibrado de éste. Eliminar el circulo.- “necesidad de tierra – asentamiento irregular – solución de conflicto”, mediante la planeación socioeconómico de los núcleos agrarios ejidales y comunales, a fin de diseñar un mecanismo eficaz que satisfaga las necesidades …

The Right Issue, The Wrong Branch: Arguments Against Adjudicating Climate Change Nuisance Claims, Matthew Edwin Miller

Michigan Law Review

Climate change is probably today's greatest global environmental threat, posing dire ecological, economic, and humanitarian consequences. In the absence of a comprehensive regulatory scheme to address the problem, some aggrieved Americans have sought relief from climate-related injuries by suing significant emitters of greenhouse gases under a public nuisance theory. Federal district courts have dismissed four such claims, with each court relying at least in part on the political question doctrine of nonjusticiability. However, one circuit court of appeals has reversed to date, finding that the common law cognizes such claims and that the judiciary is competent and compelled to adjudicate …

Imitando La Intermediación Financiera Indirecta: El Caso De Los Bancos De Alimentos, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

De un tiempo a esta parte se observa un enorme desarrollo de supermercados, sea de gran envergadura, sea pequeña escala. Correlativamente, y pesar del sólido progreso macroeconómico, aún existe un segmento considerable de la sociedad en estado de desamparo y que requiere de medidas asistenciales por parte del Estado. Sin embargo en países como los recursos son excesivamente limitados, por ello resulta importante las alternativas de responsabilidad social empresarial que se vienen implementando o de modo directo la participación privada para colaborar en los esfuerzos asistenciales. Es en este marco donde se inserta la actuación de los Bancos de Alimentos.

Privacy Torts: Unreliable Remedies For Lgbt Plaintiffs, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

In the United States, both constitutional law and tort law recognize the right to privacy, understood as legal entitlement to an intimate life of one’s own free from undue interference by others and the state. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) persons have defended their interests in dignity, equality, autonomy, and intimate relationships in the courts by appealing to that right. In the constitutional arena, LGBT Americans have claimed the protection of state and federal privacy rights with a modicum of well-known success. Holding that homosexuals have the same right to sexual privacy as heterosexuals, Lawrence v. Texas symbolizes the …

Summary Of San Juan V. Psc Industrial Outsourcing, 126 Nev. Adv. Op. 35, Jonathan Winn

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of PSC as to third party vicarious liability for the torts of an independent contractor. Specifically, the court held PSC, as hirer of independent contractor DTI, was not liable under the peculiar risk doctrine regardless of whether the independent contractor was incompetent or insolvent.

Harry Potter And The Trouble With Tort Theory, Scott Hershovitz

Law & Economics Working Papers

Economists argue that tort law promotes an efficient allocation of resources to safety, while philosophers contend that it dispenses corrective justice. Despite the divide, the leading tort theories share something in common: They are grounded in an unduly narrow view of tort. Both economists and philosophers confuse the institution of tort law with the rules that are distinctive of it. They offer theories of tort’s substantive rules, but for the most part ignore the procedures by which those rules are implemented. As a consequence, both miss and misconstrue much about tort law.

The problem is particularly acute for economists. They …

The Business Of Suing: Determining When A Professional Plaintiff Should Have Standing To Bring A Private Enforcement Action, Brandon Murrill

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Distributive Justice Through Tort (And Why Sociolegal Scholars Should Care), Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Leviathan Menacing The Gulf Coast: Catastrophic Consequences May Imperil The Rule Of Law, Beau James Brock

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reaching Equilibrium In Tobacco Litigation, James A. Henderson Jr., Aaron Twerski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Recent pro-plaintiff developments in tobacco litigation may lead to the conclusion that such litigation will go on endlessly and threaten the financial viability of the tobacco industry. This article takes the opposite position. Although the industry may take some near-term losses, it is far more likely that tobacco companies will survive short-term losses and that tobacco litigation will reach a stable equilibrium within the next fifteen to twenty years. The threat of third-party payer claims is no longer viable. Courts have unanimously rejected them. With the exception of cases pending in Florida and West Virginia, there are few individual personal …

La Prescripción Adquisitiva De Dominio, David García

David García

No abstract provided.

Epstein's Razor, David G. Owen

Faculty Publications

Richard Epstein, over a long and distinguished career, has offered inspired insights into how a legal system should be framed to serve the goals of those it governs. In that pursuit, he has relentlessly applied a sharp logic - call it Epstein's Razor - to shave away the detritus of complexity and confusion that surround perplexing problems, leaving standing only truths unscathed by competition among ideas. Over decades of diverse writings on law and political theory, highlighted by his elegant Simple Rules for a Complex World, Professor Epstein offers a vision of law constructed on the view that simplicity in …

The Monster In The Television: The Media's Contribution To The Consumer Litigation Boogeyman, Kimberlianne Podlas

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Article investigates and quantifies television's, specifically syndi-court's, function as a messenger of norms regarding litigation and litigiousness. After acknowledging the pervasiveness of litigation anxiety within the business world, the Article outlines deleterious effect of that anxiety on litigation management. It is suggested that restricting litigation management to traditional models of rational analysis - models that ignore the individual rationality of consumer plaintiffs - fails to achieve the goal of accurately assessing litigation risk.

The Civil Action For Breach Of Statutory Duty In The Common Law World, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

The tort action for Breach of Statutory Duty provides an intersection between the goals of private law and ‘public’ goals as determined by legislation. But the question as to when, in what circumstances, and why, a civil action should be available to a claimant whose statutory rights have been breached continues to be agitated. This paper argues that the tort, far from deserving the accusations of incoherence and unpredictability sometimes levelled at it in the common law world, has a respectable and coherent history and justification within the common law of torts. There are reasons for doubting whether it should …

How Many Times Must The Question Be Answered? The Application Of The Learned Intermediary Doctrine In The Norplant Contraceptive Products Liability Litigation, Stacey Leffler Ravetta

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note begins with a general discussion of failure to warn causes of action and the application of the learned intermediary doctrine thereto. Further, Part II discusses cases essential to understanding the background of the Norplant Litigation. Next, Parts III and IV explain the facts and procedural history underlying the Norplant Litigation. Part V first examines the federal district court's analysis of the case. It then discusses the Fifth Circuit's analysis of the federal district court's summary judgment ruling in AHP's favor. Part VI examines the federal district court's pivotal decision to apply the learned intermediary doctrine to the plaintiffs' …

Superando Los Sesgos Cognitivos A Través Del Derecho: Breve Análisis Del Derecho Contractual Y La Responsabilidad Extracontractual, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente ponencia se expuso brevemente el itinerario recorrido en la aplicación de perspectivas funcionales (sobre todo las económicas y cognitivas) al Derecho. Para ello se tomaron algunos de los sesgos que se han identificado en la toma de decisiones y en el procesamiento de información a fin de evidenciar las potencialidades del empleo del Derecho para su superación o adaptación.

Taxing Punitive Damages, Gregg D. Polsky, Dan Markel

Scholarly Works

There is a curious anomaly in the law of punitive damages. Jurors assess punitive damages in the amount that they believe will best “punish” the defendant. But, in fact, defendants are not always punished to the degree that the jury intends. Under the Internal Revenue Code, punitive damages paid by business defendants are tax deductible and, as a result, these defendants often pay (in real dollars) far less than the jury believes they deserve to pay.

To solve this problem of under-punishment, many scholars and policymakers, including President Obama, have proposed making punitive damages nondeductible in all cases. In our …

Incorporación Del Interés Creditorio En La Cláusula Penal: Un Análisis Desde El Comparative Law And Economics, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota abordamos como es posible incorporar el interés creditorio en un contrato a través del empleo de una cláusula penal. En efecto, la penalidad se ha visto como un mecanismo que liquida de manera anticipada los daños ocasionados debido al incumplimiento contractual; sin embargo, este efecto no hace más que evidenciar la alta valuación subjetiva que el acreedor otorga a la prestación a cargo de su deudor y, con ello, la posibilidad de verificación de daños idiosincráticos en caso se verifique un incumplimiento.

Brown V. Superior Court: Drug Manufacturers Get Immunized From Strict Liability For Design Defects, Terrie Bialostok Brodie

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Brown v. Superior Court the California Supreme Court held that a drug manufacturer cannot be held strictly liable for harm caused by a prescription drug. In doing so, the court purported to adopt comment k of RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS SECTION 402A (hereinafter comment k), but interpreted the comment as providing a blanket immunity from strict liability for design defects of prescription drugs. The court's decision gives prescription drug manufacturers broad protection against liability. A consumer injured due to the defective condition of a prescription drug must now prove negligence or failure to warn of a known risk.

Strict Liability For Prescription Drugs: Which Shall Govern-Comment K Or Strict Liability Applicable To Ordinary Products?, Charlotte Smith Siggins

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment will review the history of strict products liability and the policies which have shaped its development. It will examine the state of the law today regarding strict liability for harm caused by prescription drugs, and demonstrate that comment k should continue to govern prescription drugs. Furthermore, it will point out that sound reasoning and public policy dictate that the modified strict products liability of comment k, rather than ordinary strict products liability, is the appropriate theory to establish liability for prescription drugs; it is also the method most beneficial to society's needs. Finally, this Comment will predict how …

"What Do I Do About This Word, 'Unavoidable'?": Resolving Textual Ambiguity In The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, Jason Lafond

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The quote in the title of this Essay comes from Justice Breyer, expressing his frustration with the language of section 22(b)(1) of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Justice Breyer made this comment during the October 12, 2010, oral argument in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, Inc., a case about the availability of state tort claims based on vaccine design defects. The question before the Court was whether that section expressly preempts such claims against vaccine manufacturers "if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions …