Law Commons^™

Where We’Re Going, We Don’T Need Drivers: Autonomous Vehicles And Ai-Chaperone Liability, Peter Y. Kim

Catholic University Law Review

The future of mainstream autonomous vehicles is approaching in the rearview mirror. Yet, the current legal regime for tort liability leaves an open question on how tortious Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices and systems that are capable of machine learning will be held accountable. To understand the potential answer, one may simply go back in time and see how this question would be answered under traditional torts. This Comment tests whether the incident involving an autonomous vehicle hitting a pedestrian is covered under the traditional torts, argues that they are incapable of solving this novel problem, and ultimately proposes a new …

The Role Of Fault In § 1983 Municipal Liability, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

Under Monell v. Department of Social Services, local governments are not vicariously liable for constitutional violations committed by their employees. Those governments, however, are liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations committed by "policymaking" officials. In the face of these two principles, courts have struggled with cases in which an underling commits a constitutional violation and the claim of municipal liability is based on a policymaker's failure to prevent it. The government can be liable in these "indirect-effect" cases for a policymaker's "deliberate indifference" to safeguarding constitutional rights, a standard that demands an even greater showing of culpability than …

Vicarious Windfalls, Justin Sevier

Scholarly Publications

The vicarious liability doctrine, which holds third parties responsible for the legal obligations of their duly authorized agents, was designed in part to ensure that tort victims are not undercompensated by insolvent agent wrongdoers. But many legal scholars are highly critical of the doctrine and suggest that fact finders’ systematic biases-particularly with respect to corporate third parties-cause unworthy tort plaintiffs to be overcompensated at the expense of innocent, deep-pocket corporate defendants. These scholars have offered little empirical evidence for these claims and, in fact, behavioral research suggests that their predictions are incorrect.

This Article introduces the concept of the vicarious …

Three Problems (And Two Solutions) In The Law Of Partnership Formation, Shawn Bayern

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article considers several foundational questions concerning the formation of general partnerships, a topic that has received little modern attention and that is governed largely by classical axioms rather than adaptive modern considerations. Its three main topics concern (1) the timing of partnership formation, (2) the aggregation of multiple distinct questions under the single heading of “partnership formation,” and (3) the rarely challenged proposition that general partners ought to be liable for partnership obligations, a doctrine that is surprisingly at odds with the rest of modern business-entity law.

When “Disruption” Collides With Accountability: Holding Ridesharing Companies Liable For Acts Of Their Drivers, Alexi Pfeffer-Gillett

Scholarly Articles

When Uber launched in San Francisco in 2010, it took the city by storm. Here was a high-tech transportation service that seemingly did everything better than taxicabs: it was more convenient, more accessible, more comfortable, and even cheaper in many instances. Uber’s initial success inspired a number of lower-cost, nonprofessional “ridesharing” options, which have flourished.

Some skeptics, including taxicab operators, have decried the arrival of these peer-to-peer ridesharing services, now classified by regulators as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). While such complaints could be easily dismissed as the dying groans of a “disrupted” industry, a string of passenger safety incidents has …

The Vicarious Liability Of Public Officials Under The Civil Rights Act, James R. Schirott, Sherry K. Drew

Akron Law Review

Lawsuit Involving Labor Disputes filed in the United States district courts in 1961 totaled 2,484. In the same year, the number of civil rights cases filed was only 296. Within the next decade, however, the number of civil rights cases filed in the district courts had risen to 6,133 in 1972, a dramatic percentage increase of 1,972. The only area of civil litigation in the federal courts registering a higher tally in 1972 was the closely related area of prisoner petitions. From the briefest perusal of these startling statistics, it becomes readily apparent that civil rights litigation is not only …

Respondent Superior As An Affirmative Defense: How Employers Immunize Themselves From Direct Negligence Claims, J. J. Burns

Michigan Law Review

Most courts hold that where a defendant employer admits that it is vicariously liable for its employee's negligence, a plaintiff's additional claims of negligent entrustment, hiring, retention, supervision, and training must be dismissed. Generally, courts apply this rule based on the logic that allowing a plaintiff's additional claims adds no potential liability beyond that which has already been admitted. Furthermore, since the additional claims merely allege a redundant theory of recovery once a respondeat superior admission has been made, the prejudicial evidence of an employee's prior bad acts which often accompanies direct negligence claims against employers can be excluded without …

Americans Abroad: International Educational Programs And Tort Liability, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

In recent decades, the number of foreign programs operated by American colleges and universities has greatly expanded. Until recently, there were few reported cases involving claims arising from foreign educational ventures. However, the increase in international study abroad programs has been paralleled by an increase in tort claims. Additionally, because of the tendency of tort cases to be settled, the number of unreported cases, based on harm to students participating in study abroad programs, may be considerably larger than what appears in legal research databases.

Given the high cost of potential litigation, a program provider has no choice but to …

Torts: Praying For The Parish Or Preying On The Parish? Clergy Sexual Misconduct And The Tort Of Clergy Malpractice, Emily C. Short

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Law—The Motorist’S Guide To State Policy: Vehicle Owner Vicarious Liability Following Grants Of Initial Permission—Christensen V. Milbank Insurance Co., Christopher K. Iijima

William Mitchell Law Review

This note explores the Christensen decision and its effect on motor vehicle owner liability in Minnesota. First, the note presents a historical perspective from which to view the Christensen decision and Minnesota's motor vehicle liability and conversion laws. Next, the note summarizes the factual and procedural history of the Christensen case. Then the note discusses the Minnesota Supreme Court holding in Christensen. The note goes further to present a policy and legal analysis of the Christensen decision. Further, the note suggests an amendment to allow evenhanded treatment of vehicle owners, while satisfying state policy. The note concludes that the Christensen …

Labor And Employment Law, Thomas M. Winn Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Erisa Preemption Of Medical Malpractice Claims: Can Managed Care Organizations Avoid Vicarious Liability?, J. Bradley Buckhalter

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment begins by briefly discussing the theory of respondeat superior and the vicarious liability of MCOs for the negligence of affiliated physicians.' Next, the section presents an overview of ERISA, focusing on ERISA's preemption of laws that impact employee benefit plans, particularly medical malpractice claims brought against MCOs seeking to hold them vicariously liable for an affiliated physician's negligence. Section III applies current ERISA preemption doctrine to a situation such as Peterson's, in which a plaintiff attempts to hold an MCO vicariously liable for an affiliated physician's negligence. Section IV concludes that, given the current state of ERISA preemption …

The German And British Roots Of American Workers' Compensation Systems: When Is An Intentional Act Intentional, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Municipal Liability For Torts Committed By Volunteer Anticrime Groups, Henry C. Collins

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Volunteer anticrime groups are effective in deterring crime by exercising the statutory power to effect citizen's arrest. As a result of using this statutory authority though, the municipality may face liability, for example, where a volunteer anticrime group effected an unlawful arrest, or for use of excessive force against the arrested individual. This comment explores what a plaintiff must prove when he proceeds under various causes of action: an action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, a state law, or a Bivens-type cause of action, in order to recover against a municipality for torts committed by anticrime volunteer groups. The Comment …

The Latest Event In The Confused History Of Municipal Tort Liability, J. Bart Budetti, Gerald L. Knight

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Enterprise Liability Theory Of Torts, Howard C. Klemme

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Doctrine Of Charitable Immunity Does Not Bar The Suit Of A Paying Patient Seeking To Recover Damages Sustained As A Result Of Negligence On The Part Of An Agent, Servant Or Employee Of A Charitable Hospital., Sidney Gibson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Southern Methodist University v. Clayton limited and clarified the scope of the charitable immunity doctrine in Texas, making it the leading opinion on the doctrine’s scope as of 1943. Clayton held charitable organization are liable to an employee for injuries proximately caused by the negligence of its agents but not liable to others in absence of proof of negligence on part of charity in employing or keeping the agent. Clayton’s progenies subsequently added two refinements: a charity is liable to an injured party, if, through negligence, improper equipment for treatment or service is used and causes an injury; and the …

Employer's Duty To Know Deficiencies Of Employees, Martin R. Loftus

Cleveland State Law Review

In the case of Kendall v. Gore Properties Inc. an employer was held liable for the willful and malicious (criminal) acts of his employee. The employee, a janitor in an apartment house, had murdered a tenant. The employer was held liable on the ground that he, the landlord, had been recklessly ignorant in the selection of the employee. The case illustrates the modern doctrine of allocating to the employer liability for the harm caused by the servant's tortious behavior, based on his negligent selection of the employee, even though the criminal nature of the servant's act is far beyond that …

Liability Of Police Officers For Misuse Of Their Weapons, Herbert E. Greenston

Cleveland State Law Review

The focus of this article is twofold: it will begin by examining the historical development of the body of law which deals with the liability of the police officer for the negligent use of his weapons, and it will attempt to consider the practical problems confronting the attorney for the injured plaintiff in marshalling his evidence and presenting his case.

Respondeat Superior In "Shoplifting" Cases - Safeway Stores V. Barrack, David R. Stambaugh

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Responsibility Of A Master For Assaults Made By His Collectors, Charles N. Carnes

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Respondeat Superior: The "No Riders" Problem, Robert C. Moffit

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tort Suit By Wife Against Husband's Employer - Riegger V. The Bruton Brewing Company

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Scope Of The Business: The Borrowed Servant Problem, Talbot Smith

Michigan Law Review

If your client wants to erect an office building he may be advised of the cost within narrow limits. The necessary expenditure will be X dollars plus Y lives or limbs. If his talents take the turn of bridge construction similar computations may be made. To carry forward to completion either of these projects he must use materials of various kinds, and he must use men. The expenditure of the human, animate, material is as inevitable as the expenditure of the inanimate. With increased care and skill the curve of expenditure of the human material will approach the asymptote of …

Master And Servant -The Filling Station Operator As An Independent Contractor, William F. Andersen

Michigan Law Review

Under the press of modern concepts of responsibility of business units it becomes necessary to re-examine the relation between the corner filling station and the big oil company that uses it as a means of getting its products before the consuming public. The factual situation is usually this: the operator may own the station, or may lease it from the oil company; the oil company invariably owns the equipment, such as gas pumps, tanks, and tank trucks, which it leases to the operator; by a sales contract the operator binds himself to sell only the petroleum products of the oil …

The Test Of The Employment Relation, Gerald M. Stevens

Michigan Law Review

Labor's status is the subject of what seems to be an interminable war, with campaigns in the courts, on picket lines, in conference rooms, and in legislative halls. The prominence of these battles increases, if anything, the obscurity in which a closely related conflict is being worked out. For as long as there are important distinctions to be made on the basis of whether an employment relation exists, there is fairly certain to be at least some argument over the existence of that relation.

Corporations-Tort Liability Of Independent Taxi Owners' Associations

Michigan Law Review

(a) In order to meet the competition of the large taxicab companies a number of taxi drivers owning their own cabs join together to advertise under a common name, establish a more efficient phone service, and secure the benefits of large-scale garage service. For this purpose a non-profit-sharing corporation is organized, to the expenses of which each driver contributes initiation fees and dues. (b) In order to avoid the liabilities which attend the ownership of cars one of the large taxi companies sells its cabs to the drivers. The drivers now pay the company a certain compensation in "dues" for …

Torts - Malpractice - Master And Servant

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, on threat of discharge from employ of defendant in case of refusal, submitted to a physical examination by a physician retained by the defendant. In making the examination the physician negligently caused a hernia. Held, the suit was not barred by the one year period of limitation on actions for malpractice because no physician-patient relation had been established, there having been nothing more than an examination, and that for the sole benefit of the defendant. Defendant was liable for the acts of the physician on the basis of respondeat superior. New York Central R.R. v. Wiler …

The 'Source Of Law' In The Panama Canal Zone, Joseph H. Drake

Articles

A case just decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, coming to that court from the Canal Zone, shows the great difficulties under which our courts labor when they are called on to interpret and administer the law in our extra-continental possessions. The courts have apparently had the most difficulty in amalgamating the Roman law and the common law in cases involving questions of delictual liability. In the case of Fernandez v. Perez (1906), 202 U. S. 80, the procedural question was presented as to the validity of an action on the case for the wrongful levy of …

Liability Of The Carrier To Passengers For Injuries By Its Servants, Renville Wheat

Michigan Law Review

With the unprecedented development of the means' of transportation in the early nineteenth century, and the increased use of the corporate form of ownership and control of these means, the inadequacy of the familiar rule of law, respondeat superior, as a protection to the travelling public from the torts of the carrier's servants was recognized. The majority of courts applied with the utmost rigor a test which determined the master's liability by considering whether the act complained of was within the scope of the servant's authority. Some few courts said that the liability depended rather upon whether the act was …