Law Commons^™

Legally Responsible Cause Flexibly Construed, Lawrence Vold

Vanderbilt Law Review

Society is constantly changing. Because of the rapid developments in technology and related fields of science, the pace with which change will occur will accelerate. Law, also, as the recognized means of order in society must change rapidly to meet the demands of the new society. How can changes be implemented without destroying the stability? Short answer: A flexible legal process--a process not confined to rigid, precise rules, but a flexible process capable of meeting on the basis of reason and justice the cases as they arise.

Distinctions Between Assumption Of Risk And Contributory Negligence

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Credit Cards: The Liability Of The Card Holder For Unauthorized Purchases

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hatred, Ridicule, Or Contempt. A Book Of Libel Cases.Joseph Dean.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Negligence And Warranty: The Forms Of Action Live

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Misrepresentation And Third Persons, William L. Prosser

Vanderbilt Law Review

"The assault upon the citadel of privity is proceeding in these days apace." So said Cardozo in 1931, and he has been much quoted since. But the case' in which he said it was one of misrepresentation causing pecuniary loss to a third person who acted in reliance upon it, but to whom it was not made. It is in this area that the assault upon the citadel has made, during the intervening thirty-five years, the least headway, and has broken down into a tangle of more or less unconnected struggles which are apparently making no great progress in any …

Damages--The Per Diem Method Of Arguing Pain And Suffering, James Truman Cooper

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Torts - Governmental Immunity, John R. Mcginley Jr.

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court refuses to abolish the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

Dillon v. York City School Dist., 422 Pa. 103, 220 A.2d 896 (1966).

Torts - Products Liability - Restatement (Second), Torts, 402(A), J. Jerome Mansmann

Duquesne Law Review

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopts a strict tort liability rule for the products liability area.

Webb v. Zern, 422 Pa. 424, 220 A.2d 853 (1966).

The Role Of The Per Diem Argument In Personal Injury Suits, Thomas L. Cooper

Duquesne Law Review

With increasing frequency, appellate courts across the country are being forced to decide the propriety of counsel for the plaintiff utilizing a formula, or per diem approach, when discussing damages for pain and suffering in closing argument. Until a few years ago, this technique seems to have excited little attention, and to have generated few appeals. The steady rise in automobile accidents, the increasing amount of personal injury litigation, and the tendency of the courts to scrutinize carefully every procedure that might detract from a fair trial, have combined to bring this type of argument to the attention of the …

The Friendly Versus Hostile Fire Dichotomy, Robert I. Reis

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Fair Comment - The Extent Of The Public Interest Element - Afro-American Publishing Co. V. Jaffe

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Husband's Immunity From Personal Suit For Tort, Anon

Washington Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action to recover damages for injuries which were intentionally inflicted by her former husband subsequent to the initiation of divorce proceedings. The complaint alleged that defendant, with intent to kill plaintiff and in violation of a non-molestation order, repeatedly rammed plaintiff's automobile with his own. Defendant challenged plaintiff's right to sue, claiming immunity from suit by his former wife for personal tort occurring during marriage. The trial court granted judgment for defendant on the pleadings, which was affirmed on appeal. Held: A man is immune from suit in tort by his former wife, even though the tort …

Strict Liability In Tort—Builder-Vendor Of Mass Produced House Strictly Liable For Injuries Caused By Construction Defects, Anon

Washington Law Review

Defendant, a mass-developer who planned communities and sold homes on the basis of advertised models, installed a water heater in a house without following the manufacturer's recommendations. Plaintiffs leased the house from defendant's vendee, and plaintiffs' minor son was subsequently scalded by excessively hot water drawn from the heater. Recovery was sought for negligence and for breach of implied warranty of habitability. The trial court dismissed the action, but the Court of Appeals of New Jersey reversed. Held: A builder-vendor of a mass-produced house is liable for breach of an implied warranty of habitability to vendee's lessee injured by a …

Products Liability—Innocent Bystander Enjoys Protection Of Implied Warranty, Anon

Washington Law Review

Plaintiff was injured when a shotgun, fired by another, exploded. The explosion was allegedly caused by a defective shotgun shell, purchased by the shooter. Plaintiff brought a personal injury action against the manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer of the shell, alleging separate counts of negligence and breach of implied warranty. With reference to the latter count, plaintiff contended that the shell was not suitable for its intended use, and that, even though he was neither the purchaser nor the user of the shell, he was entitled to rely upon the implied warranty of fitness and suitability which attended the manufacture, distribution, …

Mental Suffering As An Element Of Damages In Defamation Cases, Jack G. Day

Cleveland State Law Review

To insure the focus of theme it is assumed for present purposes that the hurdles of proof and proximate cause in an actionable defamation have been cleared and that there is no concern with any other issues that may arise, offensively or defensively, in a defamation action beyond the propriety, or impropriety, of proving mental suffering as an element of compensable damage. Stated another way, the crux of the matter is whether mental anguish is, can, or ought to be classified as special damage in defamation actions. Punitive damages are, of course, an element of no relevance here except in …

Ohio Law On Wanton Torts, Elizabeth Boyer

Cleveland State Law Review

Two recent cases decided by the Supreme Court in 1963 and 1964 are of considerable interest in relation to decisions involving wilful and wanton tort in Ohio since 1899. In the first of these two cases, Botto et al., Appellants, v. Fischesser,a Minor, et al., Appellees, decided in 1963, the Supreme Court overruled directed verdicts for the defendants in the trial court which had been sustained in the appellate court, and remanded the cases for jury trial with the comment that "the Guest Statute, being in derogation of common law, should not be extended beyond its reasonable limits. A court …

Malpractice By Veterinarians, Martin J. Strobel

Cleveland State Law Review

The veterinarian's liability is measured by the same basic standards applicable to physicians and surgeons. In both fields the technical nature of the malpractice action creates special problems. To determine the issue of liability the jury must identify both the historical facts and the standard of care. Attempting to resolve issues of medical fact may be difficult for a lay jury; such resolution demanding as it does, not merely an appraisal of the witnesses' demeanor and character, but an evaluation of their stories in the context of the situation giving rise to the cause of action.

Retail Druggist's Warranty Of Drugs, Thomas M. Schmitz

Cleveland State Law Review

Jurisdictions retaining a contractual warranty theory hold that a retail druggist warrants the wholesomeness, fitness, and merchantability of his products. This warranty applies to all drugs whether they are prescription drugs, proprietary drugs ,brand name drugs, or drugs sold in the original sealed containers. Liability for the sale of a prescription drug may be exempted if the patient relies on the physician's judgment, and liability for the sale of a brand name drug may be relieved if there is reliance on the manufacturer's reputation. Jurisdictions construing product warranty as a strict liability in tort will invariably hold a retail druggist …

Some Bases For Remittitur In Personal Injury Cases, Robert Saxer

Cleveland State Law Review

In reviewing an award various factors before it can determine whether the award is so excessive that remittitur should be granted or a new trial ordered. Remittitur is justified when the award is based on computation errors, oversight or consideration of an improper element, or when, in view of the evidence, the judgment is excessive enough to indicate prejudice, passion, partiality or corruption on the part of the jury.

How F.E.L.A. Became Liability Without Fault, Gaspare A. Corso

Cleveland State Law Review

The Federal Employers' Liability Act supersedes the common and statutory law of the states ("There is no federal common law"), and this is true regardless of where the action is brought. Under common law, the injured employee was faced with the burden of proof and obliged to overcome the defenses of contributory negligence, assumption of risk and the fellowservant rule. But it is apparent that Congress was dissatisfied with the common law approach to the master-servant relation-ship. The practical effect (at the very least) of the F.E.L.A. is to abolish many of the defenses available at common law to an …

How To Try A Personal Injury Case, James Dooley

Cleveland State Law Review

Proper presentation of a case in court is dependent upon proper preparation. Proper presentation means an intimate knowledge of the facts, the parties, possible witnesses, and, o fcourse, the governing legal principles. Indeed, proper preparation means far more than knowledge. It embraces true compre-hension. Before an advocate can present his client's cause or meet his adversary on equal terms, he himself must completely understand the problem. Clear expression of an idea is impossible without a clear understanding of it.

Landlord's Retention Of Power To Control Premises, Jan S. Moskowitz

Cleveland State Law Review

Generally, the landlord is under an affirmative obligation to exercise ordinary care to keep those parts of the premises over which he has retained possession and control in a reasonably safe condition. The test of possession and control is whether or not the landlord has the power and the right to admit people to or exclude them from the premises.

Book Review, James T. Brennan

Cleveland State Law Review

Reviewing Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed, Grossman Publishers, 1965

Damages For Mental Suffering In Discrimination Cases, John E. Duda

Cleveland State Law Review

This article explores the legal basis for an award of damages for mental suffering caused by unlawful racial discrimination. It necessarily includes religious and nationality discrimination,since these three areas are intertwined in the law. For the most part, the legal principles are applicable alike to all three forms of discrimination. Mental suffering is treated as an element of compensatory damages on the theory that the purpose of such an award is to compensate the claimant for his loss and not necessarily to penalize the discriminator. Punishment enters the analysis only to the extent that the prevailing legal rules governing damage …

Defamation Privilege In Internal Affairs Of Religious Societies, Howard A. Shelley Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

Defamation privilege in religious societies is burdened in interpretation by the strong doctrine of separation of church and state coupled with the courts' reluctance to become involved in the internal affairs of private associations. That over the years this has resulted in establishment of a philosophy regarding defamation privilege in church controversies broader in scope than that available even to other private associations is apparent.

Damages For Injury To Feelings In Malicious Prosecution And Abuse Of Process, A. M. Witte

Cleveland State Law Review

The burden of this paper is the extent to which a plaintiff in a malicious prosecution action will be permitted to recover damages for the injury he has suffered to his feelings. Simply stated, there is no serious legal question presented by this broad topic. In a malicious prosecution action based on criminal proceedings the plaintiff may recover damages for his mental suffering (and for the harm to his reputation) and the great majority of jurisdictions permit these damages to be recovered without special pleading or proof-i.e., these elements are considered to be general damages.

Damages For Emotional Distress In Ohio, James G. Young

Cleveland State Law Review

A review of Ohio cases reveals that Ohio law declares there cannot be recovery for mental distress unless it is accompanied by contemporaneous physical injury (i.e., contact), or unless the act was wilful, wanton or intentional. No Ohio cases were found where recovery for purely mental suffering, caused negligently, in and of itself was permitted.

How Much Detention Constitutes False Imprisonment, Nancy F. Halliday

Cleveland State Law Review

Any intentional unlawful confinement of an individual, without his consent, for any length of time, no matter how short in duration, constitutes false imprisonment. This statement, however, leaves unanswered the question of what constitutes a lawful confinement.

Crew Conduct As Unseaworthiness, James E. Saari

Cleveland State Law Review

It seems repugnant to all law that a shipowner should be held liable under the doctrine of unseaworthiness for occurrences which he has no reasonable way of preventing. The shipowner may be best protected by incorporating his knowledge of a crew member's dangerous propensities as an element of proof in assault cases based on unseaworthiness. Should general maritime law continue to offer legal barriers to shipowners, a seaman's workmen's compensation statute or a general re-draft of the Jones Act could enable the shipowner to set up stronger defense in an unseaworthiness action.