Law Commons^™

Municipal Liability For Exemplary Damages, David H. Hines

Cleveland State Law Review

Although the law is not altogether free from doubt on the subject of municipal liability for exemplary damages, it is a settled principle that exemplary damages may not be recovered against a municipal corporation, nor a state, in the absence of statutory authority.

Injuries From Fright Without Contact, Larry Grean

Cleveland State Law Review

Mental distress situations occur throughout the field of torts in cases ranging from assault and trespass to seduction, false arrest, slander, malicious prosecution, and others. They occur in intentional and unintentional situations, and in cases where there is willful and wanton negligence. There may be mental distress over one's own predicament or over fear for the safety of a third party. Physical injuries may or may not result from the mental distress and the element of "impact" (contemporaneous physical injury) becomes an additional factor to consider. However, when it comes to the question of recovery for either mental distress alone …

Municipal Liability For Failure To Provide Police And Fire Protection, Charles F. Reusch

Cleveland State Law Review

A municipal corporation generally has no duty to provide fire and police protection, and is not liable in tort or contract to private persons for losses suffered therefrom, unless a statute specifically allows recovery. The underlying reasoning for this comes from (1) the concept of governmental tort immunity when municipalities are engaged in governmental functions (fire-fighting and giving police protection are almost universally held to be governmental functions) and (2) the common law notion that, absent any duty imposed by statute, the municipal corporation cannot be liable for mere inactivity on the part of public servants which results in damage, …

How To Handle An Anesthesia Injury Case, Albert Averbach

Cleveland State Law Review

The criteria of competence of the trial lawyer handling a medical malpractice case is, does he have at least as much if not more knowledge of the practice and procedure involved in the case than the defendant physician. In no place is this more true than in the field of anesthesiology. This is not, of course, to suggest that the attorney can compete with the physician in practical experience. But, it is to propose that many valid anesthesia malpractice cases result in nonsuits and that plaintiff's verdicts which are overturned on appeal are almost invariably lost due to insufficient evidence, …

Fireworks, Explosives, Guns, And Minors, George Braun

Cleveland State Law Review

In most of the United States the laws governing the sale and use of fireworks, explosives and flammable decorations follow the form of control regulations recommended by the National Fire Prevention Association. These severely restrict the use of explosives and fireworks (with the exception of paper caps for toy guns) to adults. Ohio has led the trend by imposing safeguards more restrictive than most states and, by recent statutes together with decisions, imposing strict standards against manufacturers, sellers, keepers, users or other handlers of explosives and fireworks in attempts to effectively control the hazards presented by these products.

Motions In Limine, Tom H. Davis

Cleveland State Law Review

Defendant's attorney in a tort or personal injury case can fumble, stumble and fall and win. A plaintiff's attorney can try his case perfectly and still lose. Since any charge of prejudicial tactics brought against the plaintiff usually will be more harmful than one brought against the defendant, it is the duty of the plaintiff's attorney to keep the case like "Caesar's wife," if he can.One of the best ways to accomplish this is through a motion in limine. For those who are not familiar with this practice, it is a motion, heard in advance of jury selection, which asks …

Birth And Death And Governmental Immunity, Verne Lawyer

Cleveland State Law Review

Much as been written concerning the doctrine of governmental immunity and the doubtful justice of its application. This article is aimed toward a discussion of the role of the courts in the rise and decline of the doctrine in the United States with primary emphasis upon the reasoning behind the court decisions. The multitude of cases in which this doctrine is invoked presents a zig-zag pattern of conflict in the thinking of the courts, some of which adhere to a rigid rule of stare decisis, others of which attempt to modify and adapt the doctrine to the rapidly expanding present …

The Failure To Use Seat Belts As A Basis For Establishing Contributory Negligence, Barring Recovery For Personal Injuries, William Carnazzo, Paul G. Flynn

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sales And Service Warranties In Blood Transfusions - Balkowitsch V. Minneapolis War Memorial Blood Bank, Inc.

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Torts--Limitation Of Actions--Estoppel, James T. Waitman

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Torts--Contributory Negligence As A Matter Of Law, Thomas L. Hindes

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Child Driver Under The Kentucky Family Purpose Doctrine, William R. Harris

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Survey Of North Carolina Case Law: Torts: Part Two, Philip C. Thorpe

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Perpetuities, Privity And Professional Liability, D. Orville Lahy

University of Richmond Law Review

As the number of malpractice cases against members of all professions continues to increase, it seems appropriate to review several new developments which may be of considerable importance to the practicing lawyer with respect to his professional liability. The time has come to approach this delicate subject with some plain language about property law and the portentous responsibility of the legal profession in the context of the rule against perpetuities.

Computation Of Future Damages: A View From The Bench, William Burns Lawless

Journal Articles

At the turn of the century the United States Supreme Court held that a common-law action could not be maintained in a court of the United States against a Mexican railroad, incorporated in Colorado, for the wrongful death in Mexico of an American switchman. Mr. Justice Holmes, writing for the majority, said that the American court should refuse to administer a Mexican statutory rule of damages which provided compensation in the form of scheduled, periodic payments instead of the lump-sum award traditional to American jury verdicts.

While the case is of primary interest for students of conflict of laws, it …

Defamation During Congressional Investigations: A Proposed Statute, J. Dennis Hynes

Publications

No abstract provided.

Torts--The Fall Of The Charitable Immunity Doctrine, James Truman Cooper

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Law In Transition: Charles S. Desmond's Quarter-Century On The New York Court Of Appeals, Joseph Laufer

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Abstracts Of Recent Cases, Ellen Fairfax Warder

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Torts--Absence O Privacy On Implied Warranty Of Fitness, John L. Rogers Ii

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

New York Times Rule Extended To Criminal Libel, Anon

Washington Law Review

Defendant, a district attorney, issued a statement to the press accusing eight parish judges of laziness, inefficiency in office, taking excessive vacations, and hindering his enforcement of the state's vice laws. Louisiana convicted defendant of a violation of a Criminal Defamation Statute, rejecting his argument that the statute violated the first amendment guarantee of free speech. On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, held: The first amendment is violated by a state statute which permits punishment of (1) truthful criticism of public officials, or (2) false statements about public officials made with ill will, but without knowledge of the …

Punitive Damages: Punishment Of An Insured Defendant?, Carroway V. Johnson, Kenneth Lasson

All Faculty Scholarship

The plaintiff sued the defendant for injuries sustained in an automobile collision and was awarded a judgment in the amount of $5,000 actual damages and $1,500 punitive damages. The defendant's insurance company had refused to defend her in that action or to pay the judgment obtained, relying upon an employee exclusion clause in the policy. The plaintiff thereupon sued the defendant on the judgment, this time joining the insurer as a co-defendant, and won a verdict to recover against the insurer the aforesaid amount. The insurance company appealed, questioning its liability for punitive damages.

Action By Minor Child For Alienation Of A Parent's Affection

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agency -- 1964 Tennessee Survey, John S. Beasley

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the period covered by this Survey several cases have raised rather interesting points for consideration under the law of agency. On one occasion the Tennessee Supreme Court declined the opportunity of joining the ranks of the majority of states in moving toward a more modern rule on employer's liability with respect to an employee's child injured negligently by the employee. In this and other decisions, the courts have followed Tennessee precedent rather closely, with the result that there are few changes in the law of agency.

Torts—Intentional Interference With Contractual Relationship—Malicious Interference With Attorney-Client Relationship, Anon

Washington Law Review

The Washington Supreme court recently decided a case having personal as well as professional interest to the legal profession. Plaintiff, an attorney, was requested by a widow to make arrangements whereby she could continue her deceased husband's business, and initiated probate of the husband's estate. Defendants, tax consultants and certified public accountants, were later retained by the widow to perform the estate's tax work. At defendant's urging, the widow selected another attorney from a list furnished by defendants and terminated plaintiff's employment. Plaintiff, upon inquiry, was informed by defendants that they hired and fired attorneys for their clients. Plaintiff sued …

Torts—Admissibility Of Extrinsic Evidence As Proof Of Libel Per Se, Anon

Washington Law Review

The dubious distinction between libel per se and libel per quod may be non-existent in Washington following a recent supreme court decision. Plaintiff was divorced from his former wife, Hazel, on February 3, 1960. In September 1960, he married his present wife. Thereafter plaintiff instituted a suit to modify the divorce decree. Defendant newspaper, in reporting this suit, printed the following statement: "Divorce Granted-Hazel M. Pitts from Phillip Pitts." Plaintiff sued defendant for libel, alleging that considering extrinsic facts the publication was libelous per se; it gave the impression that plaintiff's second marriage was illegal and that he was a …

Torts—Municipal Liability—"Natural Causes"—Climatic Conditions And Vehicular Traffic, Anon

Washington Law Review

A municipality is generally not liable for injuries which result from the "natural causes" of snow and ice on city sidewalks. Three recent Alaska decisions held that pedestrian and vehicular traffic which caused rough surfaces on sidewalks and crosswalks were also "natural causes."

Product Liability And Disclaimers In West Virginia: Reflections On Payne And Williams, Willard D. Lorensen

West Virginia Law Review

Two recent decisions by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals have given unusual vitality to the contractual disclaimer of product liability. To some degree these decisions are now obsolete. To some degree they are not. The aim of this paper is to consider these rulings and reflect upon some of the many problems raised by them and the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Conflict Of Laws--Place Of Wrong Rule In Wrongful Death Actions, Charles Edward Barnett

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Torts—Abolition Of Doctrine Of Charitable Immunities, Anon

Washington Law Review

The doctrine of charitable immunity in Washington appears to have been finally abolished by two recent decisions of the Washington Supreme Court. In Friend v. Cove Methodist Chuch, Inc., 65 Wash. Dec.2d 155, 396 P.2d 546 (1964), plaintiffs attended a smorgasbord dinner at defendant's church as "invited members of the public." Directed to a certain door as leading to the kitchen, plaintiff wife opened the door and was severely injured when she fell into an open furnace pit. In the second decision, Herbert v. Corporation of Catholic Archbishop, 65 Wash. Dec.2d 165, 396 P.2d 552 (1964), plaintiff attended a Rosary …