Law Commons^™

Toxic Torts In A Nutshell, Jean Eggen

Jean M. Eggen

No abstract provided.

In Mourning Of Bereavement Damages, Iain Field

Iain Field

In most Australian jurisdictions, bereavement is not compensable in an action for wrongful death. Unless such loss can be shown to amount to a recognised psychiatric injury, it is also precluded from recovery in the law of negligence. But why must a plaintiff demonstrate some reaction to the death of a loved one that transcends mere grief before the civil law will compensate his or her loss? Are Australian jurisdictions unusual in precluding such awards, and can this exclusion be rationalised with the compensation of non-pecuniary loss (including bereavement) in other areas of the law?

Tort Law: The American And Louisiana Perspectives, William Corbett, Frank Maraist, John Church

William R. Corbett

Tort Law: The American and Louisiana Perspectives, Second Edition has as its primary objective a study of tort law in the United States and Louisiana. It differs from most other torts casebooks, however, in that it has a secondary objective of providing an exercise in comparative law. In the United States, we often overlook the fact that the common law system that prevails in our nation is not the only legal system in the world. Much of the world applies a civil law approach in which a civil code has a more prominent role than case law. In a world …

The Optimal Resolution Of Intra-Policy Um/Uim Stacking, Christopher Robinette, Jessica Smeriglio

Christopher J Robinette

Harmonizing The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) With The Three Main National Systems For Healthcare Quality Improvement: The Tort, Licensure And Hospital Peer Review Systems, K Van Tassel

Katharine A. Van Tassel

According to an estimate by the Institute of Medicine made over a decade ago, treatment errors in hospitals alone caused 98,000 deaths yearly. This IOM report is proving to be very conservative. A recent Consumer Reports investigation came to the conclusion that “[m]ore than 2.25 million Americans will probably die from medical harm this decade…. That’s like wiping out the entire populations of North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It’s a manmade disaster.”

One of the reasons for this astonishing mortality rate is the normative practice of custom-based medicine in the United States. A large and rapidly growing group of …

Shaping The Disclosure Tort: Scholars' Early Importance And Modern Impotence, Jared A. Wilkerson

Jared A. Wilkerson

Legal scholars guided the creation and development of the disclosure tort for about seventy-five years (1890–1965), a period in which most states recognized a common law or statutory right to privacy. Since then, however, scholarly attempts to curb or modify the tort have yielded nothing. This article—beginning with the formalism-realism debate won by such sages as Brandeis, Pound, and Prosser and ending with modern experts like Chemerinsky, Posner, and Solove—shows that notwithstanding enormous efforts by some of America’s most respected contemporary academics, would-be reformers of the disclosure tort have not budged it since Prosser’s definition in the Restatement (Second). This …

Unmasking A Pretext For Res Ipsa Loquitur: A Proposal To Let Employment Discrimination Speak For Itself, Bill Corbett

William R. Corbett

Unmasking a Pretext for Res Ipsa Loquitur: A Proposal to Let Employment Discrimination Speak for Itself

William R. Corbett*

Has too much tort law been incorporated into the case law under the federal employment discrimination statutes? The debate on this issue has been reinvigorated by the Supreme Court’s decision in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 131 S. Ct. 1186 (2011). In Staub the Court referred to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a federal employment discrimination statute, as a “federal tort.” The Court then adopted the tort doctrine of proximate cause as the standard for evaluating subordinate bias (or …

Patient Protection And Decision Aid Quality: Regulatory And Tort Law Approaches, Nadia N. Sawicki

Nadia N. Sawicki

One of the most enduring debates at the intersection of administrative and tort law focuses on the challenge of identifying the most effective means of ensuring consumer safety. In some circumstances, standard-setting administrative regulations may be sufficient to protect consumers from harm while at the same supporting the growth of valuable industries. In other circumstances, regulation may need to be supplemented by a complementary tort regime that fills the compensation gap when consumers suffer injury. The discussion among policymakers and legal scholars about which system to favor is continually playing out in a variety of arenas, most notably in the …

Where’S The Outrage? “Outrageous” Conduct In Analyzing The Tort Of Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress In The Wake Of Snyder V. Phelps, Constance A. Anastopoulo, Daniel J. Crooks Iii

Constance A. Anastopoulo

This Article presents the historical evolution of the tort of Outrage focusing on a discussion of recovery for mental distress prior to the tort’s status as an independent cause of action including the culmination of the tort as announced in the Restatement (Second) Section 46. After presenting this evolution, this Article argues that the key inquiry of the tort of Outrage has been the nature of the defendant’s conduct rather than the severity of the plaintiff’s alleged injury, but now state courts have begun to redefine and reform the tort away from this central element. This Article concludes with the …

Federal Preemption Of Claims Based On Cell Phone Hazards: Farina V. Nokia And The Road To The U.S. Supreme Court, Jean Eggen

Jean M. Eggen

No abstract provided.

Mixed Reality: How The Laws Of Virtual Worlds Govern Everyday Life, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Just as the Internet linked human knowledge through the simple mechanism of the hyperlink, now reality itself is being hyperlinked, indexed, and augmented with virtual experiences. Imagine being able to check the background of your next date through your cell phone, or experience a hidden world of trolls and goblins while you are out strolling in the park. This is the exploding technology of Mixed Reality, which augments real places, people and things with rich virtual experiences. As virtual and real worlds converge, the law that governs virtual experiences will increasingly come to govern everyday life. The problem is that …

The Growing Consumer Exposure To Nanotechnology In Everyday Products: Regulating Innovative Technologies In Light Of Lessons From The Past, K Van Tassel, R Goldman

Katharine A. Van Tassel

Consumers in the United States are being exposed to steadily increasing levels of novel and untested engineered nanoparticles as a result of their contact with everyday consumer products. Nanoparticles are very small particles that are engineered using innovative technologies to be 1 to 100 nanometers in size. Just how small is small? In comparison, a human hair is 80,000 nanometers wide. Nanoscale materials are increasingly being used in a wide variety of areas, including electronic, magnetic, medical imaging, drug delivery, catalytic, materials applications, and cosmetic products. According to the National Institute of Occupational Health, new nanotechnology consumer products are coming …

The Bp Oil Spill: Marine Pollution, Admiralty Law And State Police Power Under The Oil Pollution Act Of 1990o, John J. Costonis

John J. Costonis

ABSTRACT

Choice of law issues in marine pollution events engage federal admiralty/general maritime law, federal environmental legislation and the reserved powers of the states to protect their natural resources and economic welfare. Admiralty and general maritime law enjoyed center stage throughout the first two thirds of the last century. Federal marine pollution statutes were few and weak, and state initiatives were typically deemed preempted in all but the so-called “marine but local” cases. The equilibrium began to shift in favor of state police powers and federal environmental values in the mid-1960’s in consequence of the Supreme Court’s solicitude for the …

The Growing Consumer Exposure To Nanotechnology In Everyday Products: Regulating Innovative Technologies In Light Of Lessons From The Past, K Van Tassel, R Goldman

Katharine A. Van Tassel

Consumers in the United States are being exposed to steadily increasing levels of novel and untested substances as a result of their contact with consumer products containing nanoparticles. Hundreds of consumer products are being marketed for human consumption, including food, dietary supplements, cosmetics and sunscreens. This expanding market ignores the growing scientific understanding that nanoparticles can create unintended human health and environmental risks. This Article discusses the public health, regulatory, legal and ethical issues raised by the developing appreciation of the health risks associated with nanotech products and is arranged as follows. After this Introduction, this Article describes the present …

Punitive Damages And The Public Health Agenda, Jean Eggen

Jean M. Eggen

No abstract provided.

Capping Incentives, Capping Innovation, Courting Disaster: The Gulf Oil Spill And Arbitrary Limits On Civil Liability, Andrew Popper

Andrew Popper

Abstract: Limiting liability by establishing an arbitrary cap on civil damages is bad public policy. Caps are antithetical to the interests of consumers and at odds with the national interest in creating incentives for better and safer products. Whether the caps are on non-economic loss, punitive damages, or set for specific activity, they undermine the civil justice system, deceiving juries and denying just and reasonable compensation for victims in a broad range of fields. This paper postulates that capped liability on damages for offshore oil spills may well have been an instrumental factor contributing to the recent Deepwater Horizon catastrophe …

Connecticut Yankee Speech In Europe’S Court: Alternative Vision Of Constitutional Defamation Law To New York Times V. Sullivan?, Allen E. Shoenberger

Allen E Shoenberger

The article compares and contrasts the defamation law of the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR) with that of the United States, with particular reference to NY Times v. Sullivan. The NY Times actual malice standard not only over-protects speakers, it denies a name clearing hearing to the target of defamatory speech. This is of increasing importance as new media, such as the internet, make it so easy to communicate false, defamatory statements about anyone, including in particular elected officials and candidates. President Obama was first elected to the U.S. Senate because of a sex scandal that tainted his only serious …

Connecticut Yankee Speech In Europe’S Court: Alternative Vision Of Constitutional Defamation Law To New York Times V. Sullivan?, Allen E. Shoenberger

Allen E Shoenberger

The article compares and contrasts the defamation law of the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR) with that of the United States, with particular reference to NY Times v. Sullivan. The NY Times actual malice standard not only over-protects speakers, it denies a name clearing hearing to the target of defamatory speech. This is of increasing importance as new media, such as the internet, make it so easy to communicate false, defamatory statements about anyone, including in particular elected officials and candidates. President Obama was first elected to the U.S. Senate because of a sex scandal that tainted his only serious …

Thomas Paine And The Rights Of Man In European Jurisprudence: European Caselaw Confronts New York Times V. Sullivan : Different Results, Methods And Considerations: Time To Rethink Sullivan?∗, Allen E. Shoenberger

Allen E Shoenberger

The article compares and contrasts the defamation law of the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR) with that of the United States, with particular reference to NY Times v. Sullivan. It is suggested that american courts should themselves weigh and evalue the facts of defamation (as the NYTimes ct did); and also consider whether justification should be demanded for opinion statements, free attorney appointments for public interest defendants in defamation cases, and consideration given to a sliding scale of defamatory review for public officials who hold non-elected, lower rank positions.

Hidden Engines Of Destruction, Andrea Matwyshyn

Andrea Matwyshyn

This article explores whether a duty to warn should exist in the context of digital products. It argues in favor of creating a “reasonable expectation of code safety.” Section I explains the dominant ways that digital products can harm consumers through their code and not their content, focusing on functionality and information security harms. Section II reviews existing regulation of digital products and highlighted their focus on improving information parity and consumer control over digital product relationships. Section II then sets forth the scope of the duty to warn and protect from harms in real space owed by possessors of …

Thomas Paine And The Rights Of Man In European Jurisprudence: European Caselaw Confronts New York Times V. Sullivan : Different Results, Methods And Considerations: Time To Rethink Sullivan?∗, Allen E. Shoenberger

Allen E Shoenberger

The article compares and contrasts the defamation law of the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR) with that of the United States, with particular reference to NY Times v. Sullivan. It is suggested that american courts should themselves weigh and evalue the facts of defamation (as the NYTimes ct did); and also consider whether justification should be demanded for opinion statements, free attorney appointments for public interest defendants in defamation cases, and consideration given to a sliding scale of defamatory review for public officials who hold non-elected, lower rank positions.

Thomas Paine And The Rights Of Man In European Jurisprudence: European Caselaw Confronts New York Times V. Sullivan : Different Results, Methods And Considerations: Time To Rethink Sullivan?∗, Allen E. Shoenberger

Allen E Shoenberger

The article compares and contrasts the defamation law of the European Court of Human Rights(ECHR) with that of the United States, with particular reference to NY Times v. Sullivan. It is suggested that american courts should themselves weigh and evalue the facts of defamation (as the NYTimes ct did); and also consider whether justification should be demanded for opinion statements, free attorney appointments for public interest defendants in defamation cases, and consideration given to a sliding scale of defamatory review for public officials who hold non-elected, lower

Why Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design Is Not Negligent, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

[to be published at University of Louisville Law Review] In recent decades, American state and local highway officials have built wide streets and roads designed primarily to accommodate high-speed automobile traffic. However, such high-speed streets are more dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists than streets with slower traffic, and thus fail to adequately accommodate nondrivers. Government officials design streets for high-speed traffic partially because of their fear of tort liability. An influential street engineering manual, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ “Green Book”, has generally favored the construction of such high-speed streets, and transportation planners fear that if …

Why Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design Is Not Negligent, Michael E. Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

In recent decades, American state and local highway officials have built wide streets and roads designed primarily to accommodate high-speed automobile traffic. However, such high-speed streets are more dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists than streets with slower traffic, and thus fail to adequately accommodate nondrivers. Government officials design streets for high-speed traffic partially because of their fear of tort liability. An influential street engineering manual, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ “Green Book”, has generally favored the construction of such high-speed streets, and transportation planners fear that if they fail to follow the Green Book’s recommendations, they …

The Use Of Litigation Screenings, Lester Brickman

Lester Brickman

No abstract provided.

Disparities Between Asbestosis And Silicosis Claims Generated By Litigation Screenings And Clinical Studies, Lester Brickman

Lester Brickman

In 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Jack, presiding over an MDL proceeding involving 10,000 claims of silicosis emanating from litigation screenings, issued a 264 page opinion rejecting the reliability of thousands of medical reports generated by those screenings. Before issuing her opinion, she ordered a Daubert hearing to assess the reliability of these medical reports which had been issued by a handful of doctors. In furtherance of this unprecedented use of a Daubert hearing in a mass tort proceeding, she compelled the production of a large volume of evidence, under threat of contempt, that the screening companies and doctors …

Disparities Between Asbestosis And Silicosis Claims Generated By Litigation Screenings And Clinical Studies, Lester Brickman

Lester Brickman

In 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Janis Jack, presiding over an MDL proceeding involving 10,000 claims of silicosis emanating from litigation screenings, issued a 264 page opinion rejecting the reliability of thousands of medical reports generated by those screenings. Before issuing her opinion, she ordered a Daubert hearing to assess the reliability of these medical reports which had been issued by a handful of doctors. In furtherance of this unprecedented use of a Daubert hearing in a mass tort proceeding, she compelled the production of a large volume of evidence, under threat of contempt, that the screening companies and doctors …

Reflecting On Negligence Law And The Catholic Experience: Comparing Apples And Elephants, Randy Lee

Randy Lee

No abstract provided.

Nuremberg In America: Litigating The Holocaust In United States Courts, Michael Bazyler

Michael Bazyler

A comprehensive analysis of lawsuits filed in U.S. courts arising out of theft of assets from Jews during World War II.

Essays On Federal Tort Liability, Nuisance, Rico And Tennessee V. Garner, Denis Binder

Denis Binder

No abstract provided.