Law Commons^™

Erisa-The First Decade: Was The Legislation Consistent With Other National Goals?, Alicia H. Munnell

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Although ERISA explicitly sanctioned defined contribution plans as a legitimate form of retirement saving, this Article focuses almost exclusively on defined benefit plans. ERISA aimed at changing the basic provisions of defined benefit plans, not at modifying the nature of defined contribution plans. Therefore, although a study of the consistency of pension plan provisions with national economic goals would necessarily include an analysis of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, a study of the impact of ERISA seems appropriately limited to defined benefit plans.

Introduction, Theodore J. St. Antoine

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Introduction to the 1985 Journal of Law Reform symposium, The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: ERISA.

Erisa Enforcement: Mandate For A Single Agency, Beverly M. Klimkowsky, Ian D. Lanoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In Part I, this Article reviews the aspects of pensions that justify the attention of Congress during consideration of budgets and the federal deficit. Part II documents the initial administrative problems created by the congressional compromise that divided administrative responsibility between the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. Although Reorganization Plan No. 4 solved some of the initial problems, the remaining problems are not amenable to resolution within a system of responsibility divided between separate agencies. The specific problems associated with enforcement are discussed in Part III, which identifies the total failure of enforcement as a major threat …

A National Retirement Income Policy: Problems And Policy Options, Phyllis C. Borzi

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article examines the need for a national retirement income policy, identifies the major components of such a policy, and briefly discusses some of the policy options for private pension plans. This Article is an overview of several critical policy areas. It is not an exhaustive policy analysis, nor does it provide a definitive series of options for achievement of a particular policy. Its focus will be on the private pension system, rather than on federally provided benefits such as social security or Medicare, or employer-provided pensions for state, local, or federal employees. The issues discussed are a starting point …

Women's Pension Reform: Congress Inches Toward Equity, Anne Moss

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the workplace and in the home, women suffer economic injustices. The inequities of our private and governmental pension systems compound their financial problems, leading to inadequate retirement income for many older women. For example, only ten percent of women age sixty-five and over received private pensions or annuities in 1982, as compared to twenty-nine percent of men age sixty-five and over. Women receiving pensions likewise get much less than men, averaging $1,520 in 1982. The average for men in 1982 was $2,980.

Gradually, policymakers are recognizing the shortcomings of pension systems. In the past few years, federal legislation has …

Erisa Preemption: Judicial Flexibility And Statutory Rigidity, Leon E. Irish, Harrison J. Cohen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article attempts to describe the ways in which, and the reasons why section 514(a) has caused the courts and Congress so much difficulty. Part I reviews the legislative history of section 514(a), with emphasis on the ambivalence Congress has shown toward its 1974 draftsmanship. Part II attempts to provide a coherent description of the case law that has developed under section 514(a). Part III completes the legislative history by examining the two instances in which experience compelled Congress to revise section 514. Finally, Part IV discusses examples of problems courts have faced when crafting a federal common law of …

Erisa: To Sue Or Not To Sue-A Question Of Statutory Standing, Constance L. Bauer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note examines the conflicting authority regarding the scope of section 502(a) of ERISA. There is a fundamental split among the United States Courts of Appeals concerning whether parties not specifically enumerated in section 502(a) have standing to bring civil actions to enforce ERISA's provisions. The Ninth Circuit has held consistently that non-enumerated parties are entitled to sue under ERISA. The Second Circuit, however, repeatedly has held that parties not explicitly specified in section 502(a). do not have standing to bring an action under the Act. This Note addresses the question of whether employers and pension funds, as non-enumerated parties, …

Pension Plan Terminations And Asset Reversions: Accommodating The Interests Of Employers And Employees, Carl A. Butler

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note focuses on the problems that often arise for plan participants when an overfunded defined benefit plan is terminated and the employer recaptures excess assets. Part I explains the relative ease with which employers can terminate plans and receive excess assets under current pension law. Part II argues that pension law must be reformed because its shortcomings threaten American workers' retirement income security, it allows for sham terminations that remove assets from plans that are, in fact, ongoing, and it usually allows excess assets to go to employers rather than employees. Part III discusses two reforms proposed for plan …

Bad Samaritanism And The Duty To Render Aid: A Proposal, Mark K. Obseck

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note explains the history of the law's response to Bad Samaritanism. Part II discusses the benefits of enacting a duty to notify. Part III responds to various objections that might be raised against the duty to notify. And Part IV offers a model statute for legislatures to follow in enacting the duty to notify.

Erisa Retirement Plans In Individual Bankruptcy, John Minton Newell

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

When an employee covered by an ERISA retirement plan files a petition in bankruptcy, the court is presented with a number of complex issues regarding the relationship among ERISA, the Bankruptcy Code (Code), and the state law of creditors' rights. Three issues have emerged in these cases, and the courts have divided on the proper resolution of each of these issues. First, is the debtor's interest in an ERISA retirement plan "property of the estate," and thus available for distribution to creditors? Second, if the debtor's interest is property of the estate, and the debtor uses the state exemption scheme, …

The Applicability Of The Antitrust Procedures And Penalties Act Of 1974 To Voluntary Dismissals, Jon B. Jacobs

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that Congress should amend the APPA to require a judicial public interest determination prior to the entry of a voluntary dismissal in government-initiated civil antitrust actions. Part I of this Note briefly describes the APPA and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1). Part II asserts that APPA procedures do not currently apply to voluntary dismissals under Rule 41(a)(1). Part III concludes that the purposes underlying the APPA and general policy considerations support the legislative extension of the Act to dismissals. Part IV responds to objections to this proposal. Finally, Part V presents a specific amendment to the …

Introduction, Michael S. Wald

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Virtually everyone agrees that the family is a vital institution. Because of the perceived importance of the family to the state, our society always has tried to regulate both the form and functions of families. Laws prescribe who may form a family, the rights and obligations of family members towards each other, and the substantive and procedural rules for dissolving families.

Coercive Freedom: A Response To Professor Chambers, Robert A. Burt

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

At this happy gathering of the Michigan family it is fitting to begin by discussing the law of the family. David used the Marvin case as the central example of the various principles which he supported and opposed.

I want to focus on that case in order to consider whether he has successfully distinguished among these principles of state coercion and state facilitation of individuals' free choice. Let me begin by briefly restating David's view of the Marvin case, as I understand it.

Divorce Bargaining: The Limits On Private Ordering, Robert H. Mnookin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In an article published in the Yale Law Journal, I suggested an alternative perspective for family law scholars concerned with divorce. It emphasized negotiation, not adjudication; private ordering, not regulation. This change in emphasis seemed timely, if not overdue. Available evidence has long shown that the overwhelming majority of divorcing couples resolve the distributional questions concerning marital property, alimony, child support, and custody without bringing any contested issue to court for adjudication. Therefore, the primary impact of the legal system falls not on the small number of contested cases, but instead on the far greater number of divorcing couples …

The Myth Of State Intervention In The Family, Frances E. Olsen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Most people concede that there are times when state officials should intervene in the private family. Doctrines of family privacy are no longer thought to justify societal neglect of beaten wives or abused children. Yet society continues to use the ideal of the private family to orient policy. It seems important therefore to examine the concept of state intervention in the private family. In this essay, I argue that the private family is an incoherent ideal and that the rhetoric of nonintervention is more harmful than helpful.

House Of Judah: The Problem Of Child Abuse And Neglect In Communes And Cults, Gregory M. Gochanour

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that although some modifications were appropriate, state intervention and removal of children, even from a commune or cult, should be handled through examination of each individual parent/child relationship. Part I examines the statutory and case law framework for state intervention and removal of children from the custody of abusive parents in Michigan, and discusses the policies supporting these laws. Part II examines the circumstances present in the House of Judah and notes the state's departures from the statutes and rules. Part III analyzes and evaluates the usefulness and wisdom of these departures. Finally, Part IV briefly proposes …

From Coitus To Commerce: Legal And Social Consequences Of Noncoital Reproduction, Joan Heifetz Hollinger

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This paper argues that there is an urgent need for the creation and clarification of a legal framework within which contemporary efforts to produce or procure children can take place. State legislatures should act now in order to avoid the kind of crisis that confronts Great Britain, where an infant girl, the product of a breached surrogacy contract, has been impounded by a British court. While the court ponders how to determine the legal parentage of this particular child, Parliament considers criminal penalties for those who arrange surrogacy contracts and general regulations to constrain IVF and ET research and practice. …

The Incompetent Spouse's Election: A Pecuniary Approach, Susan P. Barnabeo

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Although many state legislatures have preserved the incompetent widow's right of election, these states have developed only general guidelines to govern such an election. These guidelines merely direct the court to act in the "best interests" of the incompetent widow. Courts of the various jurisdictions differ in their approach to determining the "best interests" of the incompetent. Most courts examine all surrounding circumstances regarding the incompetent widow's situation, such as the intent of both the wife prior to her incompetency and of the testator, and the adequacy of the will's provision for the incompetent widow. A minority of jurisdictions, however, …

Beyond State Intervention In The Family: For Baby Jane Doe, Martha Minow

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Newspapers and broadcasters gave major billing to the story. Headlines announced: "The Life or Death Question of Baby Doe;" and "Baby Doe's Parents Call U.S. Action Intimidating." The medical care decisions about this infant born with spina bifida, microcephaly, and other severe disabilities, not only attracted mass media attention, but also led to both state and federal court proceedings. Legislative hearings raised the issue of her care. Many commentators debated what should happen to this infant of Long Island parents. This article instead will ask: what was all the attention about?; why are cases like this so riveting?; and might …

Exclusion Of Families With Children From Housing, George Palmer Schober

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note attempts to resolve the most significant problems raised by discrimination against children in housing. Part I briefly analyzes the prevalence of child exclusion in different types of housing. It also provides a statistical analysis of the rental housing market to enable the reader to gauge the extent of the problem in one type of housing. Part II discusses policy arguments supporting both those who seek to exclude children and those who advocate government policies forbidding exclusion. Part III then examines the various approaches that states have adopted in this area, as well as federal implications of the issue. …

The Next Step: Definition, Generalization, And Theory In American Family Law, Carl E. Schneider

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Journal of Law Reform's Symposium on Family Law comes opportunely, in legal scholarship's spring of hope, its winter of despair, at a time when we have everything before us, when we have nothing before us. As is natural in such an epoch, reflection about legal scholarship, about its history, purposes, and methods, has flourished. This Symposium invites us to extend that reflection to family law, and this essay attempts, tentatively and speculatively, to accept the invitation.

Rejoinder: Truth, Justice, And The American Way--Or Professor Haddad's "Hard Choices", John M. Burkoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

I frankly think that Professor Haddad's response to my article on pretext searches is first-rate. It is articulate; it is thoughtful and scholarly; it sharpens the issues and the analysis in this area; and, for the most part, I think his criticisms of various portions of my own work present my positions fairly and honestly. On the other hand, I think that Professor Haddad is dead wrong.

The Admissibility Of Prior Silence To Impeach The Testimony Of Criminal Defendants, Rex A. Sharp

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note focuses on whether a defendant who was called as a witness at the prior, severed trial of a codefendant and refused to testify by invoking the fifth amendment can subsequently be impeached by this silence at his own trial. In addition to the obvious implications this issue has for severed criminal trials, the factors considered when deciding whether impeachment by silence should be allowed generally are in sharpest focus in this factual setting. Thus, the analysis of the constitutional and evidentiary questions this Note enlists to argue that impeachment by silence in this context is permissible applies as …

A Moderate And Restrained Federal Product Liability Bill: Targeting The Crisis Areas For Resolution, Aaron D. Twerski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this article I have tried to offer a rational, feasible, and politically acceptable solution to the present product liability crisis. To do this, I have first set out the problem. I explain in Part I how courts have created the crisis by formulating incomprehensible legal standards. In Part II, I examine the difficulties with assessing punitive damages against a defendant. In Part III, I discuss the conflict between the torts and workers' compensation systems. In Part IV, I reflect on the need to protect wholesalers and retailers from needless litigation. Part V suggests that a federal study on the …

Pretextual Fourth Amendment Activity: Another Viewpoint, James B. Haddad

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Pretextual detentions, arrests, and searches pose knotty fourth amendment problems. With an air of plausibility, defense attorneys often accuse police of pretextual use of arrest warrants, search warrants, and various exceptions to the warrant requirement. Specifically, they contend that officers have utilized a particular fourth amendment doctrine to obtain certain evidence even though courts have not assigned as a reason for approving the doctrine the need to discover such evidence.

Forcing Attorneys To Represent Indigent Civil Litigants: The Problems And Some Proposals, Greg Stevens

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that uncompensated court appointments represent an unsatisfactory means to provide counsel for indigents. Part I discusses the policy arguments for and against forced, uncompensated court appointments. Part I concludes that the arguments against these appointments outweigh the arguments in favor of them. Part II argues that they violate the Constitution's prohibitions against uncompensated takings and involuntary servitude. Part III offers a proposal that would provide effective representation for indigent civil litigants, while avoiding infringement of attorneys' constitutional rights.

The Bottom Line Limitation To The Rule Of Griggs V. Duke Power Company, James P. Scanlan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this article analyzes the background to the Teal decision and the treatment by the majority and dissent of the issue known in employment discrimination law as the "bottom line" limitation to the disparate impact theory of employment discrimination. Part II explains why, for reasons beyond those considered by the Teal majority, not only was the Court's rejection of the bottom line theory manifestly correct, but a contrary result would have had grievous consequences. Part III then argues for a similar rejection of the bottom line limitation in those situations where most observers have taken for granted that …

Preface, Journal Of Law Reform

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This collection of essays is offered not as a .finished product but as part of an on-going discussion among faculty, between faculty and students, and between Michigan faculty and others concerned with legal education. It is our hope that this collection will convey to students that faculty members take seriously their responsibility to provide a comprehensive, quality legal education, to individual faculty members that other faculty are thinking about similar issues, and to faculty at other schools that several ideas about legal education are being explored by Michigan faculty members.

Why I Teach Water Law, Joseph L. Sax

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

I began my first law school job in 1962 and water law is the only subject I have taught every year since then. Though I am enthusiastic about all the courses I teach, I confess that water law remains my favorite. I have often asked myself why, because few subjects are considered more peripheral to the central mission of the law schools. In the East and Midwest the course is rarely taught, and in the West-where it has long been a staple- it is pretty much treated as a "nuts-and-bolts" offering for students who will practice in appropriation doctrine states. …

Fairness In Teaching Advocacy, Charles W. Joiner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The questions I address are these: Is fairness related to advocacy? Is fairness a concept that law teachers should address in their teaching, in particular in courses involving advocacy? By "courses involving advocacy" I mean courses that teach both law and practice techniques involving the direct protection of the rights of clients, particularly in the courts-for example, civil and criminal procedure and evidence.