Law Commons^™

Vol. 33, No. 4, Thomas M. Melody

The Illinois Public Employee Relations Report

Labor-Management Cooperation In A Fire Department Closure: The Highwood Story, by Thomas M. Melody

Recent Developents

Table Of Contents, Seventh Circuit Review

Seventh Circuit Review

No abstract provided.

Tetzlaff: Has The "Undue Hardship" Test Become Undue?, Alex J. Beehler

Seventh Circuit Review

As the wage-market remains stagnant, and student indebtedness continues to rise, many graduates struggle to balance their student loan debt. Generally, when a debtor files for bankruptcy, her student loan debt is not dischargeable. However, under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8), debtors can discharge their student loans through bankruptcy if they can prove that maintaining those student loan debts would impose an "undue hardship" upon themselves. Unfortunately, Congress did not define what "undue hardship" meant when enacting the bankruptcy code. Courts have since been left to interpret the definition of "undue hardship," and many do so in different ways.

Across the …

Is The Injury Real?: The Seventh Circuit Extends Article Iii Standing To Data Breach Victims, Emily P. Linehan

Seventh Circuit Review

Data breaches are becoming a more frequent and more troubling part of modern life. When customer or employee information is stolen en masse, lawsuits often follow. Courts have frequently dismissed such cases very early for want of Article III standing. For purposes of standing, courts are faced with the question of whether or not the fact of a breach is sufficient for plaintiffs to bring lawsuits against the credit card companies, employers, or stores that, as victims of a cyberattack, have compromised the information of hundreds or thousands. But the real victims are those whose personal information has been stolen. …

Remittitur In Civil Rights Cases: Where The Seventh Circuit Went Wrong In Adams V. City Of Chicago, Kelsey N. Weyhing

Seventh Circuit Review

This nation is currently engaged in vigorous discussion about how to address brutality and targeting of minorities committed by law enforcement. In some cases, even where liability is admitted as to racially targeted policing, a court may significantly reduce the amount of damages awarded by a jury to victims of police brutality through use of a procedure call “remittitur.” Remittitur occurs when a trial judge determines that a jury award is excessive, and offers the plaintiff the option of accepting a reduction in the jury verdict or proceeding to a new trial. Although the Seventh Amendment provides that “no fact …

Impunity For Snake Oil Merchants?: The Seventh Circuit Upholds The Class Action As A Vehicle For Consumer Protection, Stephen Pigozzi

Seventh Circuit Review

The class action is often the only way for victims of consumer fraud to pursue a remedy. Several federal circuit courts have recently adopted the heightened ascertainability requirement—a requirement that makes certifying a consumer class almost impossible. A plaintiff can only meet the heightened ascertainability requirement by showing that members of her proposed class can be identified in a reliable and administratively feasible way. This typically requires documentary proof of class membership. For classes made up of purchasers of deceptive low-cost products who have not kept their receipts, heightened ascertainability has served as an insurmountable barrier to certification.

In Mullins …

"Equity Will Not Enjoin A Libel": Well, Actually, Yes, It Will, Ann C. Motto

Seventh Circuit Review

The First Amendment prohibits prior restraints on speech. Indeed, prior restraints are the most serious and the least tolerable infringements on First Amendment rights. Because of this, for nearly 200 years, courts stood by the maxim that "equity will not enjoin a libel"; traditionally, money damages were the only remedy available to a defamed plaintiff. However, there is a modern trend among some state and federal courts allowing the issuance of a narrow, permanent injunction against statements that have been adjudicated defamatory.

In December 2015, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in its decision McCarthy vs. Fuller became the second …

Deference To The Lower Court: How The Seventh Circuit Improperly Granted Habeas Corpus Relief In Jensen V. Clements, David J. Welch

Seventh Circuit Review

As Justice Blackstone once opined, a writ of habeas corpus, oft referred to as the “great Writ,” is “another Magna Carta” established to safeguard people imprisoned in violation of the law. Codified under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, the writ compels a judicial body to review the legality of a state prisoner’s conviction. A granted writ of habeas corpus may require the court to set aside or vacate the conviction or detention. If a petitioner’s case has already been adjudicated on the merits in state court, then the writ cannot be granted. However, if the petitioner can show that either the …

Filming Police & Legal Dramas: Examining The Influence Of Television Programs On The Legal Profession And Law Enforcement, Ryan D. Suniga

Seventh Circuit Review

Criminal trials make for inherently compelling television. There are very few things as dramatic as watching an individual being forced to defend their liberty. Because of the spectacle associated with criminal proceedings, the legal drama has evolved into a staple of television programing. Media programing like Serial and Making a Murderer can have profound effects on the operation and integrity of criminal proceedings. While televising criminal justice proceedings adds a level of accountability to those procedures, it also creates an opportunity for abuse by allowing the media to negatively influence individuals vital to the integrity of the criminal justice system …

A Proposal For Eliminating Adjudicative Loopholes Under Statutory Law Of Trade Secrets In The Seventh Circuit, Anna A. Onley

Seventh Circuit Review

Today, when 70% of business value is derived from intangible assets, and trade secret misappropriation (TSM) is the most frequently litigated form of intellectual property protection, it is critical to ensure that judicial remedies for misappropriation of intellectual property remain adequate without encouraging abusive litigation. With this goal in mind, in 1979, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws promulgated the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) in order to ensure a uniform and consistent treatment of trade secrets among the states. The Uniform Act displaced business torts claims that arise in common law, but only if those claims …

Guide To Ac031 - Illinois Public Employee Relations Report, Jona Whipple

Finding Aids

Illinois Public Employee Relations Report, 1988-2011

The Illinois Public Employee Relations Report began as a publication of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The first issue was published in March of 1984. Beginning in 1990 with Volume 7, No. 1, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law joined the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as a co-publisher of the Report, with Professor Martin Malin serving as faculty editor along with Professor Peter Feuille (U of I).

The Illinois Public Employee Relations Report provides current, nonadversarial information to those involved or interested in …

Neutralizing The Stratagem Of "Snap Removal": A Proposed Amendment To The Judicial Code, Joan E. Steinman, Arthur Hellman, Lonny Hoffman, Thomas Rowe, Georgene Vairo

All Faculty Scholarship

The “Removal Jurisdiction Clarification Act” is a narrowly tailored legislative proposal designed to resolve a widespread conflict in the federal district courts over the proper interpretation of the statutory “forum-defendant” rule. The forum-defendant rule prohibits removal of a diversity case “if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of the [forum state].” 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(2) (emphasis added). Some courts, following the “plain language” of the statute, hold that defendants can avoid the constraints of the rule by removing diversity cases to federal court when a citizen of the forum state has …

The Limits Of Isomorphism: Global Investment Law And The Asean Investment Regime, Sungjoon Cho, Jurgen Kurtz

All Faculty Scholarship

This article probes the unique ontogenetic path of ASEAN’s regulation of foreign investment by juxtaposing global investment law and the ASEAN context. While the former delivers a powerful heuristic on isomorphism that ASEAN exhibits in its strong reflection of global investment norms, the latter sheds critical light on ideological and analytical blind spots by exploring distinct heterogeneities in ASEAN’s investment regulation. Those heterogeneities are not simply outliers but reflect important historical and cultural values inherent to ASEAN and its members. The insights uncovered in this article invite scholars and policymakers to define a new form of global investment law that …

Vol. 33, No. 3, James Powers

The Illinois Public Employee Relations Report

Police Body Cameras: Do Illinois Public Employers Have a Duty to Bargain over Their Use?, by James Powers

Recent Developments

Fair Use’S Unfinished Business, Rebecca Tushnet

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Frand Market Failure: Ipxi’S Standards-Essential Patent License Exchange, Jorge L. Contreras

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

This case study pertains to Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc. (IPXI), which was formed in 2008 to create a market-based trading exchange for aggregated patent license rights, particularly standards-essential patents (SEPs). IPXI based its model on existing commodities exchanges, proposing that non-exclusive patent licenses could be standardized, commoditized, and traded on an open market, thus eliminating costly and inefficient bilateral negotiations and providing a royalty rate likely to be viewed as “reasonable”. IPXI’s most ambitious offering involved a portfolio of 194 U.S., European and other patents deemed essential to IEEE’s 802.11n “Wi-Fi” standard. IPXI offered up to 50,000 tradable Unit …

P, Mariana Lopez-Galdos

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

The paper tracks recent developments in the United States and EU competition systems with regard to the different policy tools used to address matters arising from the intersection of IP and competition policies. The analysis compares the enforcement and advocacy efforts carried out by the different antitrust agencies in the United States and EU.

This Article first traces how different authorities with antitrust mandates in the United States have dealt with the issue of balancing the rights of standard essential patent holders with innovation driven public welfare. This article then looks at how the antitrust authorities are using their antitrust …

Copyright’S Other Functions, Margaret Chon

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

This response to a keynote speech by Judge Margaret McKeown explores some dimensions of copyright in addition to its dominant function as a set of market-facilitating exclusive rights. The recent possible trend towards protecting privacy and other non-commercial concerns via copyright law is not necessarily inconsistent with its historical usages, does not necessarily threaten freedom of expression and may further important privacy policies. The balance of these competing policies is shifting, especially in an environment of proliferating digital content where cyber civil rights may need further development in response to cyberbullying. It examines the specific case of non-consensual pornography as …

Suspect Assertions Of Copyright, Edward Lee

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

The Challenges Of Following Good Advice About Copyright And The First Amendment, Alfred C. Yen

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Sherlock Holmes & The Case Of The Contested Copyright, Jessica L. Malekos Smith

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

For generations, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels and short stories on the adventures of Sherlock Holmes have captivated the minds of readers and fueled a lucrative intellectual property market. The historical trajectory of international copyright protections to this literary canon, however, is an equally intriguing, if not mysterious, page-turner. This Note explores the procedural history of Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd., and examines how the literary characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson can simultaneously exist in the public domain, while certain story elements still remain under copyright protection in the United States until 2022.

Putting The Pieces Together: A Proposal For A Contributory Infringement Provision In Patent Law, Xianzhi Quan

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

Among the top five countries who have filed the most patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) in 2015, China is the only country that has no provision regarding contributory patent infringement. As a result, in patent cases related to contributory infringement, different courts have adopted different criteria to determine whether contributory patent infringement is present. This has resulted in many problems in China, causing confusion and conflicts in understanding among patent holders and the public.

With the increase of patent infringement cases in China, legislation on the standard of contributory patent infringement is imminent. This Article puts forward …

Navigating The Legal Landscape Of A Subversive Art Form: Protecting Expression And Neglecting Embodiment, Dillon Henry Stern

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

The Right To Destroy Under Droit D’Auteur: A Theoretical Moral Right Or A Tool Of Art Speech?, Sofie G. Syed

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Campus Sexual Misconduct As Sexual Harassment: A Defense Of The Doe, Katharine Baker

All Faculty Scholarship

This article explains and defends the Department of Education’s campaign against sexual misconduct on college campuses. It does so because DOE has inexplicably failed to make clear that their goal is to protect women from the intimidating and hostile environment that results when men routinely use women sexually, without regard to whether women consent to the sexual activity. That basic point, that schools are policing harassing and intimidating behavior, not necessarily rape, has been lost on both courts and commentators. Boorish, entitled, sexual behavior that stops well short of rape, if pervasive enough, has been actionable as sexual harassment for …

Guide To Ac030 - Records Of The Charles E. Green Lecture, Jona Whipple

Finding Aids

Records of the Charles E. Green Lecture, 1987-1994

In 1977, the Charles E. Green Lecture in Law and Technology was endowed by Mrs. Joseph Galvin, in honor of Charles E. Green (1894-1981), a 1915 graduate of Chicago-Kent and founder of the law firm Green and Nystrom. The lecture series addresses the impact of technology on society, on legal relationships, and on methods of law study and practice.

Related collection(s): Collection of Anniversaries and Celebrations

Guide To Ac029 - Records Of The Illinois Technology Center, Jona Whipple

Finding Aids

Records of the Illinois Technology Center, 1999-2005

Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) was founded in March of 2001 as the Illinois Technology Center for Law and the Public Interest. Initial funding was provided by The Chicago Bar Foundation, the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.

The mission of the Tech Center was to successfully use technology in innovative ways to increase access to justice by streamlining the delivery of free and pro bono services to the poor, and to provide easy to understand legal information and assistance to the public. In July of 2001, the …

Causation And Standard Of Proof From An Economic Perspective, Bruno Deffains, Claude Fluet, Maiva Ropaul

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Causation is a problematic notion, as explained by Ronald Coase regarding the “bilateral nature” of externalities. However, causation has played only a minor role in standard economic models of civil liability. An exception is the sub-literature on Uncertainty Over Causation and the Determination of Civil Liability, the benchmark paper written by Steven Shavell in 1985: “. . . the familiar notion that for parties to be led to reduce accident risks appropriately, they should generally face probability-discounted or ‘expected’ liability equal to the increase in expected losses that they create. This, of course, is naturally the case in the absence …

Material Contribution To Risk In The Canadian Law Of Toxic Torts, Lynda M. Collins

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Causation is acknowledged as the single biggest hurdle to recovery for plaintiffs in toxic tort actions in Canada (and elsewhere). Scientific uncertainty involving questions of both generic and specific causation has frequently precluded recovery for plaintiffs even where defendants have negligently exposed them to toxic risk. Three types of uncertainty have been identified: plaintiff indeterminacy (where we know that the defendant has harmed some proportion of a particular population but no individual can prove causation); defendant indeterminacy (where we know that a group of defendants has harmed a particular plaintiff or plaintiffs but each can escape liability by pointing the …

Table Of Contents, Chicago-Kent Law Review

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.