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Full-Text Articles in Law
Frivolous Defenses, Thomas D. Russell
Frivolous Defenses, Thomas D. Russell
Cleveland State Law Review
This Article is about civil procedure, torts, insurance, litigation, and professional ethics. The Article is the opening article in a conversation with Stanford Law Professor Nora Freeman Engstrom, who has written about the plaintiffs’ bar and settlement mill attorneys. The empirical center of this piece examines 356 answers to 298 car crash personal injury cases in Colorado’s district courts. The Article situates these cases within dispute pyramid elements, including the total number of miles-traveled within Colorado and the volume of civil litigation. The Article then analyzes the defense attorneys’ departures from the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, especially Rule 8. …
The Mccarran-Ferguson Act's Intersection With Foreign Insurance Companies, Angela D. Krupar
The Mccarran-Ferguson Act's Intersection With Foreign Insurance Companies, Angela D. Krupar
Cleveland State Law Review
This Note is designed to answer a simple question: must insurance companies incorporated in foreign countries follow the same rules as their competitors incorporated in this country? More specifically, it addresses whether the McCarran-Ferguson Act should reach foreign insurance companies and foreign commerce.
Use Of Colossus To Measure The General Damages Of A Personal Injury Claim Demonstrates Good Faith Claims Handling, Dawn R. Bonnett
Use Of Colossus To Measure The General Damages Of A Personal Injury Claim Demonstrates Good Faith Claims Handling, Dawn R. Bonnett
Cleveland State Law Review
Because the law of bad faith is the most volatile of the causes of action, this Note will discuss how using Colossus demonstrates good faith claims handling by insurance companies. Initially, this Note will discuss how Colossus works so readers have an understanding of the product. Following the Colossus section, the Note will discuss the history of bad faith. Finally, this Note will analyze how Colossus assists insurers in meeting the different good faith standards across the nation.
Year 2000 Hurdles And Controversies, Michael D. Schindler
Year 2000 Hurdles And Controversies, Michael D. Schindler
Cleveland State Law Review
This article examines the hurdles and controversies of the Year 2000 problem. First, some background on the "Millennium Bug" explains the nature of the problem, how to fix it, and what it will cost. Next, the article discusses recent Year 2000 litigation. Then the article suggests that companies should implement a legal strategy to avoid potential liability by performing a legal audit of the Year 2000 problem. Additionally, the UCC and case law analysis are used to explain possible causes of action and who the plaintiffs and defendants will be. Other key legal issues analyzed are SEC disclosure requirements, insurance …
Regulatory Theory And Deposit Insurance Reform, R. Mark Williamson
Regulatory Theory And Deposit Insurance Reform, R. Mark Williamson
Cleveland State Law Review
The purpose of this article, however, is not to summarize the maze of federal and state banking regulation. Instead, recognizing that deposit insurance is a centerpiece of the overall regulatory scheme to which any financial institution in the United States is subject, this article is primarily concerned with subjecting this form of bank regulation to analysis based upon general principles of regulatory theory. This article is less concerned with the details of banking law than it is with using regulatory to shape policy guidelines for the coming process of deposit insurance reform.
Regulatory Theory And Deposit Insurance Reform, R. Mark Williamson
Regulatory Theory And Deposit Insurance Reform, R. Mark Williamson
Cleveland State Law Review
The purpose of this article, however, is not to summarize the maze of federal and state banking regulation. Instead, recognizing that deposit insurance is a centerpiece of the overall regulatory scheme to which any financial institution in the United States is subject, this article is primarily concerned with subjecting this form of bank regulation to analysis based upon general principles of regulatory theory. This article is less concerned with the details of banking law than it is with using regulatory to shape policy guidelines for the coming process of deposit insurance reform.
Post Smith V. Van Gorkom Director Liability Legislation With A Proactive Perspective, Lynn A. Howell
Post Smith V. Van Gorkom Director Liability Legislation With A Proactive Perspective, Lynn A. Howell
Cleveland State Law Review
The Van Gorkom decision was viewed by many as the catalyst which triggered the dramatic increases in the number of shareholder suits filed, director and officer (hereinafter D & 0) insurance policy cancellations, skyrocketing premiums, and the flight of the outside directors.' Devastating decisions like Van Gorkom could be prevented or at least be of a lesser magnitude if corporate counsel chose to use the proactive approach to corporate representation by employing the techniques of preventive law. The theory is similar to the time honored cliché "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." This Article will address …
Where Have All The Directors Gone: Corporate Director And Officer Liability And Coping With The Insurance Crisis, Richard A. Myers Jr.
Where Have All The Directors Gone: Corporate Director And Officer Liability And Coping With The Insurance Crisis, Richard A. Myers Jr.
Cleveland State Law Review
Smith v. Van Gorkom set in motion a trend of increased exposure for directors and officers of American corporations....Directors and officers insurance may be either unavailable or unaffordable,...As a general rule, the best way to cope with the change in the business environment and the insurance crisis is to plan in advance for it. Through careful corporate structuring and planning, while remaining flexible, a small company can maximize their protection from liability. The factors to consider range from a careful drafting of the corporate articles and bylaws to the creation of captive insurance companies.
Product Liability: Curse Or Bulwark Of Free Enterprise, Guido Calabresi
Product Liability: Curse Or Bulwark Of Free Enterprise, Guido Calabresi
Cleveland State Law Review
What the government and the various states which have also reacted to the product liability "crisis" by passing "codes" have not faced, however, is the fact that the "uncertainties" they would abolish to a large extent only reflect the risks inherent in the manufacture and use of complex and even of simple products. Uncertainty and risk are allocated and occasionally misallocated by the tort system, but they are not caused by it. As a result, the proposed codes may well reallocate or shift the burdens of accident risks and uncertainty, in part or in whole, from the manufacturer (on whom …
Uninsured Motorist Coverage, Company Insolvency, And The Ohio Insurance Guaranty Association Act, Mario C. Ciano
Uninsured Motorist Coverage, Company Insolvency, And The Ohio Insurance Guaranty Association Act, Mario C. Ciano
Cleveland State Law Review
It is not often that a legislative event and a happenstance of life converge almost simultaneously upon a specific and narrow issue of law. This is precisely what occurred in Ohio in the latter part of 1970. In that year, the legislature amended the Ohio Uninsured Motorist Statute to declare, in effect, that a vehicle would be considered "uninsured" when the company insuring that vehicle for some reason became financially insolvent. The amendment became effective October 1, 1970. That same year the legislature enacted legislation to provide a fund from which claims could be paid in the eventuality that an …
Set-Off Under Uninsured Motorist's Coverage, Leon M. Plevin
Set-Off Under Uninsured Motorist's Coverage, Leon M. Plevin
Cleveland State Law Review
The limits of liability under uninsured motorist coverage are fixed either by policy provisions or by statute. ... These various indemnity provisions were created so as to effectively limit any payments made by the insurance carrier under the uninsured motorist endorsement in combination with any other sources of indemnification to the maximum limit of the uninsured motorist coverage. The intent of the insurance underwriter is to limit its payment under the uninsured motorist coverage to the minimum amount where the insured is indemnified or partially indemnified from more than one source. The scope of this paper will specifically be concerned …
Insurance Questions In Voir Dire, Kenneth S. Kabb
Insurance Questions In Voir Dire, Kenneth S. Kabb
Cleveland State Law Review
The scope of this article includes the voir dire examination in the federal courts, primarily in civil cases. The questions to be considered are: (1) how is the voir dire examination to be conducted; (2) what are the limitations imposed on the trial judge, counsel, and the parties with respect to the manner and conduct of the questioning; (3) what is the allowable scope of questions that may be asked prospective jurors; and (4) what will constitute reversible error, and who has the burden of proof.
Payment Of Punitive Damages By Insurance Companies, Martin G. Lentz
Payment Of Punitive Damages By Insurance Companies, Martin G. Lentz
Cleveland State Law Review
The logic and validity of the public policy argument that to require insurance companies to pay punitive damages would place a burden upon the innocent insurance carrier, and ultimately the public itself, is weak and indefensible. The concern for not wanting to punish the insurance carrier, an innocent party, is not logical since any insurance company is an innocent party. The involvement is based on the contractual relationship of indemnification. If an insurance company does not wish to indemnify for punitive damages, then it should specifically exclude such coverage in the policy. In the absence of such a specific exclusion, …
Fair Dealing In Personal Injury Cases, Philip J. Hermann
Fair Dealing In Personal Injury Cases, Philip J. Hermann
Cleveland State Law Review
It is submitted that where there is fair dealing on the part of plaintiff's attorney and insurance company, a great deal of needless expense to both will have been eliminated enabling insurance companies to handle their claims and lawsuits with fewer personnel and smaller defense fees. And plaintiff's attorneys on their part, will be able to bring to conclusion more work during the course of a year; and where a staff is required, they will be able to operate with fewer personnel. The result to the plaintiff's attorney will be an increase in net income and perhaps more time for …
Charitable Immunity: The Plague Of Modern Tort Concepts, Ronald M. Lipson
Charitable Immunity: The Plague Of Modern Tort Concepts, Ronald M. Lipson
Cleveland State Law Review
It is the purpose of this paper to analyze the grounds upon which charitable institutions have been granted immunity from tort liability, to consider changing conditions and concepts affecting immunity, and finally, to discuss the extent to which the immunity exception should be abandoned.
Appeasement Of Tort Claimants, S. Burns Weston
Appeasement Of Tort Claimants, S. Burns Weston
Cleveland State Law Review
Justice does not always mean that a case should be tried. By the same token, justice does not always mean that every case should be settled without trial. One of our difficulties is that too often there is more interest in the expedient settlement of differences between litigants than in a judicial determination of rights according to principles of law.
Hospital Tort Liability, Aaron Jacobson
Hospital Tort Liability, Aaron Jacobson
Cleveland State Law Review
Public Benefit Activities of a hospital, university or welfare agency have been looked upon with special favor by the law for many decades-a genuine kind of legalistic paternalism. They being institutions of beneficent motive, the policy of the judiciary has been to aid them through notable departures from the rules. Arguments to the contrary met a stone wall of "public policy." One such departure is exemplified in the immunity from liability for the tortious conduct of their employees that hospitals have enjoyed. Thus, a patient injured through negligence while in the care of a hospital often had no recourse, no …
The New Ohio Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act, A Preliminary View, Nelson G. Karl
The New Ohio Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act, A Preliminary View, Nelson G. Karl
Cleveland State Law Review
The purpose of the Ohio Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act is to reduce the number of unsatisfied judgments entered against those found liable in motor vehicle accidents. The new Act provides that an operator of a motor vehicle must either carry liability insurance or be in a position to deposit security if and when he is involved in an accident. Under the present Financial Responsibility Act, the registrar revokes an operator's license where there is a failure to satisfy a final judgment. The new Act enables the registrar to revoke this license before a judicial body has made a determination …
Excessive Personal Injury Awards; A Problem And A Recommendation, Anthony R. Nardi
Excessive Personal Injury Awards; A Problem And A Recommendation, Anthony R. Nardi
Cleveland State Law Review
An improved, workable, and sensible test for "excessiveness" in the area of personal injury awards must be established. It is fairly easy to confuse "excessive" with the concept of "large" or "high" awards. In some particular instances perhaps relatively larger or higher awards are proper in today's economy. But, the bulk of over a million injury cases is at a level fairly easy to classify and thereby to compensate properly. When proper standards are established, then awards become excessive when they go beyond this just and equitable measure. Classifications and guides for the vast majority of personal injury claims will …