Law Commons^™

Federal Rule 26(A)(2) Expert Witness Disclosures: Strategies For Composing And Attacking Expert Disclosures, Douglas B. Bates, Chelsea R. Stanley, James L. Burt Iii

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(A)(2) governs disclosure of expert testimony. The rule purports to create a clear delineation between experts that must provide a written report and those that do not. The rule then outlines the disclosure requirements that must be satisfied as to each type of expert. This article focuses on the implications of Rule 26(A)(2) in practice, with an emphasis on the field of aviation litigation. The article begins by discussing the general difference between non-retained experts and retained experts and the disclosure requirements associated with each. The article then progresses into a series of practice pointers …

Why Jurisdiction Over Airmen Enforcement And Certificate Cases Should Be Transferred From The National Transportation Safety Board To Federal District Court, Alan Armstrong

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Atc Privitization: A Solution In Search Of A Problem, Ross W. Neher

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

With recent headlines such as “Trump Budget Includes ATC Giveaway” and “Trump Calls for Air Traffic Control Spin-Off in Budget,” privatization of air traffic control (ATC) services in the United States is a hot-button political issue. Indeed, USA Today reports that President Donald Trump’s call to privatize ATC was “one of his top priorities” in his 2017 budget. And, for the first time, legislation (H.R. 2997) privatizing the ATC made it out of committee.

The discussion of ATC privatization is nothing new. Since the 1980s, several countries have privatized the management and funding of their respective ATC services. And over …

Federal Accident Investigations: Civil Litigation Viewpoint, Jill Dahlmann Rosa

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

While aviation accident investigations have come a long way from the days when they were completely shrouded in secrecy, friction still remains between investigation and litigation. Investigations are key for identifying facts, witnesses, and areas of focus. The investigation reports, however, might be excluded from trial, and litigation experts can be excluded from trial as well if they rely solely on investigation findings without conducting their own analysis. Although the federal government spends money and effort investigating accidents, the reports are not completed with evidentiary admissibility in mind. Courts are increasingly concerned by double hearsay and other evidentiary problems that …

Solving The Space Debris Crisis, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Space debris is a growing public safety problem. As described by the Kessler Syndrome, the increasing accumulation of debris will soon hinder and eventually preclude access to outer space unless the trend is swiftly reversed. The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee’s (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, as adopted by the United Nations (UN) Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), are voluntary but are enforced as mandatory regulations by major space powers; however, the guidelines only apply to new debris. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) 2017 Space Debris Conference concluded that existing space debris guidelines are inadequate and …

Welcome To The Jungle: The Application Of Foreign Law In Aircraft Accident Litigation, Bryan S. David

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Ordinarily, all legally significant aspects pertaining to a lawsuit emanate from a single state (usually the state where the lawsuit was filed), and the court assigned to the lawsuit decides the case based strictly upon the laws of that state. However, by its very nature, aircraft accident litigation often arises from factual scenarios involving people and aircraft emanating from multiple states and even multiple nations. And those scenarios often raise questions regarding which law will apply. The body of law known alternatively as “conflict of laws” or “choice of laws” was specially designed to answer those questions.

However, over the …

Minimum International Norms For Managing Space Traffic, Space Debris, And Near Earth Object Impacts, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Online Businesses Beware: Ada Lawsuits Demand Website Accessibility For Blind Plaintiffs, Ricardo Alvarado

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Lies Go Viral: The First Amendment Implications Of Regulating The Spread Of Fake News, Madeleine Rosuck

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

Distributed Ledger Technology In The Airline Industry: Potential Applications And Potential Implications, Roberto Cassar

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

The objective of this article is to merge the growing phenomenon of distributed ledger technology with the airline industry. This article attempts to attain its objective by succinctly clarifying what distributed ledger technology truly is without explaining the minutest of its details. Further, this article seeks to achieve its objective by suggesting potential manners in which this technology could apply to the airline industry; this is an endeavor that, so far, does not seem to have been undertaken in a strict academic sense. Lastly, this article strives to link these potential applications to the empire of the law by shedding …

Space Traffic Management Standards, Paul B. Larsen

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

This article is about the need for space traffic standards. It specifically focuses on international space traffic standards. Space traffic is currently tracked by radar. But, many objects—mainly space debris—moving in outer space are too small to be tracked and are still dangerous. The Kessler Syndrome predicts frequent collisions with increasing space debris in outer space in the near future. A four-fold increase in navigable outer space objects is likely. Therefore, organization of space traffic is urgently needed.

Tsai Today (2018), Southern Methodist University, Dedman School Of Law, Tsai Center For Law, Science And Innovation

Tsai Today

No abstract provided.

The Quad (The 2018 Alumni Magazine), Southern Methodist University, Dedman School Of Law

The Quad (Law Alumni Magazine), 1988-present

• Celebrating our young alumni with the Inaugural Emerging Leader Board
• SMU Dedman School of Law's decorated military veterans have fought for justice - and for country
• Technology, Innovation, and Law: Designing Legal Apps

Front Matter

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rico Run Amok, John K. Cornwell

SMU Law Review

In 1970, Congress enacted RICO to eradicate organized crime in America. To enlist the help of private citizens in this effort, the statute included civil provisions providing treble damages for plaintiffs who proved that they were injured by a pattern of racketeering activity. As the decades passed, civil RICO dramatically expanded its reach, addressing misconduct in a diverse array of contexts, including high-profile suits against the Clinton Foundation and Trump University. This Article examines this evolution, focusing on three factors that have figured prominently in civil RICO’s runaway growth: the broad interpretation of what constitutes a RICO “enterprise”; the flexibility …

Avoiding The Alien Tort Statute: A Call For Uniformity In State Court Human Rights Litigation, Alicia Pitts

SMU Law Review

For decades, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) has played a valuable role in human rights litigation in U.S. courts. However, in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the ATS’s effectiveness in a number of respects. In response to these decisions, many scholars have predicted that litigants will begin to evade the restrictive ATS jurisprudence by bringing traditional ATS cases in state courts. This comment reveals that this tactic has not become as prevalent as scholars predicted and evaluates the only two state court cases uncovered by the author’s research. This comment then explains why litigating would-be ATS cases …

A Texas Two-Step In The Right Direction—Looking Beyond Recent Legislation To Improve The Provision Of Special Education Services In Texas, Taylor Michals

SMU Law Review

This article analyzes the current state of the special education system in Texas following the 85th Legislative Session, focusing on the practical and legal implications of the limitation imposed by the Texas Education Agency in 2004 before analyzing Senate Bill 160, which requires Texas to remove the limitation on special education services, and its future impact on special education in Texas. Additionally, this article addresses Senate Bill 927, which outlined a plan to ensure that students who were previously denied services receive an adequate evaluation, why the legislation failed, and potential remedies for students who have been negatively impacted by …

The Icarus Syndrome: How Credit Rating Agencies Lost Their Quasi Immunity, Norbert Gaillard, Michael Waibel

SMU Law Review

Subsequent to the 2007–2008 subprime crisis, the SEC and the US Senate discovered that it was common practice for major credit rating agencies (CRAs) to produce inflated and inaccurate structured finance ratings. A host of explanations were posited on how this was able to happen from the “issuer pays” model of CRAs and conflicts of interest to underscoring the CRA’s regulatory license and their ensuing insulation from legal liability. Historically, credit ratings were akin to opinions. However, when courts started to consider structured finance ratings as commercial speech in the 2000s, CRAs became more vulnerable to litigation. This article studies …

Saving Grace: The Role Of Religious Organizations In Disaster Recovery And The Constitutionality Of Federal Funding To Rebuild Them, Cheslea Till

SMU Law Review

Natural disasters are on the rise and religious organizations, the same organizations that came to victims’ rescue in the wake of the last natural disaster, are often left in the path of destruction. Under President Trump’s administration, FEMA recently amended its disaster assistance program to provide funding for religious organizations. Opponents argue this amendment is a violation of the Establishment Clause, while proponents argue the amended plan finally gives religious organizations the fair treatment they deserve. This new aid program needs to be modified and restricted. Though there is clear precedent to support providing some Public Assistance funding to religious …

Front Matter

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Tribute To Professor Joseph Webb Mcknight, Jennifer M. Collins

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Legacy Of Professor Joseph Webb Mcknight, Justice Nathan L. Hecht

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Joseph W. Mcknight: Antiquarian Law Book Collector Extraordinaire, Gregory Ivy

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Joseph Webb Mcknight (Obituary Originally Printed In The Magdalen College Record), William Bridge, Gregory Ivy

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Library’S Legacy, Natalie Nanasi

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Joe Mcknight: Friend, Mentor, Scholar & Legend, Brian L. Webb

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Curious Origin Of Texas Pleading, Justice Jason Boatright

SMU Law Review

For 150 years, judges and legal scholars said that the Texas pleading system came from Spain. They explained that Mexico used a simple Spanish pleading system that English-speaking immigrants to Mexican Texas liked more than the complicated procedure they had known in the United States. After separating from Mexico, the story goes, Texas retained the Spanish system.

But that story is probably wrong. The Republic of Texas enacted its first pleading law in 1836. It does not look like Spanish pleading laws; it looks like an 1824 law written by Stephen F. Austin for his colony’s alcalde courts. Austin’s law …

Why Do Bad Antitrust Decisions Sometimes Make Good Law? The Alcoa And Brown Shoe Examples, C. Paul Rogers Iii

SMU Law Review

Do bad antitrust decisions, as based on their facts, sometimes make good law? That is, do wrongly decided antitrust cases, when considered on their merits, sometimes have a lasting impact on the law even though the decision by most accounts should simply be overruled? If so, why do cases in such disrepute on their merits have such staying power, particularly when so much early antitrust precedent is simply ignored today? The Author examines two cases, United States v. Aluminum Co. of America (Alcoa) and Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, as examples of this phenomenon.

The Changing Tides Of Adoption: Why Marriage, Race, And Family Identity Still Matter, Jessica Dixon Weaver

SMU Law Review

This essay expounds on the shifting motivation for adoption in the United States using a critical race feminist theory lens to explore how adoption remains wedded to marriage, the control of wealth, and family identity. These three elements have been historically and legally tied to race in that the law was intentionally written to exclude certain persons of color from being able to access marriage or wealth, thereby diminishing their ability to establish family identity.

This essay proceeds in three parts. Part II sets forth an overview of the evolution of adoption by exploring the breakdown of formal adoption and …