Law Commons^™

Milking The Estate, David R. Hague

Faculty Articles

Recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases are exposing a widespread problem. Chapter 7 trustees are retaining their own law firms to represent them and then in clear breach of their fiduciary duties to creditors-requesting illegitimate legal fees to be paid by the estate. This practice is immoral and particularly harmful to creditors. Indeed, every dollar paid to the trustee and his firm is a dollar that will not be distributed to creditors. The Bankruptcy Code, remarkably, allows a trustee to retain his own law firm to represent him in his capacity as a trustee. But this inherently conflicted arrangement is not …

Legal Malpractice In International Business Transactions, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

International business transactions are often unavoidably linked to specialized areas of law. Lawyers increase their risk of committing legal malpractice when representing international clients in business transactions because they may find themselves in a precarious position by accepting work they are inexperienced to perform. Moreover, a client may expand into international waters and their lawyer may not be cognizant of the legal consequences. While malpractice may be asserted through negligence, fraud, breach of contract and other failures of standard of care, failure to know the law is no excuse. However, the standard of care depends on whether the defendant acted …

The Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit 2004-2005 Disposition Of Insurance Decisions: A Survey And Statistical Review, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

he Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided twenty-four insurance-related cases between June 2004 and April 2005. Those cases originated in nine federal district courts. Unlike its 2002-2004 rulings, the Court of Appeals did not decide any exceptionally novel or complex substantive or procedural questions. In fact, the Fifth Circuit issued four extremely short per curiam decisions, and in two other cases, presented brief analyses and dispositions of statutes-of-limitations and exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies questions under Louisiana’s law. Although the remaining eighteen cases present a diverse body of law and legal issues, only the more novel and highly questionable Fifth Circuit insurance …

Distinguishing The Concept Of Strict Liability In Tort From Strict Products Liability: Medusa Unveiled, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The justifications for strict products liability and other cases of strict liability in torts are different and distinct. The United States judiciary has limited strict liability in tort law to seven distinct scenarios: (1) animals that are trespassing, are domesticated but vicious, or are wild by nature; (2) fact situations involving ultra-hazardous activities; (3) nuisance; (4) misrepresentation; (5) vicarious liability; (6) defamation; or (7) a workman’s compensation statute.

Strict liability is imposed for harm caused by animals capable of inflicting extensive harm. It also justifies liability for ultra-hazardous activities on the basis that an individual undertakes an activity that is …

Judicial Bias, The Insurance Industry And Consumer Protection: An Empirical Analysis Of State Supreme Courts’ Bad-Faith, Breach-Of-Contract, Breach-Of-Covenant-Of-Good-Faith And Excess-Judgment Decisions, 1900–1991, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Consumers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the services and products that the American insurance industry provides. Correspondingly, they are filing an ever-increasing number of lawsuits against insurers in state courts. While courts have ruled equally in favor of insurers and policyholders, advocates for both consumers and the insurance industry strongly believe “judicial bias” or “judicial hostility” permeates state supreme courts.

Some United States Supreme Court Justices have argued that state supreme courts are hostile towards insurance carriers. Commentators have also viciously criticized state supreme courts for being biased against insurance carriers. The contrary view that state supreme courts are anti-consumer …