Law Commons^™

The Significance Of Signatures: Why The Framers Signed The Constitution And What They Meant By Doing So, Michael Coenen

Journal Articles

The signing of the U.S. Constitution is traditionally understood as the closing act of the Constitutional Convention. This Note provides an alternative account, one that understands the Constitution’s signing as the opening act of the ratification campaign that followed in the Convention’s wake. To begin, the Note explains the signatures’ ambiguous form as the product of political maneuvering designed to win support for the Constitution during ratification. The Note then hypothesizes two ways in which the signatures may have helped to secure this support: (1) by highlighting pro-Constitution selling-points likely to resonate with the ratifying public; and (2) by limiting …

Rethinking Contractual Limits On Fiduciary Duties, Christina M. Sautter

Journal Articles

The recent financial crisis has placed a renewed focus on completion risk in the world of mergers and acquisitions. Dealmakers have increasingly attempted to control for such risks by altering merger agreement provisions to achieve a greater level of deal certainty. This Article addresses one such provision – the merger recommendation covenant and its related fiduciary out. The purpose of the merger recommendation fiduciary out is to address a tension created by two fundamental precepts arising under corporate law and contract law – a board of director’s duties to the corporation and its stockholders versus the binding covenants of a …

Convergence In Contort: Landlord Liability For Defective Premises In Comparative Perspective, Melissa T. Lonegrass

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Continuing Role Of Implied Covenants In Developing Leased Lands, Keith B. Hall

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

"Cricket On The Hearth": Edward Douglass White And The Constitution, Paul R. Baier

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Closing The Loop On Guantanamo, Scott Sullivan, Joshua Colangelo-Bryan

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Killing, Letting Die, And The Case For Mildly Punishing Bad Samaritanism, Ken M. Levy

Journal Articles

For over a century now, American scholars (among others) have been debating the merits of “bad-samaritan” laws – laws punishing people for failing to attempt “easy rescues.” Unfortunately, the opponents of bad-samaritan laws have mostly prevailed. In the United States, the “no-duty-to-rescue” rule dominates. Only four states even have bad-samaritan laws, and these laws impose only the most minimal punishment – either sub-$500 fines or short-term imprisonment.

This Article argues that this situation needs to be remedied. Every state should criminalize bad samaritanism. For, first, criminalization is required by the supreme value that we place on protecting human life, a …

Babbling About Employment Discrimination Law: Does The Builder Understand The Blueprint For The Great Tower?, William R. Corbett

Journal Articles

The article focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in which the Court held that a plaintiff asserting an intentional age discrimination claim cannot avail himself of the mixed-motives proof structure and instead must prove but-for causation. Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., 129 S. Ct. 2343 (2009). The decision was controversial, and it has provoked calls for a legislative response. My article considers Gross from two perspectives. First, Gross is the second Supreme Court decision, following Desert Palace, Inc. v. Costa, 539 U.S. 90 (2003), to interpret the effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 on the …

Private Force/Public Goods, Scott M. Sullivan

Journal Articles

This Article rethinks the benefits and dangers of private force in war. It shows that privatization must be viewed within the special requirements and confines of national security policy making and weighed against available alternatives. Contrary to academic and mainstream conventional wisdom, this Article concludes that national security privatization comports well with core constitutional and democratic principles and offers greater transparency and democratic control than commonly understood. Moreover, this Article argues that the American use of privatized force reflects and accomplishes normative and democratic commitments of international and domestic law that would be impossible to replicate through other policy avenues.

Evolving Viruses And Stagnant Public Health Policies: Flu, Fear, And Free Riders, Edward P. Richards

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Under Pressure: Rethinking Externships In A Bleak Economy, Robert Lancaster, Cynthia Baker

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Honoring International Obligations In U.S. Trademark Law: How The Lanham Act Protects Well-Known Foreign Marks (And Why The Second Circuit Was Wrong), Lee Ann Lockridge

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts On Chuck Lorre: "Bad Words" And "The Raging Paranoia Of Our Network Censors", Christine Corcos

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

When Is A Use In Commerce A Noncommercial Use?, Lee Ann Lockridge

Journal Articles

When is a use in commerce a noncommercial use? This question may sound like the opening for a ridiculous legal riddle, but it is a real conundrum in trademark dilution law. The current federal dilution statute, section 43(c) of the Lanham Act, creates liability based on the "use of a mark or trade name in commerce," when that use is likely to blur or tarnish a famous mark. At the same time, the statute characterizes certain activities as nonactionable "exclusions," including 'any noncommercial use of a mark." So the use of a mark in commerce can be a noncommercial use-but …