Law Commons^™

Salvaging A Legacy In Ruin: Why Experts Should Reevaluate Their Position Regarding President Buchanan, Joseph E. Boccia

Honors Scholar Theses

On March 4^th, 1857, James Buchanan was sworn in as the 15^th President of the United States of America. Now, more than 150 years later, he is remembered as a presidential failure if he is remembered at all. During his presidency, many events transpired that directly led to the Civil War, and many historians believe that Buchanan’s inaction or inability to prevent the Civil War is evidence that he was an unworthy president. Based on the many rankings of United States Presidents that have been released over the past …

Misreading Like A Lawyer: Cognitive Bias In Statutory Interpretation, Jill Anderson

Faculty Articles and Papers

Statutory interpretation dilemmas arise in all areas of law, where we often script them as scenes of conflict between a statute's literal text and its animating purpose. This Article argues that, for an important class of disputes, this supposed discord between text and purpose is an illusion. In fact, lawyers are overlooking ambiguities of literal meaning that align well with statutory purpose. The form of ambiguity in question inheres not in individual words, but at the level of the sentence. What triggers a split in readings are verbs that linguists classify as "opaque," which are perfectly common in legal texts: …

Legislating Incentives For Attorney Representation In Civil Rights Litigation, Douglas M. Spencer, Sean Farhang

Faculty Articles and Papers

Congress routinely relies on private lawsuits to enforce its mandates. In this article, we investigate whether, when it does so, the details of the legislation can importantly influence the extent to which the private bar is mobilized to carry out the prosecutorial function. Using an original and novel data set based on review of archived litigation documents for cases filed in the Northern and Eastern Districts of California over the two decades spanning 1981-2000, we examine the effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which increased economic damages available to Title VII job discrimination plaintiffs, on their ability to …

Affordable Care Act, Remedy, And Litigation Reform, The, Brendan Maher

Faculty Articles and Papers

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“ACA”) rewrote the law of private health insurance. How the ACA rewrote the law of civil remedies, however, is — to date — a question largely unexamined by scholars. Courts everywhere, including the United States Supreme Court, will soon confront this important issue. This Article offers a foundational treatment of the ACA on remedy. It predicts a series of flashpoints over which litigation reform battles will be fought. It identifies several themes that will animate those conflicts and trigger others. It explains how judicial construction of the statute’s functional predecessor, the …

Incentives And Ideology, James Kwak

Faculty Articles and Papers

This is a response to Adam Levitin's article, The Politics of Financial Regulation and the Regulation of Financial Politics: A Review Essay, 127 Harv. L. Rev. 1991 (2014). Levitin discusses various reasons for regulatory capture and highlights several potential solutions that aim to change the political governance of financial regulation. In this response, I highlight the importance of ideology (in this case, the ideology of free financial markets) in producing regulatory outcomes that are good for industry, and therefore the need for solutions that mitigate ideological capture.

Corporate Law Constraints On Political Spending, James Kwak

Faculty Articles and Papers

Corporations currently can participate in electoral politics in the United States through various means: affiliated PACs, super PACs, 501(c)(6) organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, and traditional 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. Corporate law, as generally interpreted by the courts, places few constraints on the ability of corporate insiders to engage in politics as they choose. I argue that existing statutes and case law could be interpreted to impose greater constraints on corporate political activity. Political contributions should be reviewed as potential violations of the duty of loyalty whenever they could provide personal benefits to board members and …

Class Action In The Age Of Twitter: A Dispute Systems Approach, Jeremy Mcclane

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To Climate Change Liability Litigation And A View To The Future, Joseph Macdougald

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Character And Fitness Inquiry, Leslie Levin

Faculty Articles and Papers

The bar’s character and fitness inquiry seeks to protect the public. As part of this inquiry, bar applicants are required to produce detailed information about their past histories. The rationale for this inquiry is that this information can be used to identify who will subsequently become a problematic lawyer. Bar applicants bear the burden of providing their “good” character even though there is little evidence that past conduct predicts who will become a problematic lawyer. This article looks at psychological and other research that attempt to identify factors that might predict future misconduct in the work place. It also reports …

League Of Ownership Of Teams, Conflicts Of Interest, And Personnel Exchanges, Lewis Kurlantzick

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

The Social Costs Of Choice, Free Market Ideology And The Empirical Consequences Of The 401(K) Plan Large Menu Defense, Mercer Bullard

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article explores the recent “hidden-fee” litigation trend that has consumed the 401(k) world and how recent decisions by these courts will likely result in reduced wealth for workers. The author challenges the “large menu defense” espoused by the Third, Seventh and Eight Circuit Courts of Appeals as not fitting within the intent of ERISA’s “safe harbor.” In addition, the author questions the logic of these decisions by suggesting that courts are evaluating the employers’ legal responsibilities using free-market ideology rather than the fiduciary duties prescribed by ERISA and questions the belief that “large menu” pension benefit plans are wealth-maximizing.

The Surprising Equality Of Retirement Time: Evidence From The Health And Retirement Survey, Anthony Bonen, Teresa Ghilarducci

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article discusses the impact changes to the retirement age may have on the distribution of retirement time. The author investigates the length of time men and women are alive between the date of their retirement and their death, finding that the most critical factor in determining length of retirement time is and individual’s socio-economic status. As a result, the author opines that because individuals in lower economic classes tend to die earlier, increasing the retirement age will impact these individuals disproportionally and increase retirement time inequality.

Rethinking Erisa’S Promise Of Income Security In A World Of 401(K) Plans, Lawrence A. Frolik

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article discusses the evolution of retirement income funds from defined benefit packages to 401(k) and IRA accounts and how the changing dynamic has reshaped the way retirees think about post-retirement income. The article outlines the mechanics of 401(k) accounts and rollover IRAs in the post-retirement period and presents questions about the ability of retirees to successfully address the complex issues relating to investment choices including, what entity they entrust their savings to, the volume and source of distributions, and long-term sufficiency planning. The article suggests that an increase in the use of annuities may help to resolve some of …

Overlooked And Underused: Clinical Practice Guidelines And Malpractice Liability For Independent Physicians, Ronen Avraham

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This paper discusses how the use of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) can improve the quality and delivery of healthcare in America. The author states that with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 the American healthcare system is in need of re-alignment, specifically challenging the established norms for promulgating CPGs. The article explores the legal evolution of CPGs and new legal avenues for their promulgation by examining their history and purpose. The author concludes by identifying three accountability models and arguing in favor of a private competitive regime for CPGs.

California Dreaming: The California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act, Edward A. Zelinsky

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Half of American workers are not covered by employer-sponsored retirement arrangements. The recently passed California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust Act seeks to solve this problem by mandating retirement savings arrangements for California employers, coupled with a public investment vehicle for investing these private retirement savings. The Act is important because of California’s size and status as a trendsetter for other states.

This Article is the first to examine the important legal questions the Act raises under the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA. Contrary to the drafters’ intent, the savings accounts authorized under the Act do not qualify as individual …

Nfl’S Litigation Skates Onto The Ice, Melanie A. Orphanos

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article addresses the insurance implications of the pending concussion litigation between the National Hockey League and its current and former players. The author draws comparisons to similar litigation brought against the National Football League and the NFL's interactions with its insurers to forecast the obstacles the parties in the NHL litigation will face in establishing coverage by the many insurance carriers who have insured the NHL over time. The author identifies obstacles including determining the moment when coverage is “triggered” and whether certain actions by the NHL will preclude coverage and relieve the insurers of their duty to defend …

The Harmonization Of European Contract Law: The Case Of Insurance Contracts, Juan Bataller Grau

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

The harmonization of European Contract Law for consumers and businesses continues to progress; however, without some standardization of the insurance contract, it will be difficult to achieve a true single market. This Article chronicles the European Union’s activities towards this goal, including the role of the Principles of European Insurance Contract Law, which provides a set of model rules for European legislators. The Article also analyzes: (i) the appropriate legal nature of the instrument of European Contract Law; (ii) the scope of that legal instrument (e.g. whether the instrument should cover both cross-border and domestic contracts, and whether it should …

An Affordable Care Act For Retirement Plans?, Amy B. Monahan

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

In the United States, the availability of tax subsidies for retirement savings is largely based on an individual’s employment status and whether such individual’s employer has voluntarily chosen to offer a tax-favored savings vehicle. Even where an individual has access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, such plans are too often suboptimally designed. This article proposes an incremental reform that ensures universal access to tax-favored retirement savings irrespective of employment status or employer decisions. Borrowing from the model of the Affordable Care Act, the article calls for the creation of an optional, universally available retirement plan, which would be designed according …

Retirement Policies And Related Social Changes In The Lifecycle, Russell K. Osgood

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This Essay argues that retirement policies, including retirement income and healthcare sufficiency, should be crafted in light of demographic and lifestyle changes rather than as a means to solve a larger fiscal problem. The author studies work force demographics and life expectancy in the decades following WWII as compared to today and discusses how other nations have attempted to solve the same problems currently facing the United States. As a means of addressing the increasing fiscal demands of paying for retirement, the article proposes an “omnibus” plan that extends the retirement age, introduces “means testing” for certain benefits as well …

Reinsurance As Governance: Governmental Risk Management Pools As A Case Study In The Governance Role Played By Reinsurance Institutions, Marcos Antonio Mendoza

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Scholars have eloquently detailed the “Insurance as Governance” concept, the potential capacity for reinsurer regulatory influence on insurers, and the many aspects under which these theories may arise. This Article takes the next step in analyzing the complex reinsurer-insurer relationship through empirical research into how carriers are actually influenced by reinsurers, and what effect this has on the parties. As a case study in the governance role played by reinsurance institutions, this Article organizes survey interview responses of senior officials in the governmental entity self-insured risk management pool sector into four distinct discussion areas: (i) how reinsurers influence pools in …

Information & Equilibrium In Insurance Markets With Big Data, Peter Siegelman

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Asymmetric information makes the behavior of insurance markets very difficult to predict. But this Article argues that the increasing use of Big Data by insurers will not result in forecasts of loss that are so accurate that they eliminate uncertainty, and with it, the possibility of insurance. Big Data techniques might lead to a “flip” in informational asymmetry, resulting in a situation in which insurers know more about their customers than the latter know about themselves. But the effects of such a development could actually be benign. Finally, the Article considers the potential for Big (or at least, More) Data …

Medical Big Data And Big Data Quality Problems, Sharona Hoffman

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Medical big data has generated much excitement in recent years and for good reason. It can be an invaluable resource for researchers in general and insurers in particular. This Article, however, argues that users of medical big data must proceed with caution and recognize the data’s considerable limitations and shortcomings. These include data errors, missing information, lack of standardization, record fragmentation, software problems, and other flaws. This Article analyzes a variety of data quality problems and then formulates recommendations to address these deficiencies, including data audits, workforce and technical solutions, and regulatory approaches.

Payment Protection Insurance (Ppi) Misselling: Some Lessons From The Uk, Andromachi Georgosouli

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

The misselling of Payment Protection Insurance (“PPI”) is a longstanding problem in the UK. The Treating Customers Fairly (“TCF”) initiative was introduced to tackle this problem but, despite its sophisticated inception, its effectiveness has been limited. This Article canvasses the main features of TCF as a management-based approach to regulation and highlights its initial appeal. Against this backdrop, it draws on the recent UK experience with recurring instances of PPI misselling to offer an account of the principal causes of its shortcomings in the retail financial sector. It argues that the perceived failure of this regulatory approach may be attributed …

Fortuity Victims And The Compensation Gap: Re-Envisioning Liability Insurance Coverage For Intentional And Criminal Conduct, Erik S. Knutsen

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Insurance is based on the notion that only uncertain, or fortuitous, losses are insurable. There are systemic problems, however, with the consistency in which fortuity clauses are applied in the liability insurance context. Differing interpretive approaches and litigation distortions include the use of at least three interpretive perspectives and two substantive requirements to interpret the intentional act fortuity clause, and four interpretive perspectives to interpret the criminal act fortuity clause. These problems stem from the tension between the two purposes of liability insurance (wealth protection and victim compensation) coupled with a move from explanatory rhetoric about fortuity to explanatory rhetoric …

Minding The Gap: Seeking Autism Coverage In Class Actions When State And Federal Laws Fail, Danielle M. Jaffee

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This Note examines the recent trend towards class actions to challenge insurers’ denial of autism treatment coverage. The author examines how state and federal laws regarding insurance coverage of autism treatment creates a gap allowing insurers to deny coverage, even in spite of the overwhelming proof of the beneficial nature of autism treatment for autistic individuals. Past individual challenges of insurers’ actions gave little guidance to consumers about the legal obligations of insurers for autism treatment and recent collective action has done little to provide more. The author examines the decisions of three courts determining the certification of class challenges …

Towards A Universal Framework For Insurance Anti-Discrimination Laws, Ronen Avraham, Kyle D. Logue, Daniel Schwarcz

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Discrimination in insurance is principally regulated at the state level. Surprisingly, there is a great deal of variation across coverage lines and policyholder characteristics in how and the extent to which risk classification by insurers is limited. Some statutes expressly permit insurers to consider certain characteristics, while other characteristics are forbidden or limited in various ways. What explains this variation across coverage lines and policyholder characteristics? Drawing on a unique, hand-collected data-set consisting of the laws regulating insurer risk classification in fifty-one U.S. jurisdictions, this Article argues that much of the variation in state-level regulation of risk classification can in …

Big Data And Insurance Symposium, George Jepsen

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This Article reproduces the keynote address delivered by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen at the University of Connecticut School of Law’s Spring 2014 Big Data and Insurance Symposium. In his address, Attorney General Jepsen describes the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of big data technologies. He stresses the need to consider personal privacy concerns at every step of the data collection and analysis processes. Moreover, he argues that self-policing is not enough and that it is vital for the government to play a role in defining and enforcing individual privacy protections. Attorney General Jepsen concludes by calling for …

Towards A European Supervisory Authority, Javier Vercher-Moll

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Regulation (EU) no. 1094/2010, which established a European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, may involve a major change to the management and supervision of private insurance in Spain and in the European Union. Thus, this Article analyzes the evolution from the original Insurance Committee, which boasted only advisory functions, to this new Authority, which has been given decision-making functions in addition to its advisory ones. The Article concludes by suggesting that in the future, this new Authority will be the sole supervisory body operating in all Member States, demonstrating a progression towards a new conception of supervision and regulation of …

Revenue Sharing In 401(K) Plans: Employers As Monitors?, Dana M. Muir

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

This article presents a discussion of the use of revenue sharing by mutual funds and 401(k) plan service providers. The author engages in a historical exploration of how revenue sharing has been used in 401(k) plans and highlights how regulators have taken an increased interest in ensuring disclosure of fund monies diverted for revenue sharing purposes. In addition, the article discusses how the current federal regulatory framework for employee benefits has not adapted to the increased use of 401(k) plans. The author challenges how ERISA places the burden of monitoring compensation to service providers on the employers who make the …

Risk Classification’S Big Data (R)Evolution, Rick Swedloff

Connecticut Insurance Law Journal

Insurers can no longer ignore the promise that the algorithms driving big data will offer greater predictive accuracy than traditional statistical analysis alone. Big data represents a natural evolutionary advancement of insurers trying to price their products to increase their profits, mitigate additional moral hazard, and better combat adverse selection. But these big data promises are not free. Using big data could lead to inefficient social and private investments, undermine important risk-spreading goals of insurance, and invade policyholder privacy. These dangers are present in any change to risk classification. Using algorithms to classify risk by parsing new and complex data …