Law Commons^™

Logic And The Common Law Trial, Richard H. Underwood

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In this article, the author explores some of the inconsistencies between logic and the practice of law. The article draws together numerous anecdotes and examples of situations in which common sense was rejected or ignored in the name of legal procedure. The article focuses on various argument styles employed by lawyers.

Risk Management For Lawyers, William H. Fortune, Dulaney O’Roark

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Lawyers are under siege. We have become objects of scorn, ridicule, and occasional hatred. If you take your child to the Stephen Spielberg movie Jurassic Park, be prepared for the cheers when the cloned Tyrannosaurus Rex gobbles the lawyer—not a bad guy at all—cowering in the outhouse. In San Francisco a client burst into a California law firm and killed eight and wounded six persons before taking his own life. In response, the president of the California bar linked lawyer-bashing to hate crimes and prevailed on the Miller Brewing Company to withdraw a television commercial depicting a "lawyer-roping rodeo" …

Tort Liability For Asbestos Removal Costs, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

During the past twenty years, Congress and the general public have become increasingly aware of the health hazards caused by exposure to toxic substances. Consequently, Congress has enacted statutes, such as CERCLA, requiring parties who are responsible for toxic waste to clean up the toxic waste sites and to reduce the level of toxic chemicals in the environment. Asbestos is one toxic substance that government has targeted in particular. The federal government and many states have enacted laws requiring asbestos-containing materials to be segregated or removed from schools and public buildings.

Even when government regulations do not mandate specific abatement …

Comparative Analysis Of Labor Mediation Using A Bargaining Strength Model, Alvin L. Goldman

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The comparison of different legal systems offers a number of analytical and research advantages, one of which is that it provides a laboratory for observing differences and similarities in the ways in which common regulatory and dispute resolution models operate in similar and dissimilar environments. This Essay uses that laboratory to illustrate how the bargaining strength model presented in Settling for More: Mastering Negotiation Strategies and Techniques can be applied in analyzing mediatory interventions and provide a better understanding of (a) how such interventions can be utilized most effectively, (b) when they are useful, (c) when they are superfluous, and …

Individual And Institutional Responsibility: A Vision For Comparative Fault In Products Liability, Mary J. Davis

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Since the adoption of strict products liability over the last thirty years, two problems of scope have received the most attention: how to define product defectiveness to which the liability attaches, and how to limit the potentially limitless liability through defenses. Much like the industries of the nineteenth century, product liability defendants of the twentieth century turned to the plaintiff's conduct as a main line of defense. Blaming the victim has historically been a powerful tool for tort defendants to evade responsibility for their conduct. This Article proposes that the defenses based on victim fault that have evolved in our …

“Endgame”: Competency And The Execution Of Condemned Inmates—A Proposal To Satisfy The Eighth Amendment's Prohibition Against The Infliction Of Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Roberta M. Harding

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The first section of this Article provides a brief historical overview of the proscription against executing the incompetent and the proffered rationales. This section also examines key factors contributing to the increase in the number of mentally dysfunctional condemned inmates. Then the Article explores the traditional competency-to-execute model that remains in use. This analysis will include a discussion of specific issues, such as: the term used to describe the requisite mental affliction, how that term is defined in order to identify who may ultimately benefit from the rule in Ford v. Wainwright, what standard is appropriate to determine whether …