Law Commons^™

Centuries Of Contract Common Law Can't Be All Wrong: Why The Uma's Exception To Mediation Confidentiality In Enforcement Proceedings Should Be Embraced And Broadened, Peter Robinson

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and House of Delegates of the American Bar Association recently approved the Uniform Mediation Act ("UMA") with an eye toward unifying the law of mediation confidentiality in the United States. Soon, numerous states and other organizations will consider modifying statutes, court rules, or professional standards to conform to the UMA. One of the important aspects of mediation confidentiality is how it applies when enforcing a mediated agreement.' In some jurisdictions, mediation confidentiality interferes with the application of contract law when enforcing a mediated agreement to produce absurd results. This article will …

Uma And The Uncitral Model Rule: An Emerging Consensus On Mediation And Conciliation, The, Jernej Sekolec, Michael B. Getty

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In this article, we describe how these two efforts have come together to forge an international consensus on mediation and conciliation. In Part I, we look at how some of the different ways that domestic nationals treat the confidentiality of conciliation communications. The disparity of these treatments leads to considerable uncertainty among parties to a conciliation. In Part II, we note the essential features of the UNCITRAL Model Law, and how it addresses this uncertainty through model rules that will harmonize international standards among adopting nations, at least on core issues, while at the same time preserving the flexibility that …

Silent Treatment: Removing The Class Action From The Plaintiff's Toolbox Without Ever Saying A Word - Bazzle V. Green Tree Fin. Corp., The, Andrea Lockridge

Journal of Dispute Resolution

A motion for class certification is often a pivotal point in a lawsuit, playing a determinative role throughout the course of the litigation. Plaintiffs use the class action as a tool to consolidate common claims against a defendant, bypassing the expensive process of bringing suit individually. 2 Defendants hotly contest certification of the class, seeking to avoid the ramifications of a judgment which reflects the cumulative losses of the multitude. This casenote addresses the effects of allowing an arbitration clause that is silent as to class-wide arbitration to preclude the plaintiffs' option to bring suit as a class, and the …

Pre-Dispute Mandatory Arbitration Agreements And Title Vii: Promoting Efficiency While Protecting Employee Rights - Eeoc V. Luce, Forward, Hamilton & (And) Scripps, Steven S. Poindexter

Journal of Dispute Resolution

While the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that claims based on statutory rights may be vindicated by arbitration, the Court has yet to determine the validity of a pre-dispute mandatory arbitration agreement ("MAA") that covers Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"). The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, contrary to every other district court of appeals to have considered the matter, has held that Title VII claims may not be subjected to arbitration under an MAA. The instant case once again addresses the question of whether the Ninth Circuit will …

Retribution For Rats: Cooperation, Punishment, And Atonement, Michael A. Simons

Vanderbilt Law Review

To mobsters, he is a "rat"; to drug dealers, a "snitch." To school children, he is a "tattletale"; to corporate executives, a "whistle- blower." To cops, he is an "informant"; to prosecutors, a "cooperator." By whatever name he is known, the person who betrays his associates to the authorities is almost universally reviled. In movies, on television, in literature, the cooperator embodies all that society holds in contempt: he is disloyal, deceitful, greedy, selfish, and weak. The cooperator, though, has long been a mainstay of our criminal justice system. For centuries, criminal defendants have received leniency in return for testimony …

Corrective Justice In Contract Law: Is There A Case For Punitive Damages?, Curtis Bridgeman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Twentieth-century American legal theory has been dominated by utilitarian and economic approaches. As a result, scholarly analyses of contract and tort law have focused on the public effects of the resolution of private disputes. But in the last twenty years or so justice has undergone a renaissance as so-called corrective-justice theorists have tried to shift the discussion in private law back to the relationships between individual parties. Tort law has been a particularly fertile ground for corrective-justice theorists, and a lively debate has developed about what the best corrective-justice account of tort law would look like.

By contrast, comparatively little …

Presidential Power In Transitions, Jack M. Beermann

Faculty Scholarship

The transition between presidencies has long created controversies. Whether the issue is "midnight judges" or "midnight regulations," presidential action at the end of a term has long provoked scrutiny and criticism. Presidents have also raised eyebrows at the beginning of their terms when they assert their authority and try to undo what their predecessor in office left behind. More than one president has taken action aimed specifically at "midnight regulations," such as ordering a freeze on the issuance of new regulations, a review of regulations issued at the end of the prior administration and other similar action. This article looks …

Indigenous Territoriality In Canadian Courts, Douglas C. Harris

All Faculty Publications

Territoriality describes the communication or assignment of meaning to particular boundaries in order to assert control over a define space. It encompasses the strategies, used by those attempting to maintain control and those seeking to acquire it, to give meaning to the spatial boundaries that demarcate jurisdiction. This chapter explores the competing territorialities of the Canadian state and indigenous peoples in the context of litigation over Aboriginal rights to fish. Access to and management of the fisheries have been and continue to be one of the principal points of conflict between the state and indigenous peoples. The disputes frequently lead …

The Corporation As Symphony: Are Shareholders First Violin Or Second Fiddle?, Janis P. Sarra

All Faculty Publications

This article focuses on shareholders and whether the current regime affords them adequate protection and participation rights. Recent changes to corporate and securities laws have facilitated the exercise of shareholder voice. These changes are important to capital markets in that they are aimed at increasing investor confidence and hence the strength of markets. The lead in shareholder activism is being taken by institutional shareholders who are utilizing new proxy and proposal provisions to express governance preferences regarding key issues such as independence of audit committees and enhanced transparency in financial disclosures. However, there continue to be barriers that institutional and …

Law, Theory And Aboriginal Peoples, Gordon Christie

All Faculty Publications

Some Aboriginal people see domestic Canadian law as alien and oppressive. This paper explores one source of this perception. By examining the layers of theory and world-view upon which the law is based, it finds conflict with the sensibilities of Aboriginal peoples. The author argues that a liberal vision supports and enlivens the law, and because it is grounded in this vision, the law cannot protect the interests of Aboriginal peoples. In analyzing the current legal approach to the protection of Aboriginal interests, an alternative liberal argument based on group autonomy is also considered. By examining the debate between liberal …

Towards A Single Definition Of Armed Conflict In International Humanitarian Law: A Critique Of Internationalized Armed Conflict, James G. Stewart

All Faculty Publications

The strict division of international humanitarian law into rules applicable in international armed conflict and those relevant to armed conflicts not of an international nature is almost universally criticized. Even though attempts to abandon the distinction were made at every stage of negotiation of the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols, calls for a single body of international humanitarian law have since died out. This article revives those calls by highlighting the inadequacies of the current dichotomy’s treatment of internationalized armed conflicts, namely, armed conflicts that involve internal and international elements. It concludes that the law developed to determine this “internationalization” …

Environmental Management Systems And Public Authority In Canada: Rethinking Environmental Governance, Stepan Wood

All Faculty Publications

Using the example of environmental management systems (EMS) and the ISO 14001 standard, I propose a typology of eight ways in which public authorities interact with voluntary environmental initiatives: 1. Steering (influencing the development, use or content of voluntary initiatives through official policy pronouncements, participation in standards development or creation of legal ground rules or backstops for voluntary initiatives), 2. Self-discipline (applying voluntary initiatives to government operations or agreeing to international trade rules that turn voluntary standards into constraints on regulatory authority), 3. Knowledge production (generating and disseminating ideas, information and expertise about the design, use or value of voluntary …

Holding Liability Insurers Accountable For Bad Faith Litigation Tactics With The Tort Of Abuse Of Process, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

Liability insurers generally do not owe any common law duties to injured third-party claimants who sue their insureds. After establishing (as a conceptual backdrop) the important and recognized public policies favoring prompt and fair payments by liability insurers to injured third-party claimants, this article analyzes whether claimants can effectively use the tort of abuse of process to hold liability insurers accountable when they engage in bad faith litigation tactics. The article identifies the problems that claimants may face in alleging abuse of process in the liability insurance setting, but also indicates that recent trends in this area of law suggest …

The Middle Class Fourth Amendment, Craig M. Bradley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Opt-In Privacy Rules On Retail Credit Markets: A Case Study Of Mbna, Fred H. Cate, Michael Staten

Articles by Maurer Faculty

U.S. privacy laws are increasingly moving from a presumption that consumers must object to ("opt out" of) uses of personal data they wish to prohibit to a requirement that they must explicitly consent ("opt in") to uses they wish to permit. Despite the growing reliance on opt-in rules, there has been little empirical research on their costs. This Article examines the impact of opt-in on MBNA Corporation, a diversified, multinational financial institution. The authors demonstrate that opt-in would raise account acquisition costs and lower profits, reduce the supply of credit and raise credit card prices, generate more offers to uninterested …

Practice What You Preach: California's Obligation To Give Full Faith And Credit To The Vermont Civil Union, Christopher D. Sawyer

UC Law Journal

This Note evaluates the inter-jurisdictional effect of the Vermont Civil Union statute. A same-sex couple who enters into a civil union in Vermont currently enjoys all of the Vermont state benefits typically conferred only on married couples. The Federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") removes the burden on states of having to afford full faith and credit to same-sex marriages. As such, this Note discusses whether the DOMA is applicable to the Vermont Civil Union in addition to same-sex "marriages." Furthermore, this Note discusses whether California, if not obliged federally under the DOMA to recognize the civil union, is nonetheless …

Clear Sailing Agreements: A Special Form Of Collusion In Class Action Settlements, William D. Henderson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

A clear sailing agreement (or clause) is a compromise in which a class action defendant agrees not to contest the class lawyer's petition for attorneys' fees. This Article argues that clear sailing provisions often facilitate collusive settlements in cases involving non-pecuniary relief or claims-made common funds that return all unclaimed monies to the defendant. Because these types of settlements present difficult valuation problems, trial courts lack a clear benchmark for calculating attorneys' fees. Defendants and class can exploit this uncertainty by presenting an inflated settlement value to the court (to justify higher attorneys' fees) while simultaneously reducing the true cost …

Anticompetitive Settlement Of Intellectual Property Disputes, Mark D. Janis, Herbert J. Hovenkamp, Mark A. Lemley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Shenpi (Licensing) Reform From The Perspective Of One Municipal Jurisdiction: Ideologies, Institutions, And Law, Wei Cui

All Faculty Publications

The Administrative Licensing Law (xingzheng xuke fa) will constitute a major addition to Chinese administrative law, and the rhetoric surrounding its drafting promises path-breaking reform of the Chinese regulatory state. This report critically assesses that promise by chronicling the actual course of shenpi (licensing) reform carried out in Shenzhen in 2001. Shenpi reform derives its novelty from questioning the rationale of regulatory policies and not just the procedures by which they are carried out. In Shenzhen, however, the reform revolved around an effort to achieve quantitative reduction in the number of shenpi procedures, which could reflect either changes in the …

Tax Policy And Global Warming, David G. Duff

All Faculty Publications

The Canadian government announced its ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on December 17, 2002. Under this protocol, Canada has agreed to reduce annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to 6 percent below 1990 levels during the period 2008-2012 - a commitment that requires a 30 percent reduction relative to projected GHG emissions for 2010 assuming business as usual. In order to achieve this objective, the Canadian government has established specific reduction targets and proposed various policy instruments in its climate change action plan (CCAP) released in November 2002. Although the main …

Immigration, Civil Rights, And Coalitions For Social Justice, Kevin R. Johnson

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The treatment of "aliens," particularly noncitizens of color, under the U.S. immigration laws reveals volumes about domestic race relations in the nation. A deeply complicated, often volatile, relationship exists between racism directed toward U.S. citizens and that aimed at noncitizens. The United States has a long history of treating racial minorities in the United States harshly, at times savagely. Noncitizen racial minorities, as foreigners not part of the national community, generally have been subject to similar, although not identical, cruelties but also have suffered deportation, indefinite detention, and more. One need look to further than the treatment of Arab and …

The Deeper Challenges Of Global Terrorism: A Democratizing Response, Andrew L. Strauss, Richard A. Falk

School of Law Faculty Publications

The audacious and gruesome terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, along with the military response, have been the defining political events of this new millennium. The most profound challenge directed at the international community, and to all of us, is to choose between two alternative visions. What we call the traditional statist response emphasizes 'national security' as the cornerstone of human security. Centralization of domestic authority, secrecy, militarism, nationalism, and an emphasis on unconditional citizen loyalty, to her or his state as the primary organizing feature of international politics are all attributes of this approach.

We …

Indian Gambling In Ohio: What Are The Odds?, Blake Watson

School of Law Faculty Publications

This article describes the options available to Indian groups and recognized Indian tribes to establish off-reservation gaming operations pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The Meaning Of Life: Defining "Major Life Activities" Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Kiren Dosanjh Zucker

Marquette Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Expanding The Debate On Race, Poverty, Social Justice, And The Law, Margaret M. Russell

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Beyond Reparations: Accommodating Wrongs Or Honoring Resistance, Natsu Taylor Saito

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Reparations for historic wrongs, particularly those done to large groups of people on the basis of their racially constructed identity, is a topic of much current debate. Because the harm caused by such injustices can never really be repaired, the question becomes one of what kind of acknowledgement and direct compensation to victims is appropriate and, more fundamentally, whether the institutional structures that perpetuate such wrongs have been changed to ensure that the injuries are not perpetuated or repeated. Applying some lessons learned from redress to Japanese Americans interned during World War I, this essay suggests that movements for reparations …

Officer, Where's My Stuff - The Constitutional Implications Of A De Facto Property Disability For Homeless People, Kevin Bundy

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

As municipalities across the nation employ increasingly aggressive anti-homeless policies, homeless people are suffering seizure and destruction of their personal belongings without due process or compensation. Courts generally have not proven receptive to homeless people's claims based on loss of personal property, in some instances refusing to recognize that the homeless can exercise any legally protected property interest at all. Homeless existence itself-a lack of private, defensible space in which to perform basic life functions and secure ownership over personal belongings-leaves homeless people with no legally sanctioned place in which to dwell, and exposes them to arbitrary deprivations of whatever …

Refugee Policy And Cultural Identity: In The Voice Of Hmong And Iu Mien Young Adults, Bill Ong Hing

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

U.S. refugee admission and resettlement policies have helped to shape the cultural identities of refugees in America in unanticipated ways. In this article, the author examines the effects of these policies on the young adult members of two small Laotian refugee groups-the Hmong and the Iu Mien. After reviewing the ad hoc admission and resettlement programs of the federal government, the author reviews a collection of interviews of young college students and discovers a range of attitudes on identity, mainstream culture, religion, and the desire to maintain ethnic culture. The cultural identity being developed by Ju Mien and Hmong young …

Judging The Judges, James Andrew Wynn Jr.

Marquette Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rediscovering A Coherent Rationale For Substantive Due Process, Peter Preiser

Marquette Law Review

No abstract provided.