Law Commons^™

The European Directive On Products Liability: The Promise Of Progress?, Lawrence C. Mann, Peter R. Rodrigues

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Shellfish Contamination: Reducing The Necessity For Scientific Evidence In Natural Resource Damages Under The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, And Liability Act, Matthew J. Koes

University of Massachusetts Law Review

It is indisputable that shellfish contamination creates a negative impact on the economy, poses a serious risk to human health, and has a harmful effect on the fragile coastal ecosystems. However, the litigation designed to redress the harmful effects of shellfish contamination produces uncounted difficulties. Although a general public policy of preventing pollution has led Congress to enact and revise CERCLA, the application of such a statute has proven to be uncertain due to the enormous amount of discretion given to the trial courts in deciding admissibility of scientific evidence and testimony of experts. A CERLA natural resource damage action …

Passive Takings: The State's Affirmative Duty To Protect Property, Christopher Serkin

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause is to protect property owners from the most significant costs of legal transitions. Paradigmatically, a regulatory taking involves a government action that interferes with expectations about the content of property rights. Legal change has therefore always been central to regulatory takings claims. This Article argues that it does not need to be and that governments can violate the Takings Clause by failing to act in the face of a changing world. This argument represents much more than a minor refinement of takings law because recognizing governmental liability for failing to act means …

Supreme Court, New York County, Uhlfelder V. Weinshall, David Schoenhaar

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Court Of Appeals Of New York, Consumers Union Of United States, Inc. V. New York, Daphne Vlcek

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appellate Division, Third Department, Novara Ex Rel. Jones V. Cantor Fitzgerald, Lp, Kerri Grzymala

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reclassification Risks For Compensation Paid By S And C Corporations To Shareholder-Employees, Stephen R. Looney

William & Mary Annual Tax Conference

No abstract provided.

What Is Criminal Restitution?, Cortney E. Lollar

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

A new form of restitution has become a core aspect of criminal punishment. Courts now order defendants to compensate victims for an increasingly broad category of losses, including emotional and psychological losses and losses for which the defendant was not found guilty. Criminal restitution therefore moves far beyond its traditional purpose of disgorging a defendant's ill-gotten gains. Instead, restitution has become a mechanism of imposing additional punishment. Courts, however, have failed to recognize the punitive nature of restitution and thus enter restitution orders without regard to the constitutional protections that normally attach to criminal proceedings. This Article deploys a novel …

Thin-Skull Plaintiffs, Socio-Cultural "Abnormalities" And The Dangers Of An Objective Test For Hypersensitivity, Eugene C. Lim

Dalhousie Law Journal

The extent to which "hypersensitivity" can serve as a legal basis for demanding additional compensation has always been a controversial issue in tort law. A key challenge facing courts lies in determining how the "thin-skull rule," traditionally related to physical conditions that predispose an individual to additional injury, can be applied to claims from "hypersensitive" plaintiffs citing personality-linked vulnerabilities of a religious, socio-cultural, or psychiatric nature. This article critically evaluates the viability of the "ordinary-fortitude test" adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada in Mustapha v. Culligan, and discusses the relative merits of a "multi-factorial test" in determining the admissibility …

Justifying A Prudential Solution To The Williamson County Ripeness Puzzle, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

What Owners Want And Government Do: Evidence From The Oregon Experiment, Bethany R. Berger

Bethany Berger

In 2004, Oregonians decisively approved Ballot Measure 37. The measure answered the calls of critics of contemporary takings jurisprudence by requiring either compensation for losses caused by land use restrictions imposed after acquisition of the property or waivers of the restrictions. Three years later, voters acted to repeal most of Measure 37 by an even greater margin. Together the birth, brief life, and rapid demise of Measure 37 comprise an unusual natural experiment in property law. The results of this experiment go to the heart of debates about regulatory takings in property law and policy. First, the Oregon experience resulted …

The Ripeness Game: Why Are We Still Forced To Play?, Michael M. Berger

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Changing Tides: The Introduction Of Punitive Damages Into The French Legal System, Matthew K.J. Parker

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Ledbetter V. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Derrick A. Bell Jr.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cercla's Mistakes, John Copeland Nagle

John Copeland Nagle

No abstract provided.

Supplemental Pay Or Supplemental Power?: Why The Ohio General Assembly's Compensation Structure Unconstitutionally Centralizes Power In The General Assembly Leadership, Frank Camardo

Cleveland State Law Review

In the Ohio House and Senate, committee chairpersons and other select members of legislative committees receive a supplemental salary, in addition to their base legislator pay, for their service on the committee. The Ohio Constitution, however, mandates that legislator pay be fixed by law (hereinafter “Fixed Compensation Provision”) and that no changes to compensation take place during the term (hereinafter “No Change Provision”). Because the Speaker of the House and the Senate President have the power to discretionarily appoint and remove committee chairpersons during the term, compensation necessarily changes during the term of a removed chairperson. Such in-term changes violate …

Trafficking In Human Beings: Partial Compliance Theory, Enforcement Failure, And Obligations To Victims, Leslie P. Francis, John G. Francis

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Trafficking—the coerced exploitation of people—is a major global concern. Primary forms of trafficking include sex trafficking, labor trafficking, trafficking in organs, trafficking in reproduction, and trafficking in child soldiers. This paper explores whether “host” countries — destinations for trafficking — have special obligations to provide trafficked persons with support needed to escape trafficking and to deal with the damage it has caused. This support includes asylum, healthcare, food, and shelter, at least for an initial period of time.

Tort As A Substitute For Revenge, Scott Hershovitz

Book Chapters

In 1872, the Supreme Court of Illinois decided a case called Alcorn v Mitchell. It was not the first litigation between the parties. Some years earlier, Alcorn had sued Mitchell for trespass. That suit did not go well, and at the close of the trial, just after the court adjourned, Alcorn spit in Mitchell’s face. Mitchell then turned the tables and sued Alcorn for battery. He won a judgment for $1,000, which was a lot of money back then—depending on how you think about the change in value of money over time, the present day equivalent would range from just …

The Potential Unintended Consequences Of The O'Bannon Decision, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow