Law Commons^™

Baldia Town Factory Inferno: Justice Delayed And Denied, Rabia Bugti

MSJ Capstone Projects

The Baldia Town Factory Fire — as it came to be known — was one of the deadliest incidents in the history of Pakistan — the 9/11 of the country.

Over 260 ill-fated people lost their lives in the garments factory named Ali Enterprises, 16 of whom were charred beyond recognition. In September this year, finally after eight years, the anti-terrorism court announced its verdict (ANTI-TERRORISM COURT, 2017). Two key culprits were sentenced to death and four handed life imprisonment. According to the joint investigation team’s report, the factory was set on fire deliberately by the facilitators of a political …

Liability For Unintentional Nuisances: How The Restatement Of Torts Almost Negligently Killed The Right To Exclude In Property Law, Jill M. Fraley

Jill M. Fraley

This article argues that nuisance was historically unique in tort law because of its special role in protecting property rights.' In other words, nuisance historically had distinct features addressed to the special situation of land. Most importantly, nuisance protected the right to exclude in a way that no other cause of action did. The Second Restatement's change then diminished our rights to private property to the extent that it has been adopted. The majority of courts retain the more logical and defensible position--that property rights are special and nuisance encompasses something more than the idea of negligence.

Liability For Unintentional Nuisances: How The Restatement Of Torts Almost Negligently Killed The Right To Exclude In Property Law, Jill M. Fraley

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liability For Unintentional Nuisances: How The Restatement Of Torts Almost Negligently Killed The Right To Exclude In Property Law, Jill M. Fraley

Scholarly Articles

This article argues that nuisance was historically unique in tort law because of its special role in protecting property rights.' In other words, nuisance historically had distinct features addressed to the special situation of land. Most importantly, nuisance protected the right to exclude in a way that no other cause of action did. The Second Restatement's change then diminished our rights to private property to the extent that it has been adopted. The majority of courts retain the more logical and defensible position--that property rights are special and nuisance encompasses something more than the idea of negligence.

Easton: The Birth Of Negligence In Real Estate Broker-Purchaser Relationships, Gilbert A. Partida

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Property Rules And Defensive Conduct In Tort Law Theory, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

What role does defensive conduct play in a utilitarian theory of tort law? Why are rational (as opposed to instinctive) defensive actions permitted by tort doctrine?

To address these questions I will build on the property and liability rules framework. I argue that defensive conduct plays an important role in establishing the justification for and understanding the function of property rules, such as trespass doctrine. I show that when defensive actions are taken into account, property rules are socially preferable to liability rules in low transaction cost settings, because they obviate costly defensive actions. I extend the framework to provide …

The Growing Influence Of Tort And Property Law On Natural Resources Law: Case Studies Of Coal Bed Methane Development And Geologic Carbon Sequestration, Alexandra B. Klass

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

19 pages.

"Alexandra B. Klass, Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School"

Creating Vs Disclosing Defective Conditions In Property: Lewis V Chevron, 2004, Roger Bernhardt

Publications

This article discusses a California case which held a prior owner not liable for injuries caused by a defective condition on real property after ownership was relinquished, even if the prior owner negligently created the condition.

Landlord Liability For Assaults On Tenants: Saelzler V Advanced Group, 2001, Roger Bernhardt

Publications

This article discusses a California case which held an assault victim had failed to prove that lack of security at an apartment building resulted in entry of assailants and proximately caused her assault.

The Takings-Puzzle Puzzle, James E. Krier

Articles

My aim here is to unpack the regulatory takings problem in a way that suggests why it is intractable. The idea is to reveal some of the different types of ambiguity necessarily entailed in takings cases. Seeing these ambiguities, we readily can understand why the doctrine in this area is so confused and confusing; why there is, in short, a "takings puzzle." To my mind, it is much more difficult to understand why anyone would expect matters to be otherwise. This oddity I call the "takings-puzzle puzzle."

The Real Estate Broker And The Buyer: Negligence And The Duty To Investigate, Paula C. Murray

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Strict Liability For Chattel Leasing, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Leasing has become an increasingly popular substitute for outright purchases as a means of acquiring products for use. Few courts and commentators, however, have addressed the question of whether the principles of strict products liability which apply to sellers also apply to lessors. In this Article, Professor Ausness reviews the historical basis for imposing strict liability in tort on sellers and applies these rationales to five basic kinds of lease transactions. He concludes that strict liability should not apply when a product defect arises after the leased product is placed in the hands of the lessee (as contrasted with the …

Property–Lateral Support–Effect Of An Act Of God On Absolute Liability, Frances Shane Fendler

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trespassing Children: A Study In Expanding Liability, R. Neal Batson

Vanderbilt Law Review

When confronted with a case involving a child plaintiff, attorneys and the courts should recognize that the doctrine of attractive nuisance is only one of several theories on which the plaintiff may proceed against a landowner. The status of a plaintiff should first be determined. If the child is a trespasser, then either the constant trespasser theory, the known trespasser theory, or the doctrine of attractive nuisance may be applicable. It is possible, however, that the court may reject any one or all of these theories and decide the particular case under the general negligence principles of foreseeability of harm …

Status Of The Social Guest: A New Look, Jerry Franklin

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personal Property And Sales -- 1960 Tennessee Survey, Gilbert S. Merrit, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

A foreigner given to rash generalizations would quickly conclude upon reading this year's sales and personal property cases that the three most flourishing and litigation-producing institutions in Tennessee are the automobile, the General Motors Acceptance Corporation and bootlegging. The automobile is responsible for all five of the cases covered in this survey; in four of the five the General Motors Acceptance Corporation is the defendant; and two of the five grow out of bootlegging activities.

Agency -- 1960 Tennessee Survey, Warren A. Seavey

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Richardson v. Snipes' both parties to an exchange of land employed the plaintiff, the contract providing that the defendant would pay no commission unless the transfer was completed. The other party satisfied the conditions imposed by the defendant, who, however, refused to go through with the exchange. The court properly reversed judgment for the defendant; but the result should not have turned upon the finding of bad faith of the defendant, as the court held. The plaintiff had performed his undertaking which was to provide one who would exchange titles and who would have gone through with the transaction …

Property - Damages For Timber Trespass, Harmon D. Maxson

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Negligence - Duties Of Railroad - Landowner Toward Frequent Trespasser - Limitations On Rights Of Trespasser, William D. Keeler S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The duties of a landowner toward one who enters the land without consent may no longer be determined, in many cases, by merely stating the fact that the intruder is a trespasser whose presence is unknown to the landowner. This comment will discuss an area in which the relationship of landowner and trespasser inter se has been greatly altered, and will deal in particular with a class of cases which serve to limit the expanded rights of the trespasser.

Landowner's Liability For Infant Drowning In Artificial Pond

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Contracts--Specific Performance-Defense Of Hardship Caused By Defendant's Improvements After Giving Option To Purchase, Robert E. Anstaett

Michigan Law Review

In a lease of plaintiff's corner lot to defendant corporation in 1941, the latter granted plaintiff a five-year option to purchase adjacent lots owned by defendant for $35,000, which was then a fair price. In 1945 defendant's officers, overlooking the option agreement, authorized construction of a warehouse on the adjacent property. After defendant had expended about $20,000 in the construction, plaintiff exercised her option by giving notice to defendant. Upon defendant's refusal to convey, plaintiff sued for specific performance. The trial court dismissed the complaint. Held, reversed and remanded with instruction to decree specific performance upon condition that plaintiff …

Insurance - Right Of Insurer To Be Subrogated To Claim Of Insured Against A Third Person Where It Has Paid A Claim On Which It Was Not Liable, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff paid insured for damage done to his building because of the defendant's negligence, and received a subrogation receipt from the insured. Plaintiff now sues for damages in its own name and for its own benefit. The policy provided that it should be void if the insured did not have sole and unconditional ownership of the property. Title to the damaged property was in the name of the insured's wife, and therefore the policy was void. Held, since the insurer was not obligated under the policy, it was a mere volunteer, and could not be subrogated to the insured's …

Landlord And Tenant - Covenant By Landlord To Repair - Liability Ex Contractu For Personal Injuries Of The Tenant's Wife, Reid J. Hatfield

Michigan Law Review

One of the terms under which certain premises were leased to plaintiff's husband was a covenant by the defendant lessor to keep the premises in repair. Defendant neglected to repair two of the porch steps, although often requested by plaintiff to do so, and because of their defective condition plaintiff fell and was hurt. She brought suit on two counts; in tort for negligence, and on the contract for its breach. Held, an action in tort would not lie, and, although this was a proper case for an action ex contractu, recovery was denied because the consequences were avoidable …

Torts - Liability Without Fault - Rylands V. Fletcher - Necessity For Control Of Premises, Charles F. Dugan

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, under a contract with the federal government to dredge the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, deposited the effluent material dredged from the canal upon a disposal area owned by the government. The work was carried on under government supervision, and neither the government inspectors nor defendant's employees knew, nor apparently could they have known, of any defect in the retaining wall which had previously been built by the government to hold back the material. Defendant had had nothing to do with prior dredging operations, by which the level of fixed earth behind the retaining wall had been raised considerably. After …

Municipal Corporations - Immunity Of City From Tort Liability - Attractive Nuisance

Michigan Law Review

The minor plaintiff, a child of eleven, was injured when she fell from a swing in a playground maintained by the defendant, and struck a jagged stone which protruded from the surface of the earth about eight feet beyond the base of the swing. She and her parents joined as plaintiffs in this suit, alleging that the defendant was negligent in failing to keep the ground around the swing in a reasonably safe condition and free from dangerous objects upon which a child might fall. Held, the defendant is liable for its failure to keep the earth around the …

Bailments - Innkeepers - Liability For Loss Of Baggage

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a guest at defendant's hotel, on his arrival there gave his trunk check to the head porter who, in turn, gave the check to a licensed expressman. Due to the expressman's negligence the trunk was stolen. At the trial it was shown that it was customary for the defendant to make a separate charge for trunk delivery. Held, defendant was liable for the negligent performance of the contractual duties by the expressman. Davidson v. Madison Corp. (N. Y. 1931) 177 N. E. 393.

Contracts-Rescission For Substantial Breach-Lien For Improvements Given Vendee

Michigan Law Review

For statement of facts see preceding note in this issue, Younger v. Caroselli, 251 Mich. 533, 232 N.W. 378.

According to the majority view in the United States, a builder, whose substantial breach of contract (the instant case can hardly be considered one of substantial performance) is merely negligent and in good faith, can recover the value of his labor and materials less the damage caused the promisee.

Mortgages-Foreclosure-Default In Interest

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was a mortgagee of certain real property. A clause in the mortgage provided that the whole amount should become due after default for twenty days in the payment of any installment of interest. Through an arithmetical error of its clerk, the defendant corporation, owner of the equity of redemption, paid $401.87 less than the amount of interest due on one installment. The total interest due was $4621.56. The clerk discovered the error and notified the mortgagee that it would be corrected as soon as the president of the corporation, who alone was authorized to sign checks, returned from Europe. …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Admiralty - Workmen's Compensation - Is a Hydroplane a Vessel? - Claimant was employed in the care and management of a hydroplane which was moored in navigable waters. The hydroplane began to drag anchor and drift toward the beach, where it was in danger of being wrecked. Claimant waded into the water and was struck by the propeller. Held, claimant is not entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law, since a hydroplane while on navigable waters is a vessel, and therefore the jurisdiction of the admiralty excludes that of the State Industrial Commission. Reinhardt v. Newport Flying Service Corp. …