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Full-Text Articles in Law

Strict Liability Upon Gunowners (Slug): A Proposed Balanced Approach, David Louis Apr 2020

Strict Liability Upon Gunowners (Slug): A Proposed Balanced Approach, David Louis

St. Mary's Law Journal

Careless or apathetic gunowners, whose lost or stolen firearms are used in the commission of a violent crime, should be held strictly liable. Current tort law leaves victims of gun violence and their families without a mode of redress against an irresponsible gun owner whose actions played a pivotal role in the victim’s ultimate injury. Without effective liability principles to regulate gun ownership, gunowners are provided de facto immunity regardless of whether the harm suffered by the victim is intertwined with the gunowners careless behavior. This comment examines the efficacy of existing tort liability principles as provided in the Restatement …


Take This Job And Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy Of Johnny Paycheck And A Prayer For Strict Liability In Appalachia, Eugene "Trey" Moore Iii May 2018

Take This Job And Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy Of Johnny Paycheck And A Prayer For Strict Liability In Appalachia, Eugene "Trey" Moore Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming


International Mass Tort Litigation: Forum Non Conveniens And The Adequate Alternative Forum In Light Of The Bhopal Disaster, Stephen L. Cummings Jan 2015

International Mass Tort Litigation: Forum Non Conveniens And The Adequate Alternative Forum In Light Of The Bhopal Disaster, Stephen L. Cummings

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.


Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner Jun 2009

Let Us Never Blame A Contract Breaker, Richard A. Posner

Michigan Law Review

Holmes famously proposed a "no fault" theory of contract law: a contract is an option to perform or pay, and a "breach" is therefore not a wrongful act, but merely triggers the duty to pay liquidated or other damages. I elaborate the Holmesian theory, arguing that fault terminology in contract law, such as "good faith," should be given pragmatic economic interpretations, rather than be conceived of in moral terms. I further argue that contract doctrines should normally be alterable only on the basis of empirical investigations.


Who Knew? Admissibility Of Subsequent Remedial Measures When Defendants Are Without Knowledge Of The Injuries, Mark G. Boyko, Ryan G. Vacca Jan 2007

Who Knew? Admissibility Of Subsequent Remedial Measures When Defendants Are Without Knowledge Of The Injuries, Mark G. Boyko, Ryan G. Vacca

Law Faculty Scholarship

Federal Rule of Evidence 407 prohibits the introduction of subsequent remedial measures for the purposes of demonstrating negligence, culpable conduct, or product defect. But the rule breaks down, in application and purpose, when a defendant undertakes the new safety measure after the plaintiff's injury, but before the defendant had knowledge of the loss. Such a situation is not uncommon. Would-be defendants frequently improve their products and product safety for a variety of reasons. Toxic exposure cases, where exposure often predates diagnosis of the injury by a decade or more, represent a prime example of cases where defendants are likely to …


Deterrence And Damages: The Multiplier Principle And Its Alternatives, Richard Craswell Jun 1999

Deterrence And Damages: The Multiplier Principle And Its Alternatives, Richard Craswell

Michigan Law Review

One purpose of fines and damage awards is to deter harmful behavior. When enforcement is imperfect, however, so the probability that any given violation will be punished is less than 100%, the law's deterrent effect is usually thought to be reduced. Thus, it is often said that the ideal penalty (insofar as deterrence is concerned) equals the harm caused by the violation multiplied by one over the probability of punishment. For example, if a violation faces only a 25% (or one-in-four) chance of being punished, on this view the optimal penalty would be four times the harm caused by the …


Restating The Law: The Dilemmas Of Products Liability, Robert L. Rabin Dec 1997

Restating The Law: The Dilemmas Of Products Liability, Robert L. Rabin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Tracing products liability law from its origins to present day developments, Professor Rabin discusses the long-standing presence of interwoven strands of contract and tort ideology, as well as the perennial tensions between strict liability and negligence. These themes are evident both in the distinctly influential California case law and in the two Restatement efforts to systematize the doctrine that has emerged nationally. Rabin identifies the manner in which foundational ideological precepts of consumer expectations and enterprise liability have contributed to a continuously dynamic, if often unsettled, debate over the appropriate regime for resolving product injury claims.


Constructing A Roof Before The Foundation Is Prepared: The Restatement (Third) Of Torts: Products Liability, Section 2(B) Design Defect, Frank J. Vandall Dec 1997

Constructing A Roof Before The Foundation Is Prepared: The Restatement (Third) Of Torts: Products Liability, Section 2(B) Design Defect, Frank J. Vandall

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability section 2(b) is a wish list from manufacturing America. It returns products liability law to something more restrictive than negligence. What is new from the Reporters is that their proposal is written on a clean sheet of paper. Messy and awkward concepts such as precedent, policy, and case accuracy have been brushed aside for the purpose of tort reform. There has been almost no attempt to evaluate strict liability precedent or the policies underlying previous cases and the Restatement (Second) section 402A. Section 2b (the roof) has been drafted with little consideration of …


Will A New Restatement Help Settle Troubled Waters: Reflections, James A. Henderson, Jr., Aaron D. Twerski Jan 1993

Will A New Restatement Help Settle Troubled Waters: Reflections, James A. Henderson, Jr., Aaron D. Twerski

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Will A New Restatement Help Settle Troubled Waters: Reflections, James A. Henderson, Jr., Aaron D. Twerski Jan 1993

Will A New Restatement Help Settle Troubled Waters: Reflections, James A. Henderson, Jr., Aaron D. Twerski

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Products Liability--Functionally Imposed Strict Liability, David A. Fischer Jan 1979

Products Liability--Functionally Imposed Strict Liability, David A. Fischer

Faculty Publications

Many manufacturers and insurance companies claim that a products liability crisis exists. This is evidenced by soaring products liability insurance rates. They express the fear that as insurance becomes unavailable or prohibitively expensive, useful products will be withheld from the market and some manufacturers may even be forced out of business. Such critics of the tort system are calling for modifications of the common law in order to give greater protection to manufacturers. A more drastic approach, vigorously championed by Professor Jeffrey O'Connell, calls for total or partial abolition of the tort system and substitution with various forms of no-fault …


Torts--Strict Liability--A Hospital Is Strictly Liable For Transfusions Of Hepatitis-Infected Blood--Cunningham V. Macneal Memorial Hospital, Michigan Law Review May 1971

Torts--Strict Liability--A Hospital Is Strictly Liable For Transfusions Of Hepatitis-Infected Blood--Cunningham V. Macneal Memorial Hospital, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Recent Development will briefly trace the development of hospital liability for transfusions of hepatitis-infected blood and will analyze both the impact of Cunningham on that area of the law and the correctness of the Cunningham decision.


Admiralty - Unseaworthiness - Recovery For Injuries Resulting From Condition Arising After Commencement Of The Voyage, John L. Peschel Dec 1959

Admiralty - Unseaworthiness - Recovery For Injuries Resulting From Condition Arising After Commencement Of The Voyage, John L. Peschel

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a member of the crew of a fishing vessel, sustained injuries while disembarking when he slipped on a slimy substance on the ship railing. In an action brought against the shipowner, the seaman sought recovery on three alternative grounds: first, under the Jones Act based upon negligence; second, under general maritime law based upon the obligation of the shipowner to furnish a seaworthy vessel; third, under general maritime law for maintenance and cure. Judgment was entered pursuant to a verdict limiting the seaman to recovery for maintenance and cure. On the seaman's appeal from the adverse verdict on the …