Law Commons^™

Restoring Transparency To Automated Authority, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

Leading finance, health care, and internet firms shroud key operations in secrecy. Our markets, research, and life online are increasingly mediated by institutions that suffer serious transparency deficits. When a private entity grows important enough, it should be subject to transparency requirements that reflect its centrality. The increasing intertwining of governmental, business, and academic entities should provide some leverage for public-spirited appropriators and policymakers to insist on more general openness.

However well an "invisible hand" coordinates economic activity generally, markets depend on reliable information about the practices of core firms that finance, rank, and rate entities in the rest of …

William H. Sorrell, Attorney General Of Vermont, Et Al. V. Ims Health Inc., Et Al. - Amicus Brief In Support Of Petitioners, Kevin Outterson, David Orentlicher, Christopher T. Robertson, Frank A. Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

On April 26, 2011, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Vermont data mining case, Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. Respondents claim this is the most important commercial speech case in a decade. Petitioner (the State of Vermont) argues this is the most important medical privacy case since Whalen v. Roe.

The is an amicus brief supporting Vermont, written by law professors and submitted on behalf of the New England Journal of Medicine

Known And Unknown, Property And Contract: Comments On Hoofnagle And Moringiello, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Elephantine Google Books Settlement, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

The genius—some would say the evil genius—of the proposed Google Books settlement is the way it fuses legal categories. The settlement raises important class action, copyright, and antitrust issues, among others. But just as an elephant is not merely a trunk plus legs plus a tail, the settlement is more than the sum of the individual issues it raises. These “issues” are, really just different ways of describing a single, overriding issue of law and policy—a new way to concentrate an intellectual property industry.

In this essay, I will argue for the critical importance of seeing the settlement all at …

First-Class Objects, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

What is the difference between "James Grimmelmann" and "@grimmelm" and why should we care? Some computer systems, like Facebook and credit reporting agencies, are inherently "about" people. Others are not. This essay argues that the key technical difference is whether they use unique identifiers to refer to people in their databases. From this single distinction, a host of social and humanistic consequences follow. The essay taxonomizes them and teases out some of their implications for privacy law.

Three Theories Of Copyright In Ratings, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

Are ratings copyrightable? The answer depends on what ratings are. As a history of copyright in ratings shows, some courts treat them as unoriginal facts, some treat them as creative opinions, and some treat them as troubling self-fulfilling prophecies. The push and pull among these three theories explains why ratings are such a difficult boundary case for copyright, both doctrinally and theoretically. The fact-opinion tension creates a perverse incentive for raters: the less useful a rating, the more copyrightable it looks. Self-fulfilling ratings are the most troubling of all: copyright’s usual balance between incentives and access becomes indeterminate when ratings …

Campaign Disclosure And Tax-Exempt Entities: A Quick Repair To The Regulatory Plumbing, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that there are some quick regulatory fixes the Treasury can implement to ensure that tax-exempt organizations are operating within the rules and that aggressive tax planning is not being used as a way to obfuscate rules for political organizations requiring disclosure. The article recommends that Treasury promulgate new regulations to require disclosure by tax-exempt entities of expenditures and contributions in excess of $25,000. The article also proposes that Treasury institute procedures to require tax-exempt organizations to file for exempt status, and to provide procedures for ensuring that these organizations meet the requirements in the statute and are …

Law & Health Care Newsletter, V. 18, No. 2, Spring 2011

Law & Health Care Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Law & Health Care Newsletter, V. 19, No. 1, Fall 2011

Law & Health Care Newsletter

No abstract provided.

In Pursuit Of Gradual Stabilization And Peace Dividends: Cross-Taiwan Strait Relations And Their Influence On The Asia Pacific, Kwei-Bo Huang

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Legal Aid And The Rule Of Law In The People's Republic Of China, Mark Jia

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the present state of legal aid in China.

Institutional Design And Development In The Roc (Taiwan): A Critical Review Of The Thoughts Of Sun Yat-Sen And The Global Development Of The Ombudsman System, Yeong-Kuang Ger

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Opt-In Or Opt-Out?, Rachel Bernstein

Maria Dittman Library Research Competition: Student Award Winners

No abstract provided.

The Story Of Kmart's Reorganization, John Fisher, Justin Wolbert

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Using Law To Fight A Silent Epidemic: The Role Of Healthy Literacy In Health Care Access, Quality & Cost, Brietta Clark

Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences

The dominant rhetoric in the health care policy debate about cost has assumed an inherent tension between access and quality on the one hand, and cost effectiveness on the other; but an emerging discourse has challenged this narrative by presenting a more nuanced relationship between access, quality, and cost. This is reflected in the discourse surrounding health literacy, which is viewed as an important tool for achieving all three goals. Health literacy refers to one's ability to obtain, understand and use health information to make appropriate health decisions. Research shows that improving patients' health literacy can help overcome access barriers …

University Of Baltimore Journal Of Land And Development Volume 1 Number 1 (Fall 2011) Front Matter

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

In A 2002 Supreme Court Decision, Which Shifted Landowner And Government Expectations Regarding Temporary Regulatory Takings, The Court Held That Temporary Construction Moratoria During The Preparation Of A Comprehensive Land-Use Plan Do Not Constitute Takings Requiring Compensation. Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council V. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 535 U.S. 302 (2002), Heather Cobun

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

"Robo-Signing": A Symptom Of The Shortcomings In Maryland's Policy Of Expediting Foreclosure Proceedings, Jacob L. White

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

Jane Jacobs Revisited: Do Social Service Organizations Have A Place In Redeveloping Communities?, Ian Hitchcock

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

Does The Compensation Clause Burden The Government Or Benefit The Owner? The Compensation Clause As Process, Joshua Ulan Galperin

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

Why The Crisis Was Unavoidable And Why Tarp Did Not Help, Aditya (Adi) Habbu

University of Baltimore Journal of Land and Development

No abstract provided.

How House Bill 2063 And The Expansion Of Access To Protective Orders Could Have Saved Yeardley Love's Life, Amy Weiss

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Battered women often face an uphill battle in the legal system. In the 2011 session, the Virginia General Assembly added a new tool to these women's arsenal.o An amended version of House Bill 2063 sponsored by Delegate Rob Bell (R- Albemarle) passed the House and Senate unanimously on February 26, 2011. This paper will examine Virginia protective order law before the enactment of House Bill 2063, how Yeardley Love's death was a catalyst for reform of the law, how the law will change under House Bill 2063, and possible future developments in legislative reform that could further help victims of …

Curb Your Enthusiasm: A Note On Employment Discrimination Lawsuits In China, Jiefeng Lu

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

The Sovereign Debtor's Prison: Analysis Of The Argentine Crisis Arbitrations And The Implications For Investment Treaty Law, Robert M. Ziff

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

Over the last six years, several arbitration panels have released opinions in a series of disputes raised by investors against Argentina. In each case, foreign investors claim that Argentina's use of price controls and currency devaluation following the 2002 economic crisis constituted a violation of bilateral investment treaty obligations. Despite the fact that most claimants make identical allegations, many of these decisions are highly contradictory. In some cases Argentina is absolved of liability, while in others Argentina is held liable for hundreds of millions in damages. In aggregate, the claimants seek enough money to bankrupt the Argentine Republic.

Welfare Versus Autonomy In Human Subjects Research, Mark S. Stein, Julian Savulescu

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Debarring Faithless Corporate And Religious Fiduciaries In Bankruptcy, Lyman P.Q. Johnson

Scholarly Articles

Fiduciary duties for the top governance officials of both business and religious organizations demand faithfulness to the institution’s mission, a seemingly strict demand. Meaningful sanctions for breach, however, are difficult to obtain and may not deter future misconduct, including that kind of conduct leading to organizational bankruptcy. This article advocates that, to attain both special and general deterrence, bankruptcy law should look to other regulatory regimes and permit a bankruptcy court to debar faithless secular and ecclesiastical fiduciaries from holding certain leadership positions. Although written shortly before the 2012 Supreme Court Hosanna-Tabor decision, that opinion – addressing the “ministerial exception” …

Reality Check On Officer Liability, Lyman P.Q. Johnson

Scholarly Articles

This article addresses the fiduciary duties of corporate officers. Responding to a critique that recent scholarly analyses of officers depart from reality, it argues that, on a variety of grounds, those analyses are more realistic than the critique and provide doctrinal coherence and advance the goal of meaningful executive accountability. The divergent governance functions of directing versus managing are described and it is argued that those disparate roles should matter for fiduciary duty analysis. No great outbreak of litigation should be expected if officers are held to a stricter duty of care than directors because boards of directors, not courts, …

Innovative Transactional Pedagogies, Joan Macleod Heminway, Michael A. Woronoff, Lyman P.Q. Johnson

Scholarly Articles

Our law schools are embracing in a more powerful way innovative transactional pedagogies that address not only theory, policy, and doctrine, but also legal skills. This transcribed panel discussion explores three of these pedagogies – teaching corporate finance as advanced contract drafting, teaching numeracy, and teaching substance and skill in contract drafting through the use of in-office meetings and analytical memos – and describes how they are being implemented in law teaching. The panel was part of the “Transactional Education: What’s Next?” conference hosted by the Emory University School of Law’s Center for Transactional Law and Practice on June 4-5, …

The Changing Face Of Money, Christopher M. Bruner

Scholarly Articles

In this essay I argue that widespread failure to comprehend the intrinsic nature of modern money loomed large in the recent financial and economic crisis, and that broader comprehension of its meaning is a precondition for effective post-crisis reforms. First, I provide a brief history of money, emphasizing its gradual divergence from inherent value. I then consider the value of today's dollar in economic, legal, and psychological terms, arguing that each perspective conveys a single over-arching lesson - that better comprehending our money requires better comprehending ourselves. The introspection that this exercise demands reveals with unique clarity some of the …

Culture, Dissent, And The State: The Example Of Commonwealth African Marriage Law, Johanna E. Bond

Scholarly Articles

This is an explosive time for those seeking to define the meaning and parameters of marriage. The subject has generated heated debate worldwide. In June 2010, the European Court of Human Rights declined to extend marriage rights to a gay Austrian couple, but the Court carefully laid the foundation for the recognition of such rights when a European consensus on the issue emerges. In July 2010, Argentina extended to same-sex couples the right to marry, joining nine other countries that legally recognize same-sex couples' right to marry. In August 2010, a United States district judge struck down a California ban …