Common Law Commons^™

Juries, Judges, And The Politics Of Tort Reform, David Logan

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Profit Imperative In Risk Management, Christopher French

Faculty Scholarship

Risks in the world abound. Every day there is a chance that each of us could be in a car accident. Or, one of us could be the victim of a tornado, flood or earthquake. Every day someone becomes deathly ill from an insidious disease. Our properties are in constant peril—one’s house could catch fire at any time or a tree could fall on it during a storm. Any one of these events could have devastating financial consequences, and they are just a few of the many risks that impact our daily lives. One of the principal ways we manage …

Lawrence V. Texas: The Decision And Its Implications For The Future, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Federal Rules At 75: Dispute Resolution, Private Enforcement Or Decisions According To Law?, James R. Maxeiner

Georgia State University Law Review

This essay is a critical response to the 2013 commemorations of the75th anniversary of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were introduced in 1938 to provide procedure to decide cases on their merits. The Rules were designed to replace decisions under the “sporting theory of justice”with decisions according to law.

By 1976, at midlife, it was clear that they were not achieving their goal. America’s proceduralists split into two sides about what to do. One side promotes rules that control and conclude litigation: e.g.,plausibility pleading, case management, limited discovery, cost indemnity for discovery, and summary …

Historical Antecedents Of Challenges Facing The Georgia Appellate Courts, Michael B. Terry

Georgia State University Law Review

The Georgia appellate courts face challenges common to many courts in these days of reduced governmental resources. At the same time, the Georgia appellate courts face unusual challenges that can be traced to their historical antecedents and one unique constitutional provision: the “Two-Term Rule.” Just as “[t]he law embodies the story of a nation’s development through many centuries,” the current rules and practices of both the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Court of Appeals of Georgia embody the story of the development of those courts since their founding.

Several aspects of the history of the courts directly impact the …

Applying Mathematical Set Theory To Statutory Construction Of Municipal Sign Laws, Ann L. Nowak

Scholarly Works

This case illustrates why municipal lawyers might want to review their high school mathematics lessons about set theory before drafting statutes. The application of set theory—particularly in the form of Venn diagrams—can help to prevent ambiguity of language in statutory construction. It is this ambiguity that gives rise to differences in interpretation, and these differences frequently lead to litigation over the meaning of a statute.

Negligent Infliction Of Emotional Distress: A Proposal For A Consistent Theory Of Tort Recovery For Bystanders And Direct Victims, Julie A. Greenberg

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Location In The Courtroom On Jury Perception Of Lawyer Performance, Jeffrey S. Wolfe

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taking The English Right To Counsel Seriously In American Civil Gideon Litigation, Scott F. Llewellyn, Brian Hawkins

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Courts have rejected a right to counsel for indigent civil litigants under the U.S. Constitution. But in some American states, that right arguably already exists as a matter of common law, albeit derived from centuries-old English common and statutory law. This Article analyzes the viability of arguments for incorporating the old English right to counsel in the twenty-seven American states that continue to recognize old English common and statutory law as a source of binding authority. Such "originalist" arguments may be appealing to judges who are more willing to revive a historically based right than establish a new right based …

The American Law Institute’S New Principles Of Aggregate Litigation, Sam Issacharoff, Carolyn Kuhl, Francis Mcgovern, Stephanie Middleton, John Beisner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What Is Specific About Specific Restitution, Colleen P. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

From Judging Culture To Taxing 'Indians': Tracing The Legal Discourse Of The 'Indian Mode Of Life', Constance Macintosh

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article I consider how judicial decision making characterizes Indigenous peoples’ culture outside the context of determinations under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. I am concerned with how contemporary jurisprudence sometimes subjects Indigenous people to stereotyped tests of Aboriginality when they seek to exercise legislated rights. These common law tests of Aboriginality tend to turn on troubling oppositional logics, such as whether or not the Indigenous person engages in waged labour or commercial activities. These tests arose in historic legislation and policy that were premised on social evolutionary theory and were directed at determining whether an Indigenous …

Case For A Constitutional Definition Of Hearsay: Requiring Confrontation Of Testimonial, Nonassertive Conduct And Statements Admitted To Explain An Unchallenged Investigation, The, James L. Kainen, Carrie A. Tendler

Faculty Scholarship

Crawford v. Washington’s historical approach to the confrontation clause establishes that testimonial hearsay inadmissible without confrontation at the founding is similarly inadmissible today, despite whether it fits a subsequently developed hearsay exception. Consequently, the requirement of confrontation depends upon whether an out-of-court statement is hearsay, testimonial, and, if so, whether it was nonetheless admissible without confrontation at the founding. A substantial literature has developed about whether hearsay statements are testimonial or were, like dying declarations, otherwise admissible at the founding. In contrast, this article focuses on the first question – whether statements are hearsay – which scholars have thus far …

Negligent Infliction Of Emotional Distress: Recovery Is Foreseeable, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1019 (2006), Jeffrey Hoskins

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Use Or Experimental Use: Are Clinical Trials Susceptible To Another Attack Similar To That In Smithkline Beecham Corp. V. Apotex Corp., 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 149 (2005), Nimalka Wickramasekera

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judgement As A Matter Of Law On Punitive Damages, Colleen P. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Defense Of Analogical Reasoning In Law, Emily Sherwin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article defends the practice of reasoning by analogy on the basis of its epistemic and institutional advantages. The advantages identified for analogical reasoning include that it produces a wealth of data for decisonmaking; it represents the collaborative effort of a number of judges over time; it tends to correct biases that might lead judges to discount the force of prior decisions; and it exerts a conservative force in law, holding the development of law to a gradual pace. Notably, these advantages do not depend on the rational force of analogical reasoning. Rather, the author contends that, as open-ended reasoning …

Torts—Dramshop Liability In Arkansas—Illegal Sales Of Liquor To Minors May Expose Alcohol Vendors To Expensive Liability. Shannon V. Wilson, 329 Ark. 143, 947 S.W.2d 349 (1997)., Dustin Blake Mcdaniel

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Drainage Law And Liabilities, Oregon Law Institute, Timothy J. Sercombe, Richard M. Botteri, Christina M. Steensgaard, James R. Herald, Marnie Allen, Harvey W. Rogers

Oregon Law Institute, 1998

Course Materials from the March 13, 1998 Program in Portland

An Analysis Of People, For Michigan Republic, Ex Rel V. State Of Michigan, 30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 937 (1997), Phillip A. Hendges

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rock-A-Bye Lawsuit: Can A Baby Sue The Hand That Rocked The Cradle, 28 J. Marshall L. Rev. 429 (1995), Geoffrey A. Vance

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prior Written Notice Statutes In New York State: The Resurrection Of Sovereign Immunity, Lewis J. Lubell

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Factors In The Acquisition Of A United State Corporation: Litigation By Hostile Targets, Johan E. Droogmans

LLM Theses and Essays

Acquisitions of United States corporations have become increasingly complex takeover contests, where bidders and target corporations are forced into offensive and defensive litigation strategies to protect their respective interests. Targets often assert that the bidders have violated federal or state securities laws, federal antitrust laws, federal margin regulations, federal and state regulatory systems, and federal anti-racketeering laws. These lawsuits are primarily based on the principal federal regulation of takeovers in section 14(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the Williams Act. Target litigation is customary, but entails certain disadvantages; a lawsuit rarely stops an offer, is expensive, …

Froud V. Celotex Corp.: Rebirth Of An Adage, 17 J. Marshall L. Rev. 781 (1984), Thomas F. Londrigan

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fee Awards Act Of 1976: Examining The Foundation For Legislative Reform Of Attorney's Fees Shifting, 18 J. Marshall L. Rev. 77 (1984), Randall R. Rader

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equity, Due Process And The Seventh Amendment: A Commentary On The Zenith Case, Patrick Devlin

Michigan Law Review

The seventh amendment to the United States Constitution requires that "[i]n Suits at common law . . . the right of trial by jury shall be preserved." What exactly is a suit at common law? When the amendment was enacted in 1791, there was no law that was common to all the states. In 1812 Supreme Court Justice Story, in a Circuit Court ruling, held that the common law alluded to was the common law of England, "the grand reservoir of all of our jurisprudence." This means that when today an American judge has to decide whether in any set …

Book Reviews, Garrett Power, Joseph M. Boyd, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Environmental Law Reporter in the Classroom

The Environmental Law Reporter' is a cumulative monthly loose-leaf service devoted chiefly to the environmental issues confronting private attorneys, governmental officials, and teachers. During the fall semester of 1971, the Reporter was employed as a text for the University of Maryland's basic course in environmental law. This review will attempt to measure its potential as a teaching tool.

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Guidebook for Litigation

The common law is still the most useful and flexible weapon in the arsenal of those who care enough about the quality of our environment to do something about it. This …

Evidence-Privilege-Right Of Third Person To Assert Privilege As To Accident Report Made Confidential By Statute, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries sustained when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with that operated by the defendant. Defendant questioned a police officer, who had filed the accident report, concerning statements made to him by the driver of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The trial court permitted this testimony over the plaintiff's objection that these statements were privileged under an Iowa statute purporting to make written accident reports confidential and inadmissible in evidence. On appeal after a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant, held, reversed. The statute can …

Negligence-Duty Of Care-Determination Of Plaintiff's Status Under Guest Statute, Donald M. Wilkinson, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a boy scout, was assisting in a paper collection for the benefit of his troop, and while so doing, was injured when he attempted to regain his position on a utility trailer attached to the assistant scoutmaster's automobile. Plaintiff brought suit against the assistant scoutmaster, alleging negligent operation of the automobile. Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings was granted in the lower court, but this ruling was reversed in the court of appeals. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio, held, affirmed, three judges dissenting. Defendant was deemed to have been benefited by plaintiff's activities to …

Civil Procedure-Parties-Real Party In Interest When Insurer Has Equitable Interest In Claim, Warren K, Urbom S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for damages to his fruit and grocery market which were allegedly caused by the negligence of defendant. Interrogatories were submitted by defendant designed to determine whether or not plaintiff had been paid the full amount of his loss by an insurance company and had assigned his claim to that company. The trial court sustained a motion to strike the interrogatories. On appeal, held, reversed, two judges dissenting. Although a tortfeasor cannot defeat an action by the insured by showing full subrogation of the insurer, he can plead an assignment of the insured's claim to show that the …