Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Dare To Compare: Determining What "Other Available Methods" Can Be Considered Under Federal Rule 23(B)(3)'S Superiority Requirement, Andrea J. Parker

Georgia Law Review

When certifying a class action lawsuit, Federal Rule 23(b)(3) requires a federal district court judge to determine that a class action lawsuit is superior to "other available methods "of handling the dispute. A disagreement has emerged among the district courts regarding what constitutes an available method under the Rule. Several courts have found that private refund programs or settlement agreements instituted by a defendant can count as available methods under the superiority requirement, while other courts have found that they do not. This Note evaluates the question of whether private refund programs or settlement agreements should be compared to class …

Shareholder Bylaws And The Delaware Corporation, Christopher M. Bruner

Scholarly Works

Much like hostile tender offers in the 1980s and 1990s, shareholder bylaws purporting to limit board authority in key areas of corporate governance are, once again, forcing Delaware's courts to grapple with the fundamental nature of the corporate form.

In this (short) essay written for a roundtable discussion at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools, I discuss CA, Inc. v. AFSCME Employees Pension Plan - the 2008 opinion in which the Delaware Supreme Court began to define the nature and scope of the shareholders' bylaw authority. In CA, Inc. the court held that a proposed …

A Key To Unlocking Your Iphone: Eliminating Wireless Service Providers' Use Of United States Copyright Law To Limit Consumer Choice And Provider Competition, Tate M. Keenan

Georgia Law Review

While consumers have a choice whether to purchase an iPhone, they have no choice in the wireless service provider that is linked to it. This is just one example of what has become a regular practice in the world of American cellular phones--cell phone locking. Today, modern American cell phone users stand at the mercy of wireless service providers. They are placed in this position in part because wireless service providers have had the inadvertent luxury of being overly protected by United States copyright law. As the law stands today, wireless service providers are not only free to lock handsets …

Medical Tourism: Symptom Or Cure?, Kerrie S. Howze

Georgia Law Review

"Medical tourism" is the phrase used to describe the phenomenon whereby patients travel to a foreign country to consume medical services. This practice has gained momentum in recent years, largely due to accessibility and affordability issues plaguing the U.S. healthcare system. Notably, medical tourism has progressed from being only an option considered by uninsured or under-insured individuals to an option considered by employers as a means of reducing the cost of employee health benefits. This Note examines the medical tourism practice and discusses potential problems with the practice, specifically the lack of remedy in case of medical negligence. Although medical …

The Plan B For Plan B: The New Dual Over-The-Counter And Prescription Status Of Plan B And Its Impact Upon Pharmacists, Consumers, And Conscience Clauses, Brittany L. Grimes

Georgia Law Review

On August 24,2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided to approve Plan B, the "morning-after"contraceptive pill, as an over-the-counter drug for women ages eighteen and older only. Individuals aged seventeen years and younger must still obtain a prescription in order to purchase Plan B, resulting in confusion and complications in implementing the age limitation. Additionally, the dual status of Plan B as both a prescription and over-the-counter drug might still be undermined by pharmacists choosing to refuse sale of contraceptives under various state protective conscience clauses. This Note explores the impact of the FDA's novel decision to create a …

Lending A Helping Hand?: A Guide To Kentucky’S New Predatory Lending Law, Kent H. Barnett

Scholarly Works

The purpose of this note is to furnish the consumer advocate with an in-depth analysis of Kentucky's new predatory lending law by examining the basic structure of the statute, and its ambiguities, faults, and remedies. Practitioners will understand the impact the law may have on high-cost home loans, the potential traps that await their clients, and the provisions that require amending.

Part I discusses the applicability of the statute. Part II focuses on Kentucky's limitations that dovetail HOEPA requirements for high-cost home loans. Part III discusses provisions of the Kentucky law that require much more than, or in some cases …

Laying Down The Law: Bringing Down The Legal Cartel In Real Estate Settlement Services And Beyond, Margaret O. Rentz

Georgia Law Review

America is in the midst of an explosion in the demand for legal services, yet few Americans can afford to pay the ever-increasing cost of legal fees and are thus continually deprived of access to the legal system. Non lawyers have responded to this problem by entering the market and attempting to provide basic legal services at deeply discounted rates. Under the guise of "consumer protection," the bar has responded by blocking non lawyers from 'practicing law" with unauthorized practice statutes. A debate has emerged over whether UPL statutes actually serve American consumers or merely guard the legal cartel's economic …

The Liability Of The Automobile And Motorcycle Manufacturers And Their Suppliers For Defective Products In The United States Compared To Germany, Daniel Karl Robyn

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis deals with the lability of automobile and motorcycle manufacturers, as well as their suppliers, in situations where a defective product causes a harmful event. Specifically, it compares the product liability laws of the Federal Republic of Germany to those of the United States of America. Before entering into the details of legal doctrine, the introductory note provides background information on the social and economic aspects of automobile use in those two countries. Next, Chapter I describes the liability regime governing claims against German motor vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers. Chapter II focuses on the comparable law in the …

Domestic Subsidies Under The Wto Agreement On Subsidies And Countervailing Measures And Their Treatment In Section 771 Of The Tariff Act Of 1930, Cecil Carl-Erich Kramer

LLM Theses and Essays

Governments provide subsidies for a variety of reasons and they are an important tool "to promote important objectives of national policy. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is comprised of industrialized countries, all of which are Members of the OECD Convention also have shown a steady rise in the provision of subsidies. The policy behind the fact that subsidies are addressed in international agreements is that they create a distortion in international trade and that they can quickly and destructively spread from nation to nation. They create a disparity between the actual costs incurred in producing a particular …

U.S. Practices In Risk Assessment And Risk Management For Product Safety Under Article 2.2 Of The Agreement On Technical Barriers To Trade, Suckhong Ko

LLM Theses and Essays

Article 2.2 of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) was applied to the GATT member countries in 1995. This article provides national product safety agencies with requirements for risk assessment and risk management. However, the terms used in the article are broad and open to interpretation. This paper argues that vast discretion and broad terms cannot solve technical barriers effectively; the “minimum requirements” standard within Article 2.2 of the TBT fails to consider those countries whose technology in product safety is inferior to that of developed countries. The United States has some of the strongest product safety measures, …

Refusals To Deal In "Locked-In" Health Care Markets Under Section 2 Of The Sherman Act After Eastman Kodak Co. V. Image Technical Services, James F. Ponsoldt

Scholarly Works

In the Kodak context, several common health care provider practices, previously challenged with varying results under traditional antitrust analysis, may be reexamined to focus upon the effect of refusals to deal in a secondary market with potential competitors in that secondary market. This Article focuses on three such practices: (1) the non-immunized revocation of hospital staff privileges for other than legitimate, quality-of-care motives; (2) the denial of hospital privileges to differentially credentialed, state-licensed providers; and (3) the closure of membership in comprehensive health care plans, such as preferred-provider organizations, combined with a refusal to deal with nonmembers. These practices should …

Choice Of Law Clauses In Consumer Contracts: A Comparative Study Of American And E.E.C. Law, Jean-Marie Henckaerts

LLM Theses and Essays

The selection of the law applicable to a certain relationship may seem to be the sole purpose of choice of law rules. However, it is questionable whether this choice should be made independent from the content of the various laws available. The selection of the most appropriate law cannot disregard the social, economic and political values that form the basis of substantive rules. In modern legal systems, social values such as consumer protection are recognized to a growing extent.

The present work explores the concept of choice of law – namely party autonomy with a focus on consumer contracts in …

The Warranty Of Quality In Sale Of Goods Under The Perspective Of The American And French Law, Renaud Baguenault De Puchesse

LLM Theses and Essays

While the United States’ common law system is characterized by diversity due to each state having its own set of rules, in certain areas there are nationwide legislative attempts of unification and standardization. One such attempt is the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code which governs the sale of goods law in the United States. The French civil law system generally differs greatly from the American system in that it is primarily based upon statutes and codes. However, the American Uniform Commercial Code and the French Civil Code provide tangible, comparable bases to assess similarities and differences between American and …

From Freedom Of Commercial Speech To Consumer's Freewill: Comparative Advertising As A Watchdog Of Consumer's Interests, France Michel

LLM Theses and Essays

According to the first amendment’s freedom of commercial speech theory, comparative advertising should represent the ultimate in terms of “right to speak” and “right to listen” in the marketplace of goods. Although the first right is severely regulated by government and private bodies in order to insure a greater protection to consumers exercising the second; this goal is not always achieved. Thanks mainly to the FTC’s initiatives and the support of its private pupils, consumer protection has evolved from “caveat emptor” to “caveat vendor.” The practice of comparative advertising might also make its contribution to the expansion of advertising’s Latin …

The Unconscionability Offense, Michael H. Terry, John C. Fauvre

Georgia Law Review

THE Uniform Commerical Code [hereinafter UCC] became effective in Georgia on January 1, 1964.1 Adoption of the UCC repealed and modified many old Code sections. Moreover, it introduced some phrases and concepts slightly unfamiliar to Georgia courts. Some UCC principles have made significant changes in Georgia law. Others are yet to be interpreted. One concept added to commercial practice by the UCC is that of "unconscionability." The basic idea of the provision - that some con- tracts are simply too unfair to the consumer to be enforced by courts of justice - is not new to our legal system. UCC …

Products Liability: Foreseeability Of Unusual Uses Of A Product Which Are Accompanied By Injury, G. F. E.

Georgia Law Review

Lately the courts have effected tremendous changes in the law of products liability.' One such area of change has involved the foreseeability of an injury occurring while a product is undergoing unusual use, which the product's designer alleges was not foreseeable and hence not within his duty to prevent. Before 1962, commentators devoted little attention to the question of negligent design of products. Since then, practically all emphasis has been focused on the design of automobiles involved in accidents. Assertions have been made that the automobile accident is a special situation where liability hat developed uniquely. This Note seeks to …

Georgia's New Statutory Liability For Manufacturers: An Inadequate Legislative Response, E. Hunter Taylor, Jr.

Georgia Law Review

DURING its 1968 session the Georgia Legislature passed a bill intending to create a right of action in tort, independent of negligence, in favor of consumers, users or other foreseeably affected parties against manufacturers of defective products. While Georgia has been in need of judicial or legislative action in this realm, it is the author's thesis that the recently enacted statute is unsatisfactory and should be redrafted. The purpose of this article is as follows: To describe and trace historically the problems which have been encountered in providing legal protection to the individual for injury caused by defective goods; to …

Single-Corporation Competitive Torts And The Sherman Act: A Projection Based Upon A Review Of The Albert Pick, Atlantic Heel And Perryton Cases, John H. Boone

Georgia Law Review

WITH the current vogue for new theories of antitrust liability, due in no small part to the increasing popularity of the private action, it is appropriate to consider the proper application of antitrust concepts to single-corporation competitive torts. Numerous unfair business practices have been conveniently classified under the general label of "competitive tort" because of the lack of uniformity in the application of the term "unfair competition." While as yet not widely accepted, the term "competitive tort" has the advantage of de- noting a more clearly ascertainable array of private wrongs arising in an economic or business context,2 all of …