Contracts Commons^™

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

Doctors, Hmos, Erisa, And The Public Interest After Pegram V. Herdrich, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Nadia Von Magdenko

Scholarly Works

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 was enacted in the wake of highly publicized pension disasters in order to protect employee pension rights. Born as a piece of pro-worker legislation, it initially was criticized by business groups as a cause of bureaucratic arteriosclerosis that was worse than the disease of pension failures. Even worse, it prompted many employers to consider dispensing with pension plans altogether rather than struggle with the administrative and financial obligations of ERISA. Business, labor, and the public all complained about the law's complexity. It even became something of a national joke as regulators took …

An Inconsistently Sensitive Mind: Richard Posner's Celebration Of Insurance Law And Continuing Blind Spots Of Econominalism, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner is well known for bringing economic analysis to bear on a host of issues, including infamously controversial notions such the market for baby sale. Not surprisingly, Posner's insurance law opinions reflect economics, but perhaps not to the degree one would expect. A review of Posner's 20 years of opinions relating to insurance issues reviews his pragmatic jurisprudence as well. Decisions frequently reflect not only economics but also situational context and considerations of business reality as well as a sophisticated grasp of basic insurance doctrine and contract law. As a general matter, Posner also displays considerably …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 1999 and 2000.

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 1999 and 2000.

Replacing Strict Liability With A Contract-Based Products Liability Regime, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

When strict products liability first appeared on the scene some thirty-five years ago, it was heralded as a boon to consumers whose claims to compensation had hitherto been frustrated by the law of sales. Warranty law, it was said, worked fairly well in purely "commercial" transactions, but tort law did a better job in cases where ordinary consumers suffered personal injuries or property damage from defective products. To be sure, defenders of warranty law pointed out that the newly-drafted Uniform Commercial Code (the "Code" or "U.C.C.") was much more consumer friendly than the old Uniform Sales Act. Nevertheless, the proponents …

Unmet Expectations: Undue Restriction Of The Reasonable Expectations Approach And The Misleading Mythology Of Judicial Role, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

A complete and open embrace of the pure version of the doctrine as enunciated in Judge Keeton's famous article--which expressly provides for finding coverage consistent with the objectively reasonable expectations of the policyholder even where those expectations are contradicted by apparently clear policy language --is viewed by much of the legal and political mainstream as too inconsistent with the prevailing American paradigm of judicial restraint, strict construction of disputed texts, and minimal government involvement in market activity. Some of this resistance to reasonable expectations is the product of an unrealistic reification of the prevailing American politico-legal philosophy of judicial restraint. …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance law in the year 1998.

Form Contracts Under Revised Article 2 (Symposium: Consumer Protection And The Uniform Commercial Code), James J. White

Articles

The current draft of section 2-206 in Revised Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC") entitled "Consumer Contract: Standard Form"1 presents a unique and threatening challenge to the drafters of consumer form contracts. In earlier drafts, one part of the section applied to both to commercial contracts and consumer contracts. It required that "one manifest assent" to any form contract, commercial or consumer, in order for it to be binding.2 Bowing to commercial opposition in the most recent version, the drafters have omitted all reference to commercial contracts. As the section stands, it applies only to consumer contracts.

Interpreting Insurance Policies, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Like any other contract, an insurance policy may become the subject of a legal dispute. When disputes arise over insurance coverage, lawyers must combine their skill in contract interpretation with their knowledge of insurance law, bringing both to bear on the special problems related to this type of contract. Each dispute has unique traits, but a few basic ground rules of contract law and insurance law can help you interpret insurance policies and resolve disputes over insurance coverage.

Reassessing The Sophisticated Policyholder Defense In Insurance Coverage Litigation, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Insurance law often is ironically regarded as both consistent and confusing. However, the 1980s saw significant flowering in the development of an insurance coverage interpretation doctrine that, although seriously flawed in its present form, offers the as yet untapped potential of substantial improvement in judicial construction of commercial insurance policies through seemingly inconsistent treatment of insurance coverage disputes.

During the past two decades, in response to the prodding of lawyers representing insurers, courts have increasingly noted that not all insurance policyholders are equal. Some have more money and bargaining clout than others. Some have more sophistication and understanding about the …

Reinsurance: Bad Faith Considerations And Insolvency Dilemma, Hui-Ju Hsieh

LLM Theses and Essays

Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company. The original insurance company is called the reinsured, and the insurance company that is contracted is called the reinsurer. The main purpose of reinsurance is to disperse or spread the risk of loss. The reinsurance relationship is frequently characterized as an exercise of fiduciary responsibility based upon an undertaking of utmost good faith between contracting parties. However, disputes arise; most litigation involving reinsurance has been between reinsurers and persons not party to the reinsurance agreement. This paper’s first major area of discussion is the relationship between the reinsurer …

Testamentary Substitutes: Retained Interests, Custodial Accounts And Contractual Transactions—A New Approach, Sidney Kwestel, Rena C. Seplowitz

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Insurance - Suit Limitation Clause - An Insurer's Bad Faith Accusation Of Criminal Conduct By The Insured, Or An Accusation Which Is The Result Of A Negligent Investigation, Can Toll The Suit Limitation Clause, Kathleen Seybold Turezyn

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contract Law - Life Insurance Contracts - Temporary Insurance - Binding Receipts Imposing Conditions Precedent Upon Temporary Insurance Coverage Held Ineffective In Pennsylvania, William Jackson

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Secured Party's Right To Sue Third Persons For Damage To Or Defects In Collateral, Harold R. Weinberg

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The proverb “there is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip” might have been written with the secured creditor in mind. Many tragedies may befall him to defeat his expectations. He takes his security interest hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst—nonperformance of the obligation secured. If he does not carefully comply with the Article Nine provisions concerning the enforceability and perfection of a security interest, he may ultimately be unsecured. If his security interest is enforceable and perfected, it may turn out that some other party has priority to the collateral. Even if the secured …

Pyramiding Of Insurance Coverage Under The Standard Family Automobile Liability Policy, Edward J. Ciechon Jr.

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Anomalous Position Of The Insurance Agent - An Invitation To Schizophrenia, Robert M. Morrison

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Friendly Versus Hostile Fire Dichotomy, Robert I. Reis

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insurance--Motor Vehicles--"Newly Acquired Automobile" Clause Extended To Cover Previously Owned Inoperable Vehicles--National Indem. Co. V. Giampapa, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff insurance company brought an action for a declaratory judgment that it be held not liable on a policy it had issued to the insured motorist. A party injured in an accident involving the insured had obtained a judgment against the insured in a suit which the insurer defended with a reservation of rights. Although a 1949 Cadillac was the "Described Automobile" in the insurance policy, the insured was driving a 1956 Ford at the time of the accident. The trial court found that during the term of the policy the Cadillac had become inoperable and was replaced by the …

Overlapping Coverages In Liability Contracts; Subrogation, John A. Appleman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Within the last twenty-five years, approximately, a considerable transition has taken place in approaching the coverages of automobile policies. At one time, liability insurers used to require their policy-holders to pledge that they did not carry other insurance of like character. It is difficult to understand why this situation ever arose. It may have been an outgrowth of fire coverages, or health and accident provisions, in which a moral hazard actually might exist where excessive protection is carried. Thereafter, instead of making this a matter of warranty, policies frequently provided that in the event there should be any other valid …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Automatic Reversion of Land to Grant or Upon Use by Non-Whites

Constitutional Law--Federal Eminent Domain--Potentiality for Water Power Development as Element of Compensation

Contracts--Place of Making--Acceptance by Instantaneous Means of Communication

Insurance--Automobile Liability Omnibus Clause-Coverage of Sub-Permitee

Insurance--Insurer's Right of Subrogation--Waiver by Refusal to Pay Claim

Master and Servant--Borrowed Servant Doctrine--Contract as Proof of Assumption of Control

Wills--Anti-Lapse Statutes--Beneficiaries of Class Gift Dead at Will's Execution

Insurance - Recovery - Rights Of Mortgagee Under Mortgagor's Insurance, Robert B. Fiske, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant issued a policy of fire insurance on an automobile plaintiff had purchased with money borrowed from one Hansen, to whom a note and a chattel mortgage were given as security for the debt. A week after the policy was issued naming plaintiff as the insured, defendant executed an amendment to the policy in the form of an endorsement reading, "Less if any ... shall be paid to the insured and Charles H. Hansen as their interests may appear." The policy provided that it should not apply while the car was subject to any mortgage or other encumbrance not specifically …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Bills and Notes--Fictitious Payee Known only to Fraudulent Employee of Drawer--Negotiable Instruments Law v. Fictitious Payee Act

Constitutional Law--Amendment and Revision--Power to Call Constitutional Convention Limited to Consideration of Specific Topics

Constitutional Law--Interstate Commerce--Dental of License to Ship Milk Held Invalid

Constitutional Law--Separation of Powers--Legislative Control over Admission to the Bar

Contracts--Recited Cash Consideration--Effect of Non-payment

Contracts--Statute of Frauds--Letterhead as a Signature

Criminal Procedure--Communication between Judge and Jury--Effect of Inquiry as to Pronounced Majority

Criminal Procedure--Constitutional Right to Public Trial--Power of Court to Order Courtroom Cleared of Spectators

Estates--Disability of Life Tenant to Purchase Tax Title to Exclusion …

Insurance--Formation Of The Contract--Subrogation, C. H. H. Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tennessee Judicial Highlights, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CASES OF CURRENT INTEREST AND IMPORTANCE PREVIOUSLY NOTED

Baker v. State, 184 Tenn. 503 (1947), 1 Vand. L. Rev. 127 (1947). Accessory after the fact--when is felony complete?

Black v. Black, 202 S. W. 2d 659 (Tenn. 1947), 20 Tenn. L. Rev. 201 (1948).' Effect of reciting an oral contract to sell land in an undelivered deed.

Churn v. State, 184 Tenn. 646 (1947), 20 Tenn. L. Rev. 195 (1948). Testimony of arresting officers.

Davis v. Beeler, 207 S. W. 2d 343 (Tenn. 1947), 1 Vand. L. Rev. 451 (1948). Prohibition of practice of naturopathy in Tennessee.

Elliott v. Fuqua, …

Contracts, Sales, Insurance, Henry B. Witham

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Severability Of Insurance Contracts

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Insurance

Limitation Of Actions--Statute Of Limitations Applied To Quasi-Contractual Rights Arising Upon Anticipatory Breach Of An Existing Contract, A. L. B.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Insurance--Receipt On Back Of Check Not Binding Unless Supported By Consideration, C. A. P. Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.