Litigation Commons^™

Product Liability Law, Gary J. Spahn, Brent M. Timberlake

University of Richmond Law Review

While Virginia is not typically seen as "progressive" in the field of product liability law, the Commonwealth is nonetheless a forum in which these product liability battles take place. This article summarizes selected decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, federal district courts in Virginia, and courts of the Commonwealth issued between July 1, 2004 and May 15, 2005. This article also includes a discussion of the most relevant legislative changes made by the Virginia General Assembly over the same time period. While a complete analysis of every decision and statute affecting product liability is …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Optimality In Tort Litigation: The Promis Of Reverse Cost-Shifting, Jonathan Fischbach, Michael Fischbach

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

The Risks Of And Reactions To Underdeterrence In Torts, Thomas C. Galligan

ExpressO

The Risks of and Reactions to Underdeterrence in Torts posits that as our nation considers tort reform at both the state and federal levels, it should not be blinded to the fact that, while tort law may, in some cases, overdeter, it also may underdeter, especially in mass tort cases. The piece contends that the traditional (one-on-one) model of tort law may both cause and exacerbate the underdeterrence problems and, consequently, alternative models (class action, augmented awards, and public tort suits) must be considered and analyzed. The piece proceeds to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each of …

The Effects Of Malpractice Tort Reform On Defensive Medicine, Heather M. O'Neill, Katherine D. Hennesy

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

Medical malpractice crises occur across states to differing degrees, thus the proposed changes in state tort reforms differ accordingly. The primary overt goals of tort reform aim to address: rising medical malpractice insurance rates, increased frequency and severity of awards, and the increased incidence of doctors shuttering offices or fleeing states due to untoward malpractice environments. A secondary goal of tort reform is to reduce health care costs attributed to malpractice costs. Clearly, as malpractice tort reforms are debated in state capitols and reforms take place, the effects of the reforms on the goals above can be examined. However, there …

Erisa: State Regulation Of Insured Plans After Davila, 38 J. Marshall. L. Rev. 693 (2005), Donald T. Bogan

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pharmaceutical Tort Liability: A Justifiable Nemesis To Drug Innovation And Access?, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 987 (2005), Paula Jacobi

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patients Beware: Preemption Of Common Law Claims Under The Medical Device Amendments, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 75 (2005), Michael P. Dinatale

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Tobacco Litigation Has Not Been Successful In The United Kingdom: A Comparative Analysis Of Tobacco Litigation In The United States And The United Kingdom, Andrei Sirabionian

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Litigation against tobacco companies, about smoking-related diseases, is novel outside of the United States. While in the past two decades U.S. courts have handed down costly verdicts against tobacco companies, European courts have not been as willing to rule against the tobacco industry. European courts have been much more reluctant to award damages to individuals with smoking related diseases or their families. As a result, courts outside the United States have not handed down major decisions against tobacco companies.

Washington State's 45-Year Experiment In Government Liability, Michael Tardif, Rob Mckenna

Seattle University Law Review

Washington's waiver of sovereign immunity has been in force for nearly forty-five years, during which time many questions have been answered. New litigation, however, continues to expand the scope of the waiver, and the extent of liability continues to raise new questions and present difficult problems. Major problems include the uncertainty of case-by-case determinations of government liability and the cost of liability for inherently risky governmental programs, such as corrections and child welfare. Part I of this Article examines the waiver against the background of prior Washington law and the pattern of immunity waivers in other jurisdictions. This examination reveals …

Dispensing With The Public Interest Requirement In Private Causes Of Action Under The Washington Consumer Protection Act, Jonathan A. Mark

Seattle University Law Review

It has been more than eighteen years since the Washington Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Hangman Ridge Training Stables v. Safeco Title Insurance Company. This was the final decision in a string of cases in which the court attempted to resolve problems arising from the application and interpretation of the right to a private cause of action under Washington's Consumer Protection Act ("CPA"). This Article explores the application of the public interest requirement since the decision in Hangman Ridge and considers whether the tests devised by the Hangman Ridge court to determine public interest are still …

Common Law Disclosure Duties And The Sin Of Omission: Testing The Meta-Theories, Kimberly S. Krawiec, Kathryn Zeiler

Faculty Scholarship

Since ancient times, legal scholars have explored the vexing question of when and what a contracting party must disclose to her counterparty, even in the absence of explicit misleading statements. This fascination has culminated in a set of claims regarding which factors drive courts to impose disclosure duties on informed parties. Most of these claims are based on analysis of a small number of non-randomly selected cases and have not been tested systematically. This article represents the first attempt to systematically test a number of these claims using data coded from 466 case decisions spanning over a wide array of …

The Global Enforcement Of Human Rights: The Unintended Consequences Of Transnational Litigation, Andrea Boggio

History and Social Sciences Faculty Journal Articles

In the last few years, a growing number of individuals whose basic rights are violated have filed transnational human rights claims in foreign countries. By placing the individual as a holder of basic rights at the core of the process of development, the capability approach, as put forward by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, provides a fertile theoretical framework to assess translational human rights litigation.

The paper shows that transnational claims are problematic in two regards:

1) They undermine development by discouraging foreign companies from investing in countries that are sources of transnational claims and by weakening local governments and …

Government Corruption And The Right Of Access To Courts, Una A. Kim

Michigan Law Review

This Note addresses the question left unanswered in Harbury: whether these denial of access-to-courts cases, which Justice Souter termed "backward-looking" access claims, are valid exercises of a constitutional right. Backward-looking access claims such as Harbury's differ from traditional denial of access-to-courts claims in that their aim is not to remove impediments to bringing causes of action in the future. Rather, backward-looking access claims allege that a suit that could have been filed in the past was not brought or was not litigated effectively, because access to the courts was at that time denied or obstructed by government officials. …

Comparison To Criminal Sanctions In The Constitutional Review Of Punitive Damages, Colleen P. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Doing Good, Doing Well, Howard M. Erichson

Vanderbilt Law Review

On the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education,' it is fitting that we should take account not only of what has become of school desegregation but also of the heroic public interest lawyer figure embodied by Thurgood Marshall. For his role as "the chief litigator for the civil rights movement," Marshall is widely regarded as a preeminent role model for public interest lawyers. Descriptions of Marshall's career as a public interest advocate emphasize not only his ability to "use the legal system as a tool for social change," but also his personal sacrifice as a lawyer who persevered …

The Effects Of Malpractice Tort Reform On Defensive Medicine, Katherine D. Hennesy, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

Positive defensive medicine occurs when physicians order additional tests or procedures primarily to avoid malpractice liability. This paper shows the degree of defensive medicine occurring across states is related to the malpractice environment in the states. As the environment changes due to malpractice tort reform, defensive medicine practices also change. This paper shows the existence of positive defensive medicine and how it adds to total health care expenditures for head trauma victims in 23 states in 2000. Moreover, given different malpractice environments across states, we witness variations in defensive medicine practices leading to differences in health care expenditures.

Fear-Mongering Torts And The Exaggerated Death Of Diving, Carl Bogus

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Qualified Immunity After Hope V. Pelzer: Is "Clearly Established" Any More Clear?, Leah Chavis

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

"The Insiders" For Gambling Lawsuits: Are The Games "Fair" And Will Casinos And Gambling Facilities Be Easy Targets For Blueprints For Rico And Other Causes Of Action?, John Warren Kindt

Mercer Law Review

As the insider Jeffrey Wigand came forward to rattle the U.S. tobacco industry, insiders within the U.S. and Australian gambling establishments began to go public as the twenty-first century began. By 2002 government officials, scholars, and social activists who were experts on the gambling industry believed that some of the next big industry lawsuits would be targeted at gambling facilities. Gambling opponents argued that casinos and gambling facilities fueled gambling addiction and pursued players who had gambling addiction problems, even after those players complained to the gambling facility and asked to be banned. Casino owners maintained that their industry was …

The Boundary Of Personal Jurisdiction: The "Effects Test" And The Protection Of Crazy Horse's Name, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 381 (2004), Scott Fruehwald

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Separations, Blow-Outs, And Fallout: A Treadise On The Regulatory Aftermath Of The Ford-Firestone Tire Recall, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1073 (2004), Kevin M. Mcdonald

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Permitted But Not Intended: Boub V. Township Of Wayne, Municipal Tort Immunity In Illinois, And The Right To Local Travel, 38 J. Marshall L. Rev. 545 (2004), Bruce Epperson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Not So Peaceful Coexistence: Inherent Tensions In Addressing Tort Law Reform, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

As Professor Michael Green's comments trenchantly remind us, all of this has a familiar ring: insurers and tort defendants claim unfairly escalating liability, plaintiffs' lawyers and consumer groups counterattack, and (for the most part), insurers and defendants obtain some of the relief they seek. The tort reform victories are not so overwhelming as to completely unravel the historical rights of victims or the power of courts generally, but some constriction of rights inevitably occurs. During periods of quiescence, plaintiffs and consumers take back some lost territory through common law victories expanding claimant rights, or through specific legislation. Statutes that permitted …

Sizing Up A Multi-Party Tortfeasor Suit In Arkansas: A Tale Of Two Laws—How Fault Is, And Should Be, Distributed, Joseph R. Falasco

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Civil Rights Filings In Federal District Court By Jail And Prison Inmates, Anne Morrison Piehl, Margo Schlanger

Articles

This article uses panel data estimation techniques to examine the relation between the number of federal court civil filings by inmates and jail and state prison populations (and, hence, the relation between jail and prison inmate filing rates) both before and after the effective date, in 1996, of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The research issue matters for several reasons. First, the amount of litigation by inmates is a crucial component of the regulatory regime governing jails and prisons and thus what factors drive filings, and by how much, deserves close attention and assessment. In addition, the PLRA was …

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. V. Campbell: Refining Bmw Of North America, Inc. V. Gore And Further Restricting Punitive Damages, Bridget E. Leonard

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Doing Good, Doing Well Symposium, Howard M. Erichson

Faculty Scholarship

Rather than focusing on the differences between tort lawyers and activists as they ally with each other, this Article focuses on the motivations and explanations of the tort lawyers themselves. Positioned at the intersection of big-money practice and social change litigation, mass torts provide a useful study in multiple motivations. While financial incentives for plaintiffs' lawyers explain much of what happens in mass torts, policy objectives come into play as well, at least in the lawyers' rhetoric. Despite the obvious difficulty distinguishing reasons from rhetoric and rationalization, it is worth exploring the significance of mixed motives for lawyers who are …

The Impact Of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Punitive Damages Jurisprudence On Oklahoma's Punitive Damages Statute And Jury Instructions, Andrew C. Jayne

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mass Toxic Tort Litigation And Class Action Rule Reform In The United States, Jason L. Betts

ExpressO

The paper advances the proposition that mass toxic tort litigation has been the predominant driver of class action rule reform in the Unites States. Through three distinct phases of proposals to reform Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the judicial and academic attitude to the certification of mass toxic torts has influenced the reform debate in radically different ways – initially by providing the catalyst for efforts to reform Rule 23; then as a dampener against significant reforms to Rule 23 in the wake of mass toxic tort “settlement-only” classes; and ultimately as an explanation for the …