Commercial Law Commons^™

Commerce, Jack M. Balkin

Michigan Law Review

This Article applies the method of text and principle to an important problem in constitutional interpretation: the constitutional legitimacy of the modem regulatory state and its expansive definition of federal commerce power Some originalists argue that the modem state cannot be justified, while others accept existing precedents as a "pragmatic exception" to originalism. Nonoriginalists, in turn, point to these difficulties as a refutation of originalist premises. Contemporary originalist readings have tended to view the commerce power through modem eyes. Originalists defending narrow readings offederal power have identified "commerce" with the trade of commodities; originalists defending broad readings of federal power …

In Defense Of The No Discharge After Notice Rule: A Reply, Chee Ho Tham

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Mr Trukhtanov has made his own summary of and response to my own account of equitable (and statutory) assignment, and how notice of assignment operates within them. Having been reminded of how the cases on the topic are usually understood, readers will have to make up their own minds. While there is, always, room for further thought, it is important not to lose sight of two fairly important distinctions. Where A is the debtor, B is the creditor, and C is an assignee to whom B has assigned the chose in action arising from A’s debt obligation, a distinction should …

The New International Arbitration (Amendment) Bill – A Broader Framework For Interim Relief Or Just A Tune-Up?, Mahdev Mohan, Eu-Yen Tay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Singapore aspires to retain its place as a trusted arbitration hub for commercial parties all around the world. The recently proposed amendments to the International Arbitration Act seek to bring Singapore closer to meeting international standards in relation to the arbitration procedure. While the initiative should be applauded, those amendments relating to interim measures fall somewhat short of expectations of a new, broader framework of curial assistance in aid of arbitration. This article explores the uncertainties that could arise from the proposed amendments, either because of phrasing or of an omission to embrace the Model Law. It is hoped that …

Agency And Partnership Law [2009], Pearlie Koh, Stephen Bull

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The laws relating to the creation of an agency, implied authority, holding out and apparent authority, duties of the agent in relation to Agency law are discussed. The laws relating to partnership law and issues such as relationship of partners to third parties, relationships of partners between themselves and capacity to be a partner are highlighted.

Distorting Legal Principles, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Legal principles enable society to order itself by preserving broadly based expectations. Sometimes, however, parties transact in ways that are so inconsistent with generally accepted principles as to create uncertainty or confusion that undermines the basis for reasoning afforded by the principles. Such a distortion might occur, for example, if a normally mandatory legal rule were unexpectedly treated as a default rule. This article explores the problem of distorting legal principles, initially focusing on rehypothecation, a distortion whose uncertainty and confusion contributed to the downfall of Lehman Brothers and the resulting global financial crisis. But not all distortions are, on …

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 …

A Non-Fatal Collision: Interpreting Rluipa Where Religious Land Uses And Community Interests Meet, Adam J. Macleod

Faculty Articles

Imagine a large church located in a multi-family residential zoning district, where commercial uses are not permitted and religious uses are permitted by special use permit. The church applies for a special use permit to open a coffee shop, which would operate throughout the week during normal business hours and would supplement and support the church's other ministries. At the hearing on the permit application, many neighbors object. They fear increased traffic, visual blight, and safety hazards for their children. The city denies the permit. The church files an action against the city, alleging that the city has substantially burdened …

Irrelevent Confusion, Mark P. Mckenna, Mark A. Lemley

Journal Articles

Trademark law centers its analysis on consumer confusion. With some significant exceptions, the basic rule of trademark law is that a defendant’s use of a mark is illegal if it confuses a substantial number of consumers and not otherwise.

As a general matter, this is the right rule. Trademark law is designed to facilitate the workings of modern markets by permitting producers to accurately communicate information about the quality of their products to buyers, and therefore to encourage them to invest in making quality products in circumstances in which that quality wouldn’t otherwise be apparent. If competitors can falsely mimic …

From ‘Made In China’ To ‘Sold In China’, Henry S. Gao

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Two years ago, I wrote about a special program called ‘Made in China’, produced by CNN in the wake of the tainted milk scandal. Last month, CNN started to air another ‘Made in China’ program. No it is not that the last program was so popular that they want to bring it back. Instead the new one is a thirty second commercial rumored to have been financed by China’s Ministry of Commerce (who later denied this) in an effort to promote Chinese products.

Notice Of Assignment And Discharge By Performance, Chee Ho Tham

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Notice plays an important role in the equitable assignment of legal choses in action, such as a contractual debt. As noted in a recent treatise, once the debtor is given notice of the equitable assignment: (i) should she pay the sum owed to her creditor, she is not discharged from her obligation but will have to make payment again to the assignee [the 'no discharge after notice' rule]; (ii) the assignee’s right against the debtor has priority against subsequent assignments by the assignor, in order of precedence of notice [the rule as to priorities]; and (iii) the debtor is no …

The Constructive Trust In Singapore: Five Persistent Puzzles, Hang Wu Tang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper investigates some persistent difficulties surrounding the constructive trust. The five persistent puzzles relating to the constructive trust that are considered in this paper are: the terminology puzzle, the institutional and remedial puzzle, the explanatory puzzle, the bankruptcy puzzle and the Torrens puzzle. It is the author’s thesis that these five enduring puzzles must be addressed and ultimately unravelled in order to ensure the coherent development of the law in this area.