Torts Commons^™

A Sea Change In Creditor Priorities, Kristen Van De Biezenbos

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article argues that the operation of maritime law undermines a primary justification for creditor priorities under U.S. law. Under current law, when a debtor becomes insolvent, its secured creditors will be paid the full amount of their debt to the extent of their security interest, even if that leaves nothing to pay unsecured creditors. This is controversial with respect to involuntary unsecured creditors, particularly those with tort claims against the debtor. Defenders of this scheme of priorities have argued that allowing greater priority to involuntary creditors would hinder the availability or increase the cost of credit. However, involuntary creditors …

Interim Payments And Economic Damages To Compensate Private-Party Victims Of Hazardous Releases, Julie E. Steiner

Marquette Law Review

There is a gap in tort recovery for many hazardous release victims. Hazardous spill victims receive different damage compensation based solely upon the type of hazardous substance released, with oil spill victims benefitting from a number of statutory damage recovery mechanisms that victims of other type of hazardous substance releases do not receive. Specifically, those injured by oil spills receive interim payments and recover for their economic loss. Yet, many victims injured by non-oil hazardous spills will incur economic harm but will not receive compensation because of a prohibition on recovery for economic loss absent accompanying physical injury or private …

The Social Origins Of The Personality Torts, Samantha Barbas

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Travelers Beware: Tort Liability In The Sharing Economy, Talia G. Loucks

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Participation in the sharing economy makes consumers’ lives easier. From the rental of a house or room via room share sites like Airbnb to getting a ride around the city using rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft, travelers have found less traditional and more affordable ways to explore. With these innovations, however, come risks for users. For example, Airbnb hosts do not owe guests the same duties as a hotel operator. Additionally, drivers’ insurance policies may not apply when operating for profit through a rideshare program. This Article examines the current liability issues that arise in the sharing economy. …

Why Can't I Know How The Sausage Is Made?: How Ag-Gag Statutes Threaten Animal Welfare Groups And The First Amendment, Daniel L. Sternberg

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

No abstract provided.

Chinese Companies And U.S. Class Actions: Securities Litigation And Product Liability, Geoffrey Sant, Charles M. Yablon, Stephen A. Radin, Kayvan Sadeghi, Christopher A. Seeger, Richard H. Silberberg

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The symposium examines the challenges Chinese companies face when navigating U.S. class actions and corporate governance rules, emphasizing the importance of understanding jurisdictional complexities, cultural differences, and legal strategies to mitigate risks. It highlights how Chinese companies must adapt to U.S. legal standards to compete globally while addressing enforcement difficulties and settlement dynamics. The analysis underscores the need for transparency, internal controls, and strategic legal counsel to manage these challenges effectively.

Judging Multidistrict Litigation, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

Scholarly Works

High-stakes multidistrict litigations saddle the transferee judges who manage them with an odd juxtaposition of power and impotence. On one hand, judges appoint and compensate lead lawyers (who effectively replace parties’ chosen counsel) and promote settlement with scant appellate scrutiny or legislative oversight. But on the other, without the arsenal class certification once afforded, judges are relatively powerless to police the private settlements they encourage. Of course, this power shortage is of little concern since parties consent to settle.

Or do they? Contrary to conventional wisdom, this Article introduces new empirical data revealing that judges appoint an overwhelming number of …

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

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Tort, Speech, And The Dubious Alchemy Of State Action, Cristina Carmody Tilley

Faculty Publications

Plaintiffs have historically used private law torts like defamation, privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress to vindicate their dignitary interests. But fifty years ago in New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court took an unprecedented approach to state action doctrine in order to recast these causes of action as public-private law hybrids that explicitly privileged speech over dignity. In constitutional challenges to private law disputes, the Court had for decades defined the state action under review to include just the contested verdict at issue. In Sullivan, it broke with that practice and defined the relevant state action to …

Summary Of Cadle Co. V. Woods & Erickson Llp, 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 15 (Mar. 26, 2015), Adam Wynott

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court held Nevada does not recognize accessory liability for fraudulent transfers. Additionally, the Court ruled a court may only award costs based on a showing of sufficient evidence that a cost is reasonable, required, and incurred.

International Liability And Primary Rules Of Obligation: An Application To Acid Rain In The United States And Canada, John B. Lyle

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review: International Encyclopedia Of Comparative Law Xi Torts (1983), Thomas A. Eaton

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Foreign Sovereign Immunity - Whether United States Embassies Are Jurisdictional Territory Under The Non-Commercial Tort Exception Of The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, Jill M. Conley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Developments In International Trade Law: 1983, Georgia Journal Of International And Comparative Law

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Product Liability Law In Japan: An Introduction To A Developing Area Of Law, Younghee Jin Ottley, Bruce L. Ottley

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Solving The Puzzle Of Transnational Class Actions, Kevin M. Clermont

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

How should a U.S. class action treat proposed foreign class members in a circumstance where any resulting judgment will likely not bind those absentees abroad? The dominant approach has been an exclusionary one, dropping the absentees from the class. This essay instead recommends an inclusionary approach, so that all the foreigners would remain members of the class in transnational class actions. But the court should create a subclass in damages actions for the foreign claimants who might have an incentive to sue again; the subclass would proceed by the accepted technique of claims-made recovery, so that the subclass members could …

Pain And Suffering Damages In Wrongful Death Cases: An Empirical Study, Yun-Chien Chang, Theodore Eisenberg, Han-Wei Ho, Martin T. Wells

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Most jurisdictions in the United States award pain and suffering damages to spouses of victims in wrongful death cases. In several East Asian countries, spouses, parents, and children of the victim can all demand pain and suffering damages. Despite the prevalence of this type of damages, and the oft‐enormous amount of compensation, there has been no large‐scale empirical study on how judges achieve the difficult task of assessing pain and suffering damages. Using a unique data set containing hundreds of car accident cases rendered by the court of first instance in Taiwan, with single‐equation and structural‐equation models, we find the …

Rethinking Injury: The Case Of Informed Consent, Erin Sheley

BYU Law Review

This article argues that the traditional debates between the expressive and compensatory views of tort law ignore the way in which an injury may itself have an expressive component, one that in turn increases the extent of physical harm suffered by a victim. I take up the example of informed consent in the medical malpractice context to show how an excessively narrow idea of physical harm has negative consequences for tort law in general. In these situations, when a physician performs a procedure without providing the patient with sufficient information, we can better understand the harm that occurs through a …

Whose Best Interest Is It Anyway?: School Administrators' Liability For Student Injury In Virginia, Alison Landry

Catholic University Law Review

In 2012 the Supreme Court of Virginia declined to recognize a special relationship between a school’s vice principal and the school’s students. Without the third person liability that accompanies special relationships, a vice principal is allowed to put student safety at the bottom of his to-do list. This Note analyzes why the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision in Burns v. Gagnon should have found that a special relationship existed between a vice principal and his students. Declining to recognize this special relationship has left school administrators with little risk of liability for a student’s harm. This Note discusses the few …

The Tort Label, Sandra F. Sperino

Florida Law Review

This Article demonstrates the dangers of the tort label, using the lens of two core discrimination statutes: Title VII and the ADEA. However, the discussion has broader implications. Courts have applied the tort label to a variety of statutes and in a wide array of contexts.

This Article proceeds as follows. Part I discusses the move to tortify federal discrimination law. Parts II, III, and IV highlight serious problems with the way the courts understand, use, and apply tort law in the discrimination context. Part V discusses the stakes of the tort label, including its tendency to lead to unsatisfactory …