Dru Stevenson, Professor of Law

Or, maybe just environmentalist evangelicals? Anyway, you may have already seen a few news stories about this, but if not, click on the post title. And click here for an essay by one of the proponents (dodging the troubling paradox of eschatology and "stewardship" in theology).

Not clear what the chain of enforcement will be for this one....

Global warming and other pesky problems lead to abandoned buildings in the befabled city....

I spent months, it seemed, on this case in its early stages (endless pre-trial motions with a frustrating pro se on the other side) when I worked at Legal Aid in Hartford. I am happy to see how it turned out, and happy to see the law & econ twist to it (concerns about incentives, etc.). Great job, Attorney Pels. Reading the case made me miss Legal Aid a lot. And the Court did the right thing on both issues... The landlord in the case, Mr. Ancona, is a colorful local character in Hartford - interested law students can have fun searching for his name (and his relatives) in Connecticut cases on Westlaw...

I found this really informative, definitely a few steps beyond the mainstream media's "the-CIA-created-the-Taliban" or "Pakistan-created-the-Taliban." Particularly interesting was the meddling in the 1970's and 80's by China.

Yesterday the 4th Circuit reinstated five lawsuits that allege cell phone companies failed to protect consumers from unsafe levels of radiation. Click on the title to read the AP article and here to read the opinion.

Larry Solum is collecting info (apparently he hasn't received any from South Texas) about this year's faculty hiring. The most interesting detail to me is that 29 of 59 candidates (nearly half, no?) had other advanced degrees, apparently confirming my running hypothesis that law schools are in a gradual shift toward hiring JD/Ph.D's, or at least JD/__'s. The more interesting (but also more speculative) answer is whether this will eventually force higher salaries for professors in other areas of academia, given that Ph.D.'s could substantially increase their earning power by adding a JD to their CV.

Click on the title to follow the link to an interesting article about lawsuits against vets - sometimes animal operations go terribly wrong....

Thanks to the Legal Reader for this one....

One cutting-edge area of tort law is the spate of lawsuits against alcohol companies for their role in contributing to drunk driving accidents. Unfortunately, one of the pioneering cases (a class action!) was just dismissed by a California trial judge, apparently because the plaintiffs did not allege enough facts about specific advertisements or that the drunk driver had viewed them. The plaintiffs plan to appeal, though. If they're reading this, I'd love to help! A great introductory article to this area is " Lawsuit Claims Alcohol Companies Marketed to Underage Drinkers," in Lawyers Weekly USA (Jan. 19, 2004). The case just dismissed was not covered well by the media, although there is a good article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (click here ). Click on "read full post" for my ranting and raving on this issue... From the article: [The suit asked the court] to stop alleged underage marketing practices. It also sought damages equivalent to the mone...

From the Lawyers Weekly USA article: Researchers from Harvard's law and medical schools said the findings underscore the inadequacy of many private insurance plans that offer worst-case catastrophic coverage, but little financial security for less severe illnesses, according to The Associated Press. "Unless you're Bill Gates, you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy," said Dr. David Himmelstein, the study's lead author and an associate professor of medicine. "Most of the medically bankrupt were average Americans who happened to get sick." I know my fellow conservatives like to emphasize "personal responsibility" as the antidote to bankruptcy (the impetus behind sweeping new federal legislation, right?) but it seems that "responsibility" would only apply in the other half of the cases, no? It's easier to see the social value of punitive damages against firms that contribute to serious illnesses through the manufactu...

The Washington Court of Appeals ruled (reversing a summary judgment) that a child exposed to asbestos dust on his father’s clothes can sue - in strict liability under state law. An interesting case.

From the article: Police say thieves often cannot resist tucking into a snack after breaking into a home, and traces of saliva on the food remains can yield a telltale signature of the criminal's DNA. A handful of hungry crooks have been caught and jailed this way over the past decade, a phenomenon that has prompted curious scientists to wonder which foods may yield the best saliva sample. The article cautioned that CHOCOLATE does NOT work well for this, because they eat it all and leave no good saliva samples behind. :-)

From the article: An Arizona university student is believed to be the first person in the country to be convicted of a crime under state laws for illegally downloading music and movies from the Internet, prosecutors and activists say. University of Arizona student Parvin Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit marks, or unauthorized copies of intellectual property. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Dhaliwal was sentenced last month to a three-month deferred jail sentence, three years of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $5,400 fine. The judge in the case also ordered him to take a copyright class at the University of Arizona, which he attends, and to avoid file-sharing computer programs. The interesting thing about the case, from a standpoint of legal doctrine, is the enforcement of copyright is strictly FEDERAL, under the Constitution. Up to now, states have not been involved much at all in these cases. More: Federal investigators referred the case to ...

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected a practice adopted in some federal tax court proceedings that shielded certain documents from creditors....interesting case.

From the Article: The defendant had written his dog a letter from his cell, and that is how the shih tzu's name got on the witness list. Prosecutors realized the mistake on Tuesday after the defendant's brother brought in Murphy to answer the subpoena and a deputy would not let them into the courthouse because no dogs were allowed. Thanks to Jay Clendenin for help finding this!

Click on the post title to read an interesting article about reverse bifurcation , which is also the subject of my current writing project (thanks to research assistant Jay Clendenin for helping me find this). Reverse bifurcation is where the damages phase of the trial occurs first (for non-lawyers, this means how much money the plaintiff gets to win), and then the question of liability is determined second (for non-lawyer readers, this is the question of whether the defendant has to pay anything in the first place). This innovative procedure has been in use for over twenty years, originating in the Philadelphia complex litigation courts during the asbestos cases of the early 1980's. The most common justification for it is that the reversed order fosters quick settlements and saves time and court costs . Once the parties know how much money the case is really worth, they almost always settle (often for the amount the jury suggested, interestingly). If you read the article closely,...

For those interested in more background about this, click on the post title for the link to a new article in the scientific journal Psychiatry Today...