Law prof Mary J. Davis has written Time For a Fresh Look at Strict Liability for Pharmaceuticals. Here's the abstract: Over the ensuing 50 years from the promulgation of § 402A, products liability in general has seen a retrenchment from strict liability. The Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability openly adopted negligence principles for design […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
In a 2-1 decision in DL v. District of Columbia, No. 18-7004 (May 21, 2019), authored by Judge David Tatel, the D.C. Circuit has rejected the federal and D.C. governments' efforts to cut the hourly rates payable for a lawyer's legal work under federal fee-shifting statutes. (Senior Judge David Sentelle dissented.) Here is Judge Tatel's […]
State attorneys general have updated their letter opposing the draft Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts. The letter has now been signed by twenty-four AGs. Read the letter here. For our earlier post, on the AG letter, go here.
The Supreme Court issued its decision today in Merck Sharp & Doehm v. Albrecht. Justice Breyer wrote the controlling opinion, representing the views of six Justices. Justice Alito wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, representing the views of three justices. Justice Breyer described the issues this way: We stated in Wyeth v. Levine that state […]
Yesterday, former Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray wrote to the Director of the American Law Institute Richard Revesz opposing the controversial draft Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts. The Restatement will be voted on tomorrow by the ALI's membership. Here are excerpts from Cordray's letter: I write to express deep […]
An investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times found that "[y]ou could be a great driver, but still have to pay more [for car insurance] because of reasons unrelated to driving," such as sex, where you live, and whether you rent or own your home. Read this Sun-Times article by Stephanie Zimmerman for more details.
Law profs Matthew Bruckner, Brook Gotberg, Dalie Jimenez, and Chrystin Ondersma have written A No-Contest Discharge for Uncollectable Student Loans. Here is the abstract (complete with a list of circumstances in which, the authors say, student-loan debt should be discharged in bankruptcy on a no-contest basis): Over 44 million Americans owe more than 1.4 trillion […]
Yesterday, 23 state attorneys general wrote to all members of the American Law Institute urging them to reject the draft Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts, calling it "an abandonment of important principles of consumer protection in exchange for illusory benefits." Read the AGs' letter here. For our other recent coverage of the draft […]
That's the topic of The New Food Safety by law profs Emily Leib and Margot Pollans. Here is the abstract: A safe food supply is essential for a healthy society. Our food system is replete with different types of risk, yet food safety is understood as encompassing only foodborne illness and other risks related directly […]
The members of the American Law Institute are poised to vote on May 21 on whether to adopt, for the first time, a Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts. That's right: A Restatement that would purport to state the law on, among other things, the take-or-leave-it contracts that we "agree to" every day and […]