Monthly Archives: July, 2024
Barry Temkin, ‘Can Negligent Referral to Another Attorney Constitute Legal Malpractice?’
ABSTRACT This article considers the liability of a lawyer under New York law for the malpractice of a lawyer to whom a case is referred. Ordinarily, the referring lawyer is not responsible for the negligence of receiving counsel, provided that the referring attorney uses minimal care in selecting counsel. However, when the attorneys share a […]
Mark Mancini, ‘Two Uses of Purpose in Statutory Interpretation’
ABSTRACT Despite apparent agreement on the approach to the interpretation of statutes in Canada, a system of presumptive parliamentary sovereignty, judges differ on a fundamental point: how purpose is used in interpretation. Some judges craft arguments that view the text as the medium through which the legislature expresses its intention, using purpose to shed light […]
‘Minister says SLAPPs action “urgent” – but refuses to commit’
The government this week declined to commit to a timetable for legislation to tackle abusive litigation against the media and public interest groups – despite accepting the ‘urgent need’ for such a measure. In his first appearance as justice spokesman in the House of Lords, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (the former hereditary peer Lord Ponsonby) […]
‘Defamation cases should routinely be commenced in the Circuit Court and not the High Court, and the forthcoming Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 should be amended accordingly’
It is widely reported this morning that the Government has approved the publication of the long-awaited, much-delayed, and eagerly-anticipated Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 … It will deal with issues such as the abolition of juries, the control of strategic litigation against publish participation (SLAPPs), live broadcasts, transient retail defamation, support for alternative resolution of defamation […]
Julita Zawadzka, ‘Life after Death? Legal Relations of Companies after Cessation of their Legal Existence’
ABSTRACT The cessation of the legal existence of a company affects many entities that have entered into legal relations with it. Above all, its unsatisfied creditors are affected, but the legal situation of the company’s shareholders is also altered. Legislators approach the issue of the cessation of the company’s legal existence in different ways and […]
Anna Beckers, ‘Private Law and the Institutional (Re)turn’
SUMMARY In times of crises and social transformations, private lawyers turn to analysis of the institutions of private law. They turn to the contract, property, tort, restitution, or corporate personhood for both identifying the root causes of societal problems and for anchoring change in the legal system. My inaugural lecture discusses this frequent (re)turn to […]
Mark Ortega, ‘Overlooking Uncommon Buildings – Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery’
ABSTRACT This Note describes the key doctrinal developments in the Fearn decision and criticises two of these developments: the use-design distinction, and the privileging of the ‘common and ordinary’ uses of land over ‘abnormal’ uses of land. This Note argues that the use-design distinction is artificial and therefore the United Kingdom Supreme Court’s effective insulation […]
Imran Smith, ‘From The Common Law Trespass to Squatter’s Right in Land: The Dynamics of Property Right in the Globalised World’
ABSTRACT This article engages the dynamism of property concept within the parameters of the socio-legal construct of modern societies and against the backdrop of user rights cognisable under domestic and international legal regimes. The social malaise of homelessness culminating in squatting has resulted generally in forced evictions in many jurisdictions in the developing third world, […]
Cooper and Grimmelmann, ‘The Files are in the Computer: On Copyright, Memorization, and Generative AI’
ABSTRACT The New York Times’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft alleges that OpenAI’s GPT models have ‘memorized’ Times articles. Other lawsuits make similar claims. But parties, courts, and scholars disagree on what memorization is, whether it is taking place, and what its copyright implications are. Unfortunately, these debates are clouded by deep ambiguities over […]
Steven Schwarcz, ‘Representations and Warranties, Fraud, and Risk Shifting: An Analytical Framework’
ABSTRACT Do violations of contractual representations and warranties (‘R&Ws’) merely shift risk by giving rise to contract-breach damages, or can they also give rise to fraud claims? This question is at the heart of numerous lawsuits, including billions of dollars of securitization-related litigation. Many agreements governing the issuance of securities in these transactions limit R&W […]