Category Archives: Legal History
Michael Conklin, ‘Benchmarked for Arbitration: Work Avoidance as an Explanation for Why Judges Have Become Increasingly Favorable Toward Compelled Arbitration’
ABSTRACT The clear trajectory over the last 100 years has been for judges to become increasingly more favorable toward sending disputes to compelled arbitration and enforcing arbitration awards. This results in a modern widespread proliferation of compelled arbitration that has become increasingly controversial. Some have alleged that the steady trend toward courts favoring compelled arbitration […]
Jinxian Chen, ‘Laesio Enormis: Origin and Historical Evolution’
ABSTRACT The rule of laesio enormis allows the disadvantaged party to circumvent the constraints of a legal transaction when being exploited by the other party, serving as a crucial legal device of private law justice. Originating in late antiquity, laesio enormis was initially implemented as a special intervention to protect vulnerable land sellers. In the […]
Silvie Rohr, ‘Corporate Purpose: A Management Concept and the Role of Contract Design’
ABSTRACT In light of systemic crises such as global warming and human rights violations in business operations, the call for reevaluating corporate conduct has become more pressing than ever. As these challenges intensify, a growing consensus advocates for a shift away from shareholder profit maximization towards a more holistic stakeholder governance model. Yet, the question […]
Smith and Popovici, ‘equity is not Equity’
ABSTRACT Like many before us, we will use ‘Equity’ to refer to Maitland’s Equity: the body of rules administered by the Chancery. By contrast, we use ‘equity’ to refer to the correction of the law in the furtherance of justice. Many jurists in the common law tradition equate Equity with equity: they may unconsciously assume […]
Rafał Mańko, ‘Towards an Ideological History of Private Law or What Legal History Can Gain from Critical Legal Theory’
ABSTRACT The aim of the present chapter is to enquire about the relationship between ideology and private law, with particular reference to the historical dimension of private law. From a methodological perspective, the present paper should be seen as a metamethodological intervention, grounded in critical legal theory, aimed at proposing certain broad research questions at […]
Susanna Kim Ripken, ‘Corporate Civil Disobedience’
ABSTRACT Classic theories of civil disobedience endorse the right of individuals to commit illegal acts to protest unjust laws and policies. Acts of civil disobedience have historically played a central role in exposing injustice and producing vital legal and social change. The literature on civil disobedience is vast; political and legal theorists have long recognized […]
Jennifer Jenkins, ‘Mickey, Disney, and the Public Domain: A Ninety-Five-Year Love Triangle’
On January 1, 2024, after almost a century of copyright protection, Mickey Mouse, or at least a version of Mickey Mouse, will enter the United States public domain. The first movies in which the iconic mouse appeared – Steamboat Willie and the silent version of Plane Crazy – were made in 1928, and works from […]
‘Do People Matter? The importance of the individual in the construction of legal history’, Catharine MacMillan, King’s College London, 22 January 2025
The Dickson Poon School of Law is proud to present our Inaugural Lecture Series. Inaugural Lectures are a celebration of our Professors, as they present an overview of their contribution to their field, as well as highlight its latest developments. The lecture is open to both members of the university community and the wider public, […]
Anatoliy Lytvynenko, ‘Recovery of Damages for Mental Anguish Relating to Death Grief: the Jurisprudence of Certain Common Law Jurisdictions’
ABSTRACT Courts in Common Law jurisdictions usually did not grant the recovery of damages for mental suffering unaccompanied with a physical injury or other wrong until the late 19th century. However, the given maxim changed when American courts allowed recovering damages for mental suffering in cases of improper delivery (or non-delivery) of telegraph messages, which […]
Zvi Rosen, ‘The Steamboat Willie Smokescreen’
ABSTRACT In my article Who Framed Mickey Mouse I argue that The Walt Disney Company’s role in copyright term extension in 1998 – although real and substantial – has been seriously exaggerated by opponents of copyright term extension. In this shorter piece I wanted to explicate on a related point, which is the degree to […]