Business Insider reports that Ford executive Jim Farley stated, in a panel discussion: We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you’re doing it. We have GPS in your car, so we know what you’re doing. By the way, we don’t supply that data to anyone. He later retracted that, saying Ford doesn’t […]
Archive | Torts
Virginia Tech Not Liable for Failing to Warn Students About the Shooter
From today’s Commonwealth v. Peterson (Va. Sup. Ct. Oct. 31, 2013) (paragraph break added) (unanimous): [E]ven if there was a special relationship between the Commonwealth and students of Virginia Tech, under the facts of this case, there was no duty for the Commonwealth to warn students about the potential for criminal acts by third parties…. […]
Planning for the Obsolescence of Technologies Not Yet Invented
By Bryant Walker Smith, guest-blogging on October 4, 2013 6:50 pm in Automation, Drones (UAVs), Privacy, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars, Torts
The automated motor vehicles that I have discussed this week are just one example of the remarkable technologies coming to our roads, skies, homes, and even bodies. A decade from now, we’ll marvel at how advanced these new products are. But a decade after that, we’ll marvel at how anachronistic they have become. Rapid technological […]
Bryant Walker Smith Guest-Blogging This Week About Self-Driving Cars, Automation Technologies, and Their Regulation
By Kenneth Anderson on September 29, 2013 4:58 pm in Automation, Regulation, Robotics, Self-Driving Cars, Torts
Automation and robotic technologies have popped up in Volokh Conspiracy posts several times during the last few years – drone aircraft, autonomous or highly automated weapons, nursing and eldercare assistance machines and, of course, self-driving cars. So I’m pleased to announce that Bryant Walker Smith, a leading expert on automation and the law, will be […]
Proposed Settlement of NFL Concussion Lawsuit
Just before the Labor Day weekend — and just in time for the start of the season — the National Football League announced a settlement agreement with former players who sued the league over concussion injuries sustained while playing professional football. The plaintiffs alleged the NFL had not adequately addressed concussion risks to players and, […]
Liability for Texting Driver
Kubert v. Best (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Aug. 27, 2013) holds: We hold that the sender of a text message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by texting, but only if the sender knew or had special reason to know that the recipient would view the text while driving and thus […]
So Where Should Released Convicts Live?
I recently read an interesting tort case, Stephens v. Greensboro Properties, Ltd. (Ga. Ct. App. 2001). Starting in July 1996, Stanley Scott lived in Greensboro Properties’ low-income housing development apartment complex. He also worked there as a maintenance man, “paid based on the number of hours he spent doing maintenance work,” and seemed to be […]
So Where Should Released Convicts Live?
From Landlording: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves (11th ed. 2010), p. 337: Selecting “Harmless” Employees and Tenants Whenever you’re selecting employees and tenants, be especially cautious in determining whether they might pose a physical threat to others…. If they should ever harm a tenant physically during an argument or […]
Don’t Try This at Home
Here’s an interesting tort case I ran across recently, Mangold v. Ind. Dept. of Natural Resources (Ind. 2001): On March 12, 1997, a Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) conservation officer conducted a hunter education class for students at Switzerland County Junior High School. The program was part of the school’s science curriculum and addressed firearm […]
No Tort Law Duty Not to Provoke One’s Abuser
From Hurn v. Greenaway (Alaska Feb. 8, 2013): Simone Greenway and her friend Carrie Randall–Evans were dancing together in a suggestive manner and teasing Jeffrey Evans, Carrie’s husband, when Jeffrey left the room, returned with a pistol, and shot everyone inside, killing Carrie. He then shot and killed himself. David Hurn, the father of Carrie’s […]
Lawsuits Over Fraudulent Electronic Relationships
With the Manti Te’o story in the news, I thought I’d note an interesting case from last year, Bonhomme v. St. James (Ill. 2012). I stress up front that I haven’t followed the details of the Te’o story, and can’t opine on any legal implications (civil or criminal) of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo’s behavior in that case. […]
Doctors on Airplanes
Yesterday over dinner, a doctor related a story of a friend who was on an airplane when another passenger fell ill. The friend helped the ill passenger, but when the airline offered a free first class upgrade as thanks, she declined: The friend thought that this might deprive her of the protection of a “Good […]
$60,000 Verdict for Blogging the Truth About A Person Intending to Get Him Fired — Reversed
I’ve blogged before about Moore v. Hoff, a Minnesota case in which a jury ordered a blogger (John Hoff, who blogs as Johnny Northside) to pay $60,000 to a university official because the blogger blogged the truth about the official, intending to get him fired. Today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the verdict, in […]
Breach of Promise to Marry
This tort — straight out of Gilbert & Sullivan — turns out to remains theoretically alive in a few states, though apparently very rarely litigated. And though some cases involve lawsuits over the cost of the canceled wedding, in principle the damages can be a good deal broader. Bradley v. Somers (1984) tells us that, […]
Paternity Fraud
Dier v. Peters (Iowa June 1, 2012) offers a good discussion of the debate about paternity fraud lawsuits, including citations to cases that reject such a cause of action and to cases that accept it. This particular case concludes that, if a woman fraudulently tells a man that he was the father of her child, […]