Monthly Archives: March, 2026
Bernard Chao, ‘Real Hypothetical Negotiations’
ABSTRACT Patent law’s prevailing method for awarding reasonable royalties relies on a ‘hypothetical negotiation’ framework that asks what royalty a willing licensor and willing licensee would have agreed to. In practice, this approach has devolved into a battle of paid experts who manipulate the same evidence to reach dramatically different conclusions, often diverging by orders […]
‘Indemnification clauses in book contracts?’
Philosopher Mark Navin writes: ‘I just walked away from a book contract with Routledge over an indemnity clause. What do you think is going on with these clauses? Routledge recently approached me to write a second edition of my vaccine ethics book (Values and Vaccine Refusal). The contract contained an indemnity clause (Clause 14.2, pasted […]
‘From Copyright to Contract: How User Rights Are Being Reshaped’
There has been a dramatic shift in our personal lives, schools, and workplaces from buying and owning cultural materials like books, music, movies, and television, to licensing (ie, subscribing to) these materials. Digital materials should be easier to access and use, however in this new environment activities like copying, sharing, and reusing cultural materials are […]
Kish Parella, ‘The Human Rights Obligations of Corporate Directors’
ABSTRACT Corporate directors and officers substantially influence how well – or poorly – a corporation addresses human rights risks. But their involvement is often hidden or misunderstood, despite the reality that many corporate human rights abuses occur because of explicit choices made by their leadership that, on many occasions, inevitably lead to human rights violations. […]
Gilat Juli Bachar, ‘Plaintiffs’ Lawyers’ Disclosure Duties’
ABSTRACT Lawyers representing plaintiffs in civil litigation often participate in settlements that conceal risks to public health and safety-contributing, wittingly or not, to future harm. This Article challenges the prevailing assumption that plaintiffs’ lawyers have no obligation to consider the interests of nonclient third parties in such cases. It illustrates how negotiated nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) […]
Mason Clark, ‘Digital Dram Shops and Intoxicating Algorithms’
ABSTRACT At first glance, dram shops – bars, taverns, or any other establishment that sells alcohol – and digital platforms appear to be wholly dissimilar spaces. The former is a physical location and encourages human-to-human interaction; the latter intentionally removes this interaction in favor of algorithms. Yet both share a similar incentive to entice bar […]
Dylan Mobley, ‘The Six Harms Doctrine: Legal Framework for Cognizable Injuries from Emotional Artificial Intelligence’
ABSTRACT The Six Harms Doctrine establishes a taxonomy of legally cognizable injuries arising from emotional artificial intelligence interaction. As AI systems increasingly simulate emotional understanding, companionship, and therapeutic support, documented casualties – including multiple deaths now in litigation – demonstrate urgent need for legal frameworks enabling accountability. Existing tort categories inadequately capture harms arising from […]
Clayton Masterman, ‘Proportional Recovery And Incentives To Settle’
ABSTRACT Proportional recovery allows plaintiffs to recover damages prorated by some percentage proven at trial. The typical example of proportional recovery in modern tort law is the loss-of-chance doctrine, which allows medical malpractice plaintiffs to recover damages using probabilistic evidence of causation, with damages proportional to the probability of causation they can demonstrate. Advances in […]
Gabriel and Sayantani, ‘Third Generation Rent Control: Evidence from San Diego’
ABSTRACT Evidence of adverse economic impacts of rent control derives largely from older, binding local ordinances of the 1970s. In 2020, the State of California enacted a new rent control law with less binding rent caps among jurisdictions lacking stricter regulations. We use permit, transaction and rental supply data from San Diego to evaluate the […]
Juan Vega Esquivel, ‘Evaluating the Relationship Between Video Game Microtransactions and Addictive Behaviours’
ABSTRACT Microtransactions and loot boxes have become core revenue mechanisms in contemporary video games, raising policy concern that gambling-like design and frictionless payments may be associated with addictive consumption patterns and welfare-reducing outcomes. Although a growing literature links loot box spending with problem gambling severity, evidence remains mixed on the broader relationship between disordered gaming, […]