Category Archives: Products liability
‘Lessons from Literal Crashes for Code’
Bryan H Choi, Crashworthy Code, 94 Washington Law Review 39 (2019). Software crashes all the time, and the law does little about it. But as Bryan H Choi notes in Crashworthy Code, ‘anticipation has been building that the rules for cyber-physical liability will be different’ (p 43). It is one thing for your laptop to […]
Hodge and Gostin, ‘Guiding Industry Settlements of Opioid Litigation’
ABSTRACT The recent $270 million settlement of Purdue Pharmaceuticals and the State of Oklahoma on March 26, 2019 concerning the state’s opioid litigation is a harbinger of industry settlements to come. Thousands of opioid-related cases with impending trial dates may stimulate opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to seek new deals to escape historic liability. Against […]
‘Come for the Opioids, Stay for the Civil Procedure’
“Last week, I sat down with Nicolas Terry, who hosts the podcast, The Week in Health Law. We discussed the role of repeat players in multidistrict litigation leadership (on both sides), the functions and control of MDL judges, the ongoing opioid litigation, and my new book – Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation […]
Patricia Cherana, ‘Assigning Liability In An Autonomous World Together With Reforming The Law According To The Modern Advances In The Medical Field’
ABSTRACT Due to the blooming advancement of technology, the application field of robotics became manifold. From performing surgeries, to shooting trespassers or babysitting our kids, robots started to dominate news headlines. Given the fact that this general intransigence progressively became visible within all sectors, much hype has been engendered towards the growing concern of its […]
James Henderson, ‘Civil Liability for Encouraging Bad Behavior: From Cheering at a Gang Rape to Promoting Opioid Abuse’
ABSTRACT This Article examines the civil liability of actors who encourage others to behave badly, thereby causing harm. The analysis distinguishes between individual encouragers and business-entity encouragers. Individuals most often intend for the bad behaviors and the consequential harms to occur – witness cheerleaders at a gang rape. This Article advocates stern treatment of such […]
Bryan Choi, ‘Crashworthy Code’
Abstract Code crashes. Yet for decades, software failures have escaped scrutiny for tort liability. Those halcyon days are numbered: self-driving cars, delivery drones, networked medical devices, and other cyber-physical systems have rekindled interest in understanding how tort law will apply when software errors lead to loss of life or limb. Even after all this time, […]
Michelle Sellwood, ‘The Road to Autonomy’
Abstract This Comment discusses the background of AI and robotics, the technology behind the autonomous vehicle, and the evolution of products liability laws. Part III examines current regulations, the benefits of autonomous technology, and the need for a definitive liability framework. Part IV discusses why current tort liability laws will be ineffective in governing autonomous […]
Brian Haney, ‘The Optimal Agent: The Future of Autonomous Vehicles and Liability Theory’
Abstract Autonomous Vehicles (‘AVs’) are rapidly disrupting a $4 trillion industry. Indeed, the questions surrounding the regulation of AVs are some of the most important that will be answered in the Twenty-first Century. Legislators and scholars have yet to address or even identify some of the most important issues related AV regulation. Instead, legislators and […]
Herbert Zech, ‘Liability for Autonomous Systems: Tackling Specific Risks of Modern IT’
Abstract Recent developments in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been leading to increasingly autonomous systems, showing the capability of self-learning. In addition, self-learning made significant progress by the realization of multi-layered artificial neural networks with an ever-increasing complexity. These new technologies cause the emergence of new specific risks. Liability law may specifically address […]
John Campbell, ‘Budding Torts: Forecasting Emerging Tort Liability in the Cannabis Industry’
Abstract The marijuana industry is booming. It is expanding into new states while it grows beyond the medical marijuana market into the recreational world. What was once illicit profit is quickly becoming on-the-books gains. As the industry matures, billions will be made, and companies once viewed suspiciously will become market giants. But this growth will […]