Category: Volume 60 No. 2

For decades, the retail automotive industry structure stayed relatively the same. A manufacturer would sell their product to a local dealership who would then sell it to the ultimate consumer. This was true for so long that many states began enacting statutes codifying that market structure in the 1960s after independent dealers raised concerns about the manufacturers using predatory conduct towards them. As a result, a system of mandatory vertical disintegration exists across most of the country. Because of this, one could ask his grandfather how he bought his first new car and would likely find himself able to answer the question exactly the same today if he just bought a new car off the lot. Read More …

Years ago family photographs were printed and placed in albums to be kept and shared with generations to come. Today, photographs are taken digitally and can be uploaded in the blink of an eye, ready to share with friends and family around the globe. Facebook is the most popular photo-sharing site, and at the end of 2013, Facebook users were uploading 350 million new photos each day. Read More …

On July 18, 2013, Detroit etched its name into history by becoming the largest American city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. With $18 billion of debt, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr struggled to determine a restructuring plan that would revitalize the once-magnificent city without imposing any more negative ramifications on its residents. Read More …

The right to vote is one of the quintessential rights held by a citizen of the United States. Voting not only decides who will be elected President, but also effects changes to people’s healthcare, welfare, security, and ability to make the world a better place for future generations. Because the practice of voting and the right to vote are so important to people’s lives, it was astonishing to discover in the summer of 2013 that the Supreme Court of the United States dealt a detrimental blow to the long-standing protection of minority voting rights. Read More …

Contract law can be understood, analyzed, and improved based on the criteria of classical aesthetics. Scholars have considered aesthetics and the law, yet none have considered the relationship between classical aesthetics and contracts. This essay argues that the traditional doctrine of offer and acceptance is beautiful because of its proportion, integrity, and clarity. Based on the same criteria, this essay also argues that U.C.C. § 2-207 is ugly and fails to improve upon traditional offer and acceptance. Read More …

Congress introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 on November 20, 2013, with the foremost intention of “reform[ing] procedures for determinations to proceed to trial by court-martial for certain offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” The salient bill is still pending. Two fall 2013 seminars at Yale Law School involved topics essential to addressing the present angst over the commission of war crimes. First, Yale Law held a “Global Seminar on Military Justice Reform” that appraised the need to address the incidence of private criminal activity and battlefield crime and to assure the availability of due process and rule of law protections in military courts. The second topic was a “Conference on the Legacy of Stanley Milgram,” which considered Stanley Milgram’s book Obedience to Authority and his findings that hierarchical organizations can impel the members of institutions to execute raffish directives that would not otherwise be perpetrated without elements of organizational persuasion. Read More …

The doctrine of informed consent is enshrined in medical-legal jurisprudence. “Unquestionably, . . . [it] is one of the hallmarks of the physician-patient relationship.” Since the phrase “informed consent” first appeared in a reported American judicial opinion, it has been the frequent subject of legal scholarship, including journals, texts, and casebooks, as well as medical literature. The medical negligence lawsuit is a recognized “occupational hazard,” and consent based medical negligence claims are not uncommon. Read More …