Via Consumer Law & Policy, the punch line of a new study:
We follow the clickstream of 47,399 households to 81 Internet software retailers to measure contract readership as a function of disclosure. We find that making contracts more prominently available does not increase readership in any significant way. In addition, the purchasing behavior of those few consumers who read contracts is unaffected by the one-sidedness of their terms. The results suggest that mandating disclosure online should not on its own be expected to have large effects on contract content.
Regulation, of course, often goes to great lengths to mandate disclosure, and a considerable volume of private litigation is also based on theories that lack of more extensive and prominent disclosure rendered a transaction wrongful. The study is Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, Does Disclosure Matter?NYU Law and Economics Research Paper No. 10-54 [SSRN].
Tagged as:
contracts of adhesion,
failure to warn
- Defendant “was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of death.” Come again? [Volokh]
- Supreme Court agrees to hear global-warming-as-nuisance case [Ilya Shapiro/Cato at Liberty, Jonathan Adler and more]
- Supreme Court agrees to review Wal-Mart employment case, could be Court’s biggest statement on class action issues in years [Beck, Schwartz, Ted at PoL]
- Investigator recommends disbarment of controversial former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas [Arizona Republic, earlier]
- Vessel-hull section of copyright law could give Sen. Schumer vehicle for controversial bill to accord IP protection to fashion design [WSJ Law Blog, Coleman, earlier here, here, etc.]
- Federal regulators propose requiring backup cameras in new cars [Bloomberg via Alkon]
- “Why Rosetta Stone’s Attack on Google’s Keyword Advertising Program Should Be Rejected” [Paul Alan Levy, CL&P]
- “Lawyer Got Secretary to Take His CLE Courses, Disciplinary Complaint Contends” [ABA Journal, Illinois]
Tagged as:
climate change,
copyright,
global warming,
Google,
Phoenix,
Supreme Court,
trademarks,
Wal-Mart v. Dukes
“A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama — and championed by the first lady — gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom.” [Associated Press]
Tagged as:
Barack Obama,
nanny state,
obesity,
schools
The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are surprised that Article 1, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution should have arisen as a stumbling block to the food safety bill passed by the Senate last week. But as I explain in a new post at Cato at Liberty, they shouldn’t be so surprised.
Tagged as:
constitutional law,
food safety
- If you’re thinking of starting in: “A law blogging FAQ” [Venkat Balasubramani] Recommended, even if not new: “Notes on blogging for journalists” from Felix Salmon [July]
- Welcome the Originalism Blog, from Prof. Mike Rappaport’s Constitution Center at the University of San Diego. Acclaimed blogger Mark Herrmann is back, this time at Above the Law. Blogs proliferate on the hot legal area of employment class actions [Trask] Disgraced class-actioneer Bill Lerach has an online column now [John Frith/CJAC, HuffPo]
- A brief history of law blogging [Alex Aldridge, LegalWeek UK] Milestones: Drug and Device Law Blog reaches fourth anniversary (more, Abnormal Use) and Eric Turkewitz reflects on his 1000th post.
- “Lawyer by day, blogger by night:” profile of Anna Berend of Motherly Law [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and thanks for kind mention]
- Plenty of good reading to be found on ABA’s annual Blawg 100 list despite baffling omissions [Turkewitz, Abnormal Use, Russell Jackson]
- R.I.P: Peter Nordberg, attorney with Philadelphia’s Berger & Montague and a pioneer of online legal commentary with his outstanding site on scientific and expert testimony, Daubert on the Web [Tributes.com obituary, April 2010 but not seen until recently]
Tagged as:
accolades,
Bill Lerach,
legal blogs
A Queens, N.Y. condo owner won her battle to keep her teacup terrier on the premises after a judge found that the condo board had not, as required, obtained the votes of 80 percent of unit owners before adopting a no-pet rule. “The board spent $100,000 on lawyers and the cost is now being passed on to the condo owners — roughly $4,200 apiece. ‘Nobody in the [building] is too happy with me right now because it’s costing everybody a lot of money and it’s not fair to the homeowners, I feel terrible,’ [the winner] said.” [CBS New York]
Tagged as:
animals,
NYC,
real estate
“I guess you know your date didn’t go very well when you get sued afterward.” [Lowering the Bar; Stanislav v. Papp] Per the New York appellate court’s statement of facts:
Plaintiff was injured when she fell off a horse while on a date with defendant. She alleges that defendant was negligent in failing to properly warn her and appreciate her limited level of skill as a rider, and in failing to pay proper attention to her request that the horses proceed at a slow pace in a careful manner.
The judges, however, upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the case (citations omitted):
Plaintiff has provided no evidence or authority which supports her contention that defendant owed her a duty to insure that the horseback riding experience was safe. As a person with experience riding horses, plaintiff was aware that the risks of falling from a horse or a horse acting in an unintended manner are inherent in the sport. Defendant’s conduct was not so unique or reckless as to create an additional unanticipated risk for plaintiff.
Tagged as:
animals,
assumption of risk,
NYC,
recreation
A 58-year-old New Yorker “has filed more than 60 lawsuits against government agencies, colleges, creditors, companies and anyone else who has rubbed him the wrong way.” His suits charging discrimination, of which he has filed up to thirteen in a day, often allege failure to accommodate various physical ailments. “‘We don’t even bother asking him for his pass. We just let him in,’ one Manhattan station agent said. ‘I can’t understand how he has so much power.’” [New York Post]
Tagged as:
disabled rights,
NYC,
transit
- Will they get group discounts on lawyers? Groupon vs. MobGob patent brawl [TechCrunch]
- Why American courts should sometimes recognize Islamic law [series of Eugene Volokh posts]
- No, it’s not a “public health issue”: “The Case Against Motorcycle Helmet Laws” [Steve Chapman, syndicated/RCP]
- Failed system of justice on some Indian reservations [McClelland, Mother Jones]
- Ten years ago: Morgan Lewis & Bockius handed mlb.com domain over to its client Major League Baseball [Ross Davies, SSRN]
- City of Boston adds insult to injury after employee runs into building [TJIC, Popehat]
- Citing fans’ drug use, feds seek forfeiture of farm used for Grateful Dead tribute concerts [Greenfield]
- Johann Sebastian Bach, serial copyright violator [Cavanaugh, Reason]
Tagged as:
baseball,
Boston,
copyright,
forfeiture,
Indian tribes,
international law,
music and musicians,
patent litigation,
public health
“Court decisions that have suspended the planting of genetically modified sugar beets could result in a sharp decline in American sugar production in the next two years, leading to possible price increases for consumers and food processors, according to experts and farmers.” A judge recently ordered crops uprooted after finding that the planting of genetically altered seed stock had not been accompanied by a proper environmental impact statement. [N.Y. Times, The Recorder, earlier]
Tagged as:
agriculture and farming,
environment
S. 510, which in its various versions has been much criticized in this space, passed the Senate Tuesday by a vote of 73 to 25, but its final passage may be tripped up because it includes new taxes; the Constitution requires that revenue-raising measures originate in the House, and S. 510 didn’t. (More: Reuters, WaPo, USA Today) For more critiques of the bill’s substance, see Ronald Bailey/Reason, Greg Conko/CEI (podcast), and our extensive earlier coverage.
In the mean time there’ve been lots of pixels and ink directed at our recent Cato piece on the subject, including Jonathan Adler/Volokh Conspiracy, Ann Coulter (right-hand links column Dec. 1, flatteringly), Coyote, Michelle Malkin, Ed Morrissey, Hans Bader/CEI, and others; see also Ambreen Ali/Congress.org. Thanks!
Tagged as:
accolades,
food safety
The company says it will narrow its filing of infringement suits following a Nevada judge’s ruling that a real estate firm was within acceptable “fair use” limits in handling a copyrighted newspaper story of which it had reprinted the first eight sentences. “Righthaven does not anticipate filing any future lawsuits founded upon infringements of less than 75% of a copyrighted work, regardless of the outcome of the instant litigation,” it said in a court filing. [David Kravets/Wired "Threat Level", Las Vegas Sun]
Tagged as:
RightHaven
