Recent attempts to ban the use of non-wood baseball bats, based on the perception that they may have changed the game and increased the potential for injury, have gained more steam and publicity. Proponents of a ban appear to be more prone to raise the issue in legislative forums where strict product liability standards are not necessarily controlling.
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
Part One of this series discussed the origin of the authority to make property use regulations and an increasing trend by municipalities to regulate aesthetics and use through the development of 'chronic nuisance' statutes that permit property closure and regulation of vacant properties. This second installment discusses the manner in which the Chicago Municipal Code functions.
News about lawyers and law firms in the product liability field.
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
In the rare exercise of a mechanism that the federal courts may use to consult state courts about purely state questions of law, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to address the permissible scope of bystander recovery under Pennsylvania's product liability law for a little girl whose left foot was mangled by a lawn mower driven by her grandfather.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos of Manhattan has set the framework under which New York State's entitlement to approximately $800 million a year from the tobacco industry will be tested.
One U.S. Supreme Court decision this past term brought welcomed news to those labeled 'potentially responsible parties' under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. In United States v. Atlantic Research, the Court unanimously agreed that PRPs that voluntarily clean up contaminated property may bring suit for cost recovery against other PRPs under '107 of CERCLA. The Court's opinion left certain questions unanswered and even raised one or two new questions.
Certain amendments to Title 11, United States Code (the 'Bankruptcy Code') implemented by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 received little notice, but one such change made to §365(f)(1), a section commonly utilized by debtor/ tenants to invalidate anti-assignment provisions contained in commercial leases, could have a wide-ranging impact in retail bankruptcy cases.
Retail construction represents only 1.5% of the projects registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for green building status. To incorporate this powerful segment of the building industry into the certification program, the USGBC recently introduced two pilot programs tailored to retail development.
