Regulating the Sharing Economy: New and Old Insights into an Oversight Regime for the Peer-to-Peer Economy
Raymond H. Brescia
I. Introduction
II. Regulation, the Legal Profession, and the Sharing Economy ... A. Latent Resources and an Independent Workforce ... B. Regulation, Independence, and Consumer Protection in a Relationship of Trust ... 1. Attorney-Client Relationships, Trust, and Regulation ... 2. Sharing Economy Relationships, Trust, and Regulation ... C. Consumer Protection in a Relationship Designed to Encourage Creativity and Innovation, While Generating Profit
III. The Evolution of Regulation of the Legal Profession … A. Brief History of Regulation of the Legal Profession, from the Colonial to the Contemporary Eras ... B. Key Questions and Themes Underlying the Evolution of the Regulation of the Legal Profession ... 1. Self-Regulation to Secure Professional Independence and Uphold the Rule of Law ... 2. Self-Regulation to Fend Off Regulation by Outside Entities ... 3. Barriers to Entry … 4. The Right to a Livelihood ... C. The Legal Profession’s Regulatory Regime ... 1. Barriers to Entry ... 2. Unauthorized Practice of Law ... 3. Codes of Conduct and Self-Regulation ... 4. Disciplinary Machinery ... 5. An Insurance Regime ... 6. Recourse through the Courts and Tort Liability ... D. New Governance and Regulation of the Legal Profession: Flexibility, Adaptability, and Local Experimentation
IV. What the Evolution of the Regulation of the Legal Profession and New Governance Theory Can Tell Us about the Need for and the Contours of Regulation of the Sharing Economy ... A. Self-Regulation, Barriers to Entry, and Codes of Conduct ... B. Disciplinary Machinery ... C. Ongoing Judicial Oversight to Ensure Consumer Protection with “Supervisor” Liability ... D. Insurance Mechanisms ... E. Flexibility, Adaptability, and Local Experimentation
V. Conclusion
Civil Defense and Law, Part II
Val Peterson
American lawyers dare not ignore the legal dislocations that would result from an attack upon this country. A new dimension to the responsibilities of the legal expert is the protection of the legal structure around which is built the nation’s economy. The threat to the national legal machinery is a real one. This danger probably cannot be eliminated; however, intelligent planning can very definitely lessen the impact of severe destruction. Careful, skillful planning, reduced to practical terms and applied judiciously to the daily problems with which we are most familiar, can do much toward reducing the effects of devastating disaster.
Professional Liability
Earl Cline
The subject of this article, “Professional Liability,” is very broad and could include not only malpractice liability but also other liabilities of the physician and surgeon. Instead of attempting to discuss so broad a field, it will be confined to the subject of liability for malpractice and trespass and particularly recent trends in court decisions relating to the liability of the physician and surgeon therefor.
Special Findings and Special Verdicts in Nebraska
Gerald E. Matzke
Introduction
Special Findings and Special Verdicts Defined
Advantages and Purposes of Special Findings of Fact
Some Aspects of the Law Governing the Use of Special Findings … I. Discretion of the Trial Judge … II. Drafting Interrogatories Requiring Special Findings … III. Effect of Special Findings of Fact Which Are in Conflict with the General Verdict … IV. Effect of Failure of Jury to Make Special Findings of Fact in Answer to Interrogatories Submitted by Trial Court … V. Special Findings and the Five-Sixths Verdict
Conclusion
Books Received
Crime, Courts, and Probation. By Charles Lionel Chute and Marjorie Bell. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1956. Pp. 268. $4.75.
Marriage Happiness or Unhappiness. By Judge Tom R. Blaine. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Dorrance & Company, Inc., 1955. Pp. 197. $2.50.
Bastard—Requirements for Acknowledgment in Nebraska
James W. Hewitt
A truck driver, in the presence of a competent witness, signed an application for employment in Nebraska in which he stated that he had two sons dependent upon him for support, and named the sons. The driver was later killed in an auto accident, and in a wrongful death action the question arose as to whether the application was a sufficient acknowledgment under the Nebraska statutes to legitimate the sons who were concededly born out of wedlock. Held: reversing on rehearing a prior opinion on the same facts, that the writing was sufficient to meet the tests of the statute. The result is at last a definitive statement of the Nebraska court’s attitude concerning the problem of legitimation, and is in accord with the prevailing liberal view of treatment of children born out of wedlock. Section 30-109 has been construed to require proof of three facts: (1) that the child was born out of wedlock; (2) that the alleged father was in fact the real father; and (3) that the father has acknowledged the child in the terms of the statute. In the instant case, it was conceded that facts (1) and (2) had been proved, but it was asserted that the application did not constitute sufficient acknowledgment.
Federal Tort Claims Act—A Liberalized Interpretation
Charles K. Thompson
In an action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, claimant sought recovery for cargo damage which resulted from the grounding of the tug and barge carrying the cargo. Claimant alleged that the grounding was caused by the failure of Coast Guard personnel to check and repair a navigational light, or to notify claimant that the light was not operating. A motion to dismiss on the theory that a private person would not be liable under “like circumstances,” as required by the act, was granted by the district court. The court of appeals affirmed. Certiorari was granted and the judgment affirmed by an equally divided court. On rehearing, held: reversed, on the ground that a private person would be liable under “like circumstances.” For example, one undertaking to warn the public of danger and thereby inducing reliance would be liable for a failure to perform his good Samaritan task in a careful manner. The instant case is important not only because it clarifies a previously hazy area but also because the logic of the case could be used to greatly liberalize recovery against the Government.
Present Status of Suretyship Defenses of an Accommodation Maker
Bob Baumfalk
Introduction
I. Patent of Latent Sureties
II. Extension of Time … A. The Majority Rule … B. The Minority View … C. Statutory Variations … D. Criticism of the Majority and Minority Views … E. The Uniform Commercial Code
III. Release of Collateral . . . A. Under the Negotiable Instruments Law … B. The Uniform Commercial Code
Conclusion
The Journalist and His Confidential Source: Should a Testimonial Privilege Be Allowed
W. D. Lorensen
Introduction
The Basis for a Privilege
The Current Law
When Is the Public Benefited?
When Should This Privilege Be Denied?
When Is There No Public Benefit?
When Does Detriment Outweigh Benefit?
Conclusion