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Search results for “tort law”

20 results

Joint and several liability: the old rule that can leave one defendant holding the whole bag

Joint and several liability means an injured person may collect the full judgment from one defendant, but the real fight is how that rule collides with comparative fault, settlements, bankruptcy, and state law changes.

ARTICLE by Keith Ouellette

Employee vs independent contractor: the liability dodge that usually fails

Vicarious liability means you can end up paying for someone else's misconduct, and the old "they weren't really my employee" escape hatch is a lot weaker than people think.

ARTICLE by Danny Correia

How does a government tort claim work after a long-delayed injury?

A recent policy shift has made this more visible: federal agencies have tightened online claim procedures under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), so more people first learn...

bodily injury liability

Coverage that pays when you are legally responsible for hurting someone else. "Coverage" means part of an insurance policy, usually auto insurance, with a dollar limit. "Pays"...

Illegal search, real evidence: why police can lose a case even when they found the goods

Mapp v. Ohio made illegally seized evidence unusable in state criminal trials, forcing police to follow the Fourth Amendment instead of treating it like a suggestion.

ARTICLE by Kyle Reinhart

At-will employment: the "you can be fired anytime" rule has one giant catch

At-will employment is the default rule in almost every state, but it only really applies if you are legally an employee in the first place.

ARTICLE by James Thornton

Terry v. Ohio: the street stop rule that grew far beyond one man on a Cleveland sidewalk

Terry v. Ohio created the rule that lets police briefly stop and pat down someone without a warrant, and the real fight now is over how much suspicion counts as enough.

ARTICLE by Colleen O'Brien

Habeas corpus is real, but proving you should be released is brutally hard

Habeas corpus lets a prisoner challenge unlawful custody, but modern federal habeas mostly turns on a punishing rule: it is not enough to show the state court was wrong.

ARTICLE by LaKeisha Davis

ADA coverage looks narrow on paper, but the disability loophole mostly failed

The ADA has a definition that once let employers and businesses argue lots of people were not "really" disabled, but Congress and the courts largely shut that down.

ARTICLE by Brian Saarinen

What counts as employer retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim?

What the ER doctor records is your injury, work restrictions, and likely cause; what the workers' compensation insurer does with that information is decide compensability and...

Almost everyone gets the Commerce Clause wrong - and it decides who can make the rules

The Commerce Clause is why Congress can reach far beyond shipping and trucking, but it still has real limits that matter if you are thinking about suing under federal law.

ARTICLE by Marcus Brown

If my injury happened years ago, what is preponderance of the evidence?

The one thing your employer or landlord is hoping you never find out is that preponderance of the evidence is the lowest common standard of proof in civil law. It means your...

Can employees report illegal conduct without being fired?

Yes. What the insurance company does not want you to know about this is that whistleblower protection laws can block retaliation when a worker reports certain illegal conduct,...

What evidence can be excluded from court, and why?

A judge can exclude important-looking evidence at the last minute, even if it seems decisive, and once that happens a claim or defense can weaken fast. That surprises many...

what does the ADA say if an injury still limits me years later?

If the ER or your doctor said the injury left you with lasting limits, that medical reality can matter under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) even if an employer or...

Eighth Amendment: the "evolving standards" test that changed everything

The Eighth Amendment is not a list of banned punishments so much as a moving constitutional standard, and one Supreme Court case explains why.

ARTICLE by Pete Rossignol

Your gun rights may not save you - here is what Heller actually protects

Heller recognized an individual Second Amendment right, but people get burned when they assume that means every gun restriction in a lease, eviction case, protection order, or criminal case is automatically illegal.

ARTICLE by Keisha Williams

likelihood of confusion test

People mix this up with actual confusion, and that mistake matters. Actual confusion means real buyers were genuinely fooled - wrong calls, misdirected orders, bad reviews...

uninsured motorist coverage

Think of it like a spare life jacket on a boat: you hope you never need it, but it is there when someone else fails to bring basic safety gear. Uninsured motorist coverage is...

Is it legal to make me sign a noncompete after I quit?

A major 2024 change put noncompetes in the spotlight: the FTC adopted a nationwide ban, but courts blocked that rule before it took effect for most employers. That means state...