New Rules Would Boost Rights of Those Accused of Campus Sexual Assaults
A piece for the Washington Post explores the new rules being prepared by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that the Education Department plans to formally propose in September. These new rules will include procedural changes that will strengthen protections for students accused of sexual assault and subsequently lighten the burden placed on schools and universities.
First Court Decision Post-ALI Restatement Adoption
On August 9th a court issued what I believe to be the first decision addressing the ALI’s Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance post-adoption.
What the #MeToo Campaign Teaches About Stop and Frisk
“What the #Metoo Campaign Teaches About Stop and Frisk” applies feminist tools to investigate current policing methods. Feminist tools exposed sexual harassment by listening to the stories of those affected, by a nuanced understanding of power dynamics, and by recognizing that consent is impossible within certain unequal relationships.
First Circuit: Uber Users Did Not Give Unambiguous Assent to Terms of Service
In the defining decision, Cullilane v. Uber Technologies, the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s grant of Uber Technologies’s motion to compel arbitration and dismiss the complaint of a putative class action brought by users of Uber’s ride-sharing service in the Boston area. At issue in the case was the enforceability of an online contract’s arbitration clause. This decision strongly reinforces the notion that online contract processes should be designed, and the information arranged, for consumers and with extreme attention to detail and a focus on clarity of meaning.
California kids who didn’t learn to read and write to get day in court
California Supreme Justice Goodwin Liu raised court-watchers’ eyebrows two years ago when the court declined to consider a much-watched lawsuit over the adequacy of state education funding, but Liu hinted he’d welcome another case to define children’s right to a meaningful education under the California Constitution.
Project Spotlight: Restatement of the Law of International Arbitration Is Close to Completion
Parties to international contracts have long chosen arbitration as the preferred method to resolve disputes; among other reasons, it provides them with a neutral decision-maker, rather than the home courts of either party, and international arbitration awards are more easily enforced than court judgments because of the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (commonly known as the New York Convention), which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Moreover, a web of more than 3000 bilateral and multilateral investment treaties offers arbitration if an investor believes that the state has violated a promise under that treaty, and the number of such investor-state arbitrations has grown significantly.
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources.