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Schedule Registration Housing |
| Saturday, January 8, 2000 3:30-5:15 p.m. |
Delaware Suite B
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Lobby Level |
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Section on Torts and Compensation Systems |
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| Mark F. Grady, George Mason University, Chair |
| Regulating Industries through Government Recoupment Lawsuits |
| Speakers: | |
| Michael Heise, Case Western Reserve University
Gale A. Norton, Esquire, Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber, P.C., Denver, Colorado |
| First it was tobacco; now it is firearms. What next? Paint? Motorcycles? Playground equipment? |
| Lawsuits against the cigarette industry and its members and against gun manufacturers are nothing new. But the theory that the government itself—municipal, state and even the national government—is a proper plaintiff to recover the social costs of the use of a product from an entire industry, is quite a novelty. All these lawsuits involve more than money damages. Plaintiffs have asked for and received, promises of significant changes in how manufacturers design and market their products. These behavioral changes are far in excess of anything required by positive law. In short, executive agencies of governments are using their lawyers' office to get prospective behavioral changes that no legislature will enact. The panel is devoted to discussing that phenomenon. |
| Business Meeting at Program Conclusion |