Note: Death and Taxes: The Crushing Tax Burden After a Student Loan Is Discharged Due to Death of a Student
By Terran Chambers. Full text here. The country is currently facing a student loan crisis, with the amount of outstanding student loan debt exceeding the amount of credit card and auto loan debt. Students, often uninformed of the intricacies in their lending options, may have the option to choose federal or private student loans. Unbeknownst to…
Continue ReadingNote: Changing Course to Navigate the Patent Safe Harbor Post-Momenta
By Emily M. Wessels. Full text here. The patent safe harbor, 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1), codifies an exception to the general concept of patent exclusivity that excuses entities from infringement liability for activities reasonably related to submitting information under federal laws that regulate drugs. For the past three decades, this provision has operated in a pharmaceutical…
Continue ReadingNote: Status Update: Adapting the Stored Communications Act to a Modern World
By Jake Vandelist. Full text here. This Note addresses the Stored Communications Act’s application to civil discovery. Congress passed the Stored Communications Act in 1986 to extend Fourth Amendment protection to electronic communications and remote computing. Congress never intended for the SCA to limit civil discovery of these communications, however, judges have expanded the SCA’s scope…
Continue ReadingNote: That’s Not on the Table: Why Employers Should Pay for the Walk from the Locker Room to the Work Station
By Emily E. Mawer. Full text here. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay their employees continuously throughout the day, even for activities such as travel time, which may not be considered work. However, § 203(o) of the statute provides an exception to that obligation. The provision states that if the employer has established…
Continue ReadingNote: A Step in the Right Direction: Patent Damages and the Elimination of the Entire Market Value Rule
By Jaimeson Fedell. Full text here. This Note argues that the entire market value rule is an obsolete conception because it can award companies for value they did not create. Accordingly, the rule should be abandoned entirely and replaced with reasonable royalty calculations that focus on past licensing agreements if they are available.
Continue ReadingNote: Recognition of Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships as Marriages in Same-Sex Marriage States
By Inga Nelson. Full text here. There is currently a patchwork of laws governing same-sex relationships across the United States. Some states issue marriage licenses, while some states have civil unions, domestic partnerships, or other forms of legal recognition. When couples with alternate forms of legal recognition relocate from the issuing state their new state has…
Continue ReadingNote: Particulars of Particularity: Alleging Scienter and the Proper Application of Rule 9(b) to Duty-Based Misrepresentations
By Morwenna Borden. Full text here. Claims of negligent misrepresentation and fraud by omission are generally held to be derivatives of fraud. The appropriate pleading standard for fraud is clearly governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)—fraud claims must be alleged with particularity. However, the circuits are divided when it comes to the proper pleading…
Continue ReadingNote: What’s My Age Again? The Immigrant Age Problem in the Criminal Justice System
By Ross Pearson. Full text here. Each year, immigrants arrive in the United States without knowing their exact age. When they arrive, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) provides each immigrant official documents that list personal information, including a birth date. When immigrants do not know their exact age, USCIS allows them to use an…
Continue ReadingNote: Amending Title VII to Safeguard the Viability of Retaliation Claims
By Brandon Wheeler. Full text here. Before a victim of employment discrimination can pursue her claims in federal court, she must first exhaust her administrative remedies. This is done by filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or an equivalent state agency. After reviewing and investigating the charge, the EEOC usually issues a “right-to-sue”…
Continue ReadingNote: Blocking Blocks at the Border: Examining Standard-Essential Patent Litigation Between Domestic Companies at the ITC
By Matthew Norris. Full text here. The United States International Trade Commission was created to protect domestic industry and American workers from illegal foreign trade practices. Increasingly, domestic companies have turned to the ITC seeking relief for the infringement of standard-essential patents (SEPs) by other domestic companies. In exchange for having their patented technologies adopted as…
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