Richard Faulk, Chair of the Litigation Section at Gardere and a frequent contributor to numerous publications and to nuisancelaw, spoke to judges from across the nation at the Third Annual Judicial Symposium hosted by Northwestern Law School. Here is his presentation.  Read More »

Read the Court decision

author: Thomas R. Bender

Summary Introduction

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that the State of Rhode Island “cannot allege” facts sufficient to state a claim for common law public nuisance against lead pigment manufacturers. It based its decision on two basic factors: 1) although the manufacturers placed lead pigment into the stream of commerce, they did not control it at the time it harmed the children; and 2) that harm did not constitute an interference with a public right for purposes of a common law public nuisance.  Read More »

Read the Court decision

author: Thomas R. Bender

Summary Introduction

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that the State of Rhode Island “cannot allege” facts sufficient to state a claim for common law public nuisance against lead pigment manufacturers. It based its decision on two basic factors: 1) although the manufacturers placed lead pigment into the stream of commerce, they did not control it at the time it harmed the children; and 2) that harm did not constitute an interference with a public right for purposes of a common law public nuisance.  Read More »

authors: David Axelrad and Lisa Perrochet

Syllabus

Private attorneys hired to prosecute public nuisance actions must be, and must appear to be, neutral. Nonetheless, government plaintiffs frequently seek to augment their prosecutorial resources by retaining private outside counsel on a contingent fee basis to pursue public nuisance claims. This type of retention gives the government's attorney a financial stake in the outcome of litigation that creates an appearance of impropriety affecting the integrity and neutrality of the government's prosecution.  Read More »

Control n.
The direct or indirect power to direct the management and policies of a person or entity, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract, or otherwise; the power or authority to manage, direct, or oversee.
Control vb.
1. To exercise power or influence over.
2. To regulate or govern.
3. To have a controlling interest in.
(Black's Law Dictionary 8th ed., © 2004 West Publishing)  Read More »

author: Richard Faulk

Syllabus¹

The classic black-letter definition of a public nuisance is "an act or omission which obstructs or causes inconvenience or damage in the exercise of rights common to all."² As discussed in the last module, the concept of public nuisance is poorly understood and has been the subject of heated debate for more than a century. Much of this current confusion can be traced to the Restatement (Second) of Torts  Read More »

author: John Gray

Syllabus¹

Legally, the term “nuisance” is traditionally used in three ways: (1) to describe an activity or condition that is harmful or annoying to others (e.g., indecent conduct, a rubbish heap or a smoking chimney); (2) to describe the harm caused by the before-mentioned activity or condition (e.g., loud noises or objectionable odors); and (3) to describe a legal liability that arises from the combination of the two.²  Read More »