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      All articles — page 2

      The full handbook in alphabetical order, across every subject.

      13
      Motor Carrier Law

      Cargo Loss and Damage Claims Against a Carrier

      Under 49 U.S.C. 14706 a receiving carrier is liable for the actual loss or injury to property it transports in interstate commerce. The claimant proves delivery in good condition, arrival short or damaged, and the amount of the loss. The carrier escapes only by proving freedom from negligence and one of five excepted causes. The bill of lading may not allow less than nine months to file a claim, or less than two years to sue after disallowance.

      6 min readFederal law

      14
      Government Contracts

      Changes Clauses and the Request for Equitable Adjustment

      A changes clause lets the contracting officer order changes within the general scope by written order, and obliges the contractor to proceed. If the change increases or decreases the cost or time of performance, an equitable adjustment is made. The contractor must assert its right to that adjustment within thirty days of receiving the order. Government conduct requiring work beyond the contract without a formal order is a constructive change, compensated the same way.

      6 min readFederal law

      15
      Water Rights

      Changing a Water Right and the No-Injury Rule

      A holder may apply to change the point of diversion, place of use, purpose of use or season of a water right, keeping the original priority date. Approval depends on the no-injury rule: no other vested right may be diminished in quantity, timing or quality. The transferable amount is limited to historical consumptive use computed over a representative period, and return flows must be replicated in amount, timing and location. Applications are published, protested and approved with conditions.

      5 min readState law

      16
      Environmental Law

      Citizen Suits: Notice, Standing and the Diligent Prosecution Bar

      Most federal environmental statutes authorize any person to sue a violator or the administrator, after serving notice on the agency, the state and the alleged violator. The waiting period is sixty days for most claims and ninety days for endangerment claims under the waste statute. The suit is barred where the agency or state has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a qualifying action. Remedies are injunctive relief, penalties payable to the Treasury, and litigation costs.

      6 min readFederal and state

      17
      Government Contracts

      Claims, Certification and the Disputes Process

      A claim is a written demand or assertion seeking, as a matter of right, payment of a sum certain, adjustment or interpretation of contract terms, or other relief. It must be submitted to the contracting officer within six years of accrual, and above the statutory threshold must carry a certification in the prescribed terms. The officer's decision may be appealed to an agency board within ninety days of receipt, or to the Court of Federal Claims within twelve months.

      6 min readFederal law

      18
      Correctional Law

      Classification, Custody Levels and Transfer

      Classification assigns a security level to an institution and a custody level to a person, using scored factors including offense severity, sentence length, criminal history, detainers, escape history and institutional conduct. Scores are reviewed on a schedule. Under Meachum v. Fano a person has no liberty interest in confinement at a particular institution, so an ordinary transfer requires no hearing, though the score itself can be corrected administratively.

      6 min readState law

      19
      Advertising Law

      Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure in Practice

      A required disclosure must be clear and conspicuous, meaning difficult to miss and easy to understand for the audience the claim reaches. Adequacy is judged on placement relative to the claim, prominence against the surrounding material, absence of distracting elements, repetition where a claim recurs, and delivery in the same medium as the claim. A hyperlink, a hover state, a footnote or a separate terms page will usually fail where the qualification is needed to prevent deception.

      6 min readFederal law

      20
      Agricultural & Food Law

      Commodity Checkoff Assessments and When a Refund Is Available

      Commodity research and promotion programs impose an assessment collected by the first purchaser or handler and remitted to a board that funds generic promotion, research and information. Funds may not be used to influence legislation or to disparage another commodity, and board budgets require departmental approval. Refund rights exist only where the enabling statute creates them. A producer or handler dealing solely in certified organic products may obtain an exemption.

      5 min readFederal law

      21
      Advertising Law

      Comparative Claims and Challenges by Competitors

      A comparative claim must be supported by testing of the advertised product and the named comparison product, performed under identical conditions on the versions currently sold. Where the comparison names its evidence, the evidence must exist in that form. Beyond agency enforcement, a rival may sue under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act for false advertising, seeking an injunction and monetary relief, or bring the claim before a self-regulatory advertising body.

      6 min readFederal and state

      22
      Correctional Law

      Conditions of Confinement: The Two-Part Standard

      A conditions claim by a convicted person has an objective and a subjective element. The objective element asks whether the deprivation is sufficiently serious, measured against contemporary standards of decency and the denial of a basic human need. The subjective element requires deliberate indifference: the official knew of and disregarded an excessive risk to health or safety. For a person held before trial the claim rests on due process instead.

      6 min readFederal and state

      23
      Water Rights

      Conjunctive Management of Surface Water and Groundwater

      Groundwater hydraulically connected to a stream is administered together with surface rights in most appropriation states. Pumping captures streamflow, but the effect arrives on a lag of months, years or decades, so curtailing a junior well may deliver nothing to the calling senior this season. States respond by classifying groundwater, approving augmentation plans that supply substitute water when depletions occur, and curtailing only where it will help.

      5 min readState law

      24
      Agricultural & Food Law

      Conservation Compliance: The Condition Attached to Every Benefit

      A person who produces an agricultural commodity on highly erodible land without applying an approved conservation system, or who converts a wetland to make production possible, becomes ineligible for most federal farm program benefits. Eligibility is certified on a single form, technical determinations are made by the conservation agency, and relief depends on exemptions, good faith findings, restoration or mitigation rather than on the merits of the farming decision.

      6 min readFederal law