Richard Kurt Lewis

Bio: Richard Kurt Lewis is an academic researcher from Cardiff University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Damages & Tort. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 85 publications receiving 455 citations. Previous affiliations of Richard Kurt Lewis include University of Wales.

Contracts between Businessmen: Reform of the Law of Firm Offers and an Empirical Study of Tendering Practices in the Building Industry

Abstract: This article examines the role of a particular area of the law of contract in a specific commercial context involving the relationship of a general building contractor and a sub-contractor. The focus is upon the formation of agreement through the submission of bids to carry out work put out to tender. An empirical examination of the attitudes of these builders to the tendering procedure has been carried out and is related to proposals to change the law on "firm offers". To what extent do those in business rely on legal sanction as a method of guaranteeing the expectations to which a promise may give rise?The aim of this article is to provide a case study for Weber's discussion of the extent that the law of contract is required to support the development of commercial relations in a market economy. This article forms part of a limited literature empirically examining the use and non-use of law by the business community. It also reflects upon the legitimising force of the general principles of classical contract law.

Tort Personal Injury Claims Statistics: Is There a Compensation Culture in the United Kingdom?

Abstract: This article seeks to identify the most reliable sources of statistical information about the workings of the personal injury litigation system in the United Kingdom to present their principal data in clear, straightforward and accessible form, and to subject them to critical analysis. These figures provide the basis for an initial examination of the claim that a damaging compensation culture has developed in the UK in recent years.

Loss of Earnings Following Personal Injury: Do the Courts Adequately Compensate Injured Parties?

Abstract: The law provides that any person injured through the fault of another can claim monetary compensation in the form of damages. This study focuses on compensation paid for loss of future earnings and the fact that little use has been made of economic analysis by courts in Britain in determining such damages. This is in contrast both to what happens in the US and to the extensive use made in British courts of experts from other disciplines. A comparison of awards adjudicated in British courts with a US-style approach reveals substantial and systematic under-compensation under the English legal system.

Insurance and the Tort System

Abstract: This article critically examines the view that insurance has lacked influence and been no more than a 'makeweight' argument in the development of tort liability. Looking at the wider context, the article describes the overwhelming importance of insurers to the litigation system and argues that all cases are affected by insurance practice. It distinguishes the effect of insurance upon judicial fact finding, on the one hand, and the development of common law rules, on the other. It examines the ability of insurers to influence legislation relevant to the tort system. It concludes that, if account is taken of all these areas, insurance has been of vital importance to the law of tort. Without it, the system of personal injury compensation would not have survived. This conclusion is reached even though insurance is largely ignored by the great majority of tort texts.

Court Awards of Damages for Loss of Future Earnings: An Empirical Study and an Alternative Method of Calculation

Abstract: This article examines the effect upon damages for personal injury of methods used in the United States of America to calculate loss of future earnings. The work of lawyers is examined from the perspective of labour economists. The damages calculated by using these alternative methods are compared with those actually awarded in over a hundred cases determined by courts in England and Wales. This interdisciplinary and comparative study reveals that the tort system fails to satisfy one of its main objectives in that it does not provide recipients of damages with "full" compensation.

The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract

Abstract: The impact of freedom of contract in the 19th century extended far beyond the legal arena as an economic slogan and an ethical attitude. Atiyah traces the development and subsequent decline of the freedom of contract, depicting its effects on the law's development and the foundation of contractual obligations, as well as its broader implications for 19th century English life.

Analysing regulatory space: fragmented resources and institutional design

Abstract: Title Analysing Regulatory Space: Fragmented Resources and Institutional Design Authors(s) Scott, Colin Publication date 2001 Publication information Public Law, : 283-305 Publisher Sweet and Maxwell Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/6785 Publisher's statement This is a pre-copy edited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Public Law following peer review. The definitive published version Public Law, Summer, 283-305 is available online on Westlaw UK or from Thomson Reuters DocDel service.

Isolation, biochemical characterization, and culture of lung type II cells of the rat.

Abstract: A method is described for the isolation of rat lung epithelial Type II cells using trypsin digestion of tissue to release cells for subsequent separation by Percoll gradient centrifugation. Both the concentration of trypsin and the age (body weight) of the rat affect the yield from primary digestion and the final number of Type II cells obtained. A lung weighing 1 g from a 200 g rat yields approximately 30 X 10(6) washed Type II cells (approximately 25% of the total estimated lung population). These cells have a plating efficiency of 40-50% after 48 h of culture. The cells have a high alkaline to acid phosphatase ratio (usually greater than 4.0) compared with that of alveolar macrophages (0.1) and accumulate putrescine by an active transport mechanism with an apparent KM between 8 and 14 microM. Together with studies of [3H]thymidine uptake into DNA, which is maximal between 48 and 72 h of culture, these quantitative measurements form a good basis for investigating the interactions between a number of chemical agents and Type II cells in vitro.

The economics of health and safety at work: an interdiciplinary review of the theory and policy

Abstract: This paper engages in an interdisciplinary survey of the current state of knowledge related to the theory, determinants and consequences of occupational safety and health (OSH). It first describes the fundamental theoretical construct of compensating wage differentials, which is used by economists to understand the optimal provision of OSH in a perfectly competitive labour market. The plethora of incentives faced by workers and firms in job and insurance markets that determine the ultimate level of OSH are discussed in detail. The extensive empirical evidence from the hedonic wage and stated choice approaches used to assess the value of OSH is reviewed. The causes of inefficiency and inequity in the market for OSH, such as externalities, moral hazard in compensation insurance, systematic biases in individual risk perception/well-being and labour market segregation are subsequently examined. The implications of government intervention and regulation for tackling the aforementioned inefficiencies in OSH are then considered. Finally, the survey identifies areas of future research interests and suggests indicators and priorities for policy initiatives that can improve the health and safety of workers in modern job markets.

Ethics in tendering: A survey of Australian opinion and practice

Abstract: The main issues in the philosophical foundations of ethics and tendering ethics are outlined, and an introduction is provided to the Australian codes of tendering practice. A questionnaire survey is then described which sought to ascertain the extent to which ethical behaviour in tendering is supported and practiced in Australia. The results of the survey indicate that most companies support the use of codes of tendering; defend the right of withdrawal of tenders; disapprove of bid shopping, cover pricing and union involvement in the tendering process, and support the principals' right to know what is included in a tender as well as the self-regulation of the tendering codes. It is also shown that most companies have developed, and follow, idiosyncratic ethical guidelines that are independent of, and often contrary to, the nationally prescribed codes. The conclusions recommend a need for the development of a theoretical frame of reference that can be tested through a more detailed empirical approach to th...