An Empirical Study of Property Divisions at Divorce

Much has been written about family law and how to fairly divide property between divorcing spouses. Without a good understanding of what courts are doing in the field, however, there is no baseline for theoretical frameworks. This Article fills the void by analyzing all divorce cases involving children that were filed in one county over several months. The resulting empirical data has implications for the meaning of fairness in divorce, the role of judicial discretion, and the incentives for contracting by couples. This Article also examines the underlying law in order to explore the correlation between the family law code and judicial outcomes

Alimony\u27s Job Lock

In family law, courts often prevent people who owe alimony from changing jobs. If a job change is accompanied by a salary decrease, the court will not necessarily readjust the alimony obligation and instead impute the higher income to the obligor. This Article introduces the term “job lock” to describe this situation, borrowing the term from the health care context, wherein job immobility due to health insurance concerns has received significant scrutiny. This Article draws similar attention to the alimony context, proposing a balancing test to assist courts interested in alleviating job lock under certain circumstances

Adoption in China: Past, Present and Yet to Come

This Article explores the future of adoption in China and the demographics of the Chinese family. Part II begins by examining the cultural continuity of Chinese domestic adoption, finding it to be relatively substantial. Part III considers modem adoption law and policy in China, focusing on the previous one-child policy. Finally, Part IV turns to the future of Chinese adoption and families, particularly in light of global demographic trends with the potential to impact China

Alimony's Job Lock

In family law, courts often prevent people who owe alimony from changing jobs. If a job change is accompanied by a salary decrease, the court will not necessarily readjust the alimony obligation and instead impute the higher income to the obligor. This Article introduces the term “job lock” to describe this situation, borrowing the term from the health care context, wherein job immobility due to health insurance concerns has received significant scrutiny. This Article draws similar attention to the alimony context, proposing a balancing test to assist courts interested in alleviating job lock under certain circumstances

Underwriting Credit Cards, Overwriting Congress, and Rewriting Family Law: The Treatment of Household Income in Consumer Lending

(Excerpt) Part I of this Article begins by considering the origins of the Board\u27s rule-reviewing the legal and economic frameworks governing them. Part II then examines the position of families and women in this framework, noting that many other fields of law take an opposite approach and treat spouses as a single economic unit. Part III, in addition to highlighting the constitutional concerns regarding the Board\u27s rule, concludes that there is no value in barring women from the credit market-only high costs-and argues that the amended rule should instead recognize the non-income-earning spouse\u27s financial participation in the household

Protecting Users of Social Media

Social media platforms started as a fun way to connect with friends and family. Since then, they have become a science fiction nightmare due to their capacity to gather and misuse the data on their users. It is not irrational for social media providers to seek to capitalize on their data when they provide the platforms for free. Indeed, their business model is to sell data to third parties for marketing and other purposes. Yet, users should be able to expect that their data is not used to hurt them or is not sent to disreputable companies. Indeed, fewer people would use social media if the price were incurring a mood disorder or being manipulated to vote in a particular way. While technology continues to push the boundaries of law as it evolves, effective legal protection has not evolved with it. As evidenced by recent events, the field of privacy has failed social media users. Meanwhile, the field of cybersecurity arose to address cybercrime, but many of the questionable uses of social media data were legal. The legality of these problematic actions has received criticism and prompted calls for change. There are several choices lawmakers and policymakers have when it comes to the protection of social media data from exploitation by social media companies. Among these are fiduciary duties in corporate and trust law, as well as the duty of care in tort law. However, can these centuries-old legal frameworks grasp the risks and consequences of the improper use of big data generated by social media, or must they be tweaked? This Essay examines the benefits and drawbacks of fiduciary duties and the duty of care frameworks in the context of social media. Any framework must hold data holders responsible for data breaches while fitting their business model