Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Torts Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Torts

The Risky Interplay Of Tort And Criminal Law: Punitive Damages, Daniel M. Braun Jan 2013

The Risky Interplay Of Tort And Criminal Law: Punitive Damages, Daniel M. Braun

Daniel M Braun

The rise of modern mass tort litigation in the U.S. has transformed punitive damages into something of a “hot button” issue. Since the size of punitive damage awards grew so dramatically in the past half century, this private law remedy has begun to involve issues of constitutional rights that traditionally pertained to criminal proceedings. This has created a risky interplay between tort and criminal law, and courts have thus been trying to find ways to properly manage punitive damage awards. The once rapidly expanding universe of punitive damages is therefore beginning to contract. There remain, however, very serious difficulties. Despite …


Touring The Punitive Damages Forest: A Proposed Roadmap, Dr. Yehuda Adar Jan 2012

Touring The Punitive Damages Forest: A Proposed Roadmap, Dr. Yehuda Adar

Yehuda Adar Dr.

Punitive damages have for years been one of the most hotly debated legal topics around the common law world. In recent years, however, the interest in this subject seems to be shared increasingly by continental scholars. The scholarly literature on punitive damages is immense. It covers almost every aspect of the punitive damages phenomenon, from almost every angle (doctrinal, conceptual, philosophical, political, economic, historical, empirical, constitutional, and comparative). Surprisingly, however, there has been little academic effort to systematically organize the punitive damages field. What seems to be especially lacking is a roadmap which would be able to encapsulate the various …


What Is The Point Of The Tort Remedy?, Avihay Dorfman Jan 2010

What Is The Point Of The Tort Remedy?, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

A tort remedy, as the conventional wisdom has it, might serve any number of masters (ranging from justice to economic efficiency) by vindicating the status quo ante the tort. I shall argue that this view forces one to accept the proposition that the duty to restore the victim to the status quo ante the wrong done her represents a contingency – that is, one among different permissible extensions of the core of the remedial regime animating tort law. Anything outside the core of the remedial regime of tort law, which is the victim’s entitlement to have her rights vindicated by …


Whiten V. Pilot Ins. Co.: The Unofficial Death Of The Independent Wrong Requirement And Official Birth Of Punitive Damages In Contract, Yehuda Adar Dr. Jan 2005

Whiten V. Pilot Ins. Co.: The Unofficial Death Of The Independent Wrong Requirement And Official Birth Of Punitive Damages In Contract, Yehuda Adar Dr.

Yehuda Adar Dr.

Three years have passed since the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its controversial decision in Whiten v. Pilot Insurance Co. In that case, the Court affirmed an almost unprecedented punitive damage award by a jury of one million dollars against an insurance company. More importantly, the Whiten decision appears to be the first attempt by the Supreme Court to construct a comprehensive set of rules and principles in light of which punitive damages cases should be decided in the future. While the extraordinary monetary sanction upheld by the Court has attracted much attention in legal and commercial circles, it seems …