Law Commons^™

The Role Of Federal Safety Regulations In Products Liability Actions, Teresa M. Schwartz

Vanderbilt Law Review

Product safety is the province of both the regulatory and the tort systems. Each system has come under attack in recent years on both the federal and state levels. Through its regulatory policies, appointments, and budget cuts, the Reagan Administration has weakened the federal regulatory system.' At the same time, the Administration has severely criticized the tort system. State legislatures have enacted a myriad of statutes that weaken the tort system by cutting back on the common-law rights of victims, and additional measures are pending in Congress and in state legislatures across the country.'

For the most part, proponents of …

Digging For The Missing Link, John E. Kennedy

Vanderbilt Law Review

Around the year 1200, in the ecclesiastical court, Martin, a rector,sued "the parishioners of Nuthamstead." In 1315, in the exchequer court, two individuals sued "'the rich burgesses'" of Scarborough "'for themselves and the rest of the middling and poor burgesses'" of that town.' Are there any connections between these examples of medieval group litigation and modern American class actions?

In answering "yes" to this question, Stephen Yeazell has given the legal community a book of substantial significance. By exploring English history from the beginning, he has rediscovered missing links in the ancestral chain of litigation prototypes. Yeazell's discovery is impressive, …

Product Liability Litigation With Risk Averson, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The recent law and economics literature has directed much energy toward identifying the various factors that determine whether parties will litigate or settle accident claims.' The substantive interest in this area rests in large measure on the obvious element of conflict in all these cases: the plaintiff is trying to obtain reimbursement for his losses from the defendant, which the defendant wishes to avoid paying. The strategic structure of their interaction is quite complex because the outcomes of bringing claims are heavily influenced by the costs, usually substantial, of both bargaining and litigating. The game between plaintiff and defendant is …