Law Commons^™

Restatement Redux, Anita Bernstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

American products liability buffs, who often have a predilection for history, may remember 1994 as a year of proclaimed harmonization, codification, and restatement. In April 1994 the American Law Institute released the first Council Draft of its Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability. According to the Institute, "[p]roducts liability is highest in priority for reformulation" within the law of torts generally, "for it is socially important and technically complicated."' During the same year, the Republican party announced a Contract With America that promised national reform of products liability; after the November election, the new congressional majority attended promptly to the …

Tort Reform And The Tax Code: An Opportunity To Narrow The Personal Injuries Exemption, Robert C. Illig

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") defines income broadly to include wealth from almost every source, while at the same time exempting a number of items for various tax and public policy reasons. One such policy-based exemption is section 104(a)(2)-the Personal Injuries Exemption-which exempts from tax "any damages ... received on account of personal injuries or sickness." The Personal Injuries Exemption, however, exists in a state of disarray and needs amending. Since its inception, this exemption has lacked both clear definitions of its key terms and a sound theoretical foundation. Moreover, although courts traditionally read exemptions narrowly, they have interpreted …

Efficiency, Fairness, And Common Sense: The Case For One Action As To Percentage Of Fault In Comparative Negligence Jurisdictions That Have Abolished Or Modified Joint And Several Liability, John S. Hickman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Plaintiffs are the masters of their own actions.' They decide when, where, and whom to sue. Although the law has evolved in ways that limit a plaintiffs procedural choices, plaintiffs enjoy a growing number of situations in which they can recover, and an increase in the number of possible defendants For example, governmental tort liability statutes, while limiting procedural choices, now allow plaintiffs to sue government entities. Modern jurisdictional rules give courts a wider reach and thus enable plaintiffs to reach more defendants in one action. Perhaps most importantly, a plaintiffs own negligence no longer bars recovery in most jurisdictions. …

In Search Of The Law Of Products Liability: The Ali Restatement Project, Marshall S. Shapo

Vanderbilt Law Review

The American Law Institute's ("ALI") involvement with the subject of products liability is developing as one of the most interesting sagas in the modern private law. This Article explores the ALI's efforts to rationalize the subject. Reviewing the ALI's contributions to the evolution of the law in this area, the Article also asks how the Institute should treat the subject in the future, an inquiry that leads us to the broader question of the role of Restatements of the Law in the twenty-first century. In press as Congress considers proposals for sweeping federalization of products liability law, the Article raises …

Restating Strict Liability And Nuisance, Robert E. Keeton

Vanderbilt Law Review

John Wade was a master of the craft of restating the law. The American Law Institute ("ALI") benefitted especially from his distinctive service during development of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. It is fitting that we use, as a vehicle for honoring his service, an inquiry into a segment of tort law that was first considered in the decades just after the Institute was founded and remains, even today, among the most difficult areas of law to restate. This segment of tort law concerns the general theory of strict liability and the extent that it applies to nuisance cases.

To …