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Restatement (Third) Of Torts: General Principles And The Prescription Of Masculine Order, Anita Bernstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

Until April 1999, when it published a draft called Restatement (Third) of Torts: General Principles ("General Principles"), the American Law Institute ("ALI") had never purported to declare the "general principles" of anything.' This lack of precedent meant a blank slate: Reporters can carry out a general-principles mandate in varying ways. One contributor to this Conference, David Owen, has spoken elsewhere of "paths taken and untaken in the Restatement (Third)" to describe choices about products liability rules. Professor Owen has perceived these divergences as wide and profound. In the General Principles, which strive to speak about all of Torts rather than …