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Low Probability/High Consequence Events: Dilemmas Of Damage Compensation, Richard O. Lempert
Low Probability/High Consequence Events: Dilemmas Of Damage Compensation, Richard O. Lempert
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
This article was prepared for a Clifford Symposium which challenged paper writers to imagine how our system of tort compensation might look in the year 2020. This paper responds to an aspect of the general challenge: to imagine a tort recovery system which would deal adequately with rare and catastrophic events. To get a handle on this problem, the paper looks closely at how the legal system compensated damages attendant on four recent events that might be considered “rare and catastrophic” – Three Mile Island, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In no case did the system …