Torts Commons^™

Torts Teaching: From Basic Training To Legal-Process Theory: Dominick Vetri, Tort Law And Practice, Joseph A. Page

Seattle University Law Review

It was in the course of my meanderings through the torts-casebook landscape that I came upon Professor Dominick Vetri's entry in the field. The quality that first attracted me was the way it fashioned a user-friendly introduction to the study of law, to the uniqueness of the common law, and to the centrality of process. The book demonstrated an unusual sensitivity to the bewilderment of beginners and made a special effort to anticipate their needs and concerns. Yet what made Vetri's approach particularly intriguing was that it managed to play not only to nervous neophytes, but also to students in …

Causation In Toxic Tort Litigation: Which Way Do We Go, Judge, Laurie Alberts

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Web Of Manipulation: The Learned Intermediary Doctrine And Direct-To-Consumer Advertising On The World Wide Web, 35 J. Marshall L. Rev. 97 (2001), April L. Foreman

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Interest Analysis, Multistate Policies, And Considerations Of Fairness In Conflicts Torts Cases, Robert Allen Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

No Pain, No Gain, No Compensation: Expoliting Professional Athletes Through Substandard Medical Care Administered By Team Physician, Nick Dicello

Cleveland State Law Review

This note discusses the role of the team physician and the unique conflicts he or she faces when providing medical care to athletes. In particular, the note describes the pressure team doctors experience from team management, the coaching staff, and the players themselves. Next, the note discusses the types of claims professional athletes have brought against their doctors and team employers and how the terms of collective bargaining agreements (CBA) and workers' compensation laws create obstacles to their recovery. The note will explore the need for a specialized legal standard within the practice of sports medicine and identify the disincentive …

Restating The Obvious In Maryland Products Liability Law: The Restatement (Third) Of Torts: Products Liability And Failure To Warn Defenses, Rebecca Korzec

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Policing The Police: Clarifying The Test For Holding The Government Liable Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 And The State-Created Danger Theory, Jeremy D. Kernodle

Vanderbilt Law Review

On October 20, 1980, as Barbara Piotrowski left a donut shop, a man hired by her ex-boyfriend to kill her shot her four times in the chest. Within twenty-four hours, the Houston Police Department ("HPD") arrested the gunman and his driver and obtained heir confessions. Piotrowski's millionaire ex-boyfriend moved to England and was never arrested nor brought to trial.

Fifteen years later, Piotrowski sued the City of Houston under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for depriving her of her constitutional right to life and liberty and equal protection. She based her lawsuit primarily on information that a month before the shooting, …

In Defense Of Making Government Pay: The Deterrent Effect Of Constitutional Tort Remedies, Myriam E. Gilles

Georgia Law Review

I will argue in this Essay that there are a number of reasons to expect that the imposition of constitutional tort damage awards against individual officers or their municipal employers does have a deterrent effect on the behavior of these governmental actors and entities. In Part I, I will focus on the ways in which the imposition of constitutional tort remedies against an individual officer does deter. While Professor Levinson decries the inability of the law and economics paradigm to explain government actors' response to constitutional tort damages, he fails to meaningfully account for the role of the qualified immunity …

Public Policy Implications Of Liability Regimes For Injuries Caused By Persons With Alzheimer's Disease, Edward P. Richards

Georgia Law Review

People in the United States and the developed world are living longer than ever before. While gains in the average life expectancy have been modest, these gains greatly underestimate the growth of the elderly population. Most of this elderly population is healthier and more active in everyday life than people of comparable age in decades past. The amelioration of many of the diseases of age has accentuated the problems of the chronic diseases for which there are no effective treatments. Perhaps the most devastating of these is Alzheimer's disease, a progressive dementia leading to incapacity and death. As discussed in …

Introduction To Torture As Tort: From Sudan To Canada To Somalia, Craig M. Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

The present work is chapter 1 of the edited volume, Torture as Tort: Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Transnational Human Rights Litigation (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2001). At the time the book was generated, the controversial nature of seeking globalised justice through national courts had become starkly apparent in the wake of the Pinochet case in which the Spanish legal system sought extradition of the former President of Chile from the United Kingdom in order to bring him to account under Spanish criminal law for a variety of alleged violations in Chile of human rights, most notably involving torture. Yet, …

Seller Beware: Tort Reform Is Missing In Action; Soproni, Falk, And The Entrenchment Of Strict Products Liability In Washington, Kenneth M. Roessler

Seattle University Law Review

This article evaluates Washington’s products liability laws and their application in ways involving strict liability through the lens of Soproni v. Polygon Apartment Partners. Part I will also closely examine the WPLA, beginning with a discussion of the tort reform context in which it was enacted and the underlying economic reasons for its passage in 1981. This section will discuss how the WPLA ostensibly supplanted Washington common law on product liability, as well as what a careful reading of the statute seems to dictate for litigating product liability claims. The article then examines how the Soproni majority construed the …

A Review Of Torts And Compensation: Personal Accountability And Social Responsibility For Injury, Susan M. Gilles

Seattle University Law Review

I will review my selection of Dobbs and Hayden's Torts And Compensation, Personal Accountability And Social Responsibility For Injury (hereinafter "the Dobbs casebook") for use in my year-long first-year torts class. My review will focus on the third edition and will note changes made in the fourth edition, which came out recently. My hope is to tell you a little about the Dobbs casebook and a little about why I thought it would suit my incoming first-year students and my style of teaching. When selecting a casebook I have four main concerns: What is the coverage? Does the casebook employ …

The Phantom Reliance Interest In Tort Damages, Michael B. Kelly

San Diego Law Review

The reliance interest has fascinated me for some time.' As a measure of damages for breach of contract, it seems theoretically unjustified and flawed in its implementation. In theory, it requires compensation for lost opportunities? In practice, such compensation is rarely provided'

unless one counts the expectation interest as a proxy for opportunities lost in reliance on a promise. In theory, it justifies recoveries that may exceed expectation. Yet, even its progenitors refused to endorse that implication. Why, then, does the reliance interest have continuing appeal

Coverage For Unfair Competition Torts Under General Liability Policies: Will The "Intellectual Property" Tail Wag The Coverage Dog?, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

The scope of "advertising injury" coverage in general liability policies has been shrinking in response to the proliferation of liabilities caused by the growth of the cyber-economy. In response to this shrinking coverage under general liability policies, insurers have been quick to develop new endorsements and specialized products to fill the gaps in coverage. The author argues that significant commercial risks relating to unfair competition claims have been eliminated from coverage under general liability policies, but that there also appears to be no corresponding development of specific endorsements or stand-alone products to deal with this gap in coverage. Specifically, claims …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

A Comparison Of The Restatement (Third) Of Torts: Products Liability And The Maryland Law Of Products Liability, Robert D. Klein

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Thomas A. Eaton

Georgia Law Review

It has long been accepted that deterrence and vindication are two of the primary purposes of the body of law we know as "constitutional torts." Justices of every ideological stripe have acknowledged deterrence and vindication as the legitimate objectives of suits against governments and government officials who violate a person's constitutional rights. Justices with philosophies as divergent as Brennan's and Scalia's agree that civil rights actions serve an essential vindicatory function.' Justices Breyer, O'Connor, Blackmun, White, Marshall, and Powell have authored opinions that embrace the deterrent effect of such actions. The acceptance of deterrence and vindication as the twin goals …

Government Liability When Cyclists Hit The Road: Same Roads, Same Rights, Different Rules, Emily Hammond

Georgia Law Review

Most jurisdictions recognize that negligent construction and maintenance of streets exposes government entities to liability. Thus, motorists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists who are injured due to road defects are usually not barred from bringing suit. Yet when the courts grapple with similar injuries to bicyclists, the results are best described as a tangled wreck. Modern cycling jurisprudence sends unwary riders careening through inconsistent judicial opinions, questionable statutory interpretations, and unsettled policies. This Note examines the legal treatment of cases in which cyclists are injured by road hazards, covering sovereign immunity, the public duty doctrine, nuisance, tort immunity acts, vehicle codes, and …

A Response On Cardozo To Professors Kaufman And Schwarz, Richard H. Weisberg

Articles

The article responds to critiques of Benjamin Cardozo's jurisprudence by emphasizing his belief in the dual role of judicial subjectivity and adherence to legal precedent. Cardozo advocated for a balanced approach where judges use their "trained intuition" to seek justice, even when it requires departing from formal rules. The author argues that Cardozo's method is evident in numerous cases and stresses the importance of judicial craftsmanship and language in legal decisions.

The Theory Of Tort Doctrine And The Restatement Of Torts, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

The lack of detailed implications and general failure to come to grips with important features of tort doctrine have been substantial shortcomings in the dominant positive theory framework of Holmes and Posner. I extend the dominant framework below to enable it to justify various intentional tort doctrines, and the specific form and allocation of strict liability rules within tort law. After developing the positive framework, I apply it to the Restatement (Third) of Tort Law. The theory explains many of the detailed provisions and commentary of the Restatement, and identifies one area in which the Restatement (Third) seems inconsistent with …

Recent Case Developments, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Recent case developments in Insurance Law in the years 2000 and 2001.

Torts: Nealis V. Baird: The Oklahoma Supreme Court Extends Fetal Rights In Wrongful Death Suits But Leaves Important Questions Unanswered, Cory Hicks

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Quest For Fairness In Compensating Victims Of September 11, The, Robert L. Rabin

Cleveland State Law Review

Aside from natural disasters, when tragedy strikes - taking its toll in fatalities and serious injuries - we ordinarily look to the tort system for redress. Tort is not the exclusive form of redress, of course, in this era of private insurance and government disability programs. But still, it remains our most highly visible mechanism for assigning responsibility and providing compensation. In this Article, I will begin by describing the approach to compensation taken in the Victim Compensation Fund. I will then discuss the implementing regulations promulgated by the Special Master appointed under the Fund. Next, I will offer a …

Tobacco Tort Litigation In California: A Better Understanding Of Civil Code Section 1714.45, Stephen D. Sugarman

San Diego Law Review

Before 1963, lawsuits in California by victims of product injuries were either handled under principles of negligence or they were cast as contract claims that drew on “implied warranty” principles.8 For example, if someone bought a loaf of bread from a local bakery, took a bite out of the loaf, and it turned out that a sharp pin hidden in the bread injured the person, the victim could sue the bakery (1) in tort, claiming that the bakery negligently allowed the pin to get into the bread, or (2) in contract, claiming that in providing this sort of bread the …

Remedies For Imperfect Transactions In Contracts And Torts, David W. Barnes

San Diego Law Review

The papers by Professors DeLong, Wonnell, and Kelly in this Symposium address different types of imperfect transactions. Promises that are the subject of section 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts are imperfect in the sense that they lack consideration or are disclaimed in subsequent, formalized, written contracts.' Section 90 authorizes courts to find remedies for reasonable but fruitless expenditures induced by parties who make promises on which they should reasonably expect others to rely.2 Professor DeLong decries courts' formalist strategies for enforcing disclaimers that eliminate these promisors' potential liability for intentionally imperfect transactions.' Taking Professor DeLong's analysis of imperfect …

What Courts Can Do In The Face Of The Never-Ending Asbestos Crisis, Paul F. Rothstein

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this article is not to argue that claimants suffering from serious asbestos-related diseases should not be compensated. To the contrary, one of the points of this article is that absent some change in the way asbestos claims are resolved, claimants who become truly sick in the future may not receive adequate compensation. Changing the current asbestos compensation system would be pro-claimant. Also, the purpose of this article is not to ascribe blame. Rather, it is to fix a problem. The judges cannot be blamed for their good intentions. Neither can the plaintiffs' attorneys be blamed for zealously …

Tortious Toxics, Lisa Heinzerling, Cameron Powers Hoffman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this Article we offer one small idea with potentially large implications. We propose the recognition arid development of a special tort for toxic exposures, where the exposures have not yet led to a physical illness such as cancer. We argue, in brief, that this new tort would, in one simple step, accomplish three things: it would address many of the problems with the courts' current handling of toxic torts; it would consolidate the many overlapping causes of action now pressed in toxic tort cases into one single claim; and it would give expression to the real injury motivating these …

Defending Courts: A Brief Rejoinder To Professors Fried And Rosenberg, David C. Vladeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Harvard Professors David Rosenberg and Charles Fried have presented a provocative, sweeping critique of the theoretical foundations of tort liability that leaves virtually no aspect of our current tort system untouched, or perhaps more accurately, unscathed. Their article throws down the gauntlet to defenders of traditional tort law. For instance, Rosenberg and Fried take aim at the jury system, arguing that ex post liability rules created by juries are inefficient and should be replaced, whenever possible, by ex ante liability rules set by legislative bodies. And they attack the idea that compensation plays a legitimate role in structuring our tort …

Gender Matters: Teaching A Reasonable Woman Standard In Personal Injury Law, Margo Schlanger

Articles

Reasonable care is, of course, a concept central to any torts class. But what is it? One very standard doctrinal move is to conceptualize reasonable care as that care shown by a "reasonable person" under like circumstances. The next step, logically, is to visualize this reasonable person. Visualization requires some important choices. For example, is the reasonable person old or young? Disabled or not? These are two questions that all the casebooks I have consulted discuss. But, oddly, no casebook of which I am aware deals with the trait that nearly invariably figures in our description of people: sex. If …

Berne Without Borders: Geographic Indiscretion And Digital Communications, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

This lecture examines the role of borders in the Berne Convention at the time of the treaty's first passage in 1886, and today. The later 19th century was an era of increasing commerce and communication among countries whose domestic production and reproduction of works of authorship had vastly increased, thanks in part to new technologies, such as photography, lithography, and high-speed printing. But at that time, the frontiers between nations often frustrated authors' hopes for control over, or at least compensation for, the international exploitation of their works. Authors' rights ceased at their national boundaries; the world beyond foreboded not …