Tort Law In Transition

This book offers a rich insight into the law of torts and cognate fileds, and will be of broad interest to those working in legal and moral philosophy. It has contributions from all over the world and represents the state-of-the art in tort theory.

This text offers an overview of the tort system for the non-lawyer or new law undergraduate. This new edition looks at topics such as the theories of tort law, accident compensation and its future, the rise of negligence, and issues in economic loss.

"Torts Personal Injury Litigation", 4th Edition provides students with a comprehensive guide to the law of torts. In this 4th edition, Statsky has extended the discussion of paralegal roles within tort litigation. He has also added a chapter on major torts that emphasizes current legal issues and examines the ethics of attorney solicitation. A comprehensive checklist, which includes definitions, defenses, relationships, paralegal roles and research references, is provided for each tort presented. This checklist provides the student with an overview of information and also serves as an on-the-job refresher. Forty-nine pertinent case studies, nineteen of them new to this edition, are included in the text allowing students to examine important court opinions. Among the controversial issues discussed in these court opinions are AIDS, the Oklahoma bombing, computer torts, assistance to the homeless, billion dollar verdicts and settlements, biomedical research and the alleged tort committed by President Clinton that became part of his historic impeachment and Senate trial.

The author argues that there is a current crisis in tort law and advocates that a return to a more widespread use of contracts in three areas - product liability, medical malpractice, and some aspects of automobile accidents. Such contracts, he suggests, should be allowed by the courts.

Tort Law Desk Reference Whether you are confronted with multi-state tort litigation, have the opportunity to litigate a tort case in one of several states, or must initiate or defend a case in an unfamiliar jurisdiction, Tort Law Desk Reference quickly gives you the information you need about the tort laws of each state. With succinct summaries of laws and citations to controlling statutes and case law, this indispensable guidebook answers vital questions about each state's tort laws, such as: Is the claim or lawsuit barred in the jurisdiction where it was filed? Does a "no-fault" statute limit the right to recovery? Do joint liability provisions require a minimally liable defendant to pay the entire judgment? If there is no breach of contract or breach of warranty claim, is a fraud and misrepresentation claim viable? Under what circumstances can a trespasser recover against a property owner? And much more You'll be able to quickly determine available causes of action, realistic defenses, and permissible damages...and you'll have at your fingertips current and leading citations necessary for more detailed research of specific issues. No other resource simplifies the process for making critical tort litigation choices like Tort Law Desk Reference. It's the only single volume book that expertly digests the many significant provisions of every state's tort law in a clearly organized and uniform format. State-by-state, you get up-to-date coverage of statutes and case law covering "No-fault" limitations The standard for negligence Causation Res ipsa loquitur and ultra-hazardous activities Negligence per se Indemnity Bar of workers' compensation statute Premises liability Dram shop liability Economic loss Fraud and misrepresentation Wrongful death Attorney's fees State Laws Included: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

A woman terrified by the threats of a jilted suitor is denied police protection. A workman collapses on the job and the employer is slow to help him. A bully in a bar begins to carry out threats of serious injury to a customer, after the bartender’s lackadaisical response. Springing from varied areas of human activity, such cases occupy an important area of the legal battleground called modern tort law. They also provide the basis for a fascinating legal analysis by Marshall S. Shapo. Tort law is an important social mediator of events surrounding personal injuries. It impinges on many other areas of the law—those dealing with crime, constitutional protections against government officials and agencies, and property rights. Since litigated tort cases often involve brutal treatment or accidents inflicting severe physical harm, this area of the law generates much emotion and complex legal doctrine. Shapo cuts through the emotion and the complexity to present a view of these problems that is both legally sound and intuitively appealing. His emphasis is on power relationships between private citizens and other individuals, as well as between private persons and governments and officials. He undertakes to define power in a meaningful way as it relates to many tort issues faced by ordinary citizens, and to make this definition precise by constant reference to concrete cases. His particular focus is on an age-old problem in tort law: the question of when a person has a duty to aid another in peril. In analyzing a large number of cases in this category, Shapo develops an analysis that blends considerations of economic efficiency and humanitarian concern. Recognizing that economic considerations are significant in judicial analysis of these cases, he emphasizes elements that go beyond a simple concern with efficiency, especially the ability of one person to control another’s actions or exposure to risk. These considerations of power and corresponding dependence provide the basis for Shapo’s study of the duties of both private citizens and governments to prevent injury to others. Calling on a broad range of legal precedents, he also refers to social science research dealing with the behavior of bystanders when fellow citizens are under attack. Beyond his application of a power-based analysis to litigation traditionally based in tort doctrine, Shapo offers some speculative suggestions on the possible applicability of his views to several controversial areas of welfare law: medical care, municipal services, and educational standards. This book was written with a view to readership by interested citizens as well as legal scholars, judges, and practicing attorneys.