This controversial book describes the transformation of modern tort law since the 1960s, and shows how the dramatic increase in liability lawsuits has had an adverse effect on the safety, health, the cost of insurance, and individual rights.

This comprehensive new volume on psychology and the law is an essential reference for students and professionals. It offers the most up-to-date information on issues such as malpractive, confidentiality, jury selection, punishment, competency, and the right to refuse treatment.

Two well-known professionals, a lawyer and a clinical psychologist, have teamed up to write this judiciously balanced, clearly presented, and accessible guide to an ever more complex subject. they answer such questions as: What does a lie detector test really tell you? Can law enforcement officials use hypnosis to investigate a crime? Is eyewitness testimony the most reliable and persuasive evidence? Are we living in a more punitive society?

These and other issues are dealt with in a concise, readable manner, one that tells readers how to approach the problems with arise in day-today practive as well as how to think about the fundamental current ethical and legal issues.

Meticulously researched and documented, this important new volume offers a lively presentation, one which is "must" reading for students of law, and for professionals in both fields who want a complete reference guide.

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.

The volume is based on a symposium that took place in the Hamburg Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law. It has to be seen in the context of the international renaissance of the concept of codification. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, it was essentially a common law jurisdiction. Since then, Israeli private law has continuously moved closer towards the model of the civilian systems of Continental Europe. It has now, for the first time, been laid down in a comprehensive and systematic Draft Civil Code. In an introductory article, Aharon Barak, the former President of the Supreme Court of Israel and Chairman of the Codification Commission, presents that Draft in the context of the development of private law in Israel. Israeli Professors from the Universities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem then analyze key areas within the law of obligations and property law of the envisaged codification, while a German or Austrian author, respectively, provide commentaries from a comparative perspective. The subjects dealt with are the integration of consumer protection, liability for breach of contract, unjustified enrichment, the law of delict, priority conflicts in property law, and the law of prescription (limitation). Central themes that come out in many of the contributions are the tension between continuity and change as well as the issue of coherence. The volume is rounded off by comments on the subject of codification, by a speech on the occasion of Amos Shapira's 70th birthday that was celebrated in the course of the conference, and by an English translation of the Draft Civil Code.

The present collection of essays addresses the development of Ukrainian private law in the course of its ongoing Europeanization. This process is determined by the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine, which was concluded in 2014 and obliges Ukraine to implement a diverse number of European legal acts in its national legal system, aiming to achieve the economic integration of Ukraine into the EU internal market. Nevertheless, it would be inaccurate to describe the process of integrating Ukrainian private law into the European Area of Justice as solely the implementation of the Community acquis. Rather, the Europeanization of Ukrainian private law is part of a value-based Europeanization of the entire Ukrainian society.

Fur die 23. Auflage wurde das Lehrbuch umfassend aktualisiert. Dabei waren neue Gesetze mit erbrechtlichen Auswirkungen zu berucksichtigen, insbesondere das Gesetz zur Reform des Vormundschafts- und Betreuungsrechts und das Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Personengesellschaftsrechts. Zahlreiche, seit dem Erscheinen der Vorauflage ergangene Entscheidungen des BGH und der Oberlandesgerichte leisteten wichtige Beitrage zur Weiterentwicklung des Erbrechts. Unverandert bleibt das Ziel des Buches, die Studierenden mit den Grundlinien des Erbrechts vertraut zu machen, zugleich aber auch die Beurteilung konkreter erbrechtlicher Fragen anhand des neuesten Standes dieses praktisch uberaus wichtigen Rechtsgebiets zu ermoeglichen.

Over the last 15 years, privacy actions have been recognised at common law or in equity across common law jurisdictions, and statutory privacy protections have proliferated. Apex courts are now being called upon to articulate the law governing remedies, including in high-profile litigation concerning phone hacking, covert filming and release of personal information. Yet despite the practical significance of the courts' approach to damages, injunctions and other remedies for breach of privacy, very little has been written on the topic. This book comprehensively analyses these developments from a comparative perspective and provides solutions to issues which are coming to light as higher courts forge this remedial jurisprudence and practitioners look for guidance. Significantly, the essays are important not only for what they say about remedies, but also for the attention they give to the nature of the new privacy actions, providing deep insights into substantive law. The book includes contributions by academics, practitioners and judges from Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and the United States, who are expert in the legal disciplines implicated by privacy remedies, including torts, equity, public law and conflict of laws. By bringing together this range of perspectives, the book offers authoritative insights into this cutting-edge topic. It will be essential reading for all those seeking to understand and resolve the new issues associated with privacy remedies.

This book examines claims in negligence arising from illegal conduct of the claimant. An array of public policy and other grounds have been advanced for resolving these claims, resulting in an area that is characterised by confusing and contradictory case law. The book analyses the various explanations put forward as the basis for illegality doctrine within a framework of corrective justice theory. Illegality law poses particular challenges for the corrective justice explanation of negligence law, as many illegality tests are based on public policy considerations external to the relationship of the parties. The book argues that the only circumstance where illegality doctrine should be applied to deny a claim is where this is necessary to preserve the coherence of the legal system. It develops the work of Ernest Weinribian corrective justice theorists to explain how the principle of legal coherence fits within the framework of corrective justice theory, and why legal coherence is the only valid conceptual basis for a doctrine of illegality. It also contains a detailed study on the scope of the coherence rationale and the principles that will determine its application.

This book is a broad and deep inquiry into how contingency fees distort our civil justice system, influence our political system, and endanger democratic governance. Contingency fees are the way personal injury lawyers finance access to the courts for those wrongfully injured. Although the public senses that lawyers manipulate the justice system to serve their own ends, few are aware of the high costs that come with contingency fees. This book sets out to change that, providing a window into the seamy underworld of contingency fees that the bar and the courts not only tolerate but even protect and nurture. Contrary to a broad academic consensus, the book argues that the financial incentives for lawyers to litigate are so inordinately high that they perversely impact our civil justice system and impose other unconscionable costs. It thus presents the intellectual architecture that underpins all tort reform efforts.

Beginning in the mid 1970s the manufacturer of Benedictin was sued repeatedly over allegations that the drug--prescribed for pregnant women to overcome the effects of morning sickness--had caused birth defects. Yet in twenty years no one has collected any damages.
Joseph Sanders offers a comprehensive study of this litigation. Sanders looks at the cases from the different perspectives of the parties involved: attorneys, scientists, and juries. He discusses the role of lawyers in the development of claims and in the litigation, how scientific evidence is used in these trials, and the role of judges in managing and resolving these cases.
Increasingly, courts have decided who will bear the costs of the side effects of many products. These cases often involve thousands of individual law suits and present a variety of issues for the courts, including how to determine factual issues of causation, the value of claims, and how to fairly manage a large volume of claims. And yet the role of the judicial system in resolving liability issues involving large numbers of claims is highly controversial.
This book will appeal to scholars of the American judiciary and those interested in the role of courts in product liability matters.
Joseph Sanders is Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center.

Since its first appearance in 1986, this magisterial work has won uniform praise from many of the world's leading comparatists. It has been acclaimed by senior judges and has been cited by the courts of many countries. This new, substantially rewritten and systematically updated fifth edition of the work, contains over 95 leading judgments, most translated in their entirety, along with references to over 2,000 other decisions from Germany and the common law world. While the book remains an ideal tool for teaching comparative torts and comparative methodology, the fact that it has been extensively rewritten makes it an indispensable source of inspiration for those with a professional interest in tort litigation and tort law reform. This edition has paid particular attention to liability for internet activity, medical liability and the protection of personality rights and private life.

This casebook is organized to facilitate the study of law in the first year of law school with a focus on the study of tort law in particular. The text begins with an overview of tort law, pointing out distinctions between tort law and other types of law. It then covers intentional torts, negligence actions, and strict liability, covering all topics in detail. The materials presented build on foundational principles by exploring more advanced tort subjects such as nuisance, products liability, and defamation and privacy law. This versatile textbook includes classic cases as well as contemporary cases relevant to today's students. In addition to having discussion questions and hypotheticals throughout, the text also includes graphics illustrating many of the principles covered throughout the text. The text is available in both hardbound and electronic format and features Internet links for the student's use.

The 2012 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) deals with some 33,000 applications for compensation each year. It has, since 1964, been one of the principal means by which the state aims to meet victims' expectations following an offence of violence, but it also displays a clear doctrinal effort to differentiate 'deserving' from 'undeserving' victims. Over much of the same period criminal courts and agencies have enjoyed powers to order offenders to pay compensation to their victims, most recently as an element of restorative justice. Split into two parts, Criminal Injuries Compensation is an authoritative analysis of the statutory provisions governing these various remedies. Part One, State Compensation, analyses the Scheme's defining provisions: what constitutes 'a criminal injury', what persons and injuries may be compensated, the rules governing the victim's own conduct and character, the assessment of the award, and the procedures governing applications, appeals and judicial review. Part Two, Offender Compensation, analyses the conditions under which a criminal court may make a compensation order as an element of its sentencing decision, concluding with the potential of restorative justice to deliver offender compensation to victims. The book also touches on the wider political and criminal justice context of compensation. Written and edited by an expert academic and practitioner team, Criminal Injuries Compensation is an essential text for all those with an interest in understanding the statutory, judicial and administrative rules that govern state and offender payment of compensation to victims of violent crime.

Tort law is often regarded as the clearest example of traditional common law reasoning. Yet, in the past 40 years, the common law of England and Wales has been subject to European influences as a result of the introduction of the European Communities Act 1972 and, more recently, the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 in October 2000. EU Directives have led to changes to the law relating to product liability, health and safety in the workplace, and defamation, while Francovich liability introduces a new tort imposing State liability for breach of EU law. The 1998 Act has led to developments in privacy law and made the courts reconsider their approach to public authority liability and freedom of expression in defamation law. This book explores how English tort law has changed as a result of Europeanisation - broadly defined as the influence of European Union and European human rights law. It also analyses how this influence has impacted on traditional common law reasoning. Has Europeanisation led to changes to the common law legal tradition or has the latter proved more resistant to change than might have been expected?

Part II of The Humanity of Private Law charts a new course for English private law in the twenty-first century. Part I set out the vision of human flourishing that English private law has in mind in seeking to promote its subjects' flourishing. Part II argues in favour of a very different account of what human flourishing involves, and explains what private law would look like were it to base itself on this alternative vision of the nature of human flourishing. This volume: sets out and evaluates different models of what human flourishing involves; argues in favour of the view that human flourishing involves being engaged in a quest to lead a truthful life; explains in what ways a private law that sought to foster this distinctive vision of human flourishing would be different from English private law in its current state, in particular with regard to: (i) tackling fraud; (ii) promoting freedom of speech; (iii) preserving attention capacities; (iv) protecting people from being subjected to degrading or hateful treatment; and (v) enabling people to make a fresh start in their lives; and, considers whether and when it would be legitimate for the courts to transform English private law in the ways suggested in this volume. Part II of The Humanity of Private Law is a radical and prophetic book that is essential reading for anyone who is interested in understanding the contribution private law can make to our living in a society that promotes the flourishing of all its members.

"Private law beyond the state" is a topic that is fashionable, important, and widely discussed. Yet it presents so many different aspects and perspectives that it has, so far, remained remarkably poorly understood. Precisely because globalization moves the law "beyond the state", lawyers find themselves forced to rethink private law and its relation to the state. This volume brings together contributions of leading scholars from the United States, Israel and Germany exploring the topic from different perspectives: legal history, law and economics, legal sociology, private international law, and law and anthropology. They aim at clarifying and structuring current debates, focussing on the historical, conceptual, and epistemological relations between private law and the state as well as on their relevance for legal argument; on the actors involved in processes connecting and dividing private law and the state; and on the fundamental normative questions that result from these processes.

Kenneth Abraham explores the development and interdependency of the tort liability regime and the insurance system in the United States during the twentieth century and beyond, including the events of September 11, 2001.

From its beginning late in the nineteenth century, the availability of liability insurance led to the creation of new forms of liability, heavily influenced expansion of the liabilities that already existed, and continually promoted increases in the amount of money that was awarded in tort suits. A "liability-and-insurance spiral" emerged, in which the availability of liability insurance encouraged the imposition of more liability, and, in turn, the imposition of liability encouraged the further spread of insurance.

Liability insurance was not merely a source of funding for ever-greater amounts of tort liability. Liability insurers came to dominate tort litigation. They defended lawsuits against their policyholders, and they decided which cases to settle, fight, or appeal. The very idea behind insurance--that spreading losses among large numbers of policyholders is desirable--came to influence the ideology of tort law. To serve the aim of loss spreading, liability had to expand.

Today the tort liability and insurance systems constantly interact, and to reform one the role of the other must be fully understood.

A Measure of Malpractice tells the story and presents the results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study, the largest and most comprehensive investigation ever undertaken of the performance of the medical malpractice system. The Harvard study was commissioned by the government of New York in 1986, in the midst of a malpractice crisis that had driven insurance premiums for surgeons and obstetricians in New York City to nearly $200,000 a year. The Harvard-based team of doctors, lawyers, economists, and statisticians set out to investigate what was actually happening to patients in hospitals and to doctors in courtrooms, launching a far more informed debate about the future of medical liability in the 1990s. Careful analysis of the medical records of 30,000 patients hospitalized in 1984 showed that approximately one in twenty-five patients suffered a disabling medical injury, one quarter of these as a result of the negligence of a doctor or other provider. After assembling all the malpractice claims filed in New York State since 1975, the authors found that just one in eight patients who had been victims of negligence actually filed a malpractice claim, and more than two-thirds of these claims were filed by the wrong patients. The study team then interviewed injured patients in the sample to discover the actual financial loss they had experienced: the key finding was that for roughly the same dollar amount now being spent on a tort system that compensates only a handful of victims, it would be possible to fund comprehensive disability insurance for all patients significantly disabled by a medical accident. The authors, who came to the project from very different perspectives about the present malpractice system, are now in agreement about the value of a new model of medical liability. Rather than merely tinker with the current system which fixes primary legal responsibility on individual doctors who can be proved medically negligent, legislatures should encourage health care organizations to take responsibility for the financial losses of all patients injured in their care.