A man slips on a dance floor and breaks his leg. He recovers damages. A child has both legs amputated as a result of meningitis and is awarded nothing. The law's justification for awarding damages in the first case is that the man's injury was the fault of someone else, while in the second case damages are denied because nobody was at fault. In this searching critique of the present law and practice relating to damages, Professor Patrick Atiyah shows that this system is in fact a lottery. He contends that the public are paying far too much for an unfair and inefficient insurance system and that reform is long overdue. His conclusion is that actions for damages for injuries should be abolished and replaced with a new no-fault road accident scheme, and actions for other injuries should be dealt with by individual or group insurance policies.

This is the new sixth edition of Patrick Atiyah's Introduction to the Law of Contract. It offers a clear and comprehensive account of this area of law. This latest edition, by Stephen Smith, retains the general shape and structure of Atiyah's book but as with previous editions, the text has been completely revised and updated to place the Law of Contract in a modern context. This remains a stimulating and innovative introduction for all students coming to the Law of Contract for the first time.

This book has a comparatively original theme, or set of themes. It offers, first, a new way of analysing styles of legal reasoning - between more 'formal' and more 'substantive' styles. This analysis, which is worked out in some detail, is a major contribution to jurisprudence in its own right. The book then goes on to demonstrate in detail the differences in legal reasoning - and in the legal systems as a whole - between England and America, suggesting that the English is a much more 'formal' legal system and the American a more 'substantive' one. Thirdly, the book proceeds to explore in detail a wide range of cultural, institutional, and historical factors relating to the two legal systems, an exploration which is not only of value for comparative studies, but also confirms the argument in the first part of the book as to the relative 'formality' of the two legal systems.

Originally published in 1988 and now available in a revised paperback edition, this collection of essays by one of the leading contract theorists of the common law world concerns the theory and foundations of contractual liability. This paperback edition includes a new essay, "Freedom of Contract and the New Right," which charts the latest shift in the development of contract law back in the direction of Freedom of Contract. This collection will especially appeal to students and scholars of contract law and theory and the law of obligation.

This book has a comparatively original theme, or set of themes. It offers, first, a new way of analysing styles of legal reasoning - between more "formal" and more "substantive" styles. This analysis, which is worked out in some detail, is an important contribution to jurisprudence in its own right. The book then goes on to demonstrate in detail the differences in legal reasoning - and in the legal systems as a whole - between England and America, suggesting that the English is a much more "formal" legal system and the American a more "substantive" one. Thirdly, the book explores in detail a wide range of cultural, institutional, and historical factors relating to the two legal systems, an exploration which is not only of value for comparative studies, but also confirms the argument in the first part of the book as to the relative "formality" of the two legal systems. A book for Legal scholars and lawyers in Britain and America; jurists; lawyers in general and students of comparative law.

A man slips on the dancefloor and breaks his leg - he recovers damages. A child has both legs amputated as a result of meningitis, and is awarded nothing. The law's justification for awarding damages in the first case is that the man's injury was the fault of someone else, while in the second case damages are denied because nobody was at fault. This critique of the present law and practice relating to damages, shows that the damages system is in fact a lottery. It contends that the public are paying far too much for an unfair and inefficient insurance system, and that reform is long overdue. The book concludes that actions for damages for injuries should be abolished and replaced with a new no-fault road accident scheme, and actions for injuries should be dealt with by individual or group insurance policies.