Personal Injury Law

Cal Biz Lit Live-Blogging DRI Products Conference

Posted on April 16, 2009
Follow it here. (Via Point of Law.) --BC

Bridge Settlement Complete in Minnesota

Posted on April 16, 2009
Some details of the settlement are at KSTP.com; all settlements come from a $37 million fund set up by the Minnesota legislature. --BC

Vladeck to Head FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau

Posted on April 15, 2009
David Vladeck (Georgetown) has been named Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the FTC. FDA Law Blog and CL&P Blog have more. - SBS

Pace Law Review Call for Papers: National Security Law and Con Law

Posted on April 14, 2009
Call for Articles, Essays, and Book Reviews: National Security and Constitutional Law Proposals due May 15, 2009 The editors of Pace Law Review invite proposals from scholars, researchers, practitioners, and professionals for contributions to a special issue on the relationship...

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LA Times on Punitives

Posted on April 13, 2009
In an editorial, the LAT calls on the Supreme Court to give better guidance on punitive damages, saying the state of law today has "wasted the time of lawyers, judges and injured parties, and sometimes has led to injustices." --BC

Nevada Panel Approves Unlimited P&S Damages for Victims of Gross Negligence

Posted on April 12, 2009
On Friday, Nevada's Assembly Judiciary Committee approved a bill that allows victims of gross negligence to sue for unlimited pain and suffering damages. The bill now goes to the floor of the assembly. The Las Vegas Sun has the story....

Personal Injury Roundup No. 31 (4/10/09)

Posted on April 10, 2009
Spring has sprung, more or less, in New England (though there were some snowflakes on Wednesday). Those of you in places where it's been definitively spring for longer can just sit on your hands and refrain from making fun. Reform,...

Solum's Primer on the Reasonable Person

Posted on April 09, 2009
In this week's Legal Theory Lexicon, Larry Solum covered the "reasonable person." For his analysis and a bibliography, click here. --CJR

Another "Douchebag" Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed

Posted on April 09, 2009
A book, tastefully entitled "Hot Chicks with Douchebags," featured, well, pictures of what the authors deemed to fit that description. Not surprisingly, people identified as the latter took offense; at least two have sued for libel. The Smoking Gun (who...

Hylton to Deliver Monsanto Lecture

Posted on April 09, 2009
Keith Hylton (Boston) will deliver the 23rd annual Monsanto Lecture at Valparaiso on April 23rd at 4:00 p.m. His topic is "Intent in Tort Law." Past speakers have included Ken Abraham, Anita Bernstein, Jules Coleman, Richard Epstein, John Goldberg, George...

Oregon Houses Passes Increase on State Liability Caps

Posted on April 08, 2009
As Bend Weekly News reports, the Oregon House passed SB 311, which would raise the current liability cap of $200,000 for government agency defendants. The new bill raises the cap and sets up a two-tier system depending on whether the...

Thanks to Mike Green & the Wake Forest Law Review

Posted on April 07, 2009
As readers know, Chris and I attended the Torts Symposium co-hosted by Wake Forest, ALI and Texas last week. The event was held at Wake Forest School of Law in Winston-Salem, NC. Mike Green was an exceptional host, and the...

Duty: How Would A Pluralist Approach Really Work?

Posted on April 07, 2009
During the panel on Duty at the ALI Conference on the Restatement (Third) of Torts last week, several commentators and audience members questioned how courts would weigh the competing values (economic factors and corrective justice factors) under a pluralist view...

Supreme Court Not Likely to do Much on Punitives

Posted on April 06, 2009
So says (accurately) this Legal News Line piece, noting as a harbinger the recent withdrawal of cert. in the Williams case. Even with the Baker case providing a 1:1 hard ratio in maritime law, I think it's right to say...

Turley on Defective Sperm as Products Case

Posted on April 06, 2009
Interesting post on the notion of defective sperm as giving rise to a tort or products liability suit. --BC

WNEC Victory at the Rendigs Products Liability Moot Court Competition

Posted on April 05, 2009
I am pleased and proud to announce that the Western New England College School of Law team (which I coach) won the national championship in the Rendigs Products Liability Moot Court Competition, hosted by the University of Cincinnati School of...

Beyond Negligence: Intentional and Strict Liability in the Third Restatement

Posted on April 04, 2009
The second panel yesterday covered two topics: "Beyond Negligence: Intentional and Strict Liability Torts and An Integrated Third Restatement." Ellen Bublick (Arizona), Ellen Pryor (SMU) and Ken Simons (BU) presented. The panel was moderated by ALI Deputy Director Elena Cappella...

Land Possessor Liability in Restatement Third

Posted on April 04, 2009
Yesterday's final panel of a fantastic conference included Keith Hylton (Boston), James Henderson (Cornell), and Stephen Sugarman (Berkeley). The panel was moderated by Simone Rose (Wake Forest). Prior to the discussion, Mike Green noted that land possessor liability was the...

Risk Creation and Foreseeability in Restatement Third

Posted on April 03, 2009
Friday's opening panel included John C.P. Goldberg (Harvard), Ben Zipursky(Fordham), David Owen (South Carolina), and Jane Stapleton (Texas). Ralph Peeples (Wake Forest) served as moderator. Goldberg presented an article he co-authored with Zipursky, Intervening Wrongdoing in Tort: The Third Restatement's...

Duty in the Third Restatement

Posted on April 02, 2009
The Wake Forest Symposium on the Third Restatement opened today with a panel on "Duty in the Third Restatement." Jonathan Cardi (Kentucky), Mark Geistfeld (NYU), and Victor Schwartz (Shook Hardy) presented. The panel was moderated by Margaret Taylor (Wake Forest)...

NIED in the Third Restatement

Posted on April 02, 2009
Thursday's second panel covered Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress. Presenting were Martha Chamallas (Ohio State), Greg Keating(USC), Martin Matthews (Oxford), and Robert Rabin (Stanford). The panel was moderated by David Levi (Duke). 1. Rabin discussed Emotional Distress in Tort Law:...

Negligence in the Third Restatement

Posted on April 02, 2009
The third panel on Thursday covered the vast topic of negligence. Kenneth Abraham (Virginia), Ariel Porat(Tel Aviv/Chicago), and Aaron Twerski (Brooklyn) presented. The panel was moderated by Lance Liebman (Columbia/Director, ALI). Abraham discussed his article Custom, Non-Customary Practice, and Negligence...

Causation in the Third Restatement

Posted on April 02, 2009
In the final panel of today, David Robertson (Texas) and Joe Sanders (Houston) discussed Causation in the Third Restatement. The panel was moderated by Wendy Parker (Wake Forest). Don Cowan (Ellis & Winters) and Steve Gold (Rutgers) provided commentary...

Torts Prof Phoebe Haddon Named Dean At Maryland

Posted on April 01, 2009
Phoebe Haddon, a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, has been named Dean at the University of Maryland School of Law. Haddon joined the Temple faculty in 1981, and taught torts, products liability, constitutional law, and a seminar....

Torts Profs at the Torts Symposium

Posted on March 31, 2009
Chris and I will be attending the Symposium on the Restatement Third of Torts at Wake Forest this Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, Bill can't join us because he is coaching WNEC's team for the National Products Liability Moot Court Competition...

Texas Senate Passes Bill Requiring Continued Insurance Coverage for Study Participants

Posted on March 31, 2009
According to the bill history, the Texas Senate passed SB 39 (pdf) last Monday. The bill would require insurance companies to cover routine medical care for insureds enrolled in clinical trials. Two companion bills (HB 390 and HB 2005) are...

Williams v. Philip Morris Cert. Grant Withdrawn as Improvidently Granted

Posted on March 31, 2009
Per curiam opinion here, some analysis here. --BC

Orlando Sentinel on Theme Park Lawsuits

Posted on March 30, 2009
The Orlando paper published an interesting overview of litigation against Florida theme parks, focusing on the fact that all of the ride-related cases settle (which is nothing new, nor is it limited to Florida) and the relative lack of information...

Oklahoma Debate on Tort Reform

Posted on March 30, 2009
Interesting, if a bit anecdote-heavy, story here. --BC

A View from Abroad

Posted on March 28, 2009
New Zealand famously abolished tort actions for personal injuries and set up a comprehensive no-fault compensation plan. Australia seriously considered a similar plan, but never adopted it. Harold Luntz (University of Melbourne) has written an article comparing how personal injuries...

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