TortsProf Blog

MDL Complaint Filed in NFL Concussion Litigation

Plaintiffs have filed a master complaint in the MDL concerning the NFL concussion litigation.  The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and consolidates 86 suits involving 2,300 retired players.

WSJ and Philly Inquirer have more.

Update:  BBC News also has coverage. 

- SBS 

Goldberg & Zipursky on Civil Recourse Revisited

John Goldberg & Ben Zipursky respond to critics from last year's Florida State symposium on civil recourse theory in Civil Recourse Revisited.  The abstract provides:

This essay responds to the extensive and thoughtful commentary on civil recourse theory provided by Curtis Bridgeman, Julian and Stephen Darwall, John Gardner, Andrew Gold, Scott Hershovitz, Gabe Mendlow, Nathan Oman, Arthur Ripstein, Anthony Sebok, Emily Sherwin, Jason Solomon, and Ernest Weinrib, all of whom participated in a 2011 symposium at Florida State University School of Law that was devoted to the subject. In it, we defend civil recourse theory against corrective justice theory and (following our own, independent contributions to the symposium) further develop our critiques of that theory. Against methodological criticisms, we maintain that civil recourse theory is an interpretive theory that has both explanatory and normative power. Finally, we briefly tease out some of the implications of civil recourse theory for private law beyond torts (contract law, in particular), and for the philosophical analysis of concepts such as accountability and responsibility.

--CJR

NY: Nonpecuniary Damages Not Available for Legal Malpractice

So held the Court of Appeals in Dombrowki v. Bulson  (pdf) (at least against criminal defense attorneys). 

Thanks to Mark Weber for the tip.

--CJR

SSRN Top 10 Recent Papers

Top 10 Downloads for all papers announced in the last 60 days:

Rank	Downloads	Paper Title
1	297	The Empirical Effects of Tort Reform Theodore Eisenberg, Cornell University - School of Law, Date posted to database: April 2, 2012 Last Revised: May 15, 2012
2	163	Statutes in Common Law Courts Jeffrey A. Pojanowski, Notre Dame Law School, Date posted to database: March 19, 2012 Last Revised: March 28, 2012
3	148	Does Tort Reform Affect Physician Supply? Evidence from Texas David A. Hyman, Charles Silver, Bernard S. Black, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - College of Law, University of Texas at Austin - School of Law, Northwestern University - School of Law, Date posted to database: April 30, 2012 Last Revised: May 15, 2012
4	139	Outsourcing Regulation: How Insurance Reduces Moral Hazard Omri Ben-Shahar, Kyle D. Logue, University of Chicago Law School, University of Michigan Law School, Date posted to database: April 11, 2012 Last Revised: May 22, 2012
5	124	The Law and Economics of Insurance Law - A Primer Ronen Avraham, University of Texas at Austin - School of Law, Date posted to database: April 26, 2011 Last Revised: May 3, 2012
6	107	Irrevocability of Special Needs Trusts: The Tangled Web that is Woven When English Feudal Law is Imported into Modern Determinations of Medicaid Eligibility Mary F. Radford, Clarissa Bryan, Georgia State University - College of Law, Georgia State University - College of Law, Date posted to database: April 9, 2012 Last Revised: April 9, 2012
7	75	Unwarranted Presumptions: Common Law, Injury, and Presumed Damages for Constitutional Torts Ruth Sarah Lee, Harvard Law School, Date posted to database: April 7, 2012 Last Revised: April 7, 2012
8	73	State Law, the Westfall Act, and the Nature of the Bivens Question after Minneci v. Pollard Carlos Manuel Vazquez, Stephen I. Vladeck, Georgetown University Law Center, American University - Washington College of Law, Date posted to database: April 12, 2012 Last Revised: May 9, 2012
9	71	Toward a Bankruptcy Model for Non-Class Aggregate Litigation Troy A. McKenzie, New York University School of Law, Date posted to database: April 5, 2012 Last Revised: April 13, 2012
10	67	Does Product Liability Make Us Safer? W. Kip Viscusi, Vanderbilt University - Law School, Date posted to database: April 5, 2012 Last Revised: May 29, 2012

 

Tort Reform Op Letter in Philly Inquirer

Mark Behrens, a partner at Shook Hardy, authored an opinion letter in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer about tort reform in Pennsylvania.   While advocating for tort reform, the letter also provides a good overview of recent changes enacted in Pennsylvania, such as the Fair Share Act, and the home venue rule. 

- SBS