TortsProf Blog

Texting Tort

A new one to add to your hypos for fall semester:   A fifteen year old girl was walking and texting when she fell into an open manhole.   The family plans to sue the city.   Jonathan Turley has more.

- SBS

Foundations of Torts 2d Edition Available

A second edition of Foundations of Torts, co-edited by Saul Levmore (Dean, Chicago) and Cathy Sharkey (NYU), is now available:

This is a completely revamped, updated version of the original 1993 edition, and is a valuable resource for torts professors teaching at all levels of instruction. It provides an enhanced theoretical and empirical foundation for a diverse selection of fundamental torts topics typically taught at the introductory level, such as the Hand formula, duty to rescue, market-share liability, and vicarious liability, while, at the same time, providing an in-depth exploration of cutting edge issues suitable for an advanced course or seminar, such as medical malpractice, products liability, federal preemption of state tort law, and punitive damages. Each chapter includes an introductory overview of a topic in tort law, followed by abridged readings, and then provocative notes and questions. The intent is to give the instructor interesting material with which to work, and to equip the student with foundational tools useful for the critical reading of cases and articles.

- SBS

Scorned Husband Sues Wife's Alleged Lover

A new alienation-of-affection case from Jonathan Turley:

Wealthy car dealer Bob Rohrman (known as “Bob Rohrrrrrrr-man” on his commercials) is suing a surgeon, Dr. Sami M. Bittar, who wooed his wife, Ronda.  Of course, Rohrman must show that the couple had a loving and full relationship before Dr. Bittar made a house call and that the good doctor was the cause of the damage to the marriage.

Turley further notes some recent successful alienation cases and the resulting verdicts.

- SBS

Famous Tort Cases Poll

Larry Cunningham (GW) is seeking your input over at Concurring Opinion on famous tort opinions penned by Cardozo and Posner.

- SBS

Comparative Fault Bill Passes NC House

As the Rocky Mountain Telegram (AP)reports, a bill that would change North Carolina to a comparative fault jurisdiction passed the NC House last week.   North Carolina is currently a contributory negligence jurisdiction.  Under the bill, North Carolina would become a modified comparative fault jurisdiction, where the plaintiff would recover only if she is less than 50% at fault.   (If found 50% at fault, the plaintiff would still recover nothing).  

- SBS

The Enduring Relevance of Palsgraf

Thanks to John Day for reminding us that spending time covering the classics is not only fun, but also practical.

--CJR

Torts Texts

Legal publishers are experimenting with a new "Looseleaf" format.  The text will be printed, but not bound.  Students will be able to purchase a binder to insert the pages of the text.  I'm excited about this for two reasons.  First, it will save our students a lot of money.  The traditional text typically costs between $110-150.  Looseleaf costs will be about 35-40% of that amount.  Second, it will allow them (and us!) to carry only the small, relevant, relatively weightless portion of text.

I received an e-mail from Aspen yesterday stating that The Torts Process by Henderson, Pearson, Kysar, & Siliciano is now available in looseleaf (looseleaf ISBN:  978-0-7355-8888-2).  It would appear that this is a change in marketing strategy, so perhaps we can expect looseleaf versions for other popular Aspen Torts titles.  At Lexis, three Torts titles are available in looseleaf format:  Tort Law:  Cases, Perspectives, and Problems by Galligan, Haddon, Maraist, McClellan, Rustad, Terry, & Wildman (looseleaf ISBN:   9781422425985); Torts:  Cases, Problems, and Exercises by Weaver, Bauman, Cross, Klein, Martin, & Zwier (looseleaf ISBN:  ISBN 9781422472682) ; and Tort Law and Practice by Vetri, Levine, Vogel, & Finley (looseleaf ISBN:  9781422418321). 

On a related note, Carolina Academic Press has just announced a forthcoming (August 2009) fourth edition of Studies in American Tort Law by Johnson & Gunn.

--CJR

Mark Lanier Addresses Jon Hanson's Torts Class

Mark Lanier, of Vioxx litigation fame, addressed Jon Hanson's Torts class at Harvard last month.  He discussed the psychological aspects of tort law, focusing on communicating with juries.  A summary and webcast are available here.

--CJR

Welcome to the Blogosphere...

Alberto Bernabe (The John Marshall Law School) has started a blog aimed specifically at his students, but also applicable to general readers interested in torts.  The link is here.

--CJR

Design Defect Law in Illinois

In a great teaching case (pdf), the Illinois Supreme Court discussed, at length, the development of defective design standards.   In particular, the court examined the use of the risk-utility test versus the consumer-expectation test.  The court declined to adopt Section 2(b) of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability, but found "its formulation of the risk-utility test to be instructive."  (Slip Op. at 30).   The court then adopted a formulation of the risk-utility test that incorporates consumer-expectation as a factor consistent with comment (f) to the Restatement. 

Thanks to Mark Weber (DePaul) for bringing this case to our attention.

- SBS

Passengers Sue Lindsay Lohan for "Shock, Fear, and Panic" During Car Chase

Three male passengers have sued Lindsay Lohan based on the 2007 car chase that led to the actress's second DUI arrest.   According to People Magazine, the plaintiffs "'felt surprise, shock, fear and panic at Lohan's surprising and sudden act' of allegedly commandeering a car in which they happened to be sitting to chase her personal assistant through the streets of Santa Monica." Nobody was injured in the car chase. 

- SBS

Is Electricity a "Product"?

So asks William Ruskin over at Toxic Tort Litigation Blog.  (I missed this nugget back in September, and think it worth mentioning, albeit tardily).   Ruskin comments on a recent Connecticut decision holding that "once electricity entered the homeowner's residence, it constituted a 'product' rather than a 'service' and that plaintiff could  proceed under the Connecticut Product Liability Act."   Ruskin considers this to be the "emerging majority view nationally."

- SBS

Beyond the Traditional Textbook

Eric Johnson (North Dakota), who is guestblogging at Prawfs, posted here about supplementing traditional appellate opinions with a first-person narrative of real cases in his Torts course.  (Professor Johnson used chapters from Four Trials by John Edwards).  He was delighted with the results.  I, too, recommend supplementing a textbook with some "real world" material.  I use Jonathan Zittrain and Jennifer Harrison's The Torts Game:  Defending Mean Joe Greene.  My students learn a lot from following the litigation of an actual case, including seeing the documents filed, and even memos written, by both parties.  They also enjoy the change of pace from appellate opinions.  I spread the chapters throughout the relevant sections of my five-credit, two-semester course.  It strikes me it would be much more difficult to fit the material into a four-credit, one-semester course.  Have you used supplemental materials to teach Torts?  If so, what materials?  What results?

--CJR

A Products Liability Poem

In Monday's Writer's Almanac, Garrison Keillor brings us the poem "Warnings" by David Allen Sullivan.  An excerpt:

A can of self-defense pepper spray says it may
irritate the eyes, while a bathroom heater says it's
not to be used in bathrooms. I collect warnings
the way I used to collect philosophy quotes.

....

What would I have done without: Remove infant
before folding for storage, Do not use hair dryer
while sleeping, Eating pet rocks may lead to broken
teeth, Do not use deodorant intimately?

Goodbye to all those sentences that sought
to puncture the illusory world-like the warning
on the polyester Halloween outfit for my son:
Batman costume will not enable you to fly.

You can hear Garrison Keillor read the poem as well.

(Thanks to Point of Law).

- SBS

Defamed on the Wildwood Boardwalk

Ah, the Jersey shore with its seaside boardwalks filled with games, rides, and fun foods.   And apparently tortious behavior.

In Senna v. Florimant (pdf), the owner of a Wildwood boardwalk game of chance sued a competitor for defamation and tortious interference with business.   The defendant's employees told boardwalk customers (over a loudspeaker system) that the plaintiff was a "crook," and "dishonest," and that the plaintiff would not honor prize tickets.  In a decision released yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the defendant was not entitled to the heightened actual-malice standard applied to speech involving public figures.   

(Via Legal Profession Blog).

- SBS

Forwarding Employer Email To Personal Account Supports Conversion Claim

In a recent opinion (pdf), the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia addressed a 21st century conversion claim:  a former employee forwarded an allegedly proprietary email to his personal account, and then used the information to solicit people for a competitor.   The court found that these allegations stated a cause of action for conversion, and denied the employee's motion to dismiss reasoning that the "conversion claim does not fail merely because the property at issue is an electronic version of the list rather than a hard copy."  (Slip Op. at 20-21). 

(Thanks to Meredith Miller (Touro) for the tip).

- SBS   

September 11th in the Classroom

A couple of years back, PropertyProf Ben Barros posted about how September 11th should be handled in the classroom.  I believe I remember a torts-flavored discussion from about the same time.  I'm faced with the issue for only the second time (it has usually been a non-teaching day for me).  Two years ago, on the fifth anniversary, 9/11 was receiving a lot of attention.  I chose to start class with a moment of silence.  What are you doing today?  Is there a time limit for attention to this anniversary? 

--CJR

Teaching the Distinction Between Assault and Battery

Teaching assault and battery is always fun, as is demonstrating the two are independent torts.  The example I have used when teaching there can be a battery without assault (no apprehension) is that a student could sneak up behind me while I was writing on the board and hit me over the head.  Thanks to 1L Dipinjeet Sehdev, I now have a new example.

--CJR
Classic Faceplant Prank - Watch more free videos

Potential Torts Openings?

In the same vein as Sheila's post yesterday, Prawfsblawg has a list of hiring chairs for 2008-09.  Although many schools are not specific about their needs at this point, Wisconsin and Berkeley specifically list Torts as an area of interest. 

--CJR

Torts Opening at Southern Illinois

From the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois:

Southern Illinois University School of Law seeks to hire an Assistant or Associate Professor of Law to teach Torts, Advanced Torts, and other courses to be negotiated.

Title & Rank: Assistant or Associate Professor of Law.

Minimum Qualifications: Applicants must possess: (1) either the Juris Doctor degree or its equivalent from an ABA accredited law school, or an advanced law degree from an ABA accredited law school; (2) an impressive law school academic record; and (3) the potential to produce high quality scholarship. To be eligible for appointment at the Associate Professor level, the candidate must have prior law school teaching experience and an established record of scholarship and contributions to the profession. Associate Professor candidates should be able to meet the requirements for tenure on the faculty of the School of Law.

Preferred Qualifications: Law teaching experience, an advanced law degree, an established scholarship record, practice experience and/or judicial clerkship experience.

Duties & Responsibilities: (a) classroom instruction; (b) research and publication involving legal analysis of a high quality; (c) committee and other service work within the law school; and (d) university and public service.

Deadline for application: September 30, 2008, or until position is filled.

To apply: Applications should be submitted electronically at http://law.siu.edu/employment.

A completed application will require a letter of application, resumé and the contact information for three references. The letter should be addressed to:

Marshall Kapp, Chair, Personnel Committee
Southern Illinois University School of Law, Mail Code 6804
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
1150 Douglas Drive
Carbondale, Illinois 62901

SIUC is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer that strives to enhance its ability to develop a diverse faculty and staff and to increase its potential to serve a diverse student population. All applications are welcomed and encouraged and will receive consideration.

- SBS