TortsProf Blog

Editor: Christopher J. Robinette
Southwestern Law School

Monday, July 8, 2024

Long & Baxter's Torts: A Modern Approach, 2d Edition

Alex Long and Teri Dobbins Baxter have published with Carolina Academic Press, Torts:  A Modern Approach.  The blurb provides:

This casebook takes a modern approach to the learning that takes place in the first year of law school. It utilizes a mix of classic torts cases and more recent cases, and the notes are limited in number and length to keep students engaged.

Each chapter begins with an outline of key concepts and also a hypothetical set of facts that students can use to orient themselves throughout the chapter. There are also short problems throughout each chapter, which build on the chapter-opening hypothetical, requiring students to apply the law. At the end of each chapter or section there is a short issue-spotting essay question related to chapter content.

The second edition includes updated cases and problems.

July 8, 2024 in Books, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, March 18, 2024

Long & Baxter's Torts: A Modern Approach, Second Edition

Alex Long & Teri Dobbins Baxter are publishing Torts:  A Modern Approach (2d ed.).  The blurb provides:

This casebook takes a modern approach to the learning that takes place in the first year of law school. It utilizes a mix of classic torts cases and more recent cases, and the notes are limited in number and length to keep students engaged.

Each chapter begins with an outline of key concepts and also a hypothetical set of facts that students can use to orient themselves throughout the chapter. There are also short problems throughout each chapter, which build on the chapter-opening hypothetical, requiring students to apply the law. At the end of each chapter or section there is a short issue-spotting essay question related to chapter content.

A complimentary copy can be ordered here.

Forthcoming May 2024 | ISBN 978-1-5310-2547-2 | casebound | TEACHER’S MANUAL FORTHCOMING

March 18, 2024 in Books, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, February 19, 2024

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) Seeks Torts Visitor

The University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis) School of Law invites applications for at least two Visiting Professor positions at any faculty rank for either the 2023 Fall semester, the 2024 Spring semester, or the full 2023-24 academic year. 

We have specific curricular needs for first year Torts and Lawyering Skills; we will consider candidates’ interest in teaching additional courses in light of our other needs.  Applicants will be expected to teach two classes during a semester visit, and either three or four classes during an academic year visit.

UST Law’s commitments to scholarship, teaching, service, and community are inspired by its mission, which dedicates it, as a Catholic law school, “to integrating faith and reason in the search for truth through a focus on morality and social justice.” We welcome applicants of diverse races, ethnicities, geographic origins, gender identities, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, religions, work experience, physical and intellectual abilities, and financial means.

UST Law has been recognized for excellence in various ways (see:https://www.stthomas.edu/law/about/rankings/):

  • #23 faculty scholarly impact (Sisk/Leiter methodology)
  • #1 in the nation for best practical training (National Jurist) 
  • #8 for “quality of student life” (Princeton Review)
  • #5 for state and local judicial clerkships (Princeton Review)

UST Law is located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. The University of St. Thomas is the largest private university in Minnesota, with 10,000 undergraduate and graduate/professional students; eight colleges and professional schools (including schools of business, engineering, health, and others); and 55-plus graduate and professional degree programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates must have a J.D. from an accredited law school, distinguished academic or professional credentials, and a record of excellence in teaching.

To apply:Please submit a cover letter and C.V. online at http://www.stthomas.edu/jobs/.

You may contact Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Elizabeth Schiltz, at [email protected], with questions.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled.  

February 19, 2024 in Teaching Torts, TortsProfs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Richard Peltz-Steele's Tortz Volume 2

Richard Peltz-Steele has posted to SSRN the second volume of his casebook Tortz Volume 2:  A Study of American Tort Law (Chapters 9 to 15).  The abstract provides:

This textbook represents a survey study of American tort law suitable to American 1L students and foreign law students. Chapters cover: (9) damages, (10) res ipsa loquitur, (11) multiple liabilities, (12) attenuated duty and causation, (13) affirmative duty, (14) nuisance and property torts, and (15) communication and media torts. This book is volume 2 of 2. This study is inspired by the teachings of the late Professor Marshall S. Shapo.

January 17, 2024 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, December 11, 2023

Products Liability as a Capstone Course, Again

I just finished teaching Products Liability for the fifth time; it is a very fun course to teach.  I recall thinking that it made a great capstone course years ago, and I wanted to revisit my thoughts on the issue.  After re-reading my post from July 2016, I find my view is exactly the same.  Here is what I said then:

As I wrote last month, I am teaching Products Liability this summer.  It has been over 4 years since I last taught it; the last time through, the course was a 2-credit, paper course.  I am now teaching a 3-credit, exam course.

Perhaps I wasn't thinking in these terms in 2012, but I am struck this time through by how well Products could serve as a capstone course, roughly understood as a culminating course that integrates multiple subject areas.  Obviously, Products is heavily tort-oriented.  One of the common causes of action for an injury by product is negligence, and that is covered (again), including duty, breach, causation, damages, and defenses.  Of course, the sales concept of warranty is thoroughly covered.  But there is more.  A lot of evidence concepts are reviewed, such as Daubert, subsequent remedial measures, admissibility for injuries in the same or similar circumstances, and the burden of proof.  Administrative law is covered because of the regulations passed by agencies and their effect on private litigation (including preemption, which has a connection to constitutional law).  Civil procedure is also touched upon in the form of statutes of limitations, statutes of repose, and the discovery rule. 

As a whole, the course requires students to connect areas of practice to one another, which I think is extremely beneficial.  That is, of course, how they will function in practice.  The course also reviews a number of concepts they will soon face on the bar, including the specific MBE questions about products liability, often given little to no attention in the basic Torts course due to time constraints.   

December 11, 2023 in Products Liability, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Hunter, Shannon & Amoroso on Teaching Palsgraf

Richard Hunter, John Shannon, and Henry Amoroso have posted to SSRN A Teaching Note on Negligence:  Palsgraf Revisited.  The abstract provides:

The case of Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad (1928) provides an opportunity to engage students in a study of the cause of action termed negligence. The article explores issues relating to proof of negligence, defenses to negligence, and more directly, to the views of two American jurists, Benjamin Cardozo and William Andrews, relating to the issues of duty and causation—critical elements of proof.

March 22, 2023 in Scholarship, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, September 9, 2022

The Steamship Reynolds

Many of us teach Vincent v. Lake Erie Transp. Co. around this time of year, the private necessity case of the steamship Reynolds tied to a dock during a terrible storm in Duluth.  A website named "Great Lakes Vessel History" has additional information about the ship.  Apparently the Reynolds was sunk by a German submarine in WW I:

Transferred 1915 to off-Lakes service during World War I.  Cut in two, towed to tidewater and rejoined Torpedoed and sunk May 19, 1918 by German submarine UB-74 off Ile d’Yeu, Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France.

Thanks to Don Gifford for the tip.

September 9, 2022 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Torts Visitor at St. Thomas (MN)

The University of St. Thomas School of Law (MN) seeks to hire a visiting professor for Fall 2022 to teach Torts. The ideal candidate would have experience teaching Torts and be able to teach two sections of Torts in the fall term, due to leadership changes at the school. Torts is a 4 credit, fall-only 1L class. Courses will be taught fully in-person, unless the public health situation changes significantly.

We would consider a full year visit for 22-23 (courses in spring term TBD based on the visitor’s expertise) and would also consider a visitor who can teach one section of Torts plus another course in an area of expertise. Please send inquiries and statements of interest to Joel Nichols, incoming Interim Dean, at [email protected]. Review of applications will begin immediately.

April 14, 2022 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Bernabe on Teaching at the Intersection of Torts, Race, and Gender

Alberto Bernabe has posted to SSRN Teaching at the Intersection of Torts, Race, and Gender.  The abstract provides:

Recent social movements concerned with racial relations and bias have inspired changes in law school education. In some schools, the changes involved creating specific courses while in others, professors have been encouraged to incorporate relevant materials into already existing courses. At first glance, Torts might not seem to be a particularly apt course for exploring issues of race and gender. However, a more careful look at the subject matter of the course reveals multiple topics in which race and gender play a critical role in the development and application of the doctrines. In this article I discuss how to integrate materials to explore the intersection of issues of race and gender into a first year Torts course and suggest specific cases and materials to build such a course.

March 24, 2022 in Scholarship, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Wriggins on Race and Torts Pedagogy

Jenny Wriggins has posted to SSRN How to Include Issues of Race and Racism in the Torts Course for First Year Law Students:  A Call for Reform.  The abstract provides:

Race and racism have always played a significant role in the U.S. tort system as research has long shown and as hundreds of published decisions demonstrate. Do torts casebooks reflect the importance of race and racism in torts? The article first surveys 23 torts casebooks published from 2016 to 2021 to see whether and to what extent they discuss race and racism. Most avoid discussions of race and racism in torts; and although they always discuss tort history, they omit the racial history of torts. Although publishers frequently issue new editions of torts casebooks, newer editions generally have not expanded their focus to include race and racism. Two notable exceptions are the new open source casebook, TORTS: A 21ST CENTURY APPROACH, by Prof. Zahr Said, and TORT LAW AND PRACTICE by Prof. Dominick Vetri and co-authors.

Following the casebook survey, the article turns to this question: How can professors incorporate issues of race and racism in their torts courses? I recommend that law teachers incorporate issues of race and racism in first year torts courses in two major ways. First, law professors should teach a number of pedagogically interesting cases that deal with race and racism and that also illuminate significant doctrinal issues. This article suggests specific cases keyed to most of the important doctrinal areas in torts. These cases are less known than cases that are commonly taught, but they are also important and can convey the relevant doctrinal points equally well. Second, law professors in teaching damages should include material on the devaluation of injuries to African-Americans in torts. Important background also includes information about the unequal distribution of liability insurance – a key part of the torts system – by race. Since torts is a required first year course, and race and racism have had a significant role in the U.S. torts system, law students should gain at least a general understanding of race and racism’s role in torts. Including race and racism in torts courses strengthens the first year curriculum. While this may seem daunting for some instructors, ample materials now on offer make it very feasible. The time is certainly ripe for this essential change.

December 15, 2021 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Peltz-Steele's Casebook

Richard Peltz-Steele has posted his casebook, Tortz:  A Study of American Tort Law, to SSRN.  The abstract provides:

This textbook represents a survey study of American tort law suitable to American 1L students and foreign law students. When complete, chapters will cover: (1) introduction, (2) intentional torts, (3) defenses to intentional torts, (4) negligence, (5) defenses to negligence, (6) subjective standards, (7) strict liability, (8) necessity, (9) damages, (10) res ipsa loquitur, (11) multiple liabilities, (12) attenuated duty and causation (scope of liability), (13) affirmative duty, (14) nuisance, (15) media torts, (16) business torts, (17) worker compensation, and (18) government liability and "constitutional tort." This pedagogy is built on the teachings of Professor Marshall S. Shapo. Chapters will be added as they are completed, anticipating the full work by the end of 2022.

October 14, 2021 in Books, Scholarship, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Florida Seeks Torts Visitor for Spring 2022

The University of Florida Levin College of Law is currently seeking applications for a visiting faculty position for the Spring 2022 semester to teach either Torts (4 credits) in the first-year required curriculum or Remedies (3 credits) in the upper-level curriculum, as well as a second course in an elective subject of the visitor’s interest. The University of Florida, located in Gainesville, FL, is currently the fifth-best public research institution in the nation and the flagship university of the third-largest state.

Application materials should include a cover letter, a resume with at least three references, and recent course evaluations, if available. Materials may be uploaded at http://jobs.ufl.edu.

For further information, applicants may contact Associate Dean Amy Stein at [email protected]. Review of applications will begin immediately. The Levin College of Law fosters a diverse and inclusive environment for faculty, staff, and students, and we welcome applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.   

The University of Florida is committed to non-discrimination with respect to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, political opinions or affiliations, genetic information, disability, and veteran status in all aspects of employment.

September 22, 2021 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, August 23, 2021

Abrams Receives 2021 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning

University of Louisville TortsProf Jamie Abrams's work (along with that of Valerie Harris and Marija Sasek) designing a medical malpractice expert witness deposition simulation for law and dental students has resulted in the 2021 Blackboard Catalyst Award for Teaching and Learning.  Abrams based the simulation on the principles in her West Academic book, Tort Law Simulations:  Bridge to Practice.  UL News has the story.

August 23, 2021 in Teaching Torts, TortsProfs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, March 1, 2021

Torts Visit at Wyoming

From Mike Duff:  “I just wanted to alert everyone that the University of Wyoming College of Law is interested in exploring the possibility of a visitor for Fall 2021, to teach its first year torts course along with one other course.  If you are interested in exploring this possibility (and Laramie in the fall is quite nice), please contact either Michael Duff ([email protected]) or Sam Kalen ([email protected]).” 

March 1, 2021 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, January 18, 2021

A Tort Theory Reading List for Students

Several students in my Torts class have requested a reading list on tort theory.  What should be part of a basic tort theory reading package for students?  At a minimum, I think it should cover individualized justice, deterrence, compensation/loss-spreading, and pluralist theories.  I seek your collective wisdom.  Don't be shy about recommending your own work.

January 18, 2021 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Wriggins on Teaching Torts with a Focus on Race and Racism

I missed this post from February.  Jenny Wriggins posted about teaching Torts and race at the Race and the Law Prof Blog.  Her conclusion:

Racism is becoming stronger in the U.S., despite the long struggles for racial justice in the U.S. and despite the fact that it is so deeply wrong.  Our country has not completely addressed the history of race and racism in law.  And this definitely is true in the teaching of tort law.  Now is the time to make a serious start on this essential project. 

April 14, 2020 in Teaching Torts, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Epstein & Sharkey 12th Edition Available Soon

Cases and Materials on Torts, Twelfth Edition by Richard A. Epstein and Catherine M. Sharkey will be available soon. Cases and Materials on Torts preserves historical and conceptual continuity between the present and the past, while addressing the most significant contemporary controversies in such fast-moving areas like public nuisance, global warming, and product liability, with new litigation against internet providers. Toward these dual ends, Richard A. Epstein and Catherine M. Sharkey have retained in the Twelfth Edition the great older cases, both English and American, that have proved themselves time and again in the classroom, and which continue to exert great influence on the modern law. Our book also provides a rich exploration of the dominant corrective justice and law-and-economics approaches to tort law, as exemplified both in the retained and new cases and materials.

Book Information:

Cases and Materials on Torts, Twelfth Edition

Richard A. Epstein, New York University Law School

Catherine M. Sharkey, New York University Law School

Pages: 1,328

ISBN: 9781543804454

Part of the Connected Casebook Program

Visit wklegaledu.com/Epstein-Torts12 to view more information

To access teaching materials for this title, you will need a validated professor account on WKLegaledu.com. If you do not yet have a validated professor account, you may register at WKLegaledu.com/my-account/register. Account validation may take 1-2 business days. Once validated, you may log into your account using your own personal login, go to the product page for this title or any Wolters Kluwer title, and scroll down to access the Professor Resources once they have been made available on the site.

 

 

February 11, 2020 in Books, Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning—Summer 2020 Conference

Effective Instruction in Online and Hybrid Legal Education

June 11—13, 2020

University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law

Little Rock, Arkansas

 

Conference Theme:  The future of legal education has arrived, with more and more law schools moving toward teaching part or all of their J.D. program online.  During this conference, we will explore how law professors can design and implement methods for teaching effectively in online environments, including both synchronous and asynchronous formats.  After an opening plenary examining data regarding the effectiveness of online education, the subsequent plenaries and concurrent workshops will address the following topics in the context of online and hybrid courses and programs:  course and program design, assessment of student learning, active learning and student engagement, teaching methods, providing feedback, and collaborative learning.

 

Conference Structure:  The conference will consist of three plenary sessions and a series of concurrent workshops that will take place on Thursday, June 11; Friday, June 12; and the morning of Saturday, June 13.  The conference will open with an informal reception on the evening of Wednesday, June 10.  Details about the conference will be available on the website of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, www.lawteaching.org

 

Registration Information:  The conference fee for participants is $285, which includes materials, meals during the conference (three breakfasts and three lunches), and the welcome reception on Wednesday, June 10.  The conference fee for presenters is $185.  Details regarding the registration process will be provided in future announcements.

November 16, 2019 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Products Liability Visitor Wanted at the University of Kentucky for Spring 2020

The University of Kentucky is seeking a visitor for spring 2020.  One of the courses is Products Liability and the other is to be decided.  If interested, please contact Associate Dean Doug Michael at [email protected].

August 27, 2019 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday, January 25, 2019

Case Update: Perry v S.N. and S.N.

For those of you teaching the Prosser, Wade, and Schwartz casebook:  This is about the time of year I cover Perry v. S.N. and S.N., a Supreme Court of Texas case from 1998.  The case focuses on negligence per se/implied right of action regarding a failure to report the alleged child sexual abuse committed by day care owners.  Those day care owners, Fran and Dan Keller, were declared "actually innocent" by the state of Texas in August 2017 and awarded $3.4 million in damages.  This isn't breaking news, but I just learned it (thanks to Shannon Smith in my 1L Torts class), and I thought some of you might not know either.  The article from Jezebel is here.

January 25, 2019 in Teaching Torts | Permalink | Comments (0)