TortsProf Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]).” 

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.

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. 

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.

 

 

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.

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]

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.

FL: Patient Goes in for Back Surgery; Kidney Removed

Having just covered the "wrong ear" case for informed consent, this ripped-from-the-headlines case would do nicely to illustrate the distinction between medical negligence and informed consent.  Both are potentially here in this fact pattern.  The patient went into surgery to fuse together a couple of vertebrae.  The surgeon allegedly noticed a mass in the patient's pelvis.  Believing it to be cancerous, the surgeon cut it out.  It was the patient's kidney.  The Washington Post has the story.

Using "Torts Stories" as the Basis for an Advanced Torts Seminar

Teresa Bruce, at the University of Colorado Law School, is teaching an advanced torts seminar, based on Torts Stories by Foundation Press, for the first time. The book discusses several highly celebrated torts cases, including United States v. Carroll Towing Co., Rowland v. Christian, and Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California. Each chapter is individually authored by a prominent torts professor. The book does not come with a teacher’s manual, and Foundation Press has confirmed that it does not have any supplemental materials for the book. Consequently, Teresa has been making up her own questions for each chapter—a time-consuming process. She gives these questions to her students in advance of class, to focus the discussion. She is wondering whether any blog readers have already created a list of questions for the chapters in this book and, if so, whether they would be willing to share their work. (Note that she is looking for something customized to the commentaries in Torts Stories, so borrowing from questions that appear in traditional casebooks would not be entirely effective.) She, herself, has drafted questions for some chapters, and is happy to share them with anyone who might be interested. Teresa can be reached at [email protected].  

Popper's Materials on Tort Reform (2nd ed.)

Announcement: Publication of Materials on Tort Reform, 2^nd Edition (2017) by Andrew F. Popper, Bronfman Professor of Law, American University, Washington College of Law

 

Early in July, West Publishing released Materials on Tort Reform, 2^nd Edition (2017) by Andrew F. Popper.  The goal for this edition is very much the same as it was for the First Edition: a supplemental text for torts classes that provides essays, articles, cases, and other materials allowing for consideration of all sides of the tort reform debate.  In the quest to cut the Gordian knot of tort reform, the hope is to provide all points of view in an accessible and compelling manner. 

While tort law has not changed dramatically since this book was first published, the tort reform debate has shifted. In the period preceding the first edition, tort reform was a battle over substantive tort law, joint and several liability, admissibility of certain evidence—in other words, issues pertaining directly to accountability and liability.  Typical tort reform proposals involved limitations on non-economic loss, standards for punitive damages, changes in the definition of design defect, the government standards and state of the art defense, and more.

For the last seven years, while the above topics remain in play, focus has broadened to include fundamental procedural mechanisms that affect, enhance, or limit access to courts. In addition, there has been an undeniable push to move tort cases away from state courts and into federal court.  Broadly speaking, those fighting for these changes contend that tort law, as currently practiced, produces uncertain and unfair results.

Those opposing these changes assert that injured people are entitled to access to justice in their own states, before judges from their own states, with basic decisions made by a jury of their peers at a local level, i.e., federalism. Broadly, they assert that this is a struggle to preserve the rights of injured consumers to a fair and just legal system. What is at risk, they contend, is a level playing field where damages imposed on those who produce dangerous products or provide inappropriate professional services are sufficient to make whole those harmed and deter others from similar misconduct.

Both positions have multiple glimmers of legitimacy, a fact that seems obvious to all except those involved in the fight.

Through commentary, essays on both sides of the battle, articles, interest group papers, and cases, this text is designed to help students comprehend this 40-year struggle. Does the tort system yield inefficient and counter-productive results (e.g., a less competitive market and higher prices), or is it that prized legal regime its supporters contend, preserving fragile rights of injured consumers? 

Idaho Seeks Entry-Level Torts Professor

 

The University of Idaho College of Law is conducting an off market search for Torts, Advanced Torts, Professional Responsibility, and a fourth course to be negotiated with the Dean. We anticipate this position will be in Boise, as opposed to the main law school campus in Moscow. The law school’s location in Boise currently only offers second and third year law students. However, the law school has received ABA provisional accreditation for first year classes in Boise beginning in the fall of 2017.

 

Members of this search committee include Monique Lillard, David Pimentel (chair), and Shaakirrah R. Sanders . Please feel free to ask us any questions that you may have. Also, please feel free to pass this message along to anyone that you think may be interested or qualified.

 

You can view the posting here: https://uidaho.peopleadmin.com/postings/17163. 

AALS Torts Section Mentoring Program

The AALS Torts & Compensation Systems Section announces its new mentoring program.  The Torts Section may be able to help if you are a professor who:

• is starting a career in torts or shifting to torts from another subject area, and
• lacks a torts colleague to discuss scholarship and teaching.

The Executive Committee and the Section at large have numerous professors happy to work with you.  The goal is to match mentors and mentees based on specific areas of interest.  To start the process, please contact the Chair of the Torts Section, currently Chris Robinette ([email protected] or 717-541-3993).