Cases and Materials on Torts: [Connected eBook with Study Center]

By Richard A. Epstein, David G. Epstein, Catherine M. Sharkey Richard A. Epstein

Book Overview

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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.

New to the Twelfth Edition:

Extensive new treatment of public nuisance cases to address the profound expansion of the once-sleepy area of public nuisance law into the realms of the opioid crisis, toxic torts, and global warming Major reconsideration of who counts as a seller in the chain of distribution for goods sold online with product liability updates for various forms of e-commerce, such as Amazon's liability for defective products sold on its site Updates to incorporate two major new Torts Restatements on Intentional Harms and Liability InsuranceThe Reforms of the Michigan No-Fault Legislation Enhanced treatment of privacy in the era of "Big Data" to address trend of large data collectors like Facebook and Google to determine what is reasonable online, incorporating major privacy legislation such as California's Consumer Privacy Act and the European GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Expansion of materials that address race and gender disparities in the setting of damages awards; and, in the realm of punitive damages innovative remedies directing some portion of the award to public interest groups

Professors and students will benefit from:

Clear organizational framework of the book Important lines of cases that help understand legal reasoning and the evolution of precedent Inclusion of key academic commentary and elaboration of central intellectual disputes over the nature and function of the tort law Ability to pick and choose modules of interest - such as defamation, privacy, and economic harms--which are of increasing importance in real world of tort litigation Extensive notes with topic headlines that elaborate basic concepts and extend into the most complex contemporary issues facing courts Great attention given to cutting edge tort developments

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1543804454
• ISBN13: 9781543804454
• Release Date: February 2020
• Publisher: Aspen Publishing
• Length: 1392 Pages
• Weight: 5.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 7.8" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

What a great casebook!

I really enjoyed this casebook. In contrast to other books, this one not only has good main cases, but also smaller cases so you get a fuller picture of the law. After you read a case, there is a "discussion" section where the author discusses other similar cases in that area and the questions that can arise (what if? type of questions), which really get you thinking. Some people have said Epstein presents the law as he would like it to be, or that it's too focused on strict liability, but it's nothing I noticed. For my torts class this book is the only one we have to read, it's like a 2-in-1, instead of having to lug around two books, one for cases and one for law. The material presented in this book is clear and easy to understand and the reading is involving. Maybe I just like torts, I don't know, but I would have to say this is my favorite law book so far.

Good Casebook

Full Disclosure: I had Epstein as a professor (though not for torts) and like him personally. The critical review below is unfair. Epstein's book is certainly slanted towards a law and economics approach to torts, but it is hardly the ideological screed that the review makes it out to be. Epstein often presents cases taking approaches with which he would probably not agree and acknowledges when his own views differ from the majority opinion (which, as noted below, happens frequently). Especially when presenting arguments in the notes, Epstein almost always cites case law and law review articles contradicting him. It is true that the book probably does not spend enough time addressing reasoning that is not based in law and economics, but all case books have their flaws and this is the only signicant one I can find with this book. On the other side, the editing is very good, the chapters present the concepts in an intuitive order, and the notes to the cases were among the most interesting that I read in law school. Moreover, for students who are struggling to grasp the material, there is the Epstein treatise, which follows the book closely and explains the topics in a more straightforward manner (obviously at the cost of some the inherent complexity of the issues, but it makes a good supplement). Finally, as between a book that emphasizes law and economics in torts and one that emphasizes, say, corrective justice, it seems more valuable to have one that emphasizes law and econ because this is the less intuitive mode of analysis of the subject for most students. In a socratically taught class, it's likely that students will raise corrective justice issues on their own, when these can be compared with the material from the book, but it is less probable that students will fully calculate the economic ramifications of a precedential decision's effect on future actors' incentives unless they are encouraged to think this way when reading the cases. In sum, although the book would probably improve if it were not quite so heavily weighted towards law and economics, it is still a well edited, intuitively structured casebook with note material that should engage and interest students in the subject.

Extraordinary Casebook

Richard Epstein's Cases and Materials on Torts is easily the best casebook I used in law school. The cases are well edited, and the prose clear and tight. The notes after and before the cases are clear and thought provoking, but more importantly, let the reader know why the cases have been included in the book. While the book is heavily slanted toward a law and economics approach to tort law, I recommend this book for any professor who wants a systematic and clear approach to tort law that students will appreciate