Tort Law
Expanding Reasonableness in the Field of Torts Induces Efficiency and Fairness
1. Introduction
Over the past several years the body of laws governing compensation in tort law has substantially transformed from its common law origins. In the course of what many have advocated in the name of "tort reform," more than half of the United States have revised, or attempted to revise, one or more aspects of tort liability and damage principles to a greater or lesser degree. Tort law is, of course, constantly evolving; everyday in courts across the country, judges, attorneys and jurors are making and reshaping the law. Despite efforts for reform, one still cannot overlook the nature of modern torts and fail to see a convoluted system of rules and laws that has seized the efficiency, fairness and original purpose of tort law.
The issue of the functionality and practicality of modern tort law has ripened in recent years. Skyrocketing insurance claims, fraud and collusion, continually evolving definitions of harm and offense, changing societal standards of "reasonableness," and evolving forms of technology in the face of tradition all compel one to critique the Law of Torts from a much more critical point of view.
The overall purpose of tort law has always been to compensate plaintiffs for unreasonable harm which they have sustained1. In essence, torts are all about whether some or all of the monetary incidents of an injury should be shifted to a third party defendant.2 "Reasonableness" can be defined as fair, proper or moderate under the circumstances.3
A full blown reform of tort law would seem tantamount to the dismantling of common tort law. Such an abolition of the current tort system is an idea that has been discussed with increasing frequency and seriousness in recent years. "It is time, I believe, to focus academic and political attention once more on doing away with ordinary tort actions for
1. Introduction
Over the past several years the body of laws governing compensation in tort law has substantially transformed from its common law origins. In the course of what many have advocated in the name of "tort reform," more than half of the United States have revised, or attempted to revise, one or more aspects of tort liability and damage principles to a greater or lesser degree. Tort law is, of course, constantly evolving; everyday in courts across the country, judges, attorneys and jurors are making and reshaping the law. Despite efforts for reform, one still cannot overlook the nature of modern torts and fail to see a convoluted system of rules and laws that has seized the efficiency, fairness and original purpose of tort law.
The issue of the functionality and practicality of modern tort law has ripened in recent years. Skyrocketing insurance claims, fraud and collusion, continually evolving definitions of harm and offense, changing societal standards of "reasonableness," and evolving forms of technology in the face of tradition all compel one to critique the Law of Torts from a much more critical point of view.
The overall purpose of tort law has always been to compensate plaintiffs for unreasonable harm which they have sustained1. In essence, torts are all about whether some or all of the monetary incidents of an injury should be shifted to a third party defendant.2 "Reasonableness" can be defined as fair, proper or moderate under the circumstances.3
A full blown reform of tort law would seem tantamount to the dismantling of common tort law. Such an abolition of the current tort system is an idea that has been discussed with increasing frequency and seriousness in recent years. "It is time, I believe, to focus academic and political attention once more on doing away with ordinary tort actions for