Modern Tort Law

Paper Summary:

In an attempt to determine whether a need exists in the U.S. to reform tort law, this paper first takes a brief look at the history of U.S. tort law and how it has evolved and changed over time. The paper then explains what the purpose of tort law is and looks at whether tort law has a practical application in today's society. The paper points out that there is very little reference to personal responsibility in tort law and suggests that, were the courts and the law to make personal responsibility a greater part of the legal proceedings concerning injured parties, there would, in fact, be no need for tort law.

From the Paper:

"Over the past several years, the body of laws governing compensation for personal injury and property damage have been substantially reconsidered as flawed and outdated. In the course of what many have advocated in the name of "tort reform," more than half of the U.S. states have revised, or attempted to revise, one or more aspects of tort liability and/or damage principles to a greater or lesser degree. Tort law is, of course, constantly evolving; every day in courts across the country, judges - and indirectly, attorneys and jurors - are making and (re)shaping the law. Despite efforts for reform, one still cannot overlook the nature of modern torts and fail to see shades of American common law, as they were also a part of the preceding English common law."

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