Tort Law And Alternatives: Cases And Materials (University Casebook) [Hardcover]

Marc A. Franklin (Author), Robert L. Rabin (Author), Michael D. Green (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1599410354 | ISBN-13: 978-1599410357 | Publication Date: April 30, 2006 | Edition: 8th

Tort law remains a dynamic field, subject to constant refinement and rethinking. The new Eighth Edition reflects these evolving developments in recent case law and legislative activity, as well as commentary ranging from the ongoing Third Restatement of Torts (Physical Harm) project to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The principal focus of this book is the law of negligence, strict liability, and no-fault as alternative approaches to compensating the victims of accidental harm and creating optimal incentives to safety. This leading casebook covers all major aspects of tort law with expertly edited cases, and original text. It also includes detailed discussions of liability, causation, defamation, privacy, damages, insurance, and tort alternatives

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About the Author

Frederick I. Richman Professor of Law, Stanford University --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1298 pages
• Publisher: Foundation Press; 8th edition (April 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599410354
• ISBN-13: 978-1599410357
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Law > Business > Torts

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is a tort, November 11, 2010

By 

Angus Lander - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tort Law And Alternatives: Cases And Materials (University Casebook) (Hardcover)

Alternatively, it makes you crave its sentience, so you can commit an intentional tort on it. Must one be capable of sentience in order to be the victim of an intentional tort? Could one commit a tort on a tort? I assume those questions are posed somewhere in this book (the latter is sufficiently idiotic that my presumption about it might actually be correct). The answers will be in something like the following form: "recall infra at p. 666."* It doesn't matter that you can't recall infra, because you haven't read it yet. Nor that infra will probably be a summary of some other case's holding that is so cryptic it could stand for just about anything (short, most likely, of an answer to the original question).

Here's an example. Note 6 on page 602 tells us that "An important question in judging the need for, and adequacy of, warnings is to whom they are addressed. The normal rule is that they must reach the person who is likely to use the product. Sometimes, though, that may not be feasible, as where children may be users. One cluster of cases involves the claim that disposable cigarette lighters are dangerous because they are likely to fall into the hands of very young children who could easily get them to work. In addition to attacks on the design, claims were also made that a warning was needed. Compare Bean v. BIC Corp...(jury question whether warnings on the package and lighter were adequate)...Recall the Tokai case, p. 592 supra and see note 9 infra."

I didn't particularly care for note 9, and wasn't about to recall the Tokai case. (I find they recur in my nightmares, so it's overkill to recollect them while I'm awake, too.) But that all ended up being fine, because note 6 was actually dealt with, not in the specified supra or infra, but in note 12 on page 606. Note 12 teaches us "[N]ote [6] suggested that with products aimed at children or that might harm children the appropriate addressee is the parent or guardian..."

Is that what you got from note 6? I didn't. Maybe I would have if note 6 had stopped before talking about cigarette lighters. But, a theme in this book, it didn't stop when it should have. It went on to talk about some niche of the law, in the process indicating that it's sometimes up to the jury whether the warnings on a lighter are adequate - I assumed, given that the fact something is a lighter is sufficient to warn adults of its dangers (one that might not be foreseeable: setting your future livelihood on fire while burning a textbook) - FOR CHILDREN TO UNDERSTAND.

But I guess that's not what note 6 is about. And that, other than its nightmarish organization and really everything else about it, is the most fundamental problem with this book. Under the guise of teaching that the law is unsettled, it ends up not teaching the law at all.

* Actually, I've never seen this particular mistake in the book. It knows its supras from its infras. That particular competency is unsurprising, given how many times the devices are made use of. I've seen sierpinski triangles less recursive than this POS.

4.0 out of 5 stars Just right, April 1, 2011

By 

dailykosak - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Tort Law And Alternatives: Cases And Materials (University Casebook) (Hardcover)

Well organized, thoughtful questions, demanding material.

I won't give all the props to the authors though, my really awesome professor helped.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars the worst casebook in all lawschool, June 27, 2006

By 

marianita (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tort Law and Alternatives, 7d (University Casebook Series) (Hardcover)

I never encountered a less useful book during all my three long years at law school. Do youself a favor and buy a companion guide- nutshell or something.