At JOTWELL, Cristina Tilley reviews Tom Baker’s What Is Insurance for Tort Law?.
TortsProf Blog
Editor: Christopher J. Robinette
The TortsProf Blog, published by the Law Professor Blogs Network, focuses on developments and scholarly discussions in tort law and compensation systems. It covers topics such as liability doctrines, private nuisance, structural defects in legal frameworks, and emerging issues like civil liability related to artificial intelligence and deepfakes. The blog also highlights academic conferences and awards in the field, providing insights into both theoretical and practical aspects of tort law. It serves as a platform for law professors and legal scholars to analyze and debate current trends, case law, and policy implications within torts and related areas.
Latest from TortsProf Blog - Page 8
Lytton & Levin on Proximate Cause for PLCAA’s Predicate Exception
Tim Lytton & Hillel Levin have posted to SSRN A Primer on the Proximate Cause Requirement of PLCAA’s Predicate Exception: Holding Firearm Manufacturers Liable for Third-Party Misuse of Their Products. The abstract provides:
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in…
HI: Supreme Court Adopts Punitive Damages Standard from R(3): Remedies
In Guieb v. Guieb, 571 P.3d 382 (Haw. 2025), the Hawaii Supreme Court adopted the punitive damages standard in draft section 39 of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Remedies. It held “in order to recover punitive damages, a plaintiff had…
Engstrom & Holland-Stergar on Regulating Contingency Fees
Nora Freeman Engstrom and Brianne Holland-Stergar have posted to SSRN Competition and Contingency Fees. The abstract provides:
A debate has long raged concerning whether the contingency fee market for legal services is or is not competitive. The debate has been fierce…
CA Jury: J&J Liable for $966M in Talc Cancer Case
Mae Moore died of mesothelioma in 2021 at the age of 88. That same year, her family sued Johnson & Johnson, alleging that its talc baby powder products contained asbestos, causing her cancer. Earlier this month, a Los Angeles jury…
Sebok Defends Third-Party Litigation Finance
Tony Sebok has posted to SSRN Some Realism About Litigation Finance. The abstract provides:
Third-Party Litigation Finance (TPLF) has attracted a large amount of scrutiny and criticism in recent years, ranging from targeted legislation proposed in various state legislatures…
Meier on Failure-to-Warn Suits Against Pharmaceutical Companies
Luke Meier has posted to SSRN Failure-to-Warn Suits Against Pharmaceutical Companies: Physician Testimony, Causation, and Summary Judgment. The abstract provides:
It is hard to win a tort suit against a pharmaceutical company. The theory that a drug or medical…
Mullenix on Erie’s Application to Certificates of Merit
Linda Mullenix has posted to SSRN Wading into Erie’s Murky Waters in a Shady Grove: Must a Federal Court Apply a State Law Requirement That an Expert Witness Affidavit Accompany a Complaint?. The abstract provides:
This article considers the…
Engstrom, Holland-Stergar, & Foulkes on Managing MDLs
Nora Freeman Engstrom, Brianne Holland-Stergar, & Owen Foulkes have posted to SSRN Managing MDLs: A Report from the March 2025 MDL Case Management Convening at Stanford Law School. The abstract provides:
Multidistrict litigation (MDL) has quietly become the defining…
USSC Agrees to Resolve Freight Broker Preemption Issue
On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to review Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, a case that will determine whether freight brokers can be held liable under state negligence laws for their selection of motor carriers. Freight brokers are intermediaries…