Torts

This casebook is organized to facilitate the study of law in the first year of law school with a focus on the study of tort law in particular. This casebook is unique, as its authors are both award-winning law teachers whose methods and strategies have been studied and featured in the Harvard University Press book, What the Best Law Teachers Do. As people of color, first-generation lawyers, and experienced law teachers, both authors have invested significant time throughout their careers exploring and developing effective teaching tactics and techniques to maximize the learning of all students in their classrooms. As a result, they have designed this casebook with both students and instructors in mind.

This 4th edition has at least two major structural changes from previous editions. The first is that the 4th edition employs the directed reading approach, designed to make learning more efficient and mitigate the effect of privilege in law school learning. See Kris Franklin and Rory Bahadur, Directed Questions: A Non-Socratic Dialogue about Non-Socratic Teaching, 99 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 1 (2021). In utilizing this method, the authors have included questions before every principal case designed for students to answer on their own when reading the cases before coming to class. Second, this 4th edition has fewer reinforcing or repetitive cases when one case is sufficient to teach the principle of law. Accordingly, several of the cases appearing in previous editions have been removed.

The text begins with an overview of tort law, pointing out distinctions between tort law and other types of law. It then covers intentional torts, negligence actions, and strict liability, covering all topics in detail. The materials presented build on foundational principles by exploring more advanced tort subjects such as nuisance, products liability, and defamation and privacy law. This versatile textbook includes classic cases as well as contemporary cases relevant to today's students. In addition to having discussion questions and hypotheticals throughout, the text also includes graphics illustrating many of the principles covered in the text. The text is available in both hardbound and electronic format and features Internet links for the student's use.