Landmark Cases in the Law of Tort

Landmark Cases in the Law of Tort contains thirteen original essays on leading tort cases, ranging from the early nineteenth century to the present day. It is the third volume in a series of collected essays on landmark cases, with the previous two volumes having dealt with restitution and contract. The cases examined raise a broad range of important issues across the law of tort, including diverse areas such as acts of state and public nuisance, as well as central questions relating to the tort of negligence.

Several of the essays place cases in their historical context in ways that change our understanding of the case's significance. Sometimes the focus is on drawing out previously neglected aspects of cases which have been—undeservedly—assigned minor importance. Other essays explore the judicial methodologies and techniques that shaped leading principles of tort law.

So much of tort law turns on cases, and there are so many cases, that all but the most recent decisions tend to become reduced to terse propositions of law, to keep the subject manageable. This collection demonstrates how important it is, despite the constant temptation to simplify, not to lose sight of the contexts and nuances which qualify and illuminate so many leading authorities.