Torts (Fall 2022 to Spring 2023)

Welcome!

In this course we will study different ways that our legal system allows people to be compensated for civil wrongs and injuries. Tort law is what allows a private person to sue another private person or business who has caused them harm. Because so many areas of law are informed by tort concepts like negligence, causation and foreseeability, torts is a required course at every law school in the country. In this course, we will study negligence, strict liability, intentional torts, and public compensation schemes. By the end of the course, you will know the legal standards that govern tort claims, variations among those standards, and their theoretical justifications.

Like your other first-year classes, torts requires you to do more than just learn the rules: You must also develop the skills of legal analysis. Good lawyering is not only about applying legal rules but is also about identifying and exploiting ambiguities, gaps, and contradictions in those rules. Great lawyers capitalize on moments of legal uncertainty to creatively (and credulously) advocate in their clients’ favor. This is the fun of lawyering.

For every topic that we explore in this class, I would encourage you to look at uncertainty in the law not as a error that should have been fixed but as an opportunity to earn your paycheck. If laws were always clear, our jobs would be boring and our profession would be automated out of existence. For most people and most professions, uncertainty is scary. For us, uncertainty is a playground. In our class, you will learn the ropes of this playground, and — I hope — have some fun in the process.