The reading assignments listed below are also available as a Google calendar. You can subscribe to the calendar and receive notifications when I post new reading assignments.

Unless otherwise noted, all page numbers refer to the required textbook for the class, Franklin, Rabin & Green, Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (11th ed. 2021). I will provide links for supplementary materials.

Spring Semester

Causation

Factual Cause

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Basic Doctrine

Pgs. 341-361

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Multiple Defendants

Pgs. 376-393

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Toxic Harms

Pgs. 393-403

Proximate Cause

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Unexpected Harm

Pgs. 405-410

Intervening & Superseding Causes

Pgs. 419-429

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Unexpected Victim

Pgs. 429-441

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Causation Review & Exercises

Defenses to Negligence

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Contributory Negligence & Comparative Negligence

Pgs. 443-461

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Comparative Negligence (cont’d.)

Pgs. 461-470

Wassell v. Adams, 865 F.2d 849 (7th Cir. 1989)
Amy H. Kately, Out of the Whiteness: On Raced Codes and White Race Consciousness in Some Tort, Criminal, and Contract Law, 63 U. Cin. L. Rev. (1994) (excerpt)

Please note that the case and article address issues of sexual assault, racism, and sexism.

Download the PDF of the case and article excerpt here.

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Assumption of Risk: Express Agreements

Pgs. 474-486

Implied Assumption of Risk

Pgs. 486-491

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Implied Assumption of Risk (cont’d.)

Pgs. 491-498

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Defenses Review and Exercises

Strict Liability

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Strict Liability - Traditional view

Pgs. 519-528

Pgs. 533-544

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

No class.

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Products liability

Pgs. 569-589

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Manufacturing Defects

Pgs. 589-591

Design Defects

Pgs. 591-605

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Warnings

Pgs. 618-636

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Defenses

Pgs. 642-652

Review and Exercises

Intentional Torts

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Introduction

Pgs. 901-908

Assault and Battery

Pgs. 908-917

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

False Imprisonment

Pgs. 917-924

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Pgs. 924-939

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Defenses to Intentional Torts

Pgs. 957-976

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Review of Intentional Torts & Exercises

Alternatives to Tort

Thursday, April 6, 2023

First-Party Insurance

Pgs. 775-793

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Liability Insurance

Pgs. 798-817

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Workers Compensation

Pgs. 831-857

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

No-Fault and Beyond

Pgs. 878-900

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Flex Day

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Review

Fall Semester

Aug 23, 2022

Class 01 - Welcome to Torts!

Before our first class, please read the syllabus on the course website. Please wait until after our first class on Tuesday to read Thursday’s reading assignment.

Aug 25, 2022

Class 02 - How to Read a Case

Pgs. 1-9

Aug 30, 2022

Class 03 - Course Overview

Pgs. 9-20

Sep 1, 2022

Class 04 - Compensatory Damages

Pgs. 717-734

Sep 6, 2022

Class 05 - Compensatory Damages / Punitive Damages

Pgs. 734 - 742

Mathias v. Accor Economy Lodging, Inc.

Pgs. 753 - 759

Sep 8, 2022

Class 06 - Punitive Damages

Pgs. 759 - 770

Sep 13, 2022

Class 07 - Damages Recap

Sep 15, 2022

Class 08 - Introduction to the Concept of Negligence

Pgs. 37, 46-55

Sep 20, 2022

Class 09 - The Reasonable Person

Pgs. 55-64

Sep 22, 2022

Class 10 - The Role of Judges and Juries

Pgs. 64-78

Sep 27, 2022

Class 11 - Customs & Statutes

Pgs. 78 - 89

Sep 29, 2022

Class 12 - Proving Negligence

Pgs. 89 - 95

Oct. 4, 2022

Class 13 - Proving Negligence

Pgs. 95 - 102

Oct. 6, 2022

Class 14 - Res Ipsa Loquitur

Pgs. 102 - 109

Oct. 11, 2022

No Class

Oct. 13, 2022

Class 15 - Res Ipsa Loquitur

No reading

Oct. 18, 2022

Class 16 - Medical Malpractice

Pgs. 109 - 119

Oct. 20, 2022

Class 17 - Medical Malpractice

Pgs. 119 - 128

Oct. 25, 2022

Class 18 - Review No reading

Oct. 27, 2022

Class 19 - No Duty to Rescue or Protect

Pgs. 129 - 143

Nov. 1, 2022

Class 20 - Misrepresentations & Special Duties to Third Parties

Pgs. 143-158

Nov. 3, 2022

Class 21 - Policy Bases for Invoking No Duty

Pgs. 169-184

Nov. 8, 2022

Class 22 - Duties of Landowners and Occupiers

Pgs. 190-205

Nov. 10, 2022

Class 23 - Exam Discussion & Practice Problem

Nov. 15, 2022

Class 24 - Duties of Governmental Entities

Pgs. 227-243

Additional assignment: Do something kind and restorative for yourself.

Nov. 17, 2022

Class 25 - Duty for Purely Emotional Harm

Pgs. 261-268

Nov. 22, 2022

Class 26 - Duty for Purely Emotional Harm (cont.)

Pgs. 276-285