Abstract
The author discusses tort law as a confusing concept that society should be educated about because the issue of legal and financial tort liability of governing board members and administrative officers has been increasing fear in the daily activities of health care institutions. The paper focuses on three main categories of tort law: negligent torts, intentional torts, and strict liability.

From the Paper
"Negligence is a tort and a form of conduct caused by carelessness that constitutes a departure from the standard of care, generally imposed on reasonable members of society. Negligence of a professional person is classified as malpractice. Malpractice suits can claim a variety of mistakes made by professionals including misdiagnosis, mistreatment, delayed diagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, or medical errors. There are three basic forms of negligence and those are malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance.
"Malfeasance is the act of an unlawful or improper action. Misfeasance is improper performance of an act, resulting in injury to a person. Nonfeasance is failure to act when there is an obligation to act as a reasonably cautious person would under similar circumstance.
The elements that must be present for a plaintiff to recover damages caused by negligence are duty to care, breach of duty, injury, and causation. Duty to care is the obligation to conform to a recognized standard of care. Breach of duty is the deviation from the recognized standard of care and the failure to adhere to an obligation. For an injury there must be a damage established and if there are no injuries there are no damages due to the plaintiff. All four elements of negligence must be present for a plaintiff to recover damages suffered as a result of a negligent act (Pozgar, 22)."

Tags:negligent, intentional, legal, ethical, strict-liability

From the Paper
"While there is no dispute between lawyers and economists that tort law is a necessary facet of the legal system and needed to maintain an individuals rights, there is disagreement about how it should be utilized, what tests should be invoked to determine liability and finally, the cost efficiency of the tort law system. The two facets of tort law include: (1) that an individual should be entitled to recover damages from another individual (or company) if he was harmed or if reasonable steps to avoid harm were not used; and (2) under the theory of strict liability, that an individual can recover damages regardless of proof of negligence or intent.1

Torts have become an expensive business because of the alternative theory of liability developed out of implied-warranty law. The courts have not only extended the implied warranty of ... "

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Abstract
This paper gives an explanation of the concept of assault and battery under the Tort Law ( civil law ). Both concepts are treated separately. The conditions for any assault or battery to take place are explained with examples throughout.

From the Paper
"Humans are aggressive and violent by nature. There are people who are capable of committing serious acts of violence against their own kind. Since the beginning of civilizations, crime has remained an integral part of our society and will continue to plague it. In order to harness the violent nature of mankind, societies evolved rules and regulations commonly known as the laws. Any person found violating these laws is subjected to punishment which not only curtails the criminal's freedom but also serves as a deterrent for others. Law is a complicated subject but ignorance of law is no excuse. A common person generally has some knowledge about criminal law because incidents related to crime and delinquency remain on forefront of media. The other types of law do not form any sensational news and therefore remain in background. The purpose of this paper is to focus on civil law (commonly known as Tort Law) and analyze the implications of Assault and Battery by identifying the differences between the two and quoting suitable examples of each."

Tags:assault, battery, civil, intentional, law, torts, implications

Abstract
The evolution of product liability in terms of the law of negligence represents one of the more fascinating developments in tort law over the past two centuries. In the 21st century the issue of product liability is particularly prominent in the public consciousness with the increasing size and economic importance of the industrialized consumer economy. This essay focuses on the law of negligence with particular reference to the issue of product liability.

Tags:law, product, liability

Abstract
This paper explains that tort reform, putting a cap on jury awards in malpractice suits, is exactly what the insurers want because, in addition to making a handsome profit on their medical malpractice lines as it stands, they would then have to pay out even less. The author points out that reducing consumer health insurance costs would be better served by a systematic effort to weed out bad doctors and prevent malpractice. The paper stresses that, even if there were a link between medical malpractice insurance costs and consumer health insurance costs, the culprit is the insurer itself because it is not allowed, by law, to raise rates in response to big payouts; insurers are allowed to raise rates when their projected investment income declines.

From the Paper
"The suggestive portion of the NAIC findings is this: although malpractice insurance premiums make up such a small portion of health-care costs, medical malpractice as a line of insurance demonstrated the highest profit as a percentage of premiums (Stewart, 21+), making it very lucrative for the insurance companies. Further, losses paid by those insurers in 1991 came to only about 31 cents of every $100 of health care costs; remember, malpractice premiums accounted for 64 cents per $100 spent, leaving 33 cents for the company out of each $100. While the amount spent on malpractice insurance by the consumer, trough his or her medical expenditures, is negligible, there are a lot of people spending $100 frequently, massing up piles of 33 cents for the insurers."

Tags:insurer, premiums, costs, cap, profit

From the Paper
"Tort Reform and Business Law
Current Events
Tort reform has not resulted in much change within the American system of law. A primary problem is that as appeals to lower court decisions about the serviceability of tort reform legislation have made their way to courts of appeal, all or part of tort reform legislation is being struck down. This is mainly because courts wish to preserve "the right to a jury trial for common-law torts without limitation" (Finzen, Haley, & Shaw, 1998). The article appearing in the February 16, 1998 issue of The National Law Journal, entitled "Illinois high court latest to nix reform law," goes a long way towards framing the difficulties inherent in tort law. It seems that while allowing juries the freedom to find for huge damages may seem ludicrous.."

Abstract
This paper looks at how maritime torts and aerial torts play a slightly different role in the choice of law rules, when compared to other types of torts committed. This is mainly due to the nature of the tort and the extent of how far international law has slowly developed in relation to such issues as to maritime and aerial torts.

From the Paper
"The fundamental question that the forum court must determine is when the elements of a tort cross jurisdictional boundaries, whether or not the tort has occurred within its jurisdiction. In essence the first requirement for any court, invited to exercise jurisdiction and power over parties, is to establish (at least where there is a contest or doubt) that according to its own law it has jurisdiction and power over the matter before it. If not, it must decide what law or laws to apply in determining liability."

Tags:international, law

Abstract
This paper uses the case discussed in Jonathon Harr's book "A Civil Action" to explain the system of Anglo/American tort law--the workings and limitations of the system and the intended goals as opposed to real life actualities. It follows case facts and describes the outcome, while explaining all the ensuing legal factors. Also included is an account of the historical divergence of civil obligations and tort law.

From the paper:

"Harr?s book relates the story of a type of case that is all too sadly familiar: A large corporation (in this case actually two large corporations) contaminate the environment because it is cheaper dump solvents than to dispose of them legally. The reason that corporations are supposed to be restrained from such cheap but illegal dumping is the threat of either criminal charges being made or of civil litigation. In other words, corporations are supposed to behave themselves because if they don?t then they will get sued. But the important catch to this argument, as this book shows, is that corporations do not in fact have a great deal to fear from civil litigation. All too often, the person who wins civil litigation is the person (or corporation) who can continue to pay for a lawyer longer than the other side. The results of civil litigation have less to do with right and wrong than with whose pockets were the deepest to begin with."

Tags:Harr, environment, punitive

Abstract
Jonathan Harr's "A Civil Action" recounts the story of the action taken by attorney Jan Schlichtmann against the W. R. Grace chemical company and Beatrice Foods on behalf of families in Woburn, Massachusetts. The children of these families had contracted leukemia, the suit claimed, from the ingestion of chemicals, dumped illegally by subsidiaries of the two giant corporations, that entered the wells that supplied a portion of the town. The paper discusses the details of this case, including the claimed bias of the ruling Judge Skinner, the difficulty the jury had in reaching a decision and the role of the Environmental Protection Agency in the case.

From the Paper
"Even had the case proceeded on equal terms for both parties, however, the problem of convincing a jury to make a considerable reward on the basis of an essentially "unprovable" connection between TCE and leukemia presented a major problem that carries over to many toxic waste cases. Epidemiological studies, which might provide sufficient evidence of connections to direct scientists' attention to problems, are under-utilized and poorly understood by many. Such studies constitute the bulk of the evidence in some cases, but they can be far too easily misrepresented by defendants which leaves plaintiffs such as the Woburn group at a loss for anything the courts and juries will accept as meeting a standard of proof--despite almost everyone's common-sense conviction that the cause and effect have been identified."

Tags:Jan, Schlichtmann, civil, litigation, EPA, Facher

Abstract
Throughout the history of law, numerous legal claims have been brought against non-profit organizations. The legal field of tort has also seen a significant amount of non-profit organizations drawn into lawsuits. Using cases from the Commonwealth jurisdictions (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and UK), the paper shows that a lower standard of care should definitely be expected of non-profit organizations. It first lays out the arguments that reject a lower standard of care and then discards these arguments, stating that it is only practical and logical that a lower standard of care be expected.

From the Paper
"After carrying out this research essay, it is my firm opinion that a higher standard of care should definitely be expected of commercial enterprises compared with not for profit organizations. It is just and fair that this is so, as shown by the arguments set out above. Not for profit organizations generally face higher costs compared to commercial enterprises and they serve a more benevolent purpose that puts the good of society above anything else. The standard of care for non-profit organizations should be a reasonable one. It should be lower than that expected of a commercial enterprise but it cannot be so low as to defeat the aim of justice."

Tags:charity, voluntary, negligence, charitable