Torts: Cases and Questions

by Ward Farnsworth, Mark F. Grady

In this casebook, Farnsworth (law, Boston University) and Grady (George Mason University School of Law) present pairs and clusters of cases that contain factual similarities but arrive at different outcomes. There are lead cases presented here, as in other books, but the notes afterward largely consist of other judicial decisions. The book will help students draw distinctions between cases that are superficially similar and analogies between cases that are superficially different. The presentation of cases is compatible with a course emphasis on economic logic, corrective justice, other questions of policy, or on doctrine alone. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: Law, School, Nonfiction

792 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Ward Farnsworth is Dean and John Jeffers Research Chair at the University of Texas School of Law. He formerly was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the Boston University Law School. He has served as a law clerk to Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court and to Richard A. Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and worked as a Legal Adviser to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in the Hague. He received his J.D. with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, and his B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Farnsworth is the author of books on law, philosophy, rhetoric, and chess. He also has published scholarly articles on the economic analysis of law, constitutional law, statutory interpretation, jurisprudence, and cognitive psychology. He serves as Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm.

Reviews

[Anaïs Roatta]

Not my preferred genre but surprisingly well written. Great for fans of dark comedy. Only 529 pages too so a light read really.

[Linden Cundiff]

Skimmed a few pages tbh. Definitely a slower read but surprise romantic declaration near the end. Anxiously waiting for the sequel!

Update Jaime reminded me about the “what result” so it’s down to 4 stars

[Olivia]

i’m putting this on goodreads because i actually did read the entire thing back to front. 2 stars could have been worse, rat flambé was a highlight

[Manning Tait]

Well that was weird

[Erin Miller]

Captivating stuff, don’t wanna spoil anything tho

[Riley]

Copying Olivia bc we did read this back to front
I enjoyed the medical malpractice cases but that was about it 💗

[Quinn Fleming]

funny ass textbook

[David]

The only assigned textbook in 3 years of law school that was concise, mostly clear, and not completely bloated with BS.

The funny case titles are a nice way to get 4-8 molecules of dopamine in 1L when you're otherwise reading at 2:00AM and crying.

So 5/5 for not making you daydream about self-harm and getting run over by a university owned bus which is much more than I can say about any of the other books I had assigned in law school.

[Shabbir Hamid]

Another great law textbook. It's unconventional in how short the case excerpts are. However, for the 1L navigating so much new information, this textbook's uniquely succinct way of using cases is extremely helpful. Formatting could be better though.

[booksandbark]

I rarely rate textbooks, but this was the clearest, most straightforward, best casebook I've had in law school so far

[Holly]

cow falling through the ceiling case is the best one in here, 10/10

[Emily Wood Cassisa]

required reading but very interesting. My fav was the flaming rat case I think

[Shreya]

great summaries

[Alyssa Twedt-Gehlen]

The book that spawned a million hypos

[Kiley Cosby]

Exhilarating.

[Keighly Butler]

this was tea

[Kayla]

loved the formatting and drama in the cases — was surprisingly never bored (prob won't read again though)

[Lindsey]

yes, this also counts.

made me into a torts monster

[Arianna Laufer]

Favorite case book. Insane. Hilarious. Excited to reread this spring.

[Emma]

3 stars for a missing page and a stain on my sanity!

[Andrew]

Fantastic casebook. It’s distinctive for its succinct editing. Each topic features 10-15 cases which have been edited down to a few paragraphs. The editors often ask students to figure out the distinguishing factors rather than spoon feeding them the material. The cases selected were often funny memorable and made reading for torts relatively fun.

[Esther]

Loved this casebook. :)

[N.]

My favorite casebook. So succinct!

[Julia]

Actually pretty helpful for my tort law class.