This title is a part of our CasebookPlus™ offering as ISBN 9781647082116. Learn more at Faculty-CasebookPlus.com.

Through its excellence in scholarship, clarity, and ease of use, this casebook engages readers in critical thinking about tort law and its operation in modern social settings. It sets forth crisply-edited classic tort cases, new tort law trends, and nuances in developing case law that impact the law and its application in the real world. Principal cases are not discarded just for the sake of change but because new cases reflect important changes in the law and present current doctrine in insightful and highly effective ways. The casebook goes beyond judicial decisions and includes key tort centered legislation and comparative perspectives where relevant. The casebook encourages the student to understand the English and American common law foundations of Tort law and to debate modern trends within various policy prescriptions. Unbiased in its approach and organized in manageable sections of information, the casebook is a superb tool for productive and stimulating classroom debate.

The authors are an outstanding combination of respected scholars and practitioners. They have worked as a team since the 9th edition, published in 1994. Victor Schwartz was an Advisor on the first three sections of the Restatement (Third): Products Liability, Apportionment of Liability, and Physical and Emotional Harm. David Partlett is presently an Advisor on two new Restatements relating to liability for intentional torts and for defamation and privacy just established.

A comprehensive teacher’s manual is available to casebook adopters. It includes:

  • sample syllabi
  • additional case citations
  • answers to the questions posed in the notes
  • suggestions for additional questions to ask in class
  • a "first day" exercise to give an overview of Torts
  • a class exercise in statutory interpretation (based on a dog bite statute)
  • additional background material on some of the cases
  • links to interesting images--e.g., a painting of a regatta on the Thames River showing the bleachers blocking Hammersmith Bridge mentioned in Bird v. Jones, a drawing of the Bascule Bridge from Davison v. Snohomish County, and some photographs of the present day area around the site of Morts Dock.


Imprint: Foundation Press
Series: University Casebook Series
Publication Date: 06/15/2020

Victor E. Schwartz, George Mason University School of Law

Kathryn Kelly, Catholic University Columbus School of Law

David F. Partlett, Emory University School of Law

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

  • A new print or digital casebook
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Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
  • Chapter questions keyed to the casebook
  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
  • Subject area review questions for end of semester use
Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students’ learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

New notes provide additional examples and clarify the variations among jurisdictions. Citations to the forthcoming Restatement (Third) of Torts are included (as possible) throughout. The Restatement of the Law (Third) of Torts: Liability for Economic Harm is to be published in early 2020. The Restatement (Third): Liability for Intentional Torts has been partially approved by the ALI Council.

Learn more about this series.