Torts of Law

1. Introduction

Over the past several years the body of laws governing compensation in tort law has substantially transformed from its common law origins. Tort law is, of course, constantly evolving; everyday in courts across the country, judges, attorneys and jurors are making and reshaping the law. Despite efforts for reform, one still cannot overlook the nature of modern torts and fail to see a convoluted system of rules and laws that has seized the efficiency, fairness and original purpose of tort law.

The issue of the functionality and practicality of modern tort law has ripened in recent years. Skyrocketing insurance claims, fraud and collusion, continually evolving definitions of harm and offense, changing societal standards of "reasonableness," and evolving forms of technology in the face of tradition all compel one to critique the Law of Torts from a much more critical point of view.

The overall purpose of tort law has always been to compensate plaintiffs for unreasonable harm which they have sustained. In essence, torts are all about whether some or all of the monetary incidents of an injury should be shifted to a third party defendant. "Reasonableness" can be defined as fair, proper or moderate under the circumstances.

A full blown reform of tort law would seem tantamount to the dismantling of common tort law. Such an abolition of the current tort system is an idea that has been discussed with increasing frequency and seriousness in recent years. "It is time, I believe, to focus academic and political attention once more on doing away with ordinary tort actions for personal injury."4 An examination of historical and modern tort law and some principles reveal that areas exist that are in need of reconsideration. Furthermore expanding and implements a doctrine of reasonableness in certain aspects of tort law would induce efficiency and fairness in a runaway system.

This paper seeks to explore what the tort...