This is the fourth edition of Torts: Cases, Principles, and Institutions, a casebook for a one-semester torts course that carves out a distinctive niche in the field by focusing on the institutions and sociology of American tort law. The book retains many of the familiar features of the traditional casebook, including many of the classic cases. Like the best casebooks, it seeks to survey the theoretical principles underlying those cases. But it aims to supplement the cases and principles with editorial notes that focus students’ attention on the institutional features of our tort system, including features such as the pervasiveness of settlements, the significance of the market, the role of the plaintiff's bar, the importance of private insurance, the contingency fee, and the jury. These institutional arrangements are what make American tort law distinctive. They are how the substantive doctrines of tort law are translated into the practice of torts lawyers. And they are sociologically fascinating in their own right.

TCPI integrates the institutional materials into the cases and notes rather than segregate them into separate sections of their own. It does so because its aim is not to teach the details of any one institution, such as the mechanics of the law of subrogation or workers’ compensation. Few one-semester torts classes can take up so much material. Instead, the book integrates the institutional material into the main text to draw general lessons about the massive, sprawling systems of private administration that American law has created under the umbrella of our torts system.

Plain-spoken and convivial, this casebook makes a deliberate effort to explain the law, rather than to provide a mere compilation of readings and questions. Simple concepts are presented simply. Complex concepts are broken down and accompanied by examples and problems.

By being clear and straightforward, the casebook aims to quickly get students to the point where they can navigate regions of gray and build nuanced arguments. The book is written from the conviction that when students stop to puzzle over something, it should be because the law itself puzzles, not because the book obfuscates.

Students describe the book as easy to read. A key aim is context, with explanations of how pieces of doctrine fit into the bigger picture. There is also a continual effort to plug doctrine into the real world of practice, getting students to think about litigation strategy and tactics.

Another key feature is a high-degree of organization. Doctrine is explained upfront, independent of and before the cases. After the cases, there is no notes-and-questions mishmash. Historical notes, check-your-understanding questions, questions to ponder, and problems are all separately labeled as such.

The readings are rich with variety. The classic cases are here, of course. But there are also atypical readings that allow students to see tort law from different perspectives, including an opening statement, a closing argument, administrative-enforcement letters, an excerpt from a novel, and an opinion on tribal law from a Navajo court. Many selections are also startlingly modern, with facts involving texting-and-driving, alcoholic energy drinks, Facebook libel, suddenly accelerating Toyotas, and the misery of a six-hour tarmac delay.

Plain-spoken and convivial, this casebook makes a deliberate effort to explain the law, rather than to provide a mere compilation of readings and questions. Simple concepts are presented simply. Complex concepts are broken down and accompanied by examples and problems.

By being clear and straightforward, the casebook aims to quickly get students to the point where they can navigate regions of gray and build nuanced arguments. The book is written from the conviction that when students stop to puzzle over something, it should be because the law itself puzzles, not because the book obfuscates.

Students describe the book as easy to read. A key aim is context, with explanations of how pieces of doctrine fit into the bigger picture. There is also a continual effort to plug doctrine into the real world of practice, getting students to think about litigation strategy and tactics.

Another key feature is a high-degree of organization. Doctrine is explained upfront, independent of and before the cases. After the cases, there is no notes-and-questions mishmash. Historical notes, check-your-understanding questions, questions to ponder, and problems are all separately labeled as such.

The readings are rich with variety. The classic cases are here, of course. But there are also atypical readings that allow students to see tort law from different perspectives, including an opening statement, a closing argument, administrative-enforcement letters, an excerpt from a novel, and an opinion on tribal law from a Navajo court. Many selections are also startlingly modern, with facts involving texting-and-driving, alcoholic energy drinks, Facebook libel, suddenly accelerating Toyotas, and the misery of a six-hour tarmac delay.

Please note that the publisher requires you to login to access and download the textbooks.

Torts and Regulation: Cases, Principles, and Institutions (TRCPI) is designed to bring together common law principles in the field of torts with related statutory and regulatory materials. The aim is to provide a text that introduces students to key tort principles and the way in which those tort principles have in part shaped the regulatory state and in part been supplanted by the regulatory state.

This casebook increases the role of statutes and regulations in the material. In addition, it offers a major innovation by leading the students into the ways in which basic tort doctrine animate fields of statutory law. In particular, the book adopts a series of “modules” that follow the adoption and adaptation of tort principles in the law of employment discrimination.

The book borrows substantially from a torts casebook co-authored by the author and Karen Tani of the University of California at Berkeley. That book, Torts: Cases, Principles, and Institutions (4th ed., 2019), supplies much of the basic tort material that follows here in TRCPI.

The purpose of this task is to provide students with the opportunity to determine experimental probabilities by collecting data.

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach fourth graders about number riddles (numbers up to 100,000).

This short video and interactive assessment activity is designed to teach fourth graders about total length in compound units (english units).

Students work in pairs or small groups to identify and categorize various objects. One student is blindfolded and the other student chooses five objects for their partner to identify. The blindfolded student has to describe and try to identify the object based solely on touch. Both students then record their data, describing the objects first as human-made or natural, then living or non-living, and finally physical characteristics.

This art history video discussion looks at Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec "At the Moulin Rouge", 1893-95, oil on canvas (Art Institute of Chicago).

This book is intended for use with intermediate level college French classes. Its multidisciplinary approach introduces students to topics and vocabulary associated with fields such as medicine, advertising, travel, business, agriculture, and relationships.

This art history video discussion examines Verrocchio's (with Leonardo) "Baptism of Christ", 1470-75.

A selection of poems, arranged by theme, with a list of poetic terms.

The emergence of Western science: the systematization of natural knowledge in the ancient world, the transmission of the classical legacy to the Latin West, and the revolt from classical thought during the scientific revolution. Examines scientific concepts in light of their cultural and historical contexts.

Towers have been a part of developed society for centuries, serving a variety of purposes, from watch towers to modern cell towers. In this activity, student groups design and build three types of towers (guyed or cable-supported, free-standing or self-standing, and monopole), engineering them to meet the requirements that they hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds.

In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competition determines the tower design with the best strength:weight ratio. Students also investigate basic structural truss concepts and stress concentrations. Partnership with a local college or manufacturing center is necessary for the completion of this project.

Toy Product Design is a MIT Public Service Center learning design course offered in the Spring semester. This course is an introduction to the product design process with a focus on designing for play and entertainment. At the end of the course, students present their toy products at the Playsentations to toy designers, engineers, elementary school children and the MIT community. In this course, students work in small teams of 5-6 members to design and prototype new toys. Students work closely with a local sponsor and experienced mentors on a themed toy design project. Students will be introduced to the product development process, including: determining customer needs; brainstorming; estimation; sketching; sketch modeling; concept development; design aesthetics; detailed design; prototyping; and written, visual, and oral communication.

The emphasis of this course is to use Trace Element Geochemistry to understand the origin and evolution of igneous rocks. The approach is to discuss the parameters that control partitioning of trace elements between phases and to develop models for the partitioning of trace elements between phases in igneous systems, especially between minerals and melt. Subsequently, published papers that are examples of utilizing Trace Element Geochemistry are read and discussed.

Student teams investigate the migration of small-particle plastic pollution by exposing invertebrates found in water samples from a local lake or river to fluorescent bead fragments in a controlled environment of their own designs. Students begin by reviewing the composition of food webs and considering the ethics of studies on live organisms. In their model microcosms, they set up a food web so as to trace the microbead migration from one invertebrate species to another. Students use blacklights and microscopes to observe and quantify their experimental results. They develop diagrams that explain their investigations—modeling the ecological impacts of microplastics.

Parts (a) and (b) of the task ask students to find the unit rates that one can compute in this context. Part (b) does not specify whether the units should be laps or km, so answers can be expressed using either one.