Restatement (Third) of Torts: Coordination and Continuation
Wake Forest Law Review, Vol. 44, p. 1383, 2009
13 Pages Posted: 15 May 2010 Last revised: 3 Aug 2010
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
This essay discusses how the Restatement process, with three major areas of torts now completed, will move towards a complete and integrated Restatement (Third) of Torts. In 1991, the American Law Institute (ALI) decided to commence work on a Third Restatement of Torts. Given the immense scope of tort law and the pressing needs for restating some areas of tort law sooner rather than later, the Restatement process went forward according to topics - specifically, Products Liability, Apportionment, and Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm. With the completion of the first two topics and the near completion of the third, the Restatement effort faced questions relating to continuation and coordination. Should the Third Restatement seek to cover all the major topics in tort law, or could some topics remain as presented in the Second Restatement? If all the territory of the Second Restatement should be restated in a Third Restatement, what should be the direction and scope of the remaining Restatement projects? And how should all the topics - completed and future - be coordinated into an integrated Third Restatement? In 2007-2008, a working group assembled by Director Lance Liebman traced out a route for a complete and coordinated Restatement (Third) of Torts. This essay describes this route and discusses some of the considerations that will remain important in the ongoing work of completion and coordination.
Keywords: restatement of law, tort law
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