Abstract
Professor Henderson explores whether there is anything inherent in tort law that would work against our having a federal system for personal injury and property damage, had our forebears chosen such a system. In addition to citing other federal tort systems in Canada and Australia—countries that share a common law heritage with the United States—he points out that there was a federal common law of torts for more than 100 years until it was ended by the U.S. Supreme Court in Erie R.R. v. Tompkins. Even though, in his opinion, there is no such impediment, he acknowledges that there is little effective pressure today to directly federalize tort law. However, he argues that what we really have now is a tort-liability insurance system—not just a tort system—and that other social and political pressures at the federal level, such as the movement for national health care, could well impact the tort-liability insurance system in dramatic ways in the future.
How to Cite
38 Ariz. L. Rev. 953 (1996)
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