Global Perspectives on Tort Recovery
Law 832A1 (3 credits)
This course will survey the ability to recover for tort-based personal injury and products liability damages from a global perspective. The course will first analyze personal injury and products liability recovery in the United States and explore efforts at tort reform. It will then compare the ability to recover for similar damages under alternate systems. We will survey how such recovery is available and/or limited in the European Union, with a special focus on selected countries, including Spain. We will then compare the recovery systems available in eastern Asian countries, including Japan and China. Lastly, we will explore how the "Law of the Sea" provides for and limits recovery for personal injury and product's liability-based damages. The course will include an exploration of choice of jurisdiction and the extent to which universal health care, societal perspectives and philosophies and the expansion of capitalism and global markets impact on recovery for these tort-based claims.