Law has many purposes. It can regulate private transactions or advance society’s policies. In private law, individuals determine the terms of a contract, but public law might dictate conditions for the contract once it is written up. Legal realists believe society decides what should be law while others believe “natural rights” exist for those people who want to act independently from the government.
People who get a personal injury -- or tort -- have the right to sue the individual who caused them harm. However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Courts must decide who is ultimately responsible -- does a reasonable person apply or must it be considered from the perspective of the person who caused the injury? Contract and tort law recognize the different degrees of responsibility where liability is concerned.
Course Objectives
- By the end of this course, students will be able to tell the differences between private and public law and assess the traditionalist view of this distinction.
- Participants will examine challenges to this distinction, especially in light of legal realism and the politics of private law, as well as consider the distinction between contract and tort law.
- The class will weigh the criticisms and defenses of the distinction and determine whether the traditionalist view of private law is a sound one.
- Students will also establish the differences of the subjective versus the objective approach to tort law and evaluate the duty to aid, from the perspective of the common law, the Ames Rule, Feinberg and the Right to Assistance and Epstein and Bright Lines.