Tort Reform and Business Law

Tort reform has not resulted in much change within the American system of law. A primary problem is that as appeals to lower court decisions about the serviceability of tort reform legislation have made their way to courts of appeal, all or part of tort reform legislation is being struck down. This is mainly because courts wish to preserve "the right to a jury trial for common-law torts without limitation" (Finzen, Haley, & Shaw, 1998). The article appearing in the February 16, 1998 issue of The National Law Journal, entitled "Illinois high court latest to nix reform law," goes a long way towards framing the difficulties inherent in tort law. It seems that while allowing juries the freedom to find for huge damages may seem ludicrous, it is difficult to sidestep the constitutionality of civil tort findings.

It is commonly said that the civil action for damages aims at compensation, as opposed to the criminal prosecution which aims at punishment. The number of civil law suits seeking recovery for tort claims, and the amount of damages awarded in these law suits, dramatically increased during the past three decades. Broad social and political attitudes have fueled this legal trend. Tort recovery was thought to provide an incentive for the manufacture of safe goods, and to provide consumers with full redress for injuries that were caused by defective products and practices (The current tort climate, 1996).

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third party seeks to interfere in a previously negotiated contract. Wrongful interference with a business relationship defines the rights that a business has in protecting its customer base, or the difference between "competition" and "predatory behavior" (McLennan, 1998). A tort is any socially unreasonable conduct, which is not contractual, for which a court will grant monetary damages or an equitable remedy to compensate an individual for his/her injury. The rights and duties involved in a tort case may arise from either statute or common law. Conduct that is a tort may also be a crime. A crime is an offense against the public, and criminal law does not seek to compensate the victim (McLennan, 1998). Tort includes both deliberate wrongs (intentional torts) and inadvertent or accidental wrongs (negligent torts), as well as wrongs for which the offender is held liable regardless of motivation or ability to prevent the injury (strict liability). Torts that are specifically related to business are grouped separately. Tort law is perhaps the broadest and most volatile area of civil law (McLennan, 1998). Examples of Attempted Tort Reform The Illinois high courts decision is only one example of attempted tort reform. A summ

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