Tort law allows compensation for individuals whose person or property has been injured. Applying some critical thinking questions to tort law can help you better understand this chapter.

1. As discussed in Chapter 1, courts have preferences for certain ethical norms. Using critical thinking skills will help us understand how those norms have shaped legal reasoning about tort law. It is quite possible for two judges hearing a tort case to disagree on a verdict. One reason for the different verdicts is their disagreement over which ethical norms are most important.What conflict of ethical norms is inherent in tort law?

Clue: Think of the definitions of the primary ethical norms in Chapter 1. If a judge strongly values freedom,

what ethical norm might conflict with the judge’s loyalty to freedom? Why?

2. Loyalty to certain ethical norms will influence your attitude toward compensating injured individuals. Remember that the majority of civil jury trials involve torts. If you value efficiency, how might the large number of tort cases in the court system affect your thinking about tort law?

Clue: Why would this large number of tort cases not trouble a person who values justice over efficiency?

3. One of the critical thinking skills you have learned to use is the identification of ambiguous words.Words with multiple possible meanings can result in different interpretations of a law. In tort law, this issue is especially important. Look at the definition of a tort. How does the definition of the word injury influence thinking about tort cases?

Clue: Again, consider the number of tort cases in the courts. How would the number of court cases change if we loosely defined the word injury? What ethical norms would influence our definition of injury?