Wholesale Tort Law and the Construction of Change: Studies in the Inevitability of History - Paperback

by Kenneth S. Abraham (Author), G. Edward White (Author) Tort Law and the Construction of Change studies the interaction of law and social change in American history. Tort law--civil law made by judges, not legislators--is traditionally thought to arise out of legal precedent. But Kenneth S. Abraham and G. Edward White show that American judges over the course of the previous two centuries also paid close attention to changing societal contexts in which lawsuits for civil injuries arose. They argue that two versions of history-one grounded in the application of previous legal rules and the other responsive to larger societal changes--must be considered in tandem to grasp fully how American civil law has evolved over time.