Common Law Liability for Fire: A Conceptual, Historical, and Economic Analysis
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Description
The tort law governing fire is a peculiar amalgam that adjusts the general principles of tort law to the particular context of fire. This chapter examines the different principles of tort law as they apply to both wildfires and fires set by human agents.In particular, it looks at how, in this context, the law treats such perennial issues as the act/omission distinction, the role of privilege for private and public actors,the application of principles of vicarious liability, the choice between negligence and strict liability, and the laws of causation and affirmative defenses. The possibility of huge consequences from small antecedents is one of the great challenges in this area. Yet at the same time, the universal recognition of the danger of fire has led to the development of a body of common law rules that, although rough around the edges, is reasonably adapted to the challenges of both earlier and modern times.
Source Publication
Wildfire Policy: Law and Economic Perspectives
Source Editors/Authors
Karen M. Bradshaw, Dean Lueck
Publication Date
2012
Recommended Citation
Epstein, Richard A., "Common Law Liability for Fire: A Conceptual, Historical, and Economic Analysis" (2012). Faculty Chapters. 377.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/377
