Introduction to the Law of Torts
Thomas A. Alleman, Esq.
Frances B. Whiteside

ISBN-10: 0929563549
ISBN-13: 9780929563541

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2001
Format: Paper; 410 pp
Published: 01/01/2001

Suggested retail price: $63.20
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For courses in Torts.

Using a light, conversational style—injected with humor, ingenuity and insight—this text makes the complex law of torts understandable for students at any level. Throughout, case excerpts are used as the basis for discovering the kinds of evidence/facts that parties in a case have used to establish their points. Students are challenged to think critically about each case—Were they effective? Were they creative? Were they persuasive? Did they work? What did the court want? The excerpts give students an idea of what kinds of evidence to put on, and to show them the beginnings of the process of evaluation and comparison that are at the core of stare decisis.

  • A light, conversational writing style.
  • Comprehensive coverage—Discusses in detail: trespass, assault, battery, and conversion; ordinary care and negligence; special duties of landowners; compensatory damages; aggravated negligence, fault, and punitive damages; defective products; defamation, libel, and slander; privacy and seclusion; malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and false arrest; fraud, misrepresentation, and interference with contracts; toxic torts.
  • Boxed definitions—Throughout.
  • Lists of key word and phrases—At the end of each chapter.
  • Boxed case excerpts.
  • Review questions—At the end of each chapter.



Introduction: The Study of Law and This Book.


 1. Torts, Contracts, and Crimes: What They Are and What They Aren't.


 2. The First Torts: Trespass, Assault, Battery, and Conversion.


 3. Seems Reasonable to Me: The Idea of Ordinary Care and Negligence.


 4. Reality Check: Establishing the Standard of Care in the Courtroom.


 5. No Cause for Alarm: The Concept of Causation in the Law of Torts.


 6. “Dee-Fense, Dee-Fense”: Defenses to Claims of Negligence.


 7. The Special Duties of Landowners.


 8. What's It Worth to You?: Compensatory Damages in Tort Cases.


 9. “Ooooh ... Gross!”: Aggravated Negligence, Fault, and Punitive Damages.


10. Tort Liability for Defective Products.


11. Sticks and Stones: The Law of Defamation, Libel, and Slander.


12. “I Want to Be Alone”: Torts Involving Privacy and Seclusion.


13. Court Torts: Malicious Prosecution, Abuse of Process, and False Arrest.


14. Risky Business: Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Tortious Interference with Contracts.


15. Weird Science? The Developing Law of Toxic Torts.


16. The Role of Insurance in the Law of Toxic Torts.


17. A Few Closing Thoughts.


Index.

Thomas B. Alleman, a litigation shareholder at Winstead Sechrest & Minick PC., Dallas, Texas, received a BA from Williams College in 1974 and a JD from Washington University in St. Louis in 1977. He has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Public Administration Programs at Avila College in Kansas City, Missouri, where he taught courses in torts, constitutional law and litigation. In 1996, he was selected as an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College. He is the author of numerous articles on subjects in tort and insurance law and is a frequent speaker to professional and trade, groups din these areas.

Mr. Alleman is married to Susan Alleman and has three children, Sarah, Virginia and Sam.

Frances Beall Whiteside is editor of the National Paralegal Reporter, published by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA). A practicing paralegal for 14 years, she has been an adjunct instructor in three paralegal studies programs in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. She holds MLA and BA degrees from Southern Methodist University and a paralegal certificate from California State University at San Bernardino. She has previously co-authored two other books for Pearson Publications Co., Introduction to Contracts, now in its fourth edition, and Introduction to Business Organizations, now in its second edition. She may be reached at editor@paralegals.org.

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