The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation

The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Actions and defenses
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This work contains articles on the sufficiency of evidence, expert witness testimony, remedies and damages, policy legislation, and the roles of toxicology, epidemiology and biostatistics.

The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation

The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Actions and defenses
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This work contains articles on the sufficiency of evidence, expert witness testimony, remedies and damages, policy legislation, and the roles of toxicology, epidemiology and biostatistics.

Toxic Torts

Toxic Torts PDF Author: Carl F. Cranor
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139458787
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
The relationship between science, law and justice has become a pressing issue with US Supreme Court decisions beginning with Daubert v. Merrell-Dow Pharmaceutical. How courts review scientific testimony and its foundation before trial can substantially affect the possibility of justice for persons wrongfully injured by exposure to toxic substances. If courts do not review scientific testimony, they will deny one of the parties the possibility of justice. Even if courts review evidence well, the fact and perception of greater judicial scrutiny increases litigation costs and attorney screening of clients. Mistaken review of scientific evidence can decrease citizen access to the law, increase unfortunate incentives for firms not to test their products, lower deterrence for wrongful conduct and harmful products, and decrease the possibility of justice for citizens injured by toxic substances. This book introduces these issues, reveals the relationships that pose problems, and shows how justice can be denied.

The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation

The Role of Science in Toxic Tort Litigation PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Forensic toxicology
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description


Regulating Toxic Substances

Regulating Toxic Substances PDF Author: Carl F. Cranor
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019534491X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
The proliferation of chemical substances in commerce poses scientific and philosophical problems. The scientific challenge is to develop data, methodologies, and techniques for identifying and assessing toxic substances before they cause harm to human beings and the environment. The philosophical problem is how much scientific information we should demand for this task consistent with other social goals we might have. In this book, Cranor utilizes material from ethics, philosophy of law, epidemiology, tort law, regulatory law, and risk assessment, to argue that the scientific evidential standards used in tort law and administrative law to control toxics ought to be evaluated with the purposes of the law in mind. Demanding too much for this purpose will slow the evaluation and lead to an excess of toxic substances left unidentified and unassessed, thus leaving the public at risk. Demanding too little may impose other costs. An appropriate balance between these social concerns must be found. Justice requires we use evidentiary standards more appropriate to the legal institutions in question and resist the temptation to demand the most intensive scientific evaluation of each substance subject to legal action.

The Role of Causation in Science as Law and Proposed Changes in the Current Common Law Toxic Tort System

The Role of Causation in Science as Law and Proposed Changes in the Current Common Law Toxic Tort System PDF Author: Clifford D. Fisher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science and law
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description


Hormesis and the Law: Toxic Torts

Hormesis and the Law: Toxic Torts PDF Author: Edward J. Calabrese
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437902235
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description


Integration of Scientific and Legal Perspectives in Toxic Tort Litigation

Integration of Scientific and Legal Perspectives in Toxic Tort Litigation PDF Author: Carolyn Hendryx Vanarsdel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evidence, Expert
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description


Toxic Torts Deskbook

Toxic Torts Deskbook PDF Author: M. Stuart Madden
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Toxic Torts Deskbook is a concise, readable text covering the fastest-growing area of tort and personal injury litigation. Toxic tort suits involve claims arising from exposure to products ranging from pesticides to industrial solvents, manufacturing waste, and asbestos and present unique questions regarding causation, degree of hazard, and expert testimony. Written for environmental professionals as well as attorneys, Toxic Torts Deskbook describes the principal causes of suits for negligence, nuisance, trespass, warranty, strict tort liability, and liability for abnormally dangerous activities. For environmental, product, and workplace injuries from toxic exposure, the book discusses the elements a claimant must plead and prove, as well as defenses, statutes of limitations for long latency harms, and limited immunity for government contractors. "Citizen suits" that individuals may bring to vindicate rights granted by state or federal environmental statutes and insurance coverage issues, including the metes and bounds of the "pollution exclusion", are also covered.

Litigating Toxic Tort and Hazardous Waste Claims

Litigating Toxic Tort and Hazardous Waste Claims PDF Author: Eddie Fournier
Publisher: Aspatore Books
ISBN: 9780314278005
Category : Hazardous wastes
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Litigating Toxic Tort and Hazardous Waste Claims provides an authoritative, insiders perspective on key strategies for preparing and litigating a toxic tort case. Featuring partners from some of the nations leading law firms, these experts guide the reader through the process of developing a successful defense strategy by thoroughly fact-checking and researching a claim. These top lawyers reveal their advice on managing discovery, handling numerous pleadings, and collecting medical information. From understanding the science behind a claim to utilizing experts both inside and outside of the courtroom, these authors discuss the importance of communicating with scientific experts and becoming knowledgeable about the underlying technical issues involved in a toxic tort case. These leaders also share their strategies on litigating high-profile lawsuits like the World Trade Center disaster site litigation and defending strict liability Superfund cases. The different niches represented and the breadth of perspectives presented enable readers to get inside some of the great legal minds of today, as these experienced lawyers offer up their thoughts around the keys to success within this ever-evolving area of law.

Getting to Causation in Toxic Tort Cases

Getting to Causation in Toxic Tort Cases PDF Author: David E Bernstein
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Since the issue first arose in earnest in the 1970s, courts have struggled to create rules for causation in toxic tort cases that are both consistent with longstanding tort principles and fair to all parties. Faced with conflicting and often novel expert testimony, scientific uncertainty, the gap between legal and scientific culture, and unprecedented claims for massive damages, common-law courts needed time to adjust and accommodate themselves to the brave new world of toxic tort litigation. Eventually, however, courts around the country reached a broad consensus on what is required for a toxic tort plaintiff to meet his or her burden of proof. While there is a voluminous scholarly literature on various aspects of toxic tort litigation, this Article's unique contribution is to articulate the new consensus on causation standards, document and criticize the various ways plaintiffs attempt to evade these standards, and defend the courts' adherence to traditional notions of causation against their critics. Part I of this Article explains that to prove causation in a toxic tort case, a plaintiff must show that the substance in question is capable, in general, of causing the injury alleged, and also that exposure to the substance more likely than not caused his injury. When a plaintiff was exposed to a single toxin from multiple sources, to prove causation by a specific defendant the plaintiff must show that the actions of that defendant were a “substantial factor” in causing the alleged harm. Part II discusses plaintiffs' attempts to evade these standards by hiring experts to present various types of unreliable causation evidence. Examples of such evidence include testimony based on high-dose animal studies, anecdotal case reports, analogizing from the known effects of “similar” chemicals, preliminary epidemiological studies that have not been peer-reviewed, and differential etiologies used to “rule in” an otherwise unknown causal relationship. Additionally, when multiple defendants have contributed to the plaintiffs' exposure to a potentially toxic substance, plaintiffs often present experts who claim, with no reliable scientific grounding, that the level of exposure (“dose”) is irrelevant to causation. Part III of this Article argues that courts should be steadfast in requiring toxic tort plaintiffs to meet their burden of proof. Traditional tort principles require that plaintiffs bear the burden of proving actual causation by a preponderance of the evidence, not merely that they were exposed to a risk. To hold otherwise and essentially shift the burden to defendants to disprove causation would open the floodgates to all manner of speculative claims, with potentially devastating consequences for Americans' well-being. Similarly, with regard to cases in which a plaintiff alleges injury after exposure to a toxin from multiple sources, a given defendant may only be held liable if the plaintiff proves by a preponderance of the evidence that exposure to that defendant's products was a “substantial factor” in causing that injury. To hold otherwise would amount to an implicit adoption of a system of broad, collective liability that courts have rejected when the issue has been raised explicitly. This section concludes by discussing the negative consequences that arise from speculative toxic tort litigation unsupported by reliable scientific evidence.