Torts: Economic Harm
The Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Liability of Economic Harm is part of ALI’s ongoing revision of the Restatement Second of Torts. Portions of the Restatement Second have been superseded by the Restatement Third of Torts: Products Liability, Apportionment of Liability, and Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm.
“Recovery and tort for economic loss has been a growth area in American law over the last few decades. There’s been a lot of judicial commentary and a lot of scholarly commentary on when it ought to be possible to recover in tort for a pure economic loss. Our goal in this Restatement has been to capture the best insights of the commentary while staying true to where the case law has been going.” – Ward Farnsworth, Project Reporter
This Restatement covers unintentional infliction of economic loss, including professional negligence, negligent misrepresentation, negligent performance of services, and public nuisance. It also addresses fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, interference with contract, unjustifiable litigation, and civil conspiracy.
Reporters
Ward Farnsworth
Reporter, Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm
Ward Farnsworth is Dean and John Jeffers Research Chair of the University of Texas School of Law. He taught for fifteen years at Boston University School of Law, where he also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Dean Farnsworth is author of Restitution: Civil Liability for Unjust Enrichment, The Legal Analyst, and Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric. He served as a law clerk to Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and to Richard A. Posner, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has also served as Legal Adviser to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
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